For the record, I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client. As always, all opinions, ideas, and photos are entirely my own.
It’s about to get scary up in here. Seriously, we had a monsterrific good time the other night and I’m here to share that with you. Why am I talking like this? Because Monsters U is in theaters nationwide today and you need to go see it NOW. We need to go see it NOW. To get ready, we had a monsterlicious meal and family movie night watching Monsters Inc. with our new Monsters University toys. Who doesn’t love some eyeball chili, monster fingers dipped in super scary dipping sauces, with Scare Juice Spritzers to wash it all down?
Eyeball chili you say? That’s nasty you say? Au contraire. This is just fun and it’s so much easier to get picky little eaters to eat when their food is fun! Let’s get started, shall we?
You should note that all of the ingredients I use are low sodium. We watch that in our house, and you should too. Sodium is a monster (pun intended) and can wreak havoc when it comes to your family’s health. So what do you need for eyeball chili?
It’s simple. 16 ounces of low sodium or all natural tomato sauce, ground beef, low sodium beans of your choice, minced garlic, no sodium added diced tomatoes, chopped green chilis, chili powder, cumin, Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy, and green olives (these are high sodium so go light on them) for the eyeballs.
It’s simple. 16 ounces of low sodium or all natural tomato sauce, ground beef, low sodium beans of your choice, minced garlic, no sodium added diced tomatoes, chopped green chilis, chili powder, cumin, Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy, and green olives (these are high sodium so go light on them) for the eyeballs.
Start with the eyeballs. Make mini meatballs and poke the olives in there. Cute huh? Once you’re done, stick the pan in the oven uncovered for 25 minutes on 400.
While the eyeballs are cooking, fry up the rest of the ground beef and mix the other ingredients. As you can see, I’m kind of a dumper.
- 16 oz no salt added or all natural tomato sauce
- 8 oz can low sodium pinto beans
- 8 oz can no salt added diced tomatoes
- 8 oz can of green chilis
- 1 tbsp garlic
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy
- 6 shots of Tapitio hot sauce
And stir.
When the eyeballs are done, place them in the chili and simmer for about 30 minutes to blend all of the flavors. Longer is better but this works when you’re in a hurry. My kids, and B, always say I make the best chili on the planet. While the chili simmers, you have plenty of time to prep everything else.
My babies like juice. They LOVE juice. But juice isn’t kind to their tummies because they have intolerances so I have to break it down. Juicy Juice is the most awesome of all juices and this Berry variety is one of their favorites. I like them to get a healthy juice intake daily so we often make “spritzers”. Simply pour in half a glass of Juicy Juice Berry, then top the other half off with Sprite and you have the perfect Scare Juice Spritzer. Just ask them. They love the flavor and bubble combination.
You should know that Juicy Juice is hosting a Monster-Sized Giveaway right now. Just buy specially marked packages of Juicy Juice (like the 64 oz 100% all natural Berry Juice blend above for only $2.68), enter the game code to redeem the instant-win prize revealed, plus enter their sweepstakes for your chance to win a family trip to Pixar Studios and a $5,000 cash scholarship. I sure entered and it only took minutes!
The chili was ready and in the meantime, I’d made some sauces for the Monster Fingers (Tyson Chicken Fries since that’s all Bubby will eat and he had to have some fun food too). My homemade low sodium BBQ sauce for B, Blood (ketchup) for Bubby, and Sulley Blue Sauce for Bug (regular ranch dressing mixed with about 6 squirts of blue food coloring). We were ready for our monsterlicious meal!
Bubby enjoyed his bloody fingers.
Bug delighted in her eyeball chili and scare juice spritzer after devouring her monster fingers with Sulley blue sauce.
And it was time for cupcakes. Life is good.
I cleaned up my mess and it was high time that the family sat down to watch a good movie and just relax. Monsters Inc. to get us geared up for Monsters U seemed to be in order, right?
Right! Bubby couldn’t be more adorable, and he couldn’t be happier than he was watching the movie with his family while holding tight to his new Monsters U merchandise. It was an awesome evening full of fun and delicious food, wonderful drinks, and most importantly family bonding.
Stay up to date on all the scary happenings at Monsters U by following along on Facebook and Twitter. And be sure to follow Nestle on Facebook and Twitter to find out more about all of the amazing Juicy Juice flavors and varieties. And don’t forget to enter the Juicy Juice Monster-Sized Giveaway for your chance to win big!
What do you do for fun in your house? Do you have themed nights often? Are you as excited about Monsters U as we are? We love Monsters Inc. and I’m certain this movie won’t disappoint.
We did have a blast, but the meltdowns meant no Monsters University or swimming. 🙁
I love this so much. Taking the everyday and elevating it for our little ones. Great job!
And it’s so easy to make them smile. That makes me smile.
What a cute idea!
You are so creative! My son would go gaga if I made him these eyeball meatballs! I love it!!