Showing posts with label back to school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label back to school. Show all posts

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Back to School: Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars

My kiddos eat a LOT of snacks. I often announce lunch as just another snack time so they'll be more inclined to eat what I put in front of them. Whatever works, right?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars
The Loverbees are back to school with these Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars.

As the start of a new school year is upon us, fun and tasty snacks are a must - for all of us. These Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars will provide great energy and incentive to my boys and me as we begin the hard work of learning and teaching. These bars also make a fantastic after school snack or lunch box surprise.

toasted oats for Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars
Toasted oats make a big difference in these deliciously fun granola bars.

Start off by toasting your oats. Toasting them brings out a lovely nutty flavor. Let them cool a few minutes and then mix them up with the rest of your dry ingredients. In this funfetti version, I also added a couple tablespoons of sprinkles.

peanut butter & honey for Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars

The gooey ingredients get microwaved for 30 seconds until they come together into a thick syrup.

Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bar Mix
This funfetti peanut butter granola mix has fun written all over it.


Pour the gooey stuff over your dry mixture and mix until well incorporated.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars

Pour out your luscious peanut butter scented mixture into a parchment lined pan and push the funfetti out of it with a rubber spatula. The better you pack it down, the better the bars will stay together when cut.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars

Melt your chocolate with a little bit of coconut oil in the microwave and spread evenly over the bars. Sprinkle with another tablespoon of sprinkles.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars

Set your pan in the fridge until cold and then cut into bars. They cut better when cold. Store them in an air-tight container. They'll last longer in the fridge, but make sure you take them out at least an hour before you want to eat them so that the chocolate is the right temp and texture.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars
Kids go nuts over these Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars!


Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars

INGREDIENTS
2 1/3 cups whole oats
1/3 + 2 Tbsp almond flour
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
a pinch of salt
a dash of cinnamon
2 Tbsp sprinkles (I used rainbow jimmies)
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
1 tsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp sprinkles for the top

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Spread your oats out evenly on your baking sheet and bake 7 to 9 minutes.
3. After the oats have cooled for a few minutes, combine them with the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. In a medium microwave safe bowl, combine the peanut butter and honey. Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir in the vanilla until mixture is smooth.
5. Pour peanut butter mixture over dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
6. Smash into a parchment lined 9 x 9 inch square pan with a rubber spatula. Really pack it down.
7. In a small microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and coconut oil and microwave in 15 second intervals until almost melted. Then, stir until all the chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Spread over bars. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of sprinkles.
8. Refrigerate your pan until cold and then cut into bars.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Funfetti Granola Bars

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Back to School: Prepping Our New Homeschool Space

This homeschooling mama is gearing up for the new school year. It starts NEXT WEEK! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I'm only slightly panicking and lamenting and wondering where my summer has gone.

Most moms are rejoicing right now as their kids are starting school. I love those pics of mom's jumping for joy or lounging in a pool while their children, all dressed and ready for school, watch on. Ha! So great. Homeschool mamas enjoy that experience at the end of the school year when summer starts. We all get to take turns celebrating.

Okay, back to gearing up. I've been working on revamping and reorganizing our school area. Nora got her own room this past year and we moved the boys into the nice big room we were using for school. We spent the end of the last school year utilizing half of the dining room for school work and storage. Not a pretty sight.

homeschool back to school
We've got the benefit of sweet morning sunlight flooding our new homeschool space.

Fortunately, we just got rid of an old couch that was on its last leg. That cleared up a whole bunch of space in our spacious living room. I divided the room in two and moved in a work table and a couple of bookcases to house our school supplies. Now my dining room is free to be pretty again. That is very happy for me. 😂

back to school homeschool space

A new space is exciting and encouraging for me and the boys as we jump into a new school year. When I was little new clothes, new school supplies, and a brand new backpack and lunch box helped launch me into a new school year with excitement and a better attitude than I would have had otherwise. Since we homeschool we don't really need a lot of that same equipment that worked so well to motivate me, so I'm getting creative.

homeschool back to school supplies

Along with our new work space, some new supplies gorgeously displayed and a slew of exciting school snacks on my docket are just the right touches to boost our morale as we get back to formal learning.

back to school snack mix
An easy back to school snack mix made up of our favorite snacks.



To kick things off I put together a quick snack mix full of the boys' favorite store-bought snackies. I filled a big jar with cheese crackers, BBQ kettle chips, pretzels, and cheese puffs. Having something like this on hand makes my life so much easier. We can grab a handful without losing too much traction when we're right in the middle of something.

I've also been trying to anticipate the Nora factor. I'm using the bottom shelves of our new school storage area for wood puzzles and baskets of toys that will, hopefully, distract our little princess from distracting us during school time. I'll let y'all know how that goes. I'm not super hopeful, but I gotta try. Wish us luck.

Stay tuned for one of my favorite new school-time snack recipes.