In 2019 Nickelodeon broadcast a mini-series “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” tale introducing a group of TMS kids who find that one of the scary stories told around a campfire begins to become true. A second mini-series was broadcast in 2021 and followed a new group of Midnight Society kids, who learn of a terrifying curse cast over their small town and are haunted by a mysterious creature. The third chapter, Are You Afraid of the Dark? Ghost Island, was shown in 2022 on the cable tv network and features another TMS group as they go on vacation on a resort island becoming entangled in the sinister haunting of a hotel's guests. Enjoy hauntingly good scary stories with The Limited Series Three-Season Collection, just in time for Halloween!
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The football playoffs are here! For the next few weekends, I'm going to be hunkering down on the couch watching all the games while snacking with a plate full of nachos and cold bottle of beer in my hands. Why settle though with just plain tortilla chips and melted cheese though when you can get a bit more extravagant? NACHOS FOR DINNER by Dan Whalen, the culinary mad-genius creator of The Food in My Beard recipe blog, is a book from Workman Publishing that provides the five secrets for cooking up nacho success as well as more than 75 recipes from crafting up dishes ranging from unique appetizers to sheet pan meals to delicious deserts.
Detroiters love their Coney Island restaurants! Whalen has a recipe utilizing Coney Island style chili that I'm geeked to try out. Oh wow! I'm absolutely going to have to try out his Lobster Nachos recipe too! Pretzel Bratchos will go great with a bottle of Hofbrau while watching the big game on television. Apple pie nachos! It is like this chef read my mind for ideas while authoring this book!
From tips to making your own home-made cheese sauce and guac to step-by-step directions for cooking up a variety of interesting nacho style meals this book absolutely earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval. NACHOS FOR DINNER is 152 pages of cooking tips that will make you the champ of the kitchen when it comes to preparing snacks, meals and desserts for family and friends.
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Going to ALDI is a weekly part of my family's regular grocery shopping routine; so today we're doing a review of a new cookbook based on using ingredients found at the store courtesy of Ulysses Press. The Unofficial ALDI Cookbook is full of tasty beverage ideas such as wine slushies, delicious gourmet-style meals like stuffed chicken breasts, and a number of tempting deserts. All together there are more than 50 recipes that ALDI nerds are sure to geek out about.
The Unofficial ALDI Cookbook focuses on the grocery store chains selection of free produce, out of the ordinary products, and discounted items to create some delicious recipes that are easy to dish up at home. The uncomplicated ingredient lists and easy to follow directions were particularly appreciated by this amateur chef. So after flipping through the book I decided to grab a quarter and head over to our local ALDI to whip up something to snack on while watching the University of Michigan play in the Sweet Sixteen during March Madness.
Using my quarter to obtain a shopping cart, a smart idea that seems to be only used by ALDI, I made my way around the store gathering up what I needed to mix up a bowl of Smoked Salmon Dip as listed in The Unofficial ALDI Cookbook. Everything on the ingredient list I was able to secure at ALDI as well as the crackers to enjoy the dip with. It should be no problem to create this home-made smoked salmon dip well before the 5pm tip off of tonight's big basketball game in the NCAA tournament.
Here is the ingredient list for enough to make a bowl of smoked salmon dip the equivalent of six servings:
2 (3 oz) packages of refrigerated smoked salmon
1 (8 oz) package of Happy Farms cream cheese
2 green onions
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon Stonemill Minced Garlic in Extra Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1 box of crackers
Directions:
+ Cut the ends off the onions;
+ Place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir together;
+ Blend together all the ingredients with a mixer, blender or food processer for three to four minutes;
+ Place in a serving dish complimented with toasted bread, chips or crackers of your choice.
Wow! It only took me 5 minutes to prepare this great snack! Bon Appetit!
For more information about this cook book by Jeanette Hurt including some more sample recipes and retailers you can purchase it from go to ulyssespress.com
What do you get when mixing together Sprite, lemon/lime syrup, McClure's Pickles and crushed ice? PICKLE SLUSHIES! We all know that Scooby and Shaggy from the Mystery Inc. have insatiable appetites and will eat just about anything. So this week's Camp Warner Bros. challenge was to make up a unique Scooby Snack to enjoy while watching Scooby-Doo!: WrestleMania Mystery!
I'd seen last year during a visit to Sonic Drive-In they were selling Pickle Slushies and thought we'd make our own variety at home for this week's Camp Warner Bros. project. This recipe just seemed like the out of the ordinary type of thing you might see Scooby and Shaggy snack on in one of their cartoon mystery adventures. Since teaming up with WWE brings its own zaniness to this animated movie Pickle Slushies seemed like a fun Scooby Snack to enjoy during this week's Camp Warner Bros family movie night.
When Shaggy and Scooby win tickets to WrestleMania®, they convince the entire Mystery Inc. gang to travel to WWE City in the Mystery Machine to enjoy the show. But the trip quickly turns into another mystery as WWE City is full of secrets! A mysterious ghostly bear appears and threatens to ruin the show and steal the championship title belt. With the help of WWE Superstars John Cena®, Triple H®, Sin Cara®, Brodus Clay®, AJ Lee™, The Miz®, Santino®, and Kane® - Scooby-Doo and The Mystery Inc. gang team up to solve the case before it is too late!
Scooby-Doo!: WrestleMania Mystery! is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Best Buy. If you purchase the movie from ageekdaddy.com affiliate link this dad blogger will receive a small commission from Best Buy at no additional expense to you. Your support is appreciated!
So now back to our Scooby Snack! To snack like Scooby Doo while watching this WrestleMania Mystery here is how to make your very own pickle slushies. Jeepers this is no trick these actually make for a tasty treat!
PICKLE SLUSHIES RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
1 Jar of Pickles (Preferably McClure's Garlic & Dill Pickles)
1/2 Shot of Torani lemon syrup
1/2 Shot of Torani lime syrup
4 oz of Sprite Soda
Crushed Ice
DIRECTIONS:
Fill blender with ice
Add 1/2 jar of pickle juice
Add lemon and lime syrup
Pour in the soda
Blend until the mixture is slushy
So what did the kids think of their pickle slushies? They were apprehensive at first, but actually asked for refills after finishing off their drinks. Zoinks! You wouldn't think it but the garlic and juice from the pickles with lemon lime from the soda and syrup actually compliment each other for an interesting flavor combination. Try this out for yourself when you might be looking for a unique snack that is sure to stand out.
A Detroit restaurant known as one of the best spots in the city for a date night is helping raise money for the charity Higher Hopes, which supports feeding underprivileged children in the community, throughout the month of March. Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails located at 15 Kirby Street in Detroit's cultural district (which includes the Detroit Institute of Arts, Charles H Wright Museum of African History, Michigan Science Center, and Wayne State University) will donate $2 to Higher Hopes from every Last World cocktail sold at this hot date night spot during the month.
The “Last Word” cocktail is a gin-based, prohibition-era cocktail originally developed at the Detroit Athletic Club and is now a hit all over the United States. Detroit's societal elite indulged in the cocktail at the not-so-secret speakeasy located within the D.A.C. during prohibition. Recently, the drink has seen a resurgence in popularity. The Last Word cocktail consists of equal amounts of gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and freshly pressed lime juice, which are combined in a shaker with ice. After shaking, the mix is poured through a cocktail strainer and is served straight up.
** A Geek Daddy received the featured products for free **
We enjoyed a nice family movie night this weekend watching the newest animated movie in the ICE AGE franchise called COLLISION COURSE which became available on October 11, 2016 for Blu-ray and DVD viewing. In this ICE AGE adventure, the unlucky, mischievous squirrel Scrat while trying to bury an acorn accidentally activates an abandoned alien vessel that launches him into outer space. As he travels through the solar system he unwittingly sends several asteroids on a crash course with Earth. Can Manny the woolly mammoth along with his friends and family that makeup The Herd do anything to avert their following the same path to extinction as the dinosaurs? As they discover the danger of the pending asteroid collision, The Herd rediscovers an old ally from one of their past adventures who just may hold the key to saving the planet from a scrat-tastrophe!
Since we were watching an ICE AGE story, it was only fitting to stock up on acorns for our special movie watching treat. We had a whole plate full of tasty snacks to share that would have truly made that acorn chasing squirrel Scrat envious. They weren't real acorns of course because thosewouldn't be very appetizing but rather a combination of Hershey's Kisses, mini Nilla wafers, and chocolate chips.
Our ICE AGE acorns are actually fairly easy to make and they really taste great as a family movie night treat. Count out the number of acorns you'd like to create and place that number of mini Nilla wafers on a plate. Measure out a 1/4 cup of chocolate chip cookies and place them in a microwave plate. Heat up for a minute in the microwave and stir up to create a paste. With a knife spread enough paste along the bottom of each Nilla wafer to secure a Hershey's Kiss to the bottom of the cookie. Then place a small dab of paste on the opposite side of the Nilla Wafer to glue a chocolate chip in its middle. Don't dwadle because you need to secure all the parts of the acorn together while the chocolate paste remains hot. Let your acorns cool for a few minutes once you've attached all the pieces together and voila you have a snack that would drive Scrat wild! Though unlike the real deal, these acorns are nut-free which is very important for this dad with kids who have peanut and tree nut allergies. Always look at the labeling on packaging to make sure an item is contamination and ingredient free for the particular food allergies you may be concerned about.
To share our family's movie night fun with A Geek Daddy's blog readers and social media followers, in addition to sharing our diy recipe for a delicious snack, I also have a copy of the movie to giveaway. To be eligible for this giveaway you must follow
@Geekdad248 on Twitter and retweet our original contest tweet
embedded below before October 21, 2016 @ 11:59 pm EST.
Must be a US
resident over the age of 18 to participate. No P.O. Boxes allowed for
delivery of the prize. One entry per person and winner will be selected
from all eligible entries. Fox Home Entertainment
will be responsible for the delivery of the prize to the selected
winner. Each household is only eligible to win once via blog giveaways.
If you have won this movie on another blog, you will not be eligible to
win it again and the prize will be forfeited. Winner is subject to
eligibility verification. By participating in this promotion you waive
any liability of any kind
against the publisher of this blog. A Geek Daddy is providing
this
giveaway contest as a benefit to our readers and social media followers
and has not been financially compensated for this promotion.
Our ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE family movie night was made possible courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment, Smithsonian and National Geographic. Fox Home Entertainment provided A Geek Daddy a #ScratinSpace fun pack that included the movie, a very nice #ICEAGE blanket, some Smithsonian products that included a launchable rocket, telescope and a planetarium projector. We also received a very nice book from National Geographic "Backyard Guide To The Night Sky."
After watching ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE, we enjoyed a planetarium show on the ceiling. The Smithsonian Planetarium Projector provides a rotating star pattern of the Northern Sky which can be combined with 24 high definition space images. Choose from planets, nebulae, moons, asteroids, a space shuttle and an astronaut to display among the stars.
After flipping through National Geographic's "Backyard Guide To The Night Sky," my kids also spent some time gazing through the Smithsonian telescope we were provided to check out the moon, see if they could glimpse of the International Space Station, and look for any other celestial objects that may be within their view.
Rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America, ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE is now available on Blu-Ray, Digital HD, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD. For more information about the movie, please visit iceagemovies.com
** A Geek Daddy received the featured products for free **
Thanks to the kindness of the nice people at Hasbro our family was able to enjoy a fun Star Wars themed Family Movie Night watching The Force Awakens the weekend before it was released on Blu-ray and DVD. We found a mysterious box on our front porch on April 1st with a big Star Wars logo on the front. It wasn't a joke though but rather the Blu-ray/DVD/DigitalHD movie bundle for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens a few days before the film's official April 5, 2016 release on Blu-ray and DVD.
In addition to receiving The Force Awakens to enjoy, the box was also filled with a variety of Star Wars goodies to help make our Family Movie Night extra special.
Hasbro Star Wars toys are a great way to re-enact favorite scenes from the Star Wars saga of movies. My son practiced his dueling skills with a light up Bladebuilders Kylo Ren lightsaber during The Force Awakens battle sequences while my daughter held tight to a giant Rey action figure throughout the show. The two of them have also had fun imagining up new adventures for BB-8, Finn, Rey and Maz Kanata with the Takodana Encounter 3.75 Inch Multipack that we also received in our Star Wars gift pack from Hasbro.
We always like to include some themed activities to our Family Movie Night entertainment. We started off the evening with a target shooting competition using a Star Wars NERF Episode VII First Order Stormtrooper Deluxe Blaster. I'd like to brag that I won this competition hands down but I'm also honest and have to say my wife took first place with my son doing pretty well too but I did hit more targets than my little girl did to avoid last place. Of course she schooled me in the next competition of the night which was several rounds of R2D2 Bop It. I have to say my daughter really loves that game!
Of course you can't have a Family Movie Night without treats! We snacked on Star Wars themed JELLO Jigglers of Chewbacca, C3P0, Darth Vader, R2D2 & Yoda along with some popchips and blue "bantha" milk. Here's my preferred recipe for Blue Milk just like Anakin and Luke Skywalker drank growing up on Tatooine:
Ingredients:
1 cup of milk;
1/2 teaspoon of unsweetened blue fruit punch mix;
1/2 teaspoon of sugar.
Directions:
Pour the milk into a tall glass and gently stir in the blue fruit punch mix;
The drink should initially be light tinted blue. Add more of the fruit punch mix to get a darker color if you desire;
Add sugar to sweeten the taste.
There you have it our evening wasn't extravagant but we had a really good time for our Star Wars: The Force Awakens Family Movie Night. To add some fun to your own Star Wars themed movie night enjoy these freeThe Force Awakens activity sheets:
We always like to do a fun activity or make a special treat to make family movie nights a bit more memorable than us just sitting on the couch and throwing a disc in the dvd player. For our Minions family movie night, we made yogurt freezes resembling the three minions who are the stars of the movie, Stuart, Kevin & Bob. Because we were going to enjoy watching Minions in the ambiance of our living room Christmas Tree we added some holiday flair to our treats by dressing them with Santa caps and red minions' overalls. To make your own fun family movie night minions Yogurt Freeze treats here are the ingredients and directions for the recipe:
Ingredients
Lemon Yogurt
Bananas
Fruit Sheet Snacks
Mini Marshmallows
Mini Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Sprinkles
White Frosting (plus Blue if you want that colored overalls)
Popsicle Sticks
Directions
+ Line a cookie sheet with wax paper;
+ Cut your bananas in half and insert a popsicle stick in the bottom;
+ Place your bananas on the cookie sheet;
+ Completely cover each banana half with lemon yogurt (another option is to use yellow food coloring in vanilla yogurt for a brighter minion color than we achieved);
+ Cut your mini marshmallows in half and place them to represent the minions' googles;
+ Use your mini chocolate chips for the eye balls, goggle bands, and mouths;
+ Shape red fruit sheet snacks into the shape of Santa caps and overalls placing them on your minions;
+ If you want to go with the movie look for your minions don't add the Santa caps and cover the red overalls with blue frosting. Instead of using fruit sheet snacks for the outline of the overalls you can also go to a craft or bakery supply store and get blue edible paper to craft your overalls with.
+ Create the brim and ball of your minions' Santa cap with white frosting;
+ Use chocolate sprinkles for the hair on minions not wearing a Santa cap;
+ Place the cookie sheet in your freezer for one hour.
+ Pull them out and you have a Yogurt Freeze minion you can eat that will be yummy for your tummy.
CLICK HERE for more Minions Movie Night inspiration.
Minions (rated PG) tells the story of how the minions came to serve Felonious Gru in the Illumination Entertainment movies Despicable Me & Despicable Me 2. In this movie, which features the voice talents of Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, and Michael Keaton, as the bumbling minions try to find their place in the world, Stuart, Kevin and Bob become recruited by super-villain Scarlet Overkill and her inventor husband Herb in a plot to steal the British crown. Hilarity and high jinks ensue.
CLICK HERE to find a retailer where you can purchase Minions on Blu-ray or DVD.
My kids adore the minions and also found them to be rather delicious!
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias and its
advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AwakenYourTastebuds #CollectiveBias
Who isn't excited about the new Star Wars™ movie that will be hitting theaters in December?! I've been a fan of these movies since I was six and am so excited to share the experience of enjoying a brand new film together with my six year old twins. To get them up to speed on all the characters and canon from past films, we devoted a weekend for a movie marathon viewing the original trilogy. Of course if you're going to be having a movie marathon you need something fun to snack on so we made an out-of-this-world treat to enjoy.
Cereal doesn't need to just be for breakfast! We combined General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal with Yoplait Star Wars™ Strawberry Smoothie Go-Gurt® to create futuristic looking popsicle treats. Throw in some blue milk to drink along with it and you have a great snack that looks like it could have been served in a scene from a sci-fi movie.
We made a quick visit over to our local Walmart to pickup all the supplies we needed including Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal, Star Wars™ Go-Gurt®, popsicle molds, and wooden sticks so as my daughter would say making these treats ourselves was "easy peasy." Not only did my kids really find these snacks to be a tasty treat but they had a blast helping out in the kitchen making them which was an activity that really enhanced our movie marathon experience.
Here are some simple DIY instructions for these out-of-this-world snacks:
Cereal Freezes
The Cereal Freezes are a great mixture of the smooth strawberry taste of Yoplait Go-Gurt® blended with fruity flavored cereal and marshmallows from General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal to provide a crunchy texture.
Ingredients:
1 Large Banana;
1 Cup of Yoplait StrawBerry Smoothie Go-Gurt®;
1/2 Cup of Milk;
1/2 Cup of General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal.
Directions:
In a bowl mix up the banana until mashed and smooth;
Slowly add in the Go-Gurt® and milk to the ball. Mix until blended with the banana mash;
Add Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal to the mixture. Make sure to stir by hand at this point to avoid crushing the marshmallows and cereal;
Pour the mix into popsicle molds. Insert a wooden popsicle stick as a handle. Freeze for 8 hours until solid;
Once frozen, place the popsicle molds under the kitchen faucet and spray with warm water. Gently pull the Cereal Freezes from their popsicle molds.
Blue Milk
Feel like a hero from Star Wars™ by enjoying some Blue Milk along with your Cereal Freeze.
Ingredients:
1 Cup of Milk;
1/2 teaspoon of unsweetened blue fruit punch mix;
1/2 teaspoon of sugar.
Directions:
Pour the milk into a tall glass and gently stir in the blue fruit punch mix;
The drink should initially be lightly tinted blue. Add more of the fruit punch mix to get a darker color if you desire;
Add sugar to sweeten the taste.
Voila! There you have it some delicious and simple to make snacks that can provide some out-of-this-world flair for a party, family game night, or a movie watching marathon. My kids really love this snack and I'm sure yours will too!
Do you have any favorite snacks you like to make for Family Movie Nights? Find more #AwakenYourTastebuds inspiration here.
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