Cake Mix Peanut Butter Bars

So yesterday happened, which was a Sunday, and my husband was craving a dessert with peanut butter in it. Specifically, peanut butter bars. The catch? We only had 1 stick of butter. Since we don't go shopping on Sundays I was up for a bit of a challenge in finding something that would satisfy his craving!

But you guys, I did it! And, of course, it's a Six Sisters Stuff recipe. I swear between them and Pioneer Woman they are always saving the day.

I was a little skeptical at the whole cake mix idea of it. I was sure the texture would be way too off to be considered a "bar." The recipe was so dang easy though it was worth it to just go for it and see what happened.

Well, here you have it! Freakin' YUM! I love these things. My husband says that the cake flavor mixed with the peanut butter isn't quite up to his standards, but it satisfied what he was after. I, on the other hand, had zero issue with the cake flavor mixed with the peanut butter! I thought the whole thing was great and we both agreed that the texture was definitely that of a bar!

What you will need:

Bars-

• 1 box vanilla cake mix
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C water
• 1 C peanut butter

Frosting-

• 1 stick (1/2 c) butter, softened
• 1/4 C milk
• 3 T cocoa powder
• 1-2 tsp. vanilla (I used 2)
• 2-3 C powdered sugar (I ended up using 2 1/2)

Directions:

Bars-

• Preheat oven to 350*
• Spray a 13x9 baking dish with non stick spray
• Mix cake mix, egg, water and peanut butter together until mixed well
• Pour and spread mixture into the 13x9 dish
• Bake about 20-25 minutes
• When completely cooled, spread frosting on top

Frosting-

• Mix all ingredients together until a smooth frosting forms. Add powdered sugar as needed for desired consistency
• Spread over the top of the peanut butter bars

Banana Muffins

So these are preetttyy much exactly like my banana bread recipe. Except I've got this with a little less sugar, no cinnamon flavors and some baking powder thrown into the mix. I of course kept my brown sugar in there because once I started doing it that way I couldn't stop. :)

These are very frickin' delicious. I usually get around 14 muffins using a regular sized muffin tin. I've been reaching for this recipe more often than banana bread once my bananas are ready because they bake up in 15 minutes (13 minutes if it's my oven) instead of nearly an hour with the loaf of banana bread!

What you will need:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed up
• 1/3 c butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/3 c brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 c all purpose flour

Directions:

•  Preheat oven to 350*
• Spray a muffin pan, or place cupcake liners
• Mix all wet ingredients together in a mixing bowl (mashed bananas, melted butter, egg and vanilla)
• Add in the sugars and mix well
• Add in the baking soda and baking powder and mix well
• Add in the flour a little at a time mixing well between each addition
• Scoop batter into each muffin tin about 3/4 of the way full (I use a large cookie scoop which makes it go by really fast and no mess!)

Mini Pizza Pops

So these were originally Mini Deep Dish Pizza's using muffin tins, but I didn't love the idea of my kids biting into a cup of pizza sauce. So we made them like this and called them pizza pops cause they could just pop'em in their mouth.

Their texture is perfect! They crisp up nicely on the bottom and kind of curl up a tad around the edges. Needless to say my kids went crazy for them! Using just 1 tortilla, I got 12 mini's out of it so each of my girls got to make 6. It was the perfect after school snack. It actually filled them up enough and I didn't hear any requests for snacks before dinner! That's pretty darn huge ;).

What you will need: 

• Tortilla's
• Pizza sauce
• Mozzerella cheese
• Mini pepperoni's
• Any other pizza toppings you like

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425*
• Cut circles out of a tortilla, whatever size you like, though the mini's are pretty darn cute
• Add your pizza sauce, cheese and toppings
• Lay mini's down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
• Bake for about 10 minutes 

3 Ingredient Homemade Cheeze-Its

This week I decided not to refill the kids "snack box." They get to pick out one after school every day, but the choices were things like cookies, chips and, you guessed it, cheeze-its.

So I got all ambitious this week and was like hey, surely I can come up with snack box level deliciousness that won't cost my kids health quite so much. I stumbled on these homemade cheeze-its and thought well, at least these aren't going to be packed with over 20 crap ingredients.

The very best part about these? My kids LOVED them! My husband said they taste exactly like Cheeze It's....just....fresher. You're basically just eating baked cheese :). I call this a 3 ingredient recipe, but technically there's 4 if you count the 2 T water.....so...sorry I lied to you.

A few notes about this recipe:

On a scale of 1-10, the crunch/crispy factor was at about 7 with my first batch (I purposely baked small batches so I could do test runs first and not ruin them all at once). I made sure my cheese and butter were both room temperature so I thought about other ways to get them crispier. I tried rolling out the dough even thinner and baked them for about 10 minutes longer than the recipe says. (That was weird, considering that I usually have to cut my cooking time for most recipes with how my oven is). I also turned on the broiler for a minute at the end and I think that kicked up the score to a 9.

After using the 2 T of water like the recipe said, the mixture still looked dry and crumbly in the food processor. I decided to feel it and see how it was doing. It was PERFECT! So, make sure you feel the dough after the initial 2 T, you should be able to mold it all together into a smooth ball. It was a lot like play-dough. Hey.....a play dough recipe I won't panic if my 1 1/2 year old eats! Wahoo!

There was no specifics on how long to chill the dough. I stuck mine in the freezer for about 10 minutes the first time (remember that was the batch that resulted in a 7 on the crispy scale). So I left the dough in the freezer about 20 minutes the next couple times around. I think that helped!

I added some kosher salt to the crackers right before I put them in the oven on my last two batches. the first batch wasn't salty enough for me even with the original recipe calling for 1 tsp. salt. So I would just skip that part and add crunchy salt to the tops instead (but I have an insane salt tooth so judge it for yourself!)

All in all, make sure you're rolling the dough out thin enough and chilling the dough long enough and these will be perfection!

What you will need:

• 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, room temp.
• 1 C all purpose flour
• 4 T butter, room temp
• 1 tsp. salt (optional)
• 2 T ice water

Directions:

• Add grated cheese, flour, butter and optional salt into a food processor and pulse until it's blended into a fine crumbly mixture
• Add in the water and blend until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the processor (will probably still look crumbly, but FEEL IT for a playdough-like consistency first before adding more water) 
• Preheat oven to 350*
• Shape dough into a ball and chill in plastic wrap until dough is more firm (keeping mine in the freezer for about 20 minutes I think gave me the best results)
• Roll the dough to 1/8" thick and slice with a pizza cutter into little squares
• Use a toothhpick or skewer to poke holes into the middles
• Add salt if desired
• Bake for about 15 minutes and check every 5 minutes after that until they are desired crispiness

PREP YOUR SNACKS THE FAST, CHEAP AND EASY WAY!

With a baby on the way and two kids FULL of energy and constantly hitting a new growth spurt, I decided it was time to get a bit more organized with their snacking situation. I'd like to say it's because I'm really into healthy eating and such, but really I am just too big and too uncomfortable to go help them get a snack EVERY. TEN. MINUTES.

 I think I spend a good chunk of my days distracting them from snacking. Either they get bored so they think about snacks, or they are completely off the wall and burn so much energy they are literally starving. I found myself just being too tired to care and being like, "um, sure, if you can find a snack yourself you can have it." This resulted in them frequently finding little candies or a giant spoonful of Nutella :).

I thought about getting snacks prepped, but in my mind that meant I'd just be spending more money and more time on them. So I was really obsessed about making sure that this was something I could actually keep up with and not have it break my food budget each week. After putting all this together and seeing how long it would actually take each week, I was shocked. It did not take long at ALL. The grapes might have taken the longest, but I don't actually know that because my kids prepped them for me and it took them about 5 minutes tops, and the ENTIRE food prep process took approximately 15 minutes (not including the yogurt buttons, but those seriously go by super fast, too) So, as for doing it and making sure it wasn't costing me a fortune, let me break it all down for you on why I chose each thing I did :).

First of all, I found a cool app called "Fooducate." You can scan items at the grocery store and it will give you an overall health "grade" of said item. You can click "why" it was given that grade and also click "alternatives" with a list of options that have a better grade. You can search items and add items and AH, it's just amazing.

We also just got a Mandolin Slicer to make the chopping/slicing go faster. However, I didn't use it for any of this prep and like I already said, it went by so fast. I'll test it out with the mandolin and see how much faster it makes everything. But I'm all about finding ways that everyone can do things with what they already have :). Anyway, moving on.

FRIDGE SNACKS

I really tried to think about what my family truly likes, plus a few things they think are only "okay" to see if my tactic would help them reach for the healthies a bit more. I also got the actual SNACK size bags so I wouldn't feel like I needed to fill up a full sandwich bag for just a snack. I was also worried about the cost of using so many bags, but with the exception of the ham&cheese and strawberries, I don't mind just rinsing them out and reusing them.  I chose:

*Cucumbers
Not pictured, because they didn't have any at the store when I went. I'm checking back later so I can slice them up for my oldest, she's the cucumber queen!

*Apples
Also not pictured. I looked at many different ways to slice them without them turning brown, but most of them required to soak them in soda (and NOT rinse them before bagging them) or covering them in lemon juice. My kids like to eat an apple whole anyway, so they're just in the fruit drawer for them to pull out if they want instead of in a baggie and it's fine.

*Strawberries

Really I don't ever plan on actually saving money on strawberries. It will always feel like I'm spending a ton on those haha.

*Grapes

Grape bags always come with SO MANY GRAPES. It's hard to buy a bag/package and feel like you didn't waste your money because it's nearly impossible to eat them all before they get gross. Plucking them, washing them and bagging them makes them feel more manageable and less wasted!

*Mandarin Orange cups (not the healthiest way to go about this one but I already had them so why not)

*Carrots

I use to buy the little bags of mini carrots or pre chopped. I'm not sure why I ever did that. I got the bag of a bunch of whole carrots for a buck and peeled/cut them myself. It seriously took me about 3 minutes, if that. 

*Snap peas

This is one of those "only okay" veggies to my family. They'll rarely get eaten if the full bag is just sitting in the fridge. But stick 'em in a little snack portion baggie (or in my case, I made a few "blended" baggies with the carrots) and it's so much easier to get yourself to eat them

*Cheese sticks and ham

OKAY. So this is probably my favorite. At first I thought, duh I'll get string cheese and some lunch meat. And then I thought about how much money that actually is and I was like nope, never mind. Especially since the lunch meat in the packaged meats section is usually ....... not even meat :(. Haha! I decided to just use the cheese I already buy and cut them into sticks myself. I used FOUR SLICES of cheese is all (once slice per bag). And as for the meat, I like to get black forest ham from the deli for ham & swiss slider sandwiches and sandwiches throughout the week anyway. So I honestly just got a little extra for the snacking and it cost me about $1.50 more. That was worth it to me not be giving them crap meat and also have enough on hand for extra things.

*Celery/Peanut butter

I actually didn't do this. My kids hate celery. *I* hate celery, and my husband likes celery as a way to lick peanut butter. I spent about 2 bucks on a package of 50 mini plastic cups with lids so I could have the option of adding dips to things, but didn't use it for this! 

*Boiled eggs

I do plan on doing this, I just didn't think about it until after I was all done bagging everything and I felt like what I had was enough for the week. 

*Cherry tomatoes

This would be a great idea....if my husband and littlest (the only ones in the family that like tomatoes) liked cherry tomatoes. Picky, picky, ;) I figure when my 3 year old requests a tomato for a snack I can handle cutting one up for her, since it probably won't be super often.

One thing I was worried about is that all the fruits/ham/cheese would disappear before the veggies. So my rules is that the veggies have to be gone before we can refill any of the other snacks the next week.

CUPBOARD SNACKS

I purposely made this snack section smaller so they'd reach for the healthier items in the fridge more often (it works).  Clearly you could choose healthier options here.

*Fruit snacks

 The fruit snacks could be replaced with fruit leathers instead. But I honestly kind of hate those and I'm not going to pretend like it's worthy my money. They are the most sticky pieces of crap ever, despite how healthy they are. Sorry. Plus, with these being the most sugary treat out the box, I can use them as leverage; "you can have a snack from the fridge but if you want a fruit snack you'll need to put your clothes away first. " HA

*Granola bars

There are definitely healthier granola bars in this world, but almost all of them are secretly not even that healthy, and the ones that actually, truly ARE....you might as well eat some cardboard or dry oatmeal. So I opted for a kind that's tasty and on sale :). I got 10 of these for 2 bucks, vs. $5 for 4 of the "healthy" ones. Plus, these are macaroon style so......it would be hard to tell me to get any other kind :)

*Pretzels

Because kids like pretzels and they're about a million dollars cheaper than goldfish (I hate you, goldfish). 

*Graham Crackers/Nutella

So this is where those little cups came in. I got to control the portion of Nutella and you can come up with so many things to dip in it. (I considered putting a veggie dip in with the carrots in the fridge, but unless it was going to be ranch, making the whole thing unhealthy, it wasn't going to happen. Committing to making a hummus dip or something every week ....I just know myself, and that's not going to happen).

FREEZER SNACKS

Not a ton here, but this is what I've started with!

*Yogurt buttons

I know you've seen these on Pinterest everywhere. But I just knew that they'd probably melt so freakin' fast and make them not worth my time. But when my kids started living for GOGURTS every evening for dessert, I was desperate for a cheaper alternative. I made these up (so so SO fast to make) and stored them in the freezer. When my kids are ready for "dessert" (no joke, they call it dessert) I just dump a little handful into those mini cups with a spoon and they feel like the luckiest kids in the world. Plus they got to choose their own flavors. Basically, I can make about 50 "buttons" with one cheap yogurt vs. dropping money on gogurts that are unnecessarily expensive. My only advice is to try and get yogurt that doesn't have chunks of fruit in them. It makes it difficult to squeeze out of the bag when you're making the dots :).

*Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I made this a long time ago and it was really good. I decided to make it again and couldn't believe I don't make it regularly! It is literally bananas and peanut butter. That's it.  (2 frozen bananas sliced and 2 T peanut butter.) When you first make it, it's a really really thick shake texture (which is great, and can pass for an ice cream), but I put mine in the freezer so it can turn into REAL creamy, delicious ice cream.Clearly  my husband loves it since he stole some before I could get to it for a picture!

Gluten Free After School Snacks

**Make sure you go Like my Facebook page so you can all finally get my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! I've posted a picture of them on there so you can know what you're missing out on. I've had people e-mailing me asking if I'll give them the recipe promising they won't tell a soul and NO. I still feel a little crazy claiming I'll share it at all. But if you want them, you have the chance. Go like the page, friends!**

I finally stocked up on a few FUN after-school snacks for my Celiac's kid. There's only so long I can send her to the apples or carrots in the fridge when she's craving something yummy and fit for a kid after a long day at school. These are some of the snacks she enjoys.

Now, these aren't snacks that she just grabs whenever she wants. These are usually reserved for her after-school snack only, and ones that I don't really need to prepare anything for. She can walk in the door and go grab it herself.

Toasted Coconut Almonds

Have you had these?! They are AMAZING. 

Gluten Free Cookie Dough

When you're not up to the task of baking GF cookies yourself (What? A tsp of this flour and 2 tsp of that flour oh wait plus 1 C of this rice flour blend with a pinch of that xanthan gum isn't sounding too appealing to ya?), my daughter really enjoyed the cookies from this dough. My advice is to let it sit at room temperature before baking other wise they bake a little uneven and weird. My daughter actually didn't know they were gluten free until I told her and she still kept eating them afterward. 

Raisins

Enough said.

Crunch 'n Munch

These boxes are only $1 each, and sooo so yummy!

Fruit Snacks

Pretty much any fruit snacks are kid approved. There isn't really any such thing as a healthy version of a fruit snack unless you make them yourself. So when I buy them, I buy them with the knowledge that they're basically candy. 

String Cheese

My girls are Cannon's through and through. They LOOOOOVE cheese. They never whine when I suggest grabbing some cheese when they beg me for a snack. 

Yogurt

This is more for Brooklyn, honestly. Anna really likes yogurt, but Brooklyn is hooked. 

Grammy Crisps

These gluten free snacks taste a lot like cinnamon toast crunch cereal. Can't go wrong with that!

No Funyuns this time around, but I have to say those are my favorite gluten free snack ;).

You can find some other ideas for gluten-free snacks right here that I love to have for traveling, sack lunch ideas for kids with Celiac's right here, or check out my fun Banana snacks that the kids go nuts over! 

You can also just check out all of my gluten free ideas and the recipe's I have right here! (The peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are sooo good. And not good "for a gluten free" cookie. They're so yummy! And that's coming from the biggest skeptic of all things gluten-free!)

Plus, stay tuned for a post on our favorite gluten free pasta (It's so good I've actually checked and rechecked its ingredients to make sure it wasn't the Udi's bread of pasta- aka...not actually gluten free), and my "Gluten Free at a Glance" post for scanning the ingredients on the labels at the store. 

Banana Snacks (Gluten Free Friendly)

We have a system in this here house. When the youngest child is taking her nap, the oldest chooses between playing outside with friends or quiet playtime inside. Reading, drawing, writing in her journal and "discovering" as she calls it are all quiet play time friendly. But what am I suppose to do when both of my kids are occupied?

I prepare for when my kids aren't occupied of course! ;) I really do love that time of day where I get to catch up on a few things, and it's also the perfect time for me to make these lovely little snacks for when nap/playtime is over.


It might not look very cute in this picture, but that's because the only gluten free cereal we had on hand was cocoa pebbles. Fruity pebbles would probably look more appealing! She did ask me to dust some powdered sugar on it. Not sure why, but I went ahead and did it. My youngest requested sprinkles on hers that day. Whatevs!

I whip these up in about 2 minutes and stick them in the fridge until they're ready to eat them. They go banana's over these! (heehee) They really do. They absolutely love them. Banana's, peanut butter and cereal. That's it. I could probably coat the thing in flaxseed and sprinkles and they wouldn't complain a bit!

Today I tried out froot loops on one of them. The options are really endless here. It's just so easy and kid friendly I thought I'd share!

Muddy Buddies

I needed myself a nice little snack tonight. It was quite the day! Anybody that's ever been standing in line at the Post Office with a box with heavy and fragile things while your toddler is with you knows what I mean. And that's what started my day! Yiikes!

So, here's to the Mama's out there that need a nice little somethin' somethin'. I adapted my recipe from Betty Crocker's. I just tend to like an even chocolate to peanut butter ratio in most things so I switched a few things up. And don't you love that these are gluten free? I 100% hate having a daughter with Celiac's, but things like this make it a little easier!

What you will need:

• 1 box Chex mix cereal
• 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 C peanut butter
• 1/3 C butter
• 1 tsp. coconut
• 1/2 C coconut
• 2 C powdered sugar

Directions:

• Add chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter into a microwave safe bowl and heat for one minute
• While that's going, pour the Chex cereal into a large bowl
• Stir together the chocolate, peanut butter and butter until creamy and well blended (it won't look like it's all melted, but after you stir it, it will all melt together)
• Mix in vanilla
• Pour chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the Chex and mix well
• Add in coconut
• Add in powdered sugar

Sandwich on a Stick

So, after using this as a suggestion for my 7 Day Challenge and an idea for Diabetics, I realized I did not in fact already have it on here. Whoops! It's such a simple idea, really. If you want to cut out bread from your diet, this is an AMAZING alternative to eating a sandwich. You can use whatever variety you want, and not all sticks have to be the same. You could also use this as a great way to watch your portion control with things like mustard or mayo if you use them as a dip instead of slathering them all over your sandwich. Personally, this is my favorite combo. When I pop one of these cuties into my mouth the flavors all just go so well together!

What you will need:

• Toothpicks, or, if you're super hungry, a skewer
• Your favorite Deli meat
• Your favorite vegetables
• Your favorite cheeses
• Anything else

Directions:

• Put them on a stick :)

Protein Balls

I made this recipe up after I tried a type of protein ball that had potential but wasn't my favorite. So, as a way to sneak in some flax seed into my kids snacks, these are deeeliiicciouusss. They LOVE these! It's a nice healthy treat that you can play around with to make your own. Toss in some protein powder or something you love!

What you will need:

• 1 1/2 C uncooked oats
• 1/2 C peanut butter
• 1/3 C honey
• 2/3 C coconut
• 1/2 C ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 C rice krispies (I use gluten free)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 C chocolate chips (optional. I like to put these in asap so that they melt into everything as I stir. Sooo yummy!)

Directions:

• Add all ingredients except for honey and peanut butter into medium sized bowl
• Over medium heat, mix peanut butter and honey together until well blended and they've reduced into a thinner mixture
• Pour peanut butter/honey mixture over the ingredients in the bowl
• Mix well
• Scoop into balls and let them firm up

Cinnabon Popcorn

I LOVE THIS SO MUUUUCCCHHHHH!!!! I WISH I COULD SAY LOVE A MILLION TIMES BECAUSE THAT'S HOW MUCH I LOVE IT!

It was just last year when I first discovered cinnabons. I don't know why I think they're so much better than "regular" cinnamon rolls, but they are. So when I came across this recipe for cinnabon popcorn I felt like it would be extremely irresponsible if I didn't try it.

The recipe calls for chopped pecans. I usually try and do recipe's the way they say to do them the first time around and then do them my way after that. So, I got the pecans even though I don't super duper like them. I completely forgot to add them in though. Whoops.

What you will need:

• 12 C popped popcorn (I popped 1 C of popcorn kernels and it was plenty)
• 1 C roughly chopped pecans
• 1 C brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 C real butter
• 1/4 C karo syrup
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 squares almond bark

Directions:

• 
  
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees
• Pop popcorn and set aside with chopped pecans
• In a large microwave safe bowl, add brown sugar and cinnamon
• Mix cinnamon and brown sugar together
• Cut butter into chunks and add into the brown sugar mixture
• Microwave for about 30 seconds to soften the butter and stir to combine
• Pour karo syrup right on top of the mixture
• Microwave for 2 minutes, take out and stir
• Microwave for 2 more minutes. It should look like a bunch of small bubbles at this point
• Remove from the microwave and add the baking soda and vanilla
• Stir to combine
• It will bubble and foam up
• Pour mixture over the popcorn and pecans and start stirring/mixing immediately until well coated
• Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil lined baking sheet
• Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes
• After 30 minutes, let it cool and take a sample to see if it's as crunch as you prefer. If not, bake it for another 5 minutes or so. 
• Once it's at the right "crunchyness" for you, give it a final stir and allow it to cool
• Melt the almond bark
• Spread your popcorn onto a clean wax paper lined surface
• Drizzle the almond bark on the popcorn
• Once it's all hardened, break into pieces and serve

PS- It makes a wonderful Thank You gift!