Pages

Showing posts with label Snacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snacks. Show all posts

Friday, 31 October 2014

Happy Halloween!

If you follow me on Instagram (here) you know that I have been creating wickedly yummy treats for the Little Ones in my home daycare for the past two weeks.  I am a little bit obsessed with all things Halloween and this year it migrated to my cooking.  Here is a peek at the deliciously spooky treats we enjoyed.


This was a simple yummy lunch.  I simply cut Jack-O-Lantern faces into flour tortillas, spread some goat cheese inside and baked at 350 degrees until the tortillas were crispy.


I froze these ghost, but you could also keep the bananas fresh.  Chocolate Chips created the eyes and mouth.  Alternatively you could melt chocolate, dip the bananas in it and then freeze.


Roasted Pumpkin Seeds are a Halloween staple.  Over the years I have mastered this process, just a light coating of olive oil and some salt and pepper and these babies are done in about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Note I stir them around every 5-10 minutes to avoid burning.


These are beyond simple; pretzel sticks and cheese strings.  I did have one little one refuse to eat the cheese because she didn't recognize the cheese string she would normally devour, toddlers, geesh!


On the witching theme, these were made with sliced pitas, peanut butter and raisins, so simple.


Another yummy lunch idea is these Mummy Dogs, simply cut the hot dogs into a "person" and wrap in refrigerated biscuit dough.  The kids LOVED these.


A healthy snack is these Monster Mouths; peanut butter, apple, chocolate chips and pumpkin seeds.  The teeth options for these are endless, this is just what I had on hand.


Finally, the snack I LOVED the most, Mini Candy Apples. For these I followed this tutorial except I coated them in chocolate instead of toffee which I figured would be difficult for toddlers to bite through.  In the future I want to give yogurt a try (similar to these), which would need to be frozen and I am not sure how the apples would hold up.

Well these you have it, my week of haunted treats.  Have a great night trick-or-treating.




Monday, 27 October 2014

Menu Plan Monday - Slow Cooker Cooking

So it's been a really long time since I shared a Menu Plan with all of you.  Truth is I've been busy creating some new weekly menus centering around a wonderful, miraculous time saving device - my slow cooker.

I am sure if you've been reading my blog you have noticed I do A LOT of slow cooker cooking. Just check out some of my recipes here, here,and here.

This Friday is Halloween and what a great night to test drive your slow cooker.  You can prep everything the night before, pop it in the slow cooker in the Am and when you get home from work just serve the Littles dinner and you are out the door.  No drive-thru windows, no frozen pizza, just fresh, homemade goodness to fuel their Trick-or-Treating.  My family will be enjoying my Slow Cooker Chili (recipe here).

Below is this weeks menu.  Note I have also "Halloweenafide" our afternoon snacks at daycare, you can follow along on Instagram (here) as I share our Spooky Treats each day. 

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween and enjoy Slow Cooking this week.


For recipes follow these links: Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Stew

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Inspiration Round Up - Apples

Hello There!

This past weekend we headed out to Brantwood Farms and picked some apples.


Our Little One had so much fun running around the trees, picking apples off the low branches and having Jon lift her up high for the tall branches.

And now we have over 10 pounds of apples in our house.  So I did what everyone with 10 pounds of apples in their home would do. I headed on over to Pinterest and created a mood board of things to make with apples and I thought I would share a few of my favorite picks with you. 

These Apple Pie Bites are tops on my list. 
 

And as I work on my Month of Slow Cooking Menu Plans (more on that to come) I thought I totally need to try this Slow Cooked Apple Sauce.


These Mini Caramel Apples are just too cute and I bet the Daycare Kiddies would enjoy some version of these at snack time.


And finally one for when all the cooking is done or perhaps a great Thanksgiving Cocktail? This Apple Sangria is a must on my list.


Have you had a chance to go apple picking this season? Or are you enjoying the fresh selections from the local market or grocery store?  Either way fall is a great time for all things fresh and local and apples are number one on my list for fall produce.  What are you going to make with your apples?


Thursday, 25 September 2014

Beer Nuts

Today I thought I would share with you a little snack.


I made these Beer Nuts for mine and Jon's Dads for this past Father's Day and they were met with much enthusiasm.


Both asked for more (they are still waiting) and my Mom even tried her hand at making them and was pleased with how easy they were.


I wrapped them up all pretty in a mason jar and our Little One decorated a Salt Dough snack bowl I made to give along with it.

It made the perfect Father's Day gift, but the nuts alone make a great snack and looking forward to the holiday season these would make excellent hostess gifts.



Thursday, 11 September 2014

Oatmeal White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

As the colder weather approaches my thoughts start to turn to comfort food and high on my comfort food list is baked goods.  In the summer months cakes, cookies, squares etc. are not commonly found in my kitchen, but once the temperature starts to drop baked goods I am craving.


I've said it before and I'll probably say it a million times more; I am NOT a baker, but this Oatmeal Cookie recipe is super easy and forgiving.  I decided to add the white chocolate, cranberries and almonds and I am sure you can add in whatever you would like to this base recipe.  Best of all these cookies freeze really well.  I simply roll the raw dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet in the freezer, once frozen I place dough balls in a freezer bag.  When I am feeling like a little fresh baked treat I simply remove one, two or ten from the freezer, let them defrost and bake.


As the days cool it is always nice to curl up with a good book, a roaring fire, a hot tea or cold glass of milk and a yummy plate of cookies.  My Oatmeal White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are a perfect match.




Wednesday, 6 August 2014

Peach Donuts

Check these babies out!


I am finding fresh, juicy Ontario Peaches at the Farmer's Market and Grocery stores and I am LOVING it.  Peaches are perfect to make donuts. Say What???


These healthy, yes you heard me right HEALTHY DONUTS are super duper yummy, a great way to use in season produce and toddler approved.


 All you have to do is slice the peaches, dip them in yogurt, cover in sprinkles and freeze.  Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeeze (yes you just read that right).


Anna and the other daycare children LOVED them.


Why not give them a try.