Tonight, my youngest son and eldest daughter made dessert- Muddy Buddies (aka Puppy Chow... whatever you want to call it :)) and Oh Henry Bars. Yes, kind of a peanut butter/chocolate/cereal theme going on :) Both take less than 15 minutes to make, less than 10 ingredients and are delicious :) Now, we have done some pretty complicated foods in our house, but the easy ones are fun once in a while, and awesome confidence boosters! They give the kids the satisfaction of saying that they made them completely by themselves! My youngest son is just a sponge- when he wants to be of course- he has ADHD :) but he is always watching, asking questions, and becoming quite the little chef! At 11 years old, he can make a pretty amazing poached egg (and has been making awesome fried eggs for a few years) and quite a few other things, including Spaghetti and Stroganoff. My eldest daughter- she will be 15 in just a few short months... (eek!) has also been quite the little connoisseur in the kitchen- a few of her favorite things to make are Shephards Pie and Baked Potato Soup. (yum!) And they can make them completely independantly :) That isn't to say my other 2 aren't just as good of cooks- my youngest daughter (13 yrs) really has a knack in the kitchen as well, my oldest son (12yrs)... well... he will cook, and he is very good, but he doesn't really enjoy it as much as the others.
Now other than taking some stress off of me, especially when I was pretty sick a few years ago, it gives them a sense of responsibility, and also a sense of accomplishment, that can really not be taught any other way! They are preparing themselves for life when they leave the home, and that really is one of my number one goals, if nothing else, I will know they are capable of taking care of themselves. They know how to do their own laundry, do pretty much any chore in the house- even some home maintenance. All of this mostly willingly :) And I think if you don't already have your kids helping you cook, you should definitely try it. Your kids will definitely thank you when they are older. :)
Here are the recipes for these delicious and fun treats :) They don't heat up your kitchen (and since it hit almost 85 today that is definitely a plus!:)) and they store pretty well!
My kids didn't really want to be pictured for the end result... but maybe another time :)
Muddy Buddies
I have actually modified a few recipes :) from Chex.com- feel free to check others out- there are some pretty amazing snack mixes there- quite a few that I am dying to try! (the Lemon Buddies are seriously calling my name...)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup creamy (or chunky if you so desire) peanut butter (I recommend Jif peanut butter for almost all my recipes- it has the most true peanutty flavor of all the ones that I have used- and not a lot of sugar)
1 TB butter
9 cups of Chex - any type you prefer
about 1/2 c powdered sugar
Melt the first 3 ingredients at 50% power in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.
Stir til smooth and pour over the cereal. Gently stir til the cereal is evenly coated. Put powdered sugar in a large paper bag and shake til the cereal is again, evenly coated. Spread out on a piece of waxed paper, separating the pieces as much as possible if you want individual pieces.
*This is the first candy recipe I ever made- and one that has a special place in my heart :) It is super impressive, (I get so many comments on it and recipe requests ;)!) but, as you will see, soooo easy! I have no idea where my mom got it- it was just on a well worn recipe card! So I apologize!!!
1 c light corn syrup (DO NOT use dark)
1 c sugar1 c creamy or chunky peanut butter (see above description :))
1 c dry roasted peanuts
5 cups Rice Krispies ** see note below
1-2 cups butterscotch chips *
1-2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips*
*I use only one cup of each (half a 12 oz bag of each type) but feel free to use more if you prefer more chocolate!
Line a 9*13 pan with foil and grease well. Set aside.
Put corn syrup and sugar in a pot and over Medium- high heat, stir until sugar is dissolved and the mixture starts to boil- just a few minutes :). Add the peanut butter and stir, taking off of the heat, then add peanuts and cereal. You need to work relatively quickly because the candy will start to set, and make it hard to put in the pan. Pour mixture into the greased pan and press into the pan firmly. Still working quickly, sprinkle both chips over the top, fairly evenly mixing the two (but it doesn't really matter because you will be spreading them out later). Put a piece of foil over the top to trap the heat for about 10 minutes. After this time, you can take off the foil, and spread the melted chips over the bars. Now another tip... score the bars when they are warm- it makes it sooooo much easier to cut later and take them out of the pan! Let set, and enjoy!!! If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you will love these- they are awesome!!!
** Just a few tips about these bars- they are definitely best at room temperature!!! If you try to eat them cold or even frozen, you may hurt yourself :)) They are (with 5 cups of Rice Krispies) , very much like Rice Krispy Treats, only with a peanutty caramel base instead of soft marshmallow. With 4 cups, it becomes more candy bar-ish - almost Baby Ruth-like in texture - this is the way I prefer them! But please- feel free to adjust up or down to your personal preference!)
Well, I hope you try these recipes with your kids sometime in the very near future- your kids will have smiles a mile wide when they see what they can do!!! And what better reward can there be than that?! (well... the yummy treats come in a definite second :))
As always- have a most fantabulous evening- and Sweet Dreamz!!!
Renee :D
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