This is my daughters first year in "big kid" school as we call it and there have been many adjustments for our little family. While it's not her first time going off to school, it is the first time she will be gone for a majority of the day. When she was in preschool, she was used to not only having her lunch but also having a morning snack and then coming home by 1pm and being able to have an afternoon snack. Now that she is kindergarten, the morning snack is gone and she has lunch so early in her day, that by the time I pick her up from school she is starving. I do try to give her a good breakfast and pack a protein rich lunch so that she doesn't get too hungry during the day, but that hasn't seem to work out for us yet. So now, I spend my mornings trying to anticipate what kind of snack she'll want when we get home. I keep a variety of fresh fruit on hand as well as cheese & crackers, fruit snacks, etc.. but the other day I thought I would make her something fun. She loves rice krispie treats but I didn't happen to have any rice krispie's on hand so I made the next best thing, popcorn treats. I know I've posted about popcorn treats before, but these are different. Instead of binding the popcorn with melted marshmallows, I used a mixture of brown sugar, honey, peanut butter and nutella (a new favorite). It's delicious, a little bit healthier and makes the popcorn taste more like caramel corn. So much fun and everyone in the family loves them (even hubby who hates popcorn). Give these a try for you little one today and they are sure to please!!!!
8 C popped popcorn (preferably the plain, healthy, non-butter-flavored kind, if you can)
1 C roasted peanuts (or any nut)
1/2 cup plain m&m's (or for a healthier version add dried fruit instead)
3/4 C honey
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 t salt
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons nutella
To pop popcorn, add 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels to a saucepan w/lid to 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Heat to medium heat but once kernels start to pop, lower to low heat to avoid burning corn. Season with salt and place in large mixing bowl.
In another saucepan, melt brown sugar, honey, peanut butter and nutella. Once melted add a little sprinkle of salt and let cool slightly. In the mixing bowl with the popcorn, add the nuts, m&m's and poor the honey mixture over the popcorn. Spray a plastic spoon with vegetable spray and toss to coat. Next spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with vegetable spray and poor mixture into dish. Pat down with your hands (spray if needed) and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours to make cutting easier.
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