Oatmeal Energy Bites

These are one of my family's favorite snacks at the moment.  My 3 year old said they taste better than cookies!  I back him up on that one. 😊  They are easy, healthy and a great protein / fiber boost!  Give them a try.

 Simple 5 ingredients.  If you don't have flaxseed on hand you can also use Bran Flakes (cereal).  Another substitute you could use, is ground up oats. (**To grind up, just put the whole flaxseeds OR Bran Cereal OR extra oats into a blender or food processor and pulse a few times until product resembles a powder)  

 Place all 5 ingredients into a bowl and mix...

 Product will be rather stiff, avoid heating, this will take longer for them to set.

Scoop into Tablespoon size balls and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet, place in freezer for 15-20 min until energy balls are set.  Then remove and enjoy!  Store remaining balls in an airtight container and room temperature. ENJOY!

OATMEAL ENERGY BITES

Ingredients:

1 Cup Oatmeal

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter (or any other nut butter)

1/2 Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/3 Cup Ground Flaxseed OR Bran Cereal OR additional oats

1/4 Cup Honey

Directions:

1. Grind up Flaxseed OR Bran Cereal OR additional oats by placing in blender or food processor and pulse until product resembles flour like texture.

2. Place all 5 ingredients into a bowl and mix until well incorporated

3. Scoop dough into TBL size balls and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet

4. Place in the freezer for 15-20 min until set,

5. Store any remaining balls in an airtight container at room temp or in the fridge. 

BANANA ICE CREAM

This recipe is vegan, gluten free, dairy free and no-added sugar, AND only 1 ingredient!  This recipe is a great, healthy, low calorie snack you'll want to eat everyday!

Banana Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 Large Ripe banana (riper the sweeter)

Directions:

1. Cut banana into coin size pieces and place in airtight container, put in the freezer for a minimum of 2 hours, overnight is ideal.

2. Place frozen banana chips in a food processor or blender, Blend for several minutes, the mixture will first appear crumbly, then gooey, like oatmeal then the magic will happen, The mixture will change from blended banana into creamy soft serve ice cream.

(A food processor works best, but blender will work too.  If blender isn't very strong, milk may need to be added to the mixture to help this mixture mix)

HAM AND CHEESE KABOBS

This snack is 100% waste and mess free!  Forget the toothpicks, these kabobs are skewed together with pretzel sticks. Genius!  This is a fun snack the whole family can enjoy.

 Layer a slice of cheese (any kind will do, Swiss cheese is my favorite) on a slice of ham and roll up.

Secure with a pretzel stick, and your done! 

Dip in ranch or honey mustard, or eat plain, you wont be disappointed!

Ham and Cheese Kabobs

Ingredients:

Cheese (Swiss is my fav, and will do)

Sandwich Meat (Ham is what this recipe calls for but would work with any flavor)

Pretzel Sticks

Ranch or Honey Mustard (optional)

Directions:

1. Layer one piece of meat onto a slice of cheese

2. Roll up and secure with a pretzel stick

3. Enjoy! Dip in Ranch or Honey Mustard if desired.

YOGURT BUTTONS

WARNING*** THESE ARE ADDICTIVE!!!  I have to be careful how many of these little guys I make because I cant stop till they're gone.  This might be one of the easiest cheapest snack recipes in your recipe box!

 All you need is yogurt and a plastic bag of some kind, (you are going to be making a piping bag with it.) I just used a cheap sandwich fold top baggie, but anything in the "baggie family" will work! Big, small, zip top, fold top you name it!  Any kind of yogurt will work for this recipe as well.  This brand was on sale at Glazier's grocer this week so I chose that.  Greek yogurt would work as well.

 Fill the baggie approx 1/2 full with your yogurt of choice, squeeze out any excess air and twist the top to keep the yogurt from falling out of the top.

 Snip the corner of the bag with a SMALL hole, the smaller the hole the more control you will have and less mess you'll end up with.

 Carefully pipe out little buttons on a piece of wax or parchment paper. Aim for the size of a penny. (Can pipe directly onto cookie sheet too, I just like the paper cause it makes for easy clean up)  Place in the freezer for 40min-1 hour.

Once frozen, the buttons will pop right off! IF there are any remaining you can place them in a small container and store in the freezer.  Goodbye ice cream, hello frozen yogurt bites!  Happy Snacking! :)

Frozen Yogurt Buttons

Ingredients:

Small Plastic Baggie (fold top, ziplock, any will work)

Yogurt of choice

Directions:

1. Fill baggie 1/2 full with yogurt, squeeze out any excess air and twist opening (to keep yogurt from spilling out)

2. Cut corner of baggie with a SMALL hole.

3. Carefully pipe out little buttons (the size of a penny) onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. (can forgo paper and pipe right onto cookie sheet if desired)

4. Place buttons in the freezer for 40min-1 hour until buttons are frozen 

5. Pop buttons off and enjoy! Store any remainders in an airtight container in the freezer.

SEASONED POPCORN

Seasoned Popcorn

Ingredients:

1 pkg Light Butter Popcorn

1 Desired Spice, try one:

-chili lime powder

-lemon peper   

-seasoning salt

Directions:

Cook popcorn according to package, immediately season hot popcorn with desired spice! YUM!!!

PRETZEL BROOMSTICK

PRETZEL BROOMSTICKS

Ingredients:

4 Cheese Sticks (or more as needed)

12 Pretzel Sticks

1 Leaf Spinach (cut into strips)

Directions:

1-Cut each cheese stick into thirds, snip the end of each piece into strings that look like a broom.

2-Place a pretzel stick into each string cheese to create the "broom handle".  Wrap a strip of spinach around the top of the cheese.

ENJOY!

HOMEMADE INGREDIENTS

Have you ever started to make a recipe and come to find, that you don't have all the ingredients?  I know I have, and it is SO frustrating.  Especially when trying to throw a meal together quickly.  Did you know you can mix other pantry ingredients together to make an ingredient instead of running to the store?  Here is a great list of recipes to make ingredients your favorite recipes call for, but aren't always stocked in your cupboards.

http://extension.usu.edu/fscreate/ou-files/Ingedient_Subsitiutions_.pdf