Alliterated After School Snacks

I mentioned on my first day of school post that I was wanting to do alliterated snacks, which I know is a little over the top.

But, here's the reason: after school snacks make me a little crazy.  Sometimes it just blows my mind how hungry they are, and there's just a lot of...needs.

I liked having a plan.  I felt less stressed, and the girls looked forward to seeing what they were having.  As you'll see, the snacks aren't high end or complicated, because I just don't have time for that!

Monday:  We had M&M cookies (recipe below).  The girls loved them, and I thought they were great, too!  I only had 1, because I made a couple of meals for people this week, and they got the cookies!

Tuesday:  We had Tea on Tuesday!  We had Lemon Ginger tea which the girls liked better than the Good Earth Originals Sweet and Spicy tea from the previous week.  I made these shortbread cookies but also added some almond extract.  They were very delicious!  We put jam on them, too!

Wednesday:  Wheat Thin Wednesday!  We had Wheat Thins with sliced co-jack cheese. 

Thursday:  We had these yummy smoothies for Thirsty Thursdays!  They may be my favorite smoothie and taste a lot like McDonald's Mango Pineapple smoothie (which is a treat we get after the girls go to the doctor).  

Friday:  Fruit on Friday!  I told Maggie and Gracie that we were going to have apple pizzas, and they freaked out...as in they didn't want to eat it at all.  I tried to explain it, but I decided to just make it and not give it a cute title :)  I just cut apple slices (in a circle, through the core) and cut out the hard core middle bits.  I melted some peanut butter in the microwave until it was pour-able.  I drizzled the peanut butter on to the apples and sprinkled some mini chocolate chips on.  Most of the chocolate chips fell off, though :)

Here's the recipe for the M&M cookies that I got from my friend, Mandy.  She is the queen of all things M&Ms, so I knew she'd have a great recipe!  The only change I made was to use butter instead of margarine.

M&M Cookies

You need:

2 sticks butter at room temperature (this is 1 cup)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

small box instant pudding (I used vanilla, but Mandy says the chocolate kinds are good)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup M&Ms (be generous!)

Directions:

Cream together the butter, sugar, and pudding.  Add eggs until well combined.  Mix in baking soda and flour.  Stir in M&Ms.  Scoop the dough, about a tablespoon at a time onto baking sheet (I literally always use a silpat or parchment paper).

Now, if you want to make sure you have pretty M&Ms on top, put them on your dough ball.

When it bakes down, the M&Ms will be on top!

Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes!

Enjoy...without without a cute little friend :)

Have a great day!