Valentine Pretzel Bites

These little buggers are so addicting!  They are so not good for me to have around my house, I cannot stop eating them!  They are a perfect teacher treat for Valentine's Day or for a snack for a classroom party.  We put them in little plastic bags for my son to hand out with his valentines...he forgot, so I had a nice snack after school!:)   (We have the week off of school (YEAH!) so my kid's had their Valentines class parties last Friday.)

They are really easy to make & everyone will enjoy them, so whether you make them for yourself, your family or for Valentine parties, they will be a hit!

Valentine Pretzel Bites

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1 bag small twist pretzels

2 bags hugs

1 bag Peanut butter M&M's

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

Place pretzels on a large cookie sheet in a single layer.  Unwrap hugs and place one on each pretzel.  Place in the oven for about 5 minutes or until hugs are shiny and melty.  Remove from the oven.

Press an M&M on top of each hug. 

Let sit at room temperature until hugs harder back up.  This usually takes quite a few hours.  If you're in a rush place them in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.  I usually just make them the night before I need them and then they're ready to go in the morning.

NOTE:  These can be made with regular or Peanut M&M's as well, but I like the peanut butter the best.



Valentine Popcorn Mix

I love Valentine's Day.  I always have, even back in the days when I didn't have a significant other to spend the day with.  (It also might have something to do with it being my birthday a few days afterward...just a good week all the way around!:))

I'm a dreamer & I loved dreaming of the times I'd spend with the one I love on Valentine's Day.  Of course back then I never dreamed about the kids' in the mix. (not that I didn't want kids, I just pictured them with a babysitter or something!:))  But V-day isn't exactly as I pictured growing up, most of the time we have dinner with the family. 

Which is nice. 

Occasionaly Tony and I get to get out by ourselves and enjoy an evening out for Valentine's, but not this year.  We're planning on Chicken Alfredo with Twisty Breadsticks for our special dinner (with the kids) tomorrow night!  I know, super boring, but I'm ok with that!  Sometimes it's just nice to be home & relax.  I'll probably even use paper goods so I dont' have to do dishes (yes, my dishwasher is still broken!!), that's pretty romantic to me right there!:)

Anyway, we also love to have a fun snack.  Usually we're making sugar cookies and frosting them, but this year we made some wonderful popcorn mix.  YUM!

Valentine Popcorn Mix

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12 cups popped plain popcorn (about 1/2 cup popcorn kernels)

1 1/2 cup Valentine candy corn

1 1/2 cups Cherry gummy hearts (you could also use cinnamon if you like)

12 oz. (6 squares) Vanilla flavored Almond Bark

2 oz. (1 square) Chocolate flavored Almond Bark (or about 1/2 cup chocolate chips)

Place the popcorn in a large mixing bowl.  Cut the gummy hearts into quarters and add to the popcorn.  Try to unstick them as best you can!:)  Add the candy corn as well.  Set aside.

Melt the vanilla almond bark in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second intervals until it is melted and smooth.  Pour over the popcorn and using a wooden spoon mix together until everything is coated. 

Pour onto wax paper in a single layer.  Melt the chocolate at 30 second intervals as well until melted.  Drizzle the chocoalte over the popcorn.  Let sit until chocolate has hardened.  Put in a large bowl & snack away!

Chocolate Covered PB Sandwich Cookies (with other Valentine Ideas)

These are so easy I don't know if you can officially call it a recipe, but we absolutely love them here at my house and they make a really cute and fun Valentine's treat, so I figured I'd share them anyway!

Chocolate Covered PB Sandwich Cookies

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Ritz Crackers

Creamy Peanut Butter

Chocolate (or Vanilla) flavored Almond Bark

Spread PB on one side of ritz cracker and place another ritz on top to make a sandwich. (see how easy!)  Place on wax paper.  Melt Almond Bark and coat each sandwich and place back on wax paper.  Decorate with sprinkles of your choice!  Let chocolate harden and then they are ready to eat!

Can also coat in Vanilla Almond Bark

So easy, yet so delicious! (our motto!:))

Also, in case anyone is interested:
 

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My kiddo's absolutely love this tradition we started 4 or 5 years ago.  They get so excited to make these and take them to their teacher!  A good old classic Candy Bar Card.  I let them write it (so it's not perfect, which kind of bothers me, but it's more personal for their teacher's and they love doing it...so it's OK!:)) and glue on their candy.  This year Eli decided he wanted to make a little puzzle for his teacher.  He put heart stickers all over it and told his teacher she had to find all 8 of them!:)  Such a fun kid!

Here's the words just in case you can't read the picture:

Dear (Teacher),

The "Reisen" for this card is to wish you a "Happy Valentine's Day" (Box of chocolates or something else that says Happy Valentine's Day on it).  You are great and "skor" a perfect 10 as a teacher.  I'd like to give you an "extra" "Payday" or "100 grand" for all you do.  I know you are "good and plenty" busy with "mounds" of work, but both "now and later" you are a "lifesaver" as you "dove" (in the past I've been able to find Dove candy bars, but this year they were no where to be found, so we ended up buying a package of small dove chocolate and they say "dove" on them so it worked out!) in to help me out of any "crunch" I may be in.  You're helping me to not be an "airhead" (alternate that we've used is "you're helping me to become a "smartie").  I could search the universe including a "starburst" (can also use Mars bars, but we couldn't find those this year either) and the "milky way" and would never find a teacher better than you!  Thank you!

"hugs" (Student name)

And, this we started a couple of years ago with my hubby's class (he teaches 2nd grade).  We wanted to find something different and special that he could give his class and we saw this idea (sorry...I have no idea where) and loved it!  His students have loved it...they think it's pretty silly!:)  We just attach the card to bag of candy with some Valentine garland and it's ready to go!
 

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Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes in a Jar

Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner I thought I'd post these cute and wonderfully delicious cupcakes!

They are different than the usual Valentine's treat, which is why I think they're awesome!  And they are oh-so-good! 

Present this to someone special & they'll know they're loved!:)

Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes in a Jar

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For the Cupcakes:
1 package lemon cake mix

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup oil

4 eggs

1 small package instant lemon pudding

Pour cake mix, and lemon pudding into mixer.  Add the sour cream, water, oil, and eggs and beat for a few minutes.  The batter is pretty thick.  Scoop into lined cupcake tins and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Check with toothpick to make sure they're done.  Let cool.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

6-8 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Place the butter in your mixer.  Add 4 cups of the powdered sugar, the juice and the zest.  Beat until smooth and creamy.  Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. (I use about 7 cups altogether)

To assemble you will also need:

1/2 pint canning jars,

strawberries, fresh or frozen, sliced.  (If using frozen berries, let thaw in a colander to remove the juices before using.)

Piping bag and large tip

pretty red ribbon of your choice

Take cooled cupcakes out of their liners and cut in half so there is the top and the bottom (hamburger style as my kiddo's call it).  Place the bottom portion at the bottom of each jar.  Pipe frosting over the bottom part and then top with some strawberries (3-4 slices works).  Then place the top half of the cupcake on top and cover with frosting again. 

To top it off you can either place a strawberry slice (I would only recommend this if you are using fresh strawberries) or some pretty red sprinkles of some kind look nice. 

Finish it off by tying a pretty red ribbon around the jar and you've got yourself some beautiful Valentine's treats (or any day of the week treat for that matter)!!

Enjoy!

Valentine S'more Bites

Honestly I cannot remember where I found this idea, and I searched through all my links and wasn't able to find it again...so I'm SORRY!! These were so stinkin' good. We made a whole bunch to take to the kids' Valentine class parties, but I just wanted to eat them all. And they are really cute as well. Perfect for a fun little treat on Valentine's Day!

Valentine S'more Bites

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1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

dipping chocolate, homemade or store-bought (I just used the el-cheapo chocolate flavored almond bark...it was really good!)

heart-shaped marshmellows

Mix melted butter and graham crackers together and spread evenly into the bottom of a foil-lined 9"x13" pan and press down firmly. Place in the freezer for about an hour. Remove the foil from the pan and then use a mini heart cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. I found a pack of heart cookie cutters at walmart that had about 6 different sizes and the smallest one was the perfect size. You want one that is pretty much the same size as the marshmellows.

Melt the dipping chocolate and then dip the bottom of each marshmellow and "attach" to the graham cracker crust.

Place back in the freezer for 15 minutes and then dip the entire thing in your dipping chocolate. Place it on wax paper and top with sprinkles. So adorable!!