Easy Lego Pops

Little H is all about Legos right now and what better way to celebrate her birthday than with a Lego Party?!  There are ton of great ideas out there on how to throw the perfect Lego Birthday Party and I'll be sharing with you the ideas I used for games, decorations, food, etc., as well as our own creations.

First up, a tutorial for our super quick and easy

Lego Pops!

Little H mentioned wanting "Lego Pops" on her treat table, I wasn't thrilled...have you ever tried to make perfectly rectangular cake pops?  Ack.
However, I found the perfect "cheat" with Little Debbie Nutty Bars and these little goodies came together in just a few minutes.  That's my kind of treat!

You'll Need:
-Nutty Bars
-Smarties Candies
-Candy Melts
-Sucker Sticks

Here's how to do it:

Cut Nutty Bars in half then carefully poke a hole in the center of each with a sucker stick.  (I put a little mark about 1" down a sucker stick to measure how deep I wanted the holes).

Next, melt some white candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl at 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted.  Dip sucker sticks into candy melts and poke into the holes in the Nutty Bars.  This will give you a nice, solid pop that won't break apart.

Dip one side of Smarties candies into melted chocolate and set on top of Nutty Bar.  You'll need 6 Smarties for each Lego Pop.  When set (about 3 minutes), dip into various colors of melted Candy Melts (whatever colors you want for your par-tay!)

Tap gently a few times on the side of bowl to remove excess candy melts and set on wax paper to harden.  If you have too much chocolate on your pop and it's forming a "skirt", simply pick it up and move to a different spot on your wax paper.

For the display, I simply put some floral foam in boxes that I had on hand and filled the top with green crinkle paper.  Super cheap and easy!

We'll be sharing more Lego party games, decorations, etc., in the weeks to come as well as some St. Patty's treats!  Happy Cooking!

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ROCK Star Snacks

To wrap up Little C's Rock unit in school we're having some
ROCK Stars!We had fun making these together and they are super simple! We started with a batch of no bake energy balls (recipe here) and formed them into various rock shapes, about 1" wide each. (you could also use cake balls or any of your favorite no-bake treat recipes!)Then we melted some white candy melts along with a FEW black ones. (you could also use brown).

We dipped the treats in the candy melts then added two edible eyes and a Cheerio mouth.We finished them off by putting some green royal icing in a bag w/ a leaf tip and making crazy hair! I originally planned doing all mohawks but they started to get a life or their own... :)This one was feeling a little philosophical..."et tu, Brute?"This one wanted to rock a Lada Gaga-ish bow...

But no matter how you decorate them, they'll get gobbled up in a flash! Here's the wild crew ready for school!

Sedimentary Rock Bars

We're rockin' out in school this month! Little C has been having so much fun telling me everything she has been learning about rocks recently. So, we decided to celebrate with some
Sedimentary Rock Bars...Not only are these super easy (you could really make any kind of layered bar cookie that you like), they teach a great lesson about how Sedimentary Rocks are formed. I made up a little printable for the kiddos that you can download here (or click on the image below).

For our bars, I used a package of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie Mix and pressed it into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle 1 Cup chocolate chips on top. Let melt and carefully spread to evenly distribute over the cookie. Then, I baked up some oatmeal cookies and crumbled them on top. For the top layer, I sprinkled on a mixture of butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips and toffee bits (can you tell I was cleaning out the pantry??!).
As I said before, you can make any type of layered cookie bar then have some fun talking about how sedimentary rocks are formed. Have fun and rock on!

Cornucopia Snacks

What are you serving on your Kids' Table this Thanksgiving?
How about these cute Cornucopia Snacks we whipped up for Tablespoon?
Click here or on the image below to get the recipe.

The easiest way I found to coat your ice cream cones is to hold them by the tip and roll them in chocolate... Dip in sprinkles, lay them on wax paper and smooth out the end with your finger. Easy! When dry, fill with your snack mix and serve!
If you have a great idea for the Kids Table at Thanksgiving, please put a link in the comments!

Turkey Toes

A couple days ago, I saw these adorable jars of "Turkey Toes" on Pinterest from No Fuss Fabulous.
What a great idea to use your leftover Candy Corn!So, we decided to make our own version...something easy to send to school as a class treat or as a cute snack on your Thanksgiving table!

We used snack size sandwich baggies and I made some labels that you can download here.These are so easy to assemble! Simply put about 1/4 cup of candy corn in each baggie, cut out labels and attach with double-sided tape. If you're looking for candy corn, it's on sale this week at Kroger/King Soopers for $1 (in the candy aisle, green bag). One bag of candy corn will make about 8 bags of Turkey Toes. Little C is excited to take them to class today!

Fun with Biscoff Spread!

This summer, my friend Bridget over at Bake at 350 got me hooked on the new Biscoff Spread! I've always loved Biscoff Cookies (I even served them at my wedding!) so you can imagine how excited I was when Biscoff put all that luscious taste into a creamy spread!!
Since then, we've had a great time making all kinds of fun recipes, here are my kids' two current favorite creations...Little H loves these sweet treats because they taste like a decadent dessert (but are packed with all kinds of "good for you" stuff!)

Biscoff Energy Balls
makes 24
Ingredients:
½ c light corn syrup
½ c light brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ c sliced almonds
½ c dried cherries (optional)
½ c ground flax seed
1 ½ granola cereal
¾ c Biscoff Spread
½ c white chocolate chips

Directions: In a medium saucepan, combine corn syrup and brown sugar over medium heat until bubbly then cook an additional 30 seconds, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in all other ingredients except chocolate chips. Let sit for 10 minutes until cool enough to handle. Roll into 1” balls and place on wax paper. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth. Drizzle over balls and let set completely, about 10 minutes. Store in airtight container up to 1 week.

This is Little C's current favorite lunch staple! She loves to whip them up herself and always feels special when she gets out her fancy chopsticks and "Bushi" (Biscoff and Sushi;)) at lunchtime. :)

Biscoff "Bushi" Rolls
Ingredients:
2 slices bread, any flavor
2 Tablespoons Biscoff spread
4 teaspoons cherry jelly

Directions:
Roll one slice bread flat with a rolling pin and cut off crusts (optional). Spread 1 tablespoon Biscoff spread on bread, covering 2/3 of the bread. Spread 2 teaspoons jelly on top of the Biscoff spread. Roll up bread, starting at the end covered with Biscoff spread. Cut into slices with a sharp knife and place in container. Repeat steps with second slice of bread. (optional: garnish with fake “sushi grass” and serve with chopsticks).

We entered these two recipes in Biscoff's Lunch Envy Challenge! Go here to check it out and join in on the fun!

Columbus Day Snack

First, I want to thank you so much for your sweet emails, comments, etc., asking if we are ok. YES, I am alive! We had a lot of action this summer and I enjoyed some time off playing with the girls and trying to fix up a little ranch we bought....

I will post soon the rest of the dowloads/ideas for the Camping Party, I apologize to those of you who have been waiting for it! In the meantime, I saw this adorable idea over on Pinterest (original version from Supermom Moments) and knew it would be the perfect little Columbus Day snack for Little C's school class. Here is our version as well as a dowload for the flags I made. These are so easy! All you need is clear cups, blue Jell-o, orange slices, toothpicks, and flags (I cut them out and glued them to the toothpicks).
Click here or on the image below to download the flags.
Enjoy! We'll be back soon with more fun!

Edible Bling Rings

Everyone says that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. However, for little girls I’m convinced that it’s fruit snacks…

We whipped these up as a special project for Tablespoon one afternoon and had such a great time. The girls danced and pranced all over the house with rings on every finger!
These Bling Rings are extremely simple snacks to make, all you need are Gushers Fruit Snacks, yogurt covered circle pretzels and white chocolate. Since they’re so simple to put together, it would be a great edible craft project for a party or playdate!
Tip: If you have trouble finding the pretzels, check the snack aisle. They sell them in 100 calorie packs in both white and dark chocolate.
To assemble, melt chocolate in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted and smooth. Lay out a piece of wax paper. Dip one Gushers Fruit Snack in the chocolate and press onto a pretzel.
Let set completely, about 5 minutes.
When set, you’re ready to serve! You can also keep them in a sealed container for up to a week. Little Miss H couldn’t get enough of these and made them all afternoon! Here she is showing off some of her favorites…

Click here to get the full recipe. Have fun!

Also, if you're into aprons, head on over here to win the most adorable Mommy, Me & Dolly Apron Set! My friend Mindie made them and I can't believe she's giving them away!!

Elf Tinker Toy Snacks

Right now my kids are getting treats at school, treats from neighbors, treats from the post office, you name it. So, for their upcoming Holiday class parties, I wanted to bring along something semi-healthy along with the goodies. Now, if you told me last week that I'd be taking pretzels and cheese cubes to my kid's class party, I would have thought you were nuts. Unless...

We use a little imagination and turn them into
Elf Tinker Toys!

This just goes to show that simple things can be crazy fun with a little imagination. Not only is it a great snack, the kids can have some fun playing with their food. The baggie toppers I made are yours free to download! Click here or on the image below to open and print.

Elf Tinker Toy Snacks
(do we really need a recipe...?!)

Ingredients:
Cheese Cubes
Pretzel Sticks

Directions: Place desired amount of each in a baggie and attach label. Take a bubble bath or do something productive with all the time you just saved. Hooray!

We're sharing this over on Works for Me Wednesday. Come on over and share your favorite quick tips!

Want to share? Here's a one click Tweet! Tweet

Sunflower Sandwich Snackers

These whimsical sunflowers are always a huge hit! What my kids don’t know is that each flower contains Vegetables, Dairy, Whole Grain AND a complete serving of Fruit. They’re SO easy and I get bonus points w/ the kids for serving “fun food”. :)

Sunflower Sandwich Snackers
makes 1
Ingredients:
1/4 c. California raisins
2 T. reduced fat cream cheese
1 slice Orowheat sandwich thin (or other brand)
1 ounce sliced cheese
1/3 of a medium green pepper

Directions:
Slice cheese into triangles. The best way is to slice it in half one way, then in half the other. Then, slice each square into triangles (see below)
Place sandwich thin on plate and spread with cream cheese. Sprinkle raisins on top and set on plate. Slice green pepper into strips. Spread on plate too look like a flower "stem" and "grass". Arrange cheese trianges around sandwich thin and serve.

Disclosure: We created this fun sandwich snack for the California Raisins "Let's Re-Do Lunch" contest. You can go here to join in on the fun! I was not compensated in any way for this post. You can learn more about the fabulous Meal Makeover Moms here.

Doughnut Seeds

I saw The Moody Fashionista's "Donut Seeds" a few weeks ago and thought they were just adorable! Plus, isn't her daughter the cutest?!

So, when the time came to make a snack for Little C's class, we knew what it should be! They're inexpensive and easy to put together for a large group. Perfect!

We added some Fruit Loops for color and made our own Doughnut Seed (or Donut...tomato, tomahto...:)) labels that you can download here. You can choose larger labels (4 per page) or smaller labels (8 per page--this is a large file because the graphics are high res, so be patient!)

Doughnut Seeds
Ingredients:
Cheerios
Fruit Loops
Ziploc Baggies
Large or Small Doughnut Seed Labels


Directions:
Put desired amount of Cheerios & Fruit loops in each bag. Print and cut out labels. Tape a label on each bag. Gobble. Here's Little H in "ready to gobble" position...
Here's our sea of donut seed bags ready to go to school! This is also a great Letter D snack!

Krispy Apple Treats

It's time for some fun School Snacks! How about these adorable little Rice Krispy Apple Treats?

Little C and I made these after school one day to share with her school class, they were a hit! She did a great job!

Speaking of those kiddos in the kitchen, I just added the "Featured Little Foodie" of the week to my sidebar! If you have a cooking pic of your kids/neices/nephews/grandkids/neighbors and want to be featured, email me your photos and we'll let those Little Foodies have the spotlight! (If you have a blog, we'll also link to you). I also have a secret for making your Rice Krispy Treats hold together a little better and also giving them a yummy color/flavor! Jell-o!! Add a small package to your batch after you melt the marshmallows. You will LOVE IT! I can't wait to make orang-ey pumpkins for Halloween!
I guess it's not a secret anymore...

Krispy Apple Treats
Makes 25
Ingredients:
6 C. Krispy Rice Cereal
1 pkg. large marshmallows
3 T. butter
1 small pkg. Jell-o powder, cherry or strawberry flavor
25 small Tootsie Roll Candies
Royal Icing, tinted green
Baking spray
Wax Paper
Red Food Coloring, optional
optional: you could use fruit roll-ups or those green mint leaf candies instead of the royal icing.

Directions:
Place marshmallows and butter in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir and microwave for an additional minute. Remove from microwave and stir in jell-o powder. If desired, you can add a few drops of red food coloring (depending on how "red" your jell-o is). Add Krispy Rice cereal and stir well. Spray hands with baking spray and roll mixture into balls (a little larger than a golf ball) and drop on wax paper. After balls have set for a few minutes, use your thumb to press into the top to make an "apple" shape.
Add a small tootsie roll "stem" and using royal icing (or any green candy), pipe on a "leaf". I actually would have rather used some kind of green candy but didn't have any on hand. I just used royal icing and a leaf-shaped icing tip.
Serve to your favorite kiddos! These would also be a really fun "Teacher Appreciation Day" snack!