Next up in the movie snack series: Aladdin, and this loaded hummus plate!
Aladdin was one of my favorites as a kid, so I was really excited to introduce it to the littles. It was a trickier one to plan a snack for, though, since there isn’t many food references in the movie to work off of!
Happy National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day! As the mom of two kids who treat PB&J as a food group, I knew I had to make something fun to mark the day.
These Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins are the perfect treat for PB&J day!
This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to help in the creation of the #SpringSweetsWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.
I’m switching gears a little bit today to bring you a fun spring treat that’s also healthy!
These fun popsicles are made with Nancy’s Organic Whole Milk Yogurt – which make them a great snack anytime, especially for kids!
When I was pregnant with Jake, I used to crave everything pizza. I joked that this blog was going to turn into “how many different ways can you make pizza”. With Julie, it was burgers. Now that I’m a mom? I feel like I’m constantly trying to remix my kids’ number one request – hot dogs.
These fun hot dog sliders are the perfect, kid-friendly party food for the big game. The slider size is perfect for the snacky occasion, and gives you the opportunity to customize them up differently based on everyone’s tastes. They’re novel enough that the adults will enjoy them, but they’re hot dogs, so they’ll win the kids’ hearts too.
Looking for the perfect treat for breakfast on Thanksgiving or Christmas? Look no further than these Cranberry Pecan Doughnuts!
You know what I love more than holiday dinners? Holiday breakfasts. Dinners always seem to demand a certain amount of structure and tradition – but anything goes for breakfast.
These Cranberry Pecan Doughnuts are on point with the seasonal flavors, but they’re not fussy and can be made the day before, so they’re perfect for a holiday.
The pecans and cranberries are chopped pretty small using the food processor, which makes an even flavor and texture throughout the doughnuts. There’s also orange juice and zest in these. The orange flavor doesn’t come through strong, but it does add a nice balance!
I’m excited to be sharing this recipe as part of Cranberry Week – now in it’s third year! See all the tasty cranberry recipes being shared today below and follow #cranberryweek on social media for more ideas all week long.
Cranberry Pecan Doughnuts
(from Inspiring Pretty)
Makes 1 dozen
For the doughnuts:
3/4 cup cranberries
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. orange zest
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cups milk
For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. orange zest
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and spray your doughnut pans with non-stick spray.
Add the cranberries, pecans, and brown sugar to a food processor. Process until chopped into small, even pieces.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a larger bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and sugar until creamed. Stir in the vanilla, eggs, and orange zest. Stir in some of the flour mixture, then some of the milk – alternating until all combined, ending with milk. Stir in the cranberry mixture.
Spoon the batter evenly into the doughnut pans, filling halfway. Bake for 10-14 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool completely.
When the doughnuts are cool, add all of the glaze ingredients to a small bowl and stir until well combined. Drizzle or pipe over the doughnuts.
Cranberry Orange muffins are my favorite. I love cranberry and orange together, and this time of year always feels like muffin weather. Curl up with one of these and a hot beverage and you’ve got the perfect fall treat.
These are an easy one to mix up and I love that it makes a relatively small batch – great for a small family brunch.
The flavors are bright. Orange juice and orange zest make the batter a sunny color, and the fresh cranberries add a great tart bite to these. I love these fresh out of the oven, but you can also pop them in the oven or toaster to warm up the next day and they’re also fabulous.
I’m excited to be sharing this recipe as part of Cranberry Week – now in it’s third year! See all the tasty cranberry recipes being shared today below and follow #cranberryweek on social media for more ideas all week long.
Cranberry Orange Muffins
(from Joyful Healthy Eats)
Makes 12 Muffins
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup cranberries
1 egg
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp. grated orange zest
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in cranberries.
In another bowl, whisk together the egg, orange juice, orange zest, and coconut oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.
What are you being for Halloween this year? So far, we’ve got a purple dinosaur and Frankenstein’s monster. (And I’m hoping it doesn’t change at this point, since I bought the fabric to make them!)
As much as I love Halloween, it can be a little hectic. Aside from making costumes, we have two trunk or treats to prep for, the preschool costume parade, and classroom party – not to mention Halloween itself. Oh, and all the “real life” stuff happening this month too.
I can’t believe we’re already talking back to school, but here we are. I feel like we lost most of our summer to the move (because, we did), so I’m sort of wishing these next few weeks would slow down a bit. We still have a lot on our summer bucket lists that we want to check off!
But, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit excited about back to school. I can’t wait to get everyone back on a routine and have life be somewhat normal again. This move, man. It’s really thrown us off our groove!
I’m also excited about getting the kids back on some sort of normal eating schedule. What is it about summer that makes them want snacks ALL THE TIME? As soon as I was mixing these up they were both in the kitchen, asking incessantly when they’d be done.
These totally got the kids’ seal of approval. And mine. I know no-bake granola bars are generally more popular, but in my opinion, you just can’t beat the chewiness you get from baked ones. They would make a really rocking lunchbox treat or after school snack.
And if you’re looking for more back-to-school inspiration, I’m linking up with some other bloggers today. From quick breakfasts to specials treats – and everything in between – they’ve got you covered:
Quick Tarts for School Lunches by Our Good Life
Peanut Butter Granola Bars
(adapted from Just a Taste)
Makes 18
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Like a 9×13″ pan with parchment and spray with non-stick spray.
With an electric mixer, beat together the peanut butter, honey, egg, oil, and vanilla until smooth.
In another bowl, combine the oats, sugar, and salt. Add the oats to the peanut butter mixture and stir until evenly combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and pat down evenly.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are golden-brown. Set on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
Cool completely, and then slice into 18 equal pieces.
The kids’ nap schedules have been wonky lately, so I’ve been getting some solo time with Julie while big brother naps – which means she’s been getting some kitchen projects of her own. Our favorite has become blender muffins.
The idea behind blender muffins is that you just dump all the ingredients in to mix, then pour into the muffin pan. It’s super quick and easy and only takes about five minutes – which is about her attention span.
The payoff is a great, healthy snack or an easy breakfast!
Kids can:
Adults will need to:
Blender Banana Muffins
(from Baked in Arizona)
Makes 24 Mini Muffins
1 cup peanut butter
2 medium sized ripe bananas
2 eggs
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
Dash of vanilla, optional
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a mini muffin pan. Set aside.
Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into muffin wells.
Bake 8-9 minutes.
For Christmas, my cousin gave Jake his own set of cooking tools – a mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, a whisk, an apron… the works. He’s absolutely enthralled with it. We rearranged a cabinet so all of his stuff could be kept where he could reach it and – you guessed it – he’s been begging to help with dinner nearly every night since.
I love cooking with the kids. I really do. But on a Thursday evening when I’m just trying to get something on the table before everyone start melting down, the last thing I want to do is slow down enough for toddler hands – so I’ve been working on giving him his own, supplemental project to help with.
Like guacamole as I work on the burritos.
This, by far, isn’t the fanciest guac recipe out there, but it’s perfect for a kid to help with (or do mostly themselves – Jake did!)
Kids can:
Adults will need to:
Easy Guacamole
(from Jake’s Amazing Chef set!)
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
2-3 ripe avocados
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
Tortilla chips, for serving
Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Scoop the flesh into a bowl and mash.
Stir in the lime juice, tomato, and salt.
Serve with chips.
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