Happy Hour Ideas

Happy Hour is back and even better!  In case you’re new around here or we’ve never met (Hi! I’m Amanda!) Happy Hour is simply our afterschool snack rebranded.  It’s nothing extraordinary, just a means of saying I love you by way of banana bread, popcorn, or hot apple cider. You can read more about it here:

Happy Hours are always even better with friends, so I’ve asked some of my friends in real life and friends are Instagram too to share their favorite snack ideas.  Here’s what we’ve gathered up so far:

Leah’s Cherry Limeade

Ingredients:

• Maraschino Cherries and syrup

• limes

• Sprite

• ice

  Leah found this Sonic copycat recipe here at lilluna.com and says you can also use grenadine if you run out of syrup from the cherry jar

Courtney’s Sangria and Crackers in a Tea Cup

Crackers in a Tea Cup

Place crackers in a tea cup. The end.

Kid's Sangria 

• 1 bottle martinellis sparkling apple cider 

• Slices of orange 

• Slices of apple 

• 1 slice of lime 

Mom's sangria 

• 1 bottle red wine (I used sweet but whatever!)

• Wedges of blood orange

• Wedges of apple

• Several slices of lime 

• (The longer this sits the better it tastes!) 

Directions for both:

Fill a cup with:

• ice 

• 3/4 sangria 

• 1/4 lime bubbly water 

• enjoy!

Grammy’s Chicago Bears Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 ounce) can RoTel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies

• 1 (16 ounce) package Velveeta (cut into 1/2-inch cubes)

Directions:

1. Cube velveeta into small cubes

2. Combine Rotel and cheese in crockpot/saucepan/microwave safe bowl and melt together, stirring occasionally

3. Serve with veggies, chips, and/or bread

Emily’s Snack Trays

Emily’s Ideas:

Fruits:

• Apples (cut and soaked in 1/4 tsp salt to 2 cups of water for 5 minutes and then rinsed--they stay fresh that way)

• Berries of all kinds (I always wash and then let dry a bit and then put a folded paper towel underneath to trap the moisture to make them stay fresh longer)

• Clementines

• Watermelon

• Cantaloupe

• Grapes

Veggies:

• Mini cucumbers

• Carrots

• Red peppers

• Grape tomatoes

Random Stuff:

• Crackers and sliced cheese

• String cheese

• Hard boiled eggs

• Nuts with some chocolate chips

• Granola bars

• Goldfish, pretzels, graham crackers, etc.

Emily’s Tips:

• Snacks go quicker in the snack tray...finish off odds and ends in your pantry that no one will finish!

• I always fill my trays super full as I almost always also pull out the snack tray for dinner! Snacks and dinner veggies in one go--it's a no brainer for me. The bonus is that it makes putting together a balanced dinner SO easy for my hubby or babysitters when I'm gone as the fruit and veggie are covered!

• On Fridays especially I often put in something more fun like fruit snacks, gummi worms, or candy that I've stolen from my kids' "candy boxes"

Amanda’s Kid Charcuterie Boards

She made this with leftovers!

Board Ideas:

• Salami

• Colby cheese cubes

• Pita crackers

• Pita chips

• Orange peppers

• Celery

• Hummus for dipping 

• Almonds & Dried cherries (highly recommend this combo) 

• Blueberries 

• Sliced apple

• Peanut butter for dipping 

• Nilla wafers for dessert