Tag Archives: after school snacks

Fun Friday: Jelly Thumbprint Cookies for a great after school snack

10 Dec
Once I tried these cookies the first time, I knew the recipe was a keeper!

Once I tried these cookies the first time, I knew the recipe was a keeper!

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 2, 2014

I tend to enjoy cookies of the chocolate variety.

I know, you’re completely shocked by this news.

However, last year when I made my cookie trays, I thought the chocolate was a little bit overwhelming to the non-chocolate choices on my trays.

What if someone doesn’t like chocolate?

Doubtful, but what if?

Then they’d only have two of my cookies to choose from: Snickerdoodles and Oatmeal Scotchies. I felt like I needed another option for this year’s trays. I wanted something easy, something without a ton of ingredients or steps.

Enter the Jelly Thumbprint cookie.

I had a Chocolate Thumbprint cookie, but these would be completely different, other than the thumbs.

I went to Allrecipes.com and found this recipe, and modified it to suit my own needs.

I made it a little bit healthier, with the addition of some wheat flour and by using I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.  I didn’t want the peanut butter glaze, so I just left them plain.

I first made them as an after school snack, making half with strawberry jelly and half with grape. The kids loved them so I decided they’d make it onto the trays. This year I’d been invited to participate in a cookie swap, so I made a double batch of these, using half for the swap, some for a Christmas party we were going to, and the rest for my trays.

They were a hit, all around!

This is a cookie that can be made for my family throughout the year, and I intend to make them a permanent addition to my trays in the future as well.

Below is the recipe from Allrecipes.com as it appears on their site, along with my modifications. If you’d like to make them with the peanut butter, you can try that as well!

Jelly Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used one cup of white, one cup of wheat flour)
1/2 cup grape jelly (I also used strawberry jelly)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I skipped the peanut butter)
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil (When skipping the peanut butter, no use for the oil either)
Directions:
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C); line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth; add the vanilla and continue to beat. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and arrange on prepared baking sheets. Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger; fill the holes with grape jam.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 14 minutes; allow to cool on baking sheet for 1 minute.
4. Put the peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl, and cook in a microwave oven until soft for 10 – 30 seconds, checking every 10 seconds. Be careful not to overheat the peanut butter; do not let it bubble. Stir the vegetable oil through the heated peanut butter; drizzle over the warm cookies.

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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: A grab-and-go meal for any time of day

12 Sep

A new grab-and-go idea from my friend Gina!

I love social media and the ability to find new ideas from people who’ve either thought of them first, or tried them out first, and been successful.

Recently, our friend Gina had shared that she has successfully made ahead and frozen egg sandwiches as a quick grab-and-go breakfast either for school days or camping trips or whenever they’re most needed. She uses Bagel Thins and her family loves them.

I decided that this school year, as soon as I had some time, I’d try out her idea for my family. I always have great intentions, and I can’t always do something like this all the time, but I figure that any time I can be prepared ahead of time, is better than not.

Eight bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches were ready to go.

This past weekend, I was able to get the Bagel Thins and give this a try, and I was so happy when my daughter was able to grab a quick egg sandwich for her breakfast later on in the week, deeming the meal a success.

Gina’s instructions were simple: be sure each part of the sandwich is fully cooled, and wrap in paper towels for reheating. The Bagel Thins bag makes for great storage in and of itself, so I just cooked, cooled, wrapped, labeled and froze.

As I was cooking, my daughter Liz was so excited and before even trying one out, she requested sausage patties for the next time around, so I knew she had high expectations for this trial. I used precooked bacon to cut down on some of the prep time (one slice cut in half per sandwich), and I used my counter-top griddle to cook the eggs all at once. I was able to cook six and then two. I cooled them all on a cookie sheet, which I’d popped in the oven for a couple of minutes first, just to fully melt the cheese.

I hope that I can continue this meal prep idea as it gives us an additional breakfast or on-the-go meal for those times when we want something filling and don’t have a lot of time to make anything.

Storing these right in the bag was super convenient.

I appreciate the sharing of ideas from all of my family and friends, and I love this idea from Gina. I hope that we can continue to make these throughout the school year, along with other grab-and-go ideas for those busy days and nights. I encourage you to give it a try too, if you’re looking for something new for your own family’s busy schedule.

Have a great week!

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Fun Friday: Three ingredient cookies

10 Mar

I added a fourth ingredient…can you guess what it is?

Good morning and TGIF!

Happy Friday to you all. It’s been a little bit since I did a Fun Friday post, so I thought I’d share a fun one with you this week.

My whole “after school snack” routine has gotten a bit derailed lately, mostly because many days no one is coming right home after school, which makes me really the only one who is home and hungry and means I’m always throwing an extra snack into everyone’s backpack to get them through the day. They eat lunch so early in the morning at school that they are starving by 3:00.

Additionally, since my youngest has had to go gluten free a little more than a year ago, one of the things she often takes for lunch is muffins (gluten free, obviously). That knocks off a good 3/4 of my go-to after school snack ideas. I love muffins and I loved making them to eat after school because then we have them for breakfast the next day, if there are any left. Now, out of convenience, I buy six packs of freshly made muffins, four varieties at a time every couple of weeks, at our local gluten free bakery, A&J’s, and I freeze them. By the time she eats lunch they have thawed.

I try to make my snacks healthy as often as I can, and so in going gluten free, I’ve relied on many dips (like this one from 2012 or this one from 2013), cheese and apples, fruit platters and the like. However, I did find a go-to cookie recipe that is fast, easy, healthy and gluten free, as long as you have gluten free oats, which I always do (thanks Bob’s Red Mill!). I have seen this recipe on several sites, and the one I am sharing today is from Recipe Diaries. I have seen versions of these cooked in the oven and I have even seen some that are microwaved. I have only ever cooked mine in the oven.

This week when I made these, I used 3 bananas and 1 1/2 cups of oats to make more cookies. I am also partial to Craisins over raisins, so I used a box of Craisins that is the lunchbox snack size (mostly because that’s what I had on hand) and it was the perfect amount. I’m also VERY partial to chocolate chips, so I threw some of those in too. In the past I have subbed dried pomegranates for the fruit and they were tasty too. Almost anything goes.

I have always tried to make my kids aware of serving sizes when it comes to food, and they always ask me how many or how much of something they are allowed to have, especially when it comes to something like muffins or cookies. With these, it’s nice to know that although they still can’t have an unlimited amount, at least the ones they are having are really pretty healthy, overall. They make a great snack and they satisfy my craving for a little something sweet.

I encourage you to try out the recipe at Recipe Diaries, and have a great weekend!

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My new favorite pan with my forever favorite recipe

25 Apr
These granola bars were the best ones I'd ever made, thanks to my new pan.

These granola bars were the best ones I’d ever made, thanks to my new pan.

Good morning!

It’s been a very long time since I did a blog post! An entire month! I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long between posts before, but it’s just been a very busy time here. We have had some work being done in the house since February, regular work, school and activities going on, and even a little computer virus thrown in there on my work computer for good measure.

Through it all, we’ve been plugging along and I even had the opportunity to finally try out a new pan that I’d received after my January virtual Pampered Chef party. It was my last tool that I had yet to open, and when I finally did, I fell in love. Again. Pampered Chef is just the best.

The new pan is their Brownie Pan, and it’s one I’d always thought about getting but never had. I’d heard that there were so many things you could do with it. With 12 spots, it creates 12 corner piece brownies, but it also can create anything you’d like portioned out into individual portions from Shepherd’s Pie, to muffins, to lasagna, to really anything at all. No matter what I’m making, I always love the corner pieces and even my mom will save them for me when she bakes, so this pan really appealed to me.

I loved the perfect portioning, and I loved that every piece was a corner piece.

I loved the perfect portioning, and I loved that every piece was a corner piece.

For my first time I decided to try one of our favorite recipes I’ve been making as an after school snack for years: homemade granola bars. I had originally posted it here in 2012 but I hadn’t made them in a little while. I knew the kids would be excited and as soon as they walked in the door, they’d know what was on tap for snack. I chose to make the chocolate version, which always gets rave reviews.

The granola bars were even more of a hit than usual! They came out evenly portioned and evenly cooked, and by far were the best I’d ever made. They were also gluten free because I used gluten free oats. I promised that I’d make a double batch the next time, which is going to be sooner than later, for sure. Normally I like to make enough to have leftovers for lunchbag snacks, but these went so quickly, they didn’t seem to last very long at all.

You can order the pan here through my consultant Marcia’s website if you’d like to give it a try! I’d love to know if you already have the pan and if so, you can write your favorite thing to bake in it, other than brownies, in the comment section below.

Have a great week!

 

 

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Carrot Cake Muffins

24 Sep
Breakfast, snack or dessert? All of the above!

Breakfast, snack or dessert? All of the above!

Good morning!

My blogging schedule is so off this school year, but I’m getting posts in whenever I can for you, and I know you’ll think this one was definitely worth the wait!

Today’s is one that’s been on my editorial calendar since the spring when a friend of mine shared photos of these Carrot Cake Muffins on Facebook. I asked her for the recipe right away and she sent me this one from Allrecipes.com, a favorite site of mine when looking for new recipes.

I knew right away my kids would like these, especially if I added a little icing made with confectioner’s sugar. I mean really, what’s not to love??

My favorite thing about them is that I’m sneaking in a little bit of vegetables that normally they might not all eat. I have since made these multiple times. One afternoon I only had time to make the muffins, not the icing, and left that recipe out for my oldest to do on her own at home. It worked out perfectly.

I love anything that can double or triple in its job, and these muffins do just that. They can be a breakfast, an after school or late night snack, or even a dessert. Although we’ve always had them with the icing, I’m sure they’d be delicious without it also. Most times when I’ve made this in the afternoon, I bag up the leftovers into bags of two muffins each, and that’s a breakfast or a lunchbox snack for the next day too.

You can click here for the muffin recipe from Allrecipes.com, and below is the Powdered Sugar Icing recipe that we use each time.

Powdered Sugar Icing (taken from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook tenth edition, copyright 1989)

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Milk or orange juice (We usually do milk.)

Mix powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk or juice. Stir in milk or juice, one teaspoon at a time, till of drizzling consistency.

Makes 1/2 cup or enough to drizzle over one 10-inch tube cake.

Let cake stand two hours before slicing.  (We do let our muffins cool first, but not for two hours.)

 

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Fun Friday: Nutella Crescents

15 May
The most-requested after school snack!

The most-requested after school snack!

TGIF!

Happy Friday!

This week seems to have flown by. The weather is nice and work, school and activities are keeping us busy. Summer will be here before we know it, with school getting out in about four weeks’ time.

Not that I’m counting down or anything.

Today I wanted to share a quick and easy snack, that has quickly become a frequent request. I started making it after seeing some video floating around on social media where someone was spreading Nutella on some sort of dough, rolling it and baking it for a delicious looking dessert. I never actually got to watch the whole video, but I kept seeing it pass by and it stuck with me.

Nutella Crescents 2One day I remembered to grab some lowfat crescent roll tubes at the store and I always have Nutella on hand, so when I had a chance, I decided to see what I could come up with for a different after school snack. I spread the crescents out, spread Nutella on the inside, and sprinkled some cinnamon and sugar inside. I rolled the crescents as usual, and I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top, adding a dab of butter (we use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter) on top. I baked them until they were golden brown and served them.

A huge hit. I can’t even emphasize enough how much they all love these little snacks.

I’ve filled them the same way with just butter, cinnamon and sugar when I didn’t have enough Nutella for two cans of crescents, and they were a hit as well.

I mean really, what’s not to love?

These are such a simple snack. They can be made by the kids too. Anything that can be made by the kids is a plus in my book.

I’ve made these more times than I can count. I now buy the crescents on a regular basis and I’ve made them when the kids have had friends over, as well as for just us. I’m even planning to make them for an event this weekend.

If you’re looking for something quick and easy, and of course, delicious, give them a try!

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Fun Friday: Raisin Bran Muffins

9 May
Another great muffin recipe!

Another great muffin recipe!

Some people are ever-searching for the next great chocolate chip cookie recipe or the best-ever brownie recipe.

Not me.

I’m all about muffins. I’m always searching for another great muffin recipe to try out.

Each time I find one, I get excited because each and every muffin recipe is completely different from the last.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted one,  I’ve really tried to hold off, but today I just had to post a new one.

This was sent to me by my friend Gina, and it was a huge hit here at our house. I liked it because I love raisin bran muffins in general, I love the sweetness of cooked raisins, and because it makes a lot of muffins. One of the reasons I hunt down so many muffin recipes is because I often use them as after school snacks one day and breakfast the next. This recipe made enough that it was perfect for that endeavor.

The recipe originally hails from Pinch of Yum, according to the page I printed out with the recipe on it and the author is listed as Angela Oldenburger. She recommends using some of the batter as needed at first and saving the extra in the fridge to cook in a ramekin one serving at a time, at a later date. If you choose to do that, you would microwave the batter for one minute in the ramekin. I did not do that, I made all of mine at once. They go too quickly here!

I am putting this very easy recipe below. I hope you’ll try it and I hope you’ll pay a visit to Pinch of Yum and see all the deliciousness over there!

RAISIN BRAN MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup of oil

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

2 cups of buttermilk (sub one cup of milk and one cup of plain yogurt) ***I used 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and enough milk added to that to make 2 cups.***

Fast, easy and yielding a large amount of muffins, this was the perfect recipe for me!

Fast, easy and yielding a large amount of muffins, this was the perfect recipe for me!

4 cups Raisin Bran cereal

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

1 Mix in order and bake in muffin tin at 400 degrees for 12-20 minutes, depending on pan size. Let cool at least ten minutes. Top with butter and honey.

2. Save leftover batter in the refrigerator. For individual servings, scoop into ramekin/mug and microwave for one minute.

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Visit my newest post for SheKnows and Mott’s!

1 Apr
My first of two posts for Motts is up!

My first of two posts for Motts is up!

I’m excited to announce that I have a new post up on SheKnows.com!

The post is for Mott’s juices and I hope you’ll check it out!

You can view the post by visiting this link.

In the post I will talk about the after school snack I made and served with Mott’s juice. Having all the right tools and ingredients on hand made it easy to make this after school snack!

You will also be able to view this post on the See My Sponsored Posts page.

Enjoy!

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A new after school dip from Budget Gourmet Mom

22 Mar

Chocolate chip cookie dough dip...how could I resist trying this one?

I follow several different blogs and one of the ones I really love is the Budget Gourmet Mom blog. I actually wait all day long to see what is going to pop up in my inbox each afternoon. She and I seem to have the same taste, the same love of chocolate and the same frugal lifestyle when it comes to cooking.

Last week when Krista posted a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip, I knew I just had to try it out.  Now Krista is not just a great cook, but she takes beautiful photos of her food. You have to go over and check them out. Everything always looks so pretty, right down to the wood on her table. It’s very different from when I take my photos, on top of the stove, the counter, or wherever I can find a space. She also has a way of writing while she shows her photos. I just love to read her blog, it’s thoroughly enjoyable.  And, Krista has a ton of kids, I think four of them, so I can’t say she has nothing better to do, because she’s super busy too.

I tried this out last week, and my kids enjoyed it, but they still stand by the peanut butter yogurt dip as their favorite.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 tblsp cream cheese, softened
  • 1 heaping tblsp light brown sugar
  • 6 oz lowfat vanilla yogurt
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a medium bowl use a spoon to work the brown sugar into the cream cheese. Stir until combined.
  2. Add the yogurt and stir until creamy. You may want to use a mixer to fluff it a bit but it’s not necessary.
  3. Fold in the chocolate chips and serve with graham crackers, fruit, or pretzels.

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