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Holiday Treats

Sugar Free Muddy Buddies THM S

December 24, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

You might call it puppy chow or maybe muddy buddies. Either way, you know it is a delicious peanut butter and chocolate cereal treat, coated in powdered sugar. 

If you are thinking you can’t have that this year, think again! These sugar free muddy buddies are a THM S recipe. 

Low Carb THM S Muddy Buddies

If you are missing Muddy Buddies this year and want to be able to enjoy a healthier version, this recipe is for you. 

We sub out all the bad stuff for on plan ingredients to create these yummy & sugar free Muddy Buddies. 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Sugar Free Muddy Buddies THM S

THM S Muddy Buddies - sugar free

I have been on a Wasa cracker candy kick the last couple of days. Earlier this week I made some killer Wasa cracker toffee (Christmas Crack) and it was seriously amazing.

Like so good that you need to pin it now so that you don’t forget it. 

Ok, back to the puppy chow. Making this is super easy and if you have made puppy chow before, you can make this in just about the same amount of time! 

What You Need for THM Muddy Buddies 

To make this THM S dessert, you need 6 ingredients. 

  • Wasa Light Rye Crackers
  • Butter
  • Jif No Sugar Added Peanut Butter (Or other on Plan PB – Here is a great list of options)
  • On Plan Chocolate Chips
  • On Plan Confectioners Sugar
  • Vanilla 

Making the Low Carb Muddy Buddies 

Low carb puppy chow is made almost the same way that the sugar loaded version is made. The biggest difference is in prepping the Wasa Crackers. 

Making the “Cereal”

wasa broken for Puppy Chow

You want to break the cracker in half. Next, break each half into half again. Then break each piece in half once more. So you will make each Wasa into 8 pieces. 

I try to keep them all about the same size but just go with it. It doesn’t need to be perfect. 

Tips for Making the Wasa “Cereal” Close to the Regular Recipe

  • I tried cutting them (ya know to get equal looking pieces because the perfectionist in me wanted them to look better). Don’t do that. It makes a big mess and it is just a lot easier to break it with your hands. I do think it tastes better in smaller pieces so try and get them as uniform as possible. 
  • Only use about 3/4 of the Wasa package. I feel this way when using Chex cereal too but it is particularly important for the Wasa recipe. You want good peanut butter & chocolate coverage on each cracker piece. If you use the entire package of crackers, you won’t get that. 

Broken Wasa Cracker Pieces

Make the Peanut Butter Chocolate Coating

Sugar free peanut butter, chocolate & Butter

Melt the peanut butter, chocolate chips and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Add the vanilla and pour over the broken Wasa crackers. 

Using a spatula carefully cover all of the Wasa pieces. 

Wasa Crackers covered in Chocolate & Peanut BUtter

Coat The Crackers with Confectioner’s Sugar

Add the Swerve powdered sugar and the chocolate covered Wasa into a gallon ziplock bag. Seal the bag and shake until most of the sugar is covering the crackers. 

Remove the sugar free muddy buddies from the bag and spread out on a large sheet of wax paper to dry. 

It takes about an hour. 

Store in an air tight container or a zip bag. 

THM S Sugar Free Puppy Chow Wasa MixTHM S Sugar Free Puppy Chow Wasa Mix

Serving Size

1 Wasa Light Rye cracker is permitted in an S setting. If you break your crackers into 8 pieces, the will be your serving size. 

It doesn’t seem like much but they are quite satisfying so make yourself a plate of 8 pieces and enjoy!

More On Plan Low Carb/THM S Sugar Free Treats: 

Keto Peanut Butter Bars (THM S) 

Low Carb Peanut Butter Pie (THM S) 

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Crust (THM S)

Christmas Crack – Wasa Cracker Toffee (THM S) 

Print Recipe
Sugar Free Muddy Buddies (THM S / Low Carb)
Servings
Ingredients
  • 3/4 Pkg Wasa Light Rye Crackers
  • 1 Cup Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 Cup Jif Sugar Free Peanut Butter
  • 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
  • 1 Cup Swerve Confectioner's Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
Servings
Ingredients
  • 3/4 Pkg Wasa Light Rye Crackers
  • 1 Cup Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 Cup Jif Sugar Free Peanut Butter
  • 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
  • 1 Cup Swerve Confectioner's Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
  1. Break 3/4 of a package of Wasa crackers. You will want to break each cracker in half, each half in half again & then that half should be broken once more. (Each Wasa will be broken into 8 pieces)
  2. Melt the butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir frequently.
  3. Once the chocolate/peanut butter mixture is melted and smooth, add the vanilla and remove from heat.
  4. Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the cracker pieces.
  5. Place the chocolate covered crackers into a gallon ziplock bag and dump in the Swerve Confectioner's sugar.
  6. Shake the bag until most or all of the confectioner's sugar is covering the crackers.
  7. Lay the crackers out on a piece of waxed paper so that the crackers can dry. This typically takes about an hour.
  8. Please the Sugar Free Muddy Buddies into an airtight container or bag to store.
Low Carb Puppy Chow

Filed Under: Desserts, Featured, Holiday Treats, Trim Healthy Mama Tagged With: dessert, low carb, muddy buddies, puppy chow, sugar free, THM S

Thanksgiving Turkey Shaped Eggs In A Basket

November 10, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Learn how to make a cute Thanksgiving inspired turkey shaped eggs in a basket breakfast for the kids this season.

Thanksgiving Turkey Eggs In A Basket for Kids

Thanksgiving Turkey Eggs in a Basket Breakfast for kids

This turkey shaped eggs in a basket was inspired by a breakfast that my Dad made frequently when I was growing up. People call this concoction of toast with a fried egg in the middle a variety of things.

Eggs in a basket, toad in the hole, eggs in a nest are all common. My Dad always called it a “one eye” so when I see this breakfast, one eye is always my first thought.

And a turkey shaped one eye makes this a perfect breakfast before the big Thanksgiving meal for the kiddos.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Thanksgiving Turkey Shaped Eggs in a Basket

Making fun food for my kids is one way that we start getting excited about the upcoming holidays. We have already made these easy turkey shaped bagels with apple feathers and since those went over well, I wanted another cute breakfast treat for the kids.

(ignore the Rudolph pajamas, I try to fight only important battles with 4 year olds)

Kid eating Turkey Shaped Egg in a Basket for Thanksgiving Breakfast

To make these turkey shaped eggs in a basket, start by baking or frying your bacon. I love to bake the bacon because it frees me up to do another task while the bacon is crisping up in the oven.

Eggs in a basket or one eye’s are super easy to make and please even a picky eater. To get the eggs in a basket portion going, start by melting a tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat.

While the butter is melting, take one slice of bread and make a hole in the middle. You can use a cookie cutter, the top of drinking glass or just tear out a hole if that is more your style (that is how my Daddy does it).

Bread with Hole for Toad in a Hole Breakfast

Put the slice of bread into your skillet and crack an egg into the hole. Season with salt & pepper. Cook for about two minutes or until the egg is set up enough for you to flip.

Egg in a Basket Uncooked

Flip the toast/egg combo. Cook until the egg is at your desired method. When I am making this for kids, I cook for another couple of minutes until the egg is over hard (basically boiled in the middle). They don’t like runny eggs.

Once the egg is done, remove it from the skillet. Now you get to turn the eggs in a basket into a turkey. For the eyes, use candy eyeballs or raisins.

For the nose, I used a piece of cheese cut in a small triangle. The gobbler is just a broken piece of bacon.

Turkey shaped egg in a basket with bacon feathers breakfast

Arrange the bacon feathers around the top of your turkey shaped eggs in a basket to complete this yummy Thanksgiving breakfast treat. Would your kids love to see a cute little turkey shaped egg in a basket on their breakfast plate?

Filed Under: Holiday Treats, Plan, Recipes Tagged With: breakfast, easy, eggs in a basket, fun food, healthy, holiday, kids, one eye, Thanksgiving, toad in the hole, treat, turkey, turkey shaped food

Halloween Spider Fudge Rounds (Individually Wrapped)

October 31, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

You can take a Little Debbie cakes and make them into cute Halloween spider fudge rounds. Perfect for a school party since they are individually wrapped. 

Individually Wrapped Store Bought Halloween Spider Cakes

This year I am room mom for my daughter’s class and since it is the year of COVID everything is different. No one other than teachers and students are allowed into the school and all treats have to be pre-packaged from a store (nothing homemade). 

But of course cute treats are still a must for a Halloween Harvest Party. So you can create these little Halloween spider fudge rounds with just a few supplies and still be compliant with your school requirements. 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Halloween Spider Fudge Rounds (Individually Wrapped)

Fudge Round Halloween Spider

I made 18 of these Halloween store bought treats and they are pretty easy! 

Here are the supplies you will need to make these Halloween spider fudge rounds: 

  • Glue Gun / Glue Sticks
  • Little Debbie Fudge Rounds 
  • Googly Eyes
  • Brown Pipe Cleaners 
  • Scissors

Making Halloween Spider Snack Cakes 

Since we wanted these to be COVID approved for school, we wanted to keep the cake completely in the packaging to keep the food safe. 

So the spider decorations are all applied to the plastic poly bag that holds the fudge rounds. 

To make the spider, start by applying two eyeballs to the snack cake package. 

*Helpful Hint*

My glue gun gets really hot and the first time that I applied the eyeballs, the glue burned through the thin polybag. So after that, I would apply the glue to the eyeball and then blow on it for a bit before applying it. 

Now it is time to make the spider legs.

Cut one brown piped cleaner into four equal parts. Take all four pipe cleaners grouped together and apply glue to the front and back side of one end (about half to a quarter inch down the pipe cleaner). 

When the glue is cool enough, apply the set of 4 legs to one side of the fudge round about mid-way down from the eyes. Repeat on the other side. 

Once the glue is dry & cooled, bend each pipe cleaner in the middle. 

Now you have a set of not too spooky Halloween spider fudge rounds to take to your child’s class party.

More Halloween Fun for Kids

Paint a Pumpkin DIY Craft Favor Kits

No Bake Frankenstein Brownies

Spooky Ghost Halloween Breakfast

Halloween Granola Bar Mummy

Filed Under: Featured, Holiday Treats, Plan Tagged With: class party, Halloween, individually wrapped, treat

9 Store Bought Halloween Party Foods to Make in Less than 5 Minutes

October 12, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

9 Store Bought Halloween Party Foods to Make in Less than 5 Minutes for busy moms. These DIY Halloween treats will make everyone happy at the school harvest party. No chocolate melting or baking. Just simple Halloween fun.

9 Store Bought Halloween Party Foods to Make in Less than 5 Minutes

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Holidays with young kids are some of my favorite times. Seeing the excitement with all the decorations and fun treats warms a mama’s heart. But if you have young kids at home, you know that time thing is not always abundant.

You may have high hopes of creating homemade chocolate cupcakes with perfectly hand rolled witch hats made of fondant. But then the 4 year old wants to play barbies, the 10 year old needs to go to basketball practice and the baby needs to well, eat.

So your Halloween cupcake dreams are momentarily crushed. Now you are staring at the grocery store shelves looking for something easy and also cute (probably with a toddler screaming at your feet).

To make the Halloween season go a little smoother, we have collaborated with some great bloggers to bring you 9 store bought Halloween party foods to make in less than 5 minutes!

9 Store Bought Halloween Party Foods to Make in Less than 5 Minutes

My kids probably get more excited about a Halloween Oreo than they would about any fancy dessert that I could create. Note that I said “would.” Elaborate desserts are a thing I enjoyed before kids. No bake, done in 5 minutes are a little more my style these days. Especially since little man has decided to learn to walk and is in to everything.

Here are 9 store bought Halloween party foods to make for your kids school party. These are also great for a fun October lunch or dinner treat.

Mummy Snack Cakes I can’t believe how much these look like a tiny mummy and it took me no time at all to make thanks to my BFF, her name is Little Debbie.

Easy No Bake Halloween Mummy Snack Cake

Ghost Snack Cakes A simple ghost face on a delicious white chocolate ding dong is sure to make your kid smile.

No Bake Halloween Snack Cake Ghost

 

Pumpkin Cupcakes These are great because they are not spooky at all. Perfect for a school or church fall harvest party.

Harvest Party No Bake Pumpkin Cupcakes

Spooky Eyeball Sandwich  by Kimspired DIY – Such a fun lunch option for the Halloween season! I make a million PB&J’s a month so why not make it into an eyeball!

Jack O Lantern Mandarin Orange Cups by Mission to Save – Fruit disguised in a Halloween costume is always welcome at my house. Sugar sure is fun but gosh the kids get so much of it this time of year. I want to put these in the lunchbox for school.

Halloween Witch Hat Cookies  by Princess Pinky Girl – These cute witch cookies have an oreo base and just four ingredients.

Vampire Donuts by the Happy Family Blog –  I know my kids would love the donuts but the bagel idea is another great way to add some Halloween fun to your table with a low sugar item.

Pudding Bat by The Inspiration Edit –  These pudding bats are so adorable! If you need a prepackaged item for a class party, this is a unique dessert to send.

Ghost Cheese Sticks & Jack O Lantern Cuties by Sizzling Eats – Great non-candy options to put in a lunch box that are still fun and festive.

I hope these 9 store bought Halloween party foods to make in less than 5 minutes help to get you time for an extra cup of coffee (oh & make your kids super happy)!

If you need some items to send for the class goody bag or your trunk or treat event, check out 31 non-candy Halloween treats and 16 Halloween favors that won’t get trashed.

Filed Under: Featured, Holiday Treats, Recipes Tagged With: desserts, easy, fast, Halloween, healthy, no bake, store bought, treats

Red, White & Blue Sugar Cookie Parfait

June 24, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Looking for a patriotic dessert? This red, white & blue sugar cookie parfait is tasty, festive and fun for the kids. 

Red, White & Blue Sugar Cookie Yogurt Parfaits for kids

The other day I brought home a package of red, white and blue sprinkles from the grocery store that I saw and wanted to do something with. 

My kids saw them and it was seriously the equivalent of someone telling me that I just got a free 3 week vacation to Europe. They were thrilled. 

All over a $2 bottle of sprinkles. I love kids. 

So I told them that they could help me make some kind of fun dessert and we came up with this easy red, white & blue sugar cookie parfait.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Red, White & Blue Sugar Cookie Parfait

Sugar Cookie, Strawberry and Greek Yogurt Mini Trifles

These dessert cups are layered with store bought sugar cookies, vanilla Greek yogurt, and fresh strawberries. 

To finish them off and add the blue, we added a bit of whipped cream and sprinkled the holiday sprinkles. 

It is a fun treat to involve the kids in the kitchen but without having to use the stove. My 2 year old even made his (with a little help because if left alone he would have chosen the bottle of sprinkles and skipped the yogurt). 

What You Need: 

To make the red, white & blue sugar cookie parfaits, you need just 5 ingredients. 

  • Store Bought Mini Sugar Cookies
  • Vanilla Greek Yogurt – The Greek God’s Honey Vanilla is my fave. 
  • Fresh Strawberries, Diced
  • Reddi Whip 
  • Red, White & Blue 4th of July Sprinkles 

Blueberries would also be great to add some extra blue but I forgot those this trip!

Ingredients for the Patriotic Sugar Cookie, Strawberry and Yogurt Dessert

Assembling the Mini Dessert Cups

I gave each of the kids a set of ingredients and then they made their mini cookie and yogurt trifles by listening to my instructions. 

It was fun to get the kids involved in the kitchen without having to use the stove or anything sharp. All they need is a spoon to make these treats!

They were assembled in these mini trifle/parfait cups because everything tastes better when presented well, right? 

Making the Cookie And Yogurt Dessert Cups

First layer, sugar cookie. 

2nd layer, a few spoonfuls of the vanilla greek yogurt. 

3rd layer, diced strawberries. You could add blueberries too. 

4th and most important layer, sprinkles!

Repeat the layers again. 

Top the final layer of strawberries with a big dollop of whipped cream and sprinkles!

Kids in the Kitchen - 4th of July TrifleSugar Cookie, Strawberry and Vanilla Greek Yogurt Cups with 4th of July Sprinkles

Modifications for Kids & Adults 

For the kids, I skipped the 2nd cookie layer. So they had one mini sugar cookie, yogurt, berries, sprinkles, yogurt, berries, whipped cream & sprinkles. 

My children are young and I really just didn’t want them having 2 cookies after dinner. They didn’t notice. 

Eating the Red White & Blue Sugar Cookie Dessert Cup

Neither my husband or myself are big sprinkle lovers. So I made ours as written above but skipped the middle sprinkle layer. 

You can really modify these red, white and blue sugar cookie parfaits to match your family’s likes. 

Check out these amazing no bake strawberry cheesecake cups!

4th of July Sugar Cookie Dessert Cups

Filed Under: Featured, Holiday Treats, Plan, Recipes Tagged With: 4th of July, greek yogurt, parfait, patriotic, red white and blue, strawberries, sugar cookie, trifle

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