Easy Cheesy Bread Snack

Is your belly grumbling for something tasty to eat? Is your mouth tired of eating the same things all the time? Let’s try a fun but simple way to liven up some bread! We’ll call it Easy Cheesy Bread! Doesn’t this look delicious? 🙂

Let’s start out with some Italian bread, though feel free to try whatever bread you have on hand. I found this little loaf of Italian bread at our local grocery store and it seemed the perfect size for 2 people.

This snack only needs some butter, grated parmesan cheese and maybe garlic powder in addition to the bread. Another item that will make it extra tasty is some pasta sauce…but I’m getting ahead of myself! First cut the bread into slices and place them on a cookie sheet with some parchment paper covering the pan for easy clean up.

Spread some softened butter on each slice of bread.

If you like garlic flavor, sprinkle some garlic powder on each piece of bread next. The Easy Cheesy Bread is still yummy without the garlic powder if garlic is not your thing.

Sprinkle a generous amount of grated parmesan cheese onto each slice of bread.

Pop the tray of bread slices into the oven on broil. Keep a close eye on the bread so it doesn’t burn! The time needed to toast the bread will depend on the broil temperature you use and what type of oven you have. Just watch the bread till it starts to turn brown and smells delicious! It only took a few minutes when I made these.

You can eat the Easy Cheesy Bread just like it is or for an added bonus, heat up some pasta sauce in a cup and dip your bread in it. MMmmm! So tasty!

That’s how simple it is to make Easy Cheesy Bread! Try some and make your mouth AND your stomach happy! 😉

Easy No-Bake Snack for Valentine’s Day

Hello again! Hope you are “enjoying” winter (does anyone enjoy winter?!) and are staying healthy! We have been busy busy bees here! We tore up the old carpet in our living room and hallway and hope to lay down a new floor soon! As most remodeling projects go, we keep running into snags and things that have to be fixed first and the days have been flying by without me getting to chat with you. I am determined to change that today! 🙂 So how about an easy snack idea for Valentine’s Day that you probably have the ingredients for and makes up pretty quickly? It’s called Peanut Butter Energy Bites. There are many ways to make these and I have a couple of suggestions that depend on the age of your children. Here we go!

If your kids are a little older, you can make these with uncooked oatmeal. If your kids are pretty young yet, I would go with crushed graham crackers. The oatmeal makes them more chewy, but blending the oatmeal in a food processor or blender helps with that some. My favorite way is using graham crackers.

You will need 1 Cup oatmeal OR crushed graham crackers, 1/2 Cup peanut butter or your favorite nut butter, 1/3 Cup honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, a dash of salt and 1/2 Cup mini chocolate chips. To make these a little fancier for Valentine’s Day you might also want to have some sprinkles on hand.

Put all the ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Mix well. It will be a stiff dough. Take a couple of minutes to make sure all the dry ingredients are completely mixed in. The dough will look different depending on which ingredients you chose. Here’s with the oatmeal…

Here’s with the graham crackers…

Using rounded teaspoon sized portions of dough, make the dough into balls. Place on a cookie sheet on a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper.

To make them pretty for Valentine’s Day, roll them in some sprinkles. Pop them in the refrigerator to make them more firm and easier to handle. No baking required! I also stored mine in the refrigerator.

Whether you choose to use oatmeal…

Or crushed graham crackers…

I think you will find these little snack balls to be very addicting! (We won’t mention how many I may have eaten today!) 😉 You can switch these up by trying different ingredients. Use a nut butter in place of the peanut butter or instead of chocolate chips add raisins, cranberries, white chocolate chips, chopped peanuts, coconut flakes, cinnamon, etc…the sky’s the limit! 🙂 Enjoy!

A Frozen Treat For Hot Days

Are you having some extra warm days? It’s quite warm and toasty here with a “real feel” temperature of 90 degrees. I’m sure other folks are even warmer! These warm days make us all want something cold to eat, right? So today I want to share a yummy suggestion for a frozen snack or dessert…Frozen Banana Bites!

You will need a banana, a cookie sheet or plate, waxed paper or parchment paper, toothpicks and an assortment of chocolate chips or peanut butter chips, sprinkles, crushed cereal, mini M&M’s, chocolate milk powder, etc.

Put a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper onto the cookie sheet. Cut the banana into thick slices.

Put a toothpick through each banana chunk, sideways.

Now it’s time to “decorate” each banana piece. 🙂 Here are some suggestions to try: putting candy sprinkles on both sides.

Crush a few pieces of a favorite cereal and coat the banana chunk with it. I used HoneyNut Cheerios.

Melt a few chocolate or peanut butter chips and stir in a little bit of coconut oil to make it thin enough to coat the banana chunk with it. I just put some on the top and sides of the banana, but you could probably dip the banana in the melted chocolate too.

I dipped this banana piece into Ovaltine which is a powdered chocolate mix for adding to milk,

This one has the melted chocolate and sprinkles on it.

For the last one, I used the melted chocolate and a miniature marshmallow.

Place the cookie sheet with the banana chunks into the freezer for about 1 hour. Then take them out and enjoy! The kids will have fun making them AND eating them! 😉

Stay cool, everyone! 🙂

Simple Patriotic Flag Snack

Here’s a simple but cute idea to whip up a patriotic flag snack in just a few minutes. We’re less than a month away from the 4th of July, so this might be an idea to save for next month too. You will need some blue fruit – like blueberries, some red fruit – like strawberries or raspberries and some white cheese – like white cheddar or baby swiss. Wash and prepare the fruit. I used a white plate so the colors show up well against the background. Begin by lining up some blueberries in the upper left hand corner. I did 4 rows of 4 berries in each row.

Add a row of your red fruit beside the blueberries on the right hand side.

I think this would look the best with small chunks of cheese, but all I have on hand is sliced cheese. If using sliced cheese, cut the cheese into thin strips.

Alternate rows of red fruit with rows of white cheese.

That’s all there is to it! You can vary how many rows you have in your flag according to how much your kids can eat at one time. This would be a great project for the kids to each make their own flag and practice their small motor skills. Then they get to eat a healthy snack too! 😉

Easy Banana Pops

Wow! Summer is speeding by soooo fast! We have been so busy! We plant our own vegetable garden every spring and we have been super busy processing all the veggies we’ve grown. But now I want to take a minute and share a quick snack idea with you. 🙂 Let’s call them Banana Pops!

The main ingredients you’ll need to make them are a banana, peanut butter, assorted toppings and cookie sticks. You might like to also use some strawberry jam and yogurt.

Slice the banana into chunks and place on a plate.

Spread some peanut butter on the top of several pieces of banana.

You can put peanut butter on all the banana chunks or spread some pieces with strawberry jam or your favorite yogurt.

Put a cookie stick in each banana chunk. I cut my sticks in half.

Add your favorite toppings to each banana pop and they are ready to eat! I used multi colored sprinkles, raisins and Teddy Graham cookies. You could also use chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit or chocolate chips.

These are great for a quick and easy snack or even for breakfast! Enjoy! 🙂

Great Use for Leftover Frosting

One thing my mom used to do with leftover frosting was always a big hit with my siblings and me. Super simple, but we always enjoyed this treat. All you need is graham crackers and frosting, but sprinkles or colored sugar can make it look even more special.

You can make little “sandwiches” or go with open-faced pieces. Break some graham crackers into the size you like. Maybe in half or into quarter pieces.

Spread frosting on one side of one piece of graham cracker.

Add a matching piece of graham cracker and you have a graham cracker and frosting sandwich. 🙂

As you can probably guess, you can also put frosting on a piece of graham cracker but not add the second top piece.

Sprinkles and colored sugar add to the fun so you might want to add some to your snack.

This can be a fun activity to do with the kids at Christmas time when they are begging to decorate Christmas cookies, but you haven’t had time yet to make them! Think of it as a “warm-up” to decorating Christmas cookies. 😉

And that, my friend, is a fun tip from “way back” during my childhood! 😉 Hope you enjoy making graham cracker and frosting sandwiches!

Super Easy, Super Fast Snack!

Hello again! 🙂 Sorry I’ve not posted much for a few days! It’s been a rather crazy time here with a few small crisis thrown in lately, but I hope to be back to posting more next week.

So are you ready for a super easy, super fast snack idea? Here it is: tortilla chips and cheese! Bring out of bag of tortilla chips…

Open a jar of cheese dip…

Put some cheese dip in a little bowl and warm it for a few seconds in the microwave.

Put them together and chow down! Yum!!

Are you drooling yet? 😉

If that isn’t flavorful enough for your taste buds, add a little salsa too!

Voila! You’ll have a very yummy snack in a matter of just a couple of minutes! 🙂 Enjoy!

Making Frozen Pudding Popsicles

Hello again! I’m back after a few wonderful days away. Summer is winding down here in Ohio, but we are still having some very warm days! So having some cold drinks and cold treats on hand is just the thing we need! Have you ever made frozen pudding popsicles? They really are quite yummy! All you need is a box of your favorite flavor of instant pudding, some milk and some popsicle molds OR paper cups and plastic spoons or wooden craft sticks.

Follow the directions on the instant pudding box to find the correct amount of milk needed to make pudding. (This size box needed 2 cups of milk.) Add the milk and the pudding mix to a bowl.

Whisk together.

Quickly fill the popsicle molds with the pudding before it sets up completely.

Add the tops of the popsicle mold set and make sure they are on snugly.

Or if you are using paper cups, put a portion of pudding into each cup. I used 9oz. cups when I tried this, but I think 5oz. cups would be a better size.

Add a plastic spoon or a popsicle stick to each cup.

Pop your popsicles into the freezer and let them freeze for a couple hours. They won’t come out too well if they aren’t frozen solid.

Once they are frozen, it’s time to enjoy!

Run some warm water on the outside of the plastic popsicle mold and then squeeze it to help loosen the popsicle from the mold. Slide the popsicle mold off and mmmm, start nibbling on your frozen pudding popsicle!

Someone has started enjoying this one! 😉 Who, me?? Yep, you got me! The chocolate pudding popsicle tastes great!

If you used the paper cups, carefully run some warm water on the outside of the cup, being careful not to get any water inside the cup on the popsicle. Again, squeeze the sides of the cup until the popsicle slides out.

I also tried this idea using a ready-made pudding cup.

I removed the top covering and inserted a plastic spoon. Then I popped it into the freezer.

I used the warm water and squeezing method just like I did for the other pudding popsicles and it worked fine for this kind of pudding too.

Now you have another idea to try to help refresh and cool your family during these last warm days of summer! Enjoy your frozen pudding popsicles! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #77 – Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats

Have you ever eaten Rice Krispies treats? The oh, so yummy snack/dessert made from Rice Krispies cereal, butter and marshmallows? Rice Krispies Treats have been a very popular treat for a long time now, so I’m guessing most of you have eaten them. Wikipedia says “Rice Krispies Treats were invented in 1939 by Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day at the Kellogg Company home economics department as a fund raiser for Camp Fire Girls.” Thank you, Malitta and Mildred!! 🙂

Some amazing Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats made an appearance at our 4th of July picnic this year (Thank you, Megan!) and I wanted to share this easy recipe with you.

You will need Rice Krispies cereal (6 cups), butter (1/4 cup), mini marshmallows (10 oz. package) and peanut butter (1/2 cup).

Melt the butter in a large pan on the stove using a medium heat.

Add the mini marshmallows…

Add the peanut butter.

Stir together as the ingredients begin to melt.

Keep stirring, over a medium heat, until all the marshmallows have melted.

Remove from the heat and add the Rice Krispies cereal.

Stir until well mixed.

Evenly press the mixture into a 9″x13″ greased pan. You can use a buttered spatula or wax paper to spread the mixture.

After it’s cooled a little, cut into squares and serve!! Oohh, yummy! 🙂

These treats are great to take to a potluck (which we did last Friday and they were a hit!). Or just having them for dessert or snack at home will make any day special!

You can find many other flavors of Rice Krispies treat to make by searching online. I even saw “Grilled Rice Krispies Treats! It’s a simple versatile recipe but loved by many! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #74 – Chocolate Dipped Oranges

Sorry to be posting this so late on our Taste Testing Tuesday, but it’s been a long day! Today we tried dipping orange pieces into melted chocolate or melted candy melts and sprinkling on some extra goodies. Don’t they look delicious?

You will need an orange, chocolate chips and/or candy melts and a few things to sprinkle onto the chocolate. Oh, and a piece of wax paper or foil or parchment paper.

You can use lots of things for the yummies you sprinkle on the chocolate. I used candy sprinkles, chopped nuts (cashews), mini M&M’s and mini chocolate chips. You could use coconut flakes, crushed graham crackers, crushed cereal, chopped peanuts, small pieces of freeze-dried fruit, etc.

Peel the orange and separate it into the sections.

Melt some chocolate chips in a microwave safe cup. Microwave for 30 seconds and try to stir the chocolate chips. Microwave for additional 15 second periods until the chocolate is all melted and smooth. Depending on what type of chocolate chips you use, you may also need to add a small amount of coconut oil or Crisco to get the chocolate melted and thin enough for dipping the oranges in.

Dip an orange section about halfway into the chocolate. You may want to use a spoon to help spread the chocolate all around the orange section.

Before the chocolate hardens, sprinkle some of the extra goodies onto the chocolate dipped part of the orange.

Lay each finished orange section on the wax paper and let the chocolate harden. Continue dipping and sprinkling each orange section.

I used white candy melts for half of my orange sections and that is very tasty too!

All that’s left to do is to eat and enjoy! 🙂 It probably works best to eat these right away. I had to leave home as soon as I finished making these, so I put my dipped orange pieces into the refrigerator. They tasted delicious when I returned home, but the white candy melt broke into pieces and fell off the orange section when I bit into it. It tasted the same, but it made more of a mess. 😉 For me, the mini M&M’s and mini chocolate chips were a bit too much sweetness at one time. I preferred the sprinkles and chopped nuts. I hope you will give these a try and see which kind you like best! 🙂