Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Here’s a fun and simple low or zero waste dessert for Valentine’s Day or any day. Have fun making these with your kids to add a little festive spirit or special joy to a day without a lot of fuss.

This is part of a series, Simply Relish, about limiting waste and making the most of what we have in our kitchens to create simple and tasty recipes while reducing our impact on the planet.

One day a week, I stay home with J. Inevitably, we spend some portion of the day running errands. We go to the grocery store together almost every week, and he thoroughly dreads it (even when I promise he can snag a snack of his choice). I spend an hour or two catching up on work emails or taking calls while he watches shows, does art projects or meanders through activity books. 

As much as possible though, I try to plan at least one fun activity each Wednesday. This week, in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, we made chocolate covered strawberries. 

Despite knowing exactly what lay ahead, he still complained about the grocery store visit to buy the chocolate wafers and strawberries. We almost canceled our plan due to his lack of cooperation. He finally acquiesced when he negotiated to buy raspberries in addition to strawberries, so he could dip both in his beloved melted chocolate. I agreed without hesitation, of course. He was asking to buy fresh fruit! And so we were off.

At the store, he insisted that we use one of the carts that looks like a race car and a steering wheel. When I first moved from downtown to Chicago (where no store had space for these monsters) to the ‘burbs of a big city, I remember the day my boys discovered these carts. I cringed. Now, however, they “drive” through the store while I “give them directions” like the GPS app on my phone. It’s pretty cute, and it keeps them entertained (i.e. out of trouble). 

I dictated directions to J as he steered the cart from bananas to strawberries to raspberries and then, finally, to the bulk section to pick up just the right amount of chocolate wafers to make a dozen or so chocolate covered strawberries and about the same number of chocolate covered raspberries. 

I love that buying bulk lets us buy exactly how much we need of something. I never get stuck with a tiny bit of an ingredient left over or buying a second package to use just a bit of it. 

Also, J is becoming a bulk section pro. He knows how to fill our bags, where to find the product code on the bin, and how to weigh the bag.

We took our ingredients home and couldn’t wait to whip these up. I set up the double boiler for J and he got to work, doing almost all of the prep himself. He stirred and dipped each strawberry and raspberry into the delicious melted chocolate. Not every strawberry turned out Pinterest perfect, but they all tasted equally delicious (and I much prefer four-year old handmade dessert over Pinterest perfect presentation).

Chocolate covered strawberries are so easy to make despite having a rather fancy reputation. I’ve included recipe instructions below so you can make your own for a fun and very festive Valentine’s Day dessert for your family that is inexpensive, simple, and almost zero waste. 

Enjoy and indulge!