Thrifty Thursday: Back to Basics with snacks and treats

Making snacks and treats are a much more healthy and frugal solution than store bought treats.  If you buy the prepackaged or pre-made treats at the store, they could cost around $5 for just a small box.  If your family is like mine, it is gone within two days (if it lasts that long).  Special treats are always the first to be eaten when the groceries get put away unless I hide them :)

I have always loved to bake but only in the past year since I became a stay at home mom, has it been normal to find one or two baked goods in my house a week.  This wasn't just because I love to bake and I love to have treats but it is a great way to have "something to eat" in the house.  My husband and I have spent years having the conversation of what is there to eat in the house, even after spending hundreds at the grocery store.  When you bake something, it tends to be the go-to snack in the house.

Although I like chocolate chip cookies, I do like to mix it up a little and make other things so I have tried a few different recipes over my time blogging but I normally go back to the chocolate chip ones.  I also had to think all the way back to the things that I liked as a kid to see if I could make some treats for my son that he would like.  I am going to try more recipes for cookies and desserts soon!!!

Cookies and Bars:
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Leftover Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
S'mores Bars
Cinnamon and Sugar Pie Crust Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Rice Krispie Treats

Other Desserts:
Blueberry Cobbler
Peanut Butter Chocolate Bundt Cake
Whipped Cream Cake

Ones that didn't become family favorite but were still good to try:
Choc-Choc Chip Cookies
Breadcrumb Cookies

 I was surprised to see how few desserts (mostly cookies) were on the list from the previous year.  After thinking, we mostly like cookies because they are single serving for little hands.  The other desserts were made for bigger groups so that I didn't end up eating it all myself :)  Plus I was using up the cake and brownie mix that I had on hand and not making a lot of cupcakes and brownies from scratch. Now I am out of all but one box of cake mix!!

Often, we eat muffins and breakfast treats throughout the day (as we did when I was writing this post) but these are special treats that I love to have on hand.  I hope that you try a few of your family favorite recipes or a few of these.  Remember to get the kids to "help."  It might take a little more time but they love to help measure even when they are really little and it gets them interested in cooking and baking when they get older!!!  We always helped with my mother in the kitchen (at least long enough to get the spoon to lick)!