Banana, PB and Rice Krispie Snack

A big thank you to Pinterest for a great (and easy) snack idea.  Cut a banana in half, spread banana with creamy peanut butter and then roll in Rice Krispies.  I put a chopstick through the banana to create a handle for the kids.  These banana snacks were a huge hit!  You need to give them a try.

Breakfast Cookies

There seems to be a trend on Pinterest.  Tons of recipes or photos of breakfast cookies or premade oatmeal, or some other quick breakfast idea.  After reading through most of these recipes there was so much focus on Splenda or fake sweeteners (which I am opposed to) as well as all natural ingredients or gluten free.   

I was on a mission to find a breakfast cookie that was semi healthy, easy to make and had a flavor that we'd actually enjoy eating.  After toying with a recipe I found during a massive internet search, I think I've come up with a great finished product.

The dough is thick and holds up well. 

It holds up so well that I actually had to flatten the cookies slightly before baking to ensure the center would heat through.

The end product is similar to a moist granola bar.  The flavor isn't what you'd expect from a cookie... remember, these are breakfast cookies and are aimed to be semi good for you.  Give these a shot and let me know what you think!

Jodi's Breakfast Cookie

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 c. apple sauce
1 3/4c. uncooked quick-cooking oats,
1/4 c. skim milk
1/4 c. raisins
1/3 c. chocolate chips, optional (If you exclude, use 1/2 c. raisins)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl really well.  Let stand for 5-10 minutes so the oats can soak up some of the liquid. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon and heap the dough onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes and let cool.  Store in an airtight container.

Yogurt Drops

Easiest snack ever, that your kids will think is an ice cream treat?  Yogurt drops.  Go to your kitchen, grab a plastic bag (resealable sandwich style bags are best), grab a small container of yogurt and a cookie sheet covered with a Silpat.  Oh, and prepare yourself to be blown away by this 'easy peasy' (as my kids would say) idea.

Pour the yogurt in to the plastic bag and seal.  With scissors, snip of  a tiny piece of one bottom corner from bag.  Then gently (gently!) squeeze the bag and make little round yogurt mounds the size of nickels. Place in freezer and let harden for about an hour.  Pop the frozen guys off the cookie sheet and store in a plastic container in freezer.

My kids beg for these things.  They think they're ice cream drops!  Best trick ever.  Next best trick?  Washing and rinsing red seedless grapes and freezing in a container.  They make for a perfect snack on a hot afternoon and taste like mini popsicles.

Snacks

I feel like I've done something right.  When it was our turn to bring snacks to my son's t-ball game, I asked what he wanted to do.  I gave a few suggestions and B said he wanted water, apples and kettle corn!  No juice.  No gummy fruit, a real apple.  No crazy sugar high, just a little hint of sweet on some popcorn and pure water. 

This may not be shocking, but my kid is like most.  Give him the choice of chocolate or grapes, he will head straight for the dreamy chocolate (so would I).  Some of the previous snacks were peanut butter chocolate candies with gummy fruit and fruit juice.  That was one seriously oversugared Saturday.  Another time it was more juice and frosted animal crackers.  So B's choice of a mostly healthy snack made me very proud.  It also made me very nervous about how the other kids would react.

The team reactions?  They loved it!  One boy did ask if they were getting anything else, which cracked me up.  I  made extra little baggies of kettle corn and passed them out to the team parents.  Everyone deserves a little snack! :)

Grab and Go Snack Ideas for your Team Player:
Goodie Bags - buy some bags in the team's color.  Usually around $4 for 20 bags with ties.

Water:
Our local grocer had mini water bottles for very cheap.  12 mini bottles for under $4. 

Fruit:
Satsumas when in season. 
Small apples, our store had about 10 in a bag for $3. 
Grapes in little plastic baggies.

Sweet or Savory:

Buy a big bag of something and divide in smaller portions with ziploc bags.
Kettle Corn.  Trader Joe's sells an awesome kettle corn and they have a light version!
Pretzels
Pirate's Booty

Trader Joe's light cheese puffs - they taste just like the real thing and are healthier.
Fruit Leather. Stretch Island Fruits are a great brand!

What snack ideas do you like? I'd love suggestions!

Banana Bread Muffins

Tomorrow I am in charge of bringing snacks to C's cooperative preschool.  Last time I brought snacks I made homemade mini banana muffins and dried craisins.  Most kids ate two muffins and one kid even tried to fish one out of the garbage can!  Gross...  Needless to say, it was easy to decide what to make for tomorrow.  Banana muffins!

When B was in coop preschool almost every parent brought homemade treats, or very creative store bought treats.  Now that C is in coop preschool, on the other side of the lake, we've found that no one brings anything homemade.  Treats are usually from a can, crackers, or individual slices of banana.  This may explain why kids were shoving the homemade banana muffins in their mouths or eating them out of the garbage can?  The whole phenomena is shocking to me.  I'm not sure why, but I figured where we live now would be filled with health minded parents and had some 'extra' time, or would want to provide something yummy for their kids at preschool.  Apparently people on 'this' side of the lake have less time?  Don't even get me started on the discussions about food when a nutritionist came to the classroom.

Okay, enough of my rambling.  Back to the bananas!  Today I tried a new banana bread recipe and it was quick, easy, and chock full of banana.  I used mini muffin tins and made three dozen minis with one batch of batter.  And there was enough batter leftover to make five normal sized muffins.  The big guys got a few chocolate chips sprinkled on top!

I pushed the chocolate chips down a bit so they wouldn't get burnt sitting on top of the batter.

The mini muffins were so small, but they are a perfect size for a two year old's hand. And mouth!

If you decide to make mini muffins, spray the tins with a nonstick spray and start checking at 8 minutes.  You may need to add a few more minutes on to cook time depending on your oven.  I tested the cook time by baking one single mini muffin before baking the entire batch.  The larger muffins took closer to 12 minutes, but keep an eye on them!

If you want to make a loaf, use a standard 9x5 pan and grease well.

Banana Banana Bread, courtesy of many random internet searches

2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
2 1/3 c. mashed very overripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease 9 x 5 loaf pan.  In large bowl, combine flour, soda and salt.  In separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.

Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Nutella Croissants

In my pantry we have a jar of Nutella and a jar of Trader Joe's Almond Chocolate spread (their take on Nutella).  I can't seem to get rid of them.  I know, I know.  Some people can't keep these spreads in their house because they are so addicted.  And some buy them by the Costco case (yes, I called you out Samar!). 

I had never tried Nutella until a few months ago when my friends urged me to buy some.  I love chocolate.  I'm addicted to chocolate.  But hazlenut flavored chocolate on toast isn't my thing. Don't get me wrong.  I do enjoy dipping apple slices in the both of these spreads, but spreading chocolate on the toast isn't my thing. My kids would disagree.  They could eat Nutella or the chocolate almond spread on anything.

Then it hit me. One of my favorite breakfast treats is a nice chocolate filled croissant.  What if I took premade croissant dough and put a little spoonful of Nutella on the dough before rolling up and baking? 

A tablespoon of Nutella on the wide end of the triangle shaped croissant dough (Pillsbury or Kroger brands work great).

Roll up like you would normally.

Sprinkle the tops with some sugar and cinnamon.

Bake as directed on the croissant dough's package.  I cooked for a few minutes less than suggested...

The kids loved these little treats.  They're small, so good for a afternoon snack or as breakfast along with some fruit.



PB Banana Oatmeal Squares

Thanks again to Pinterest I came across an interesting breakfast or snack idea.  The oatmeal based bar is sweetened with brown sugar, peanut butter and banana.  No butter or oils.  I have an embarassing amount of over-ripe bananas so this was a must try recipe.  I did alter the original recipe slightly to match my own tastes.

The dry ingredients wait for the...

wet ingredients of milk, peanut butter, vanilla, banana and egg.

Combine and spread evenly in a greased 8x8" pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the center is slightly firm.  The end result was a very moist (too moist for my husband and son) treat that I enjoyed as a breakfast and snack.  My daughter liked it, but didn't love it.  The results shocked me.... usually anything that contains peanut butter is a huge hit with my husband so I will try to make this again, but will cook even longer to see if it makes a difference (and I"ll update this post if it does!). 

And why not experiment by adding some Craisins or mini chocolate chips?  The addition of those items will raise the sugar content, but will give a nice flavor boost.

PB Banana Oatmeal Squares, adapted from gingerbreadbagels.com
1 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large mashed banana
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon.  Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.

Then add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch baking pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until slightly firm in center.