Valentine's Day Snack Mix

I never thought I would be this mom. 

I hoped to be one of those cool moms - you know the ones that fight the man and don't make a big deal about holidays, or first days of preschool, or make homemade snacks. 

When you aren't a parent you formulate a lot of opinions about the mom you will and won't be ("I'll never let my kid watch watch t.v./drink juice/eat refined sugar/fill in the blank) but actually being a parent instantly changes all of that. Suddenly you're so in love with a teeny person, a tyrant-like tiny person, but still so in love. Some days you'll bend your own pre-baby rules just to survive and other days you'll do the same just to make them smile. 

I am was anti-Valentine's day. I swore we would never-ever-ever celebrate Valentine's Day as a family. And yet here - I am buying classroom Valentine's Day cards and making snack mix for preschoolers. Yes - I realize that this is completely ridiculous and I still absolutely love it. Receiving a kiss (without asking!!) and hearing "Mama - I wube Baletines" is all it takes for me to start planning again for next year. 

Ella is also starting preschool this week (I've written about her other childcare here) and I'm just not even ready. She has a little lunch box and a classroom with a cubby to hang her coat and she will be spending the day with a bunch of people I don't know. Valentine's day is the most wonderful distraction for this big change -ever-ever. 

We used Pear Tree Greetings for our family Christmas Cards this year after a lot of friends recommended them (noted for having excellent customer service). And we loved the results! They were affordable, they shipped quickly, and the paper quality was awesome. So when the folks at Pear Tree Greetings asked me to try their Classroom Valentine's Day cards - I happily agreed. 

I ordered a couple variations on classroom Valentine's Day cards from Pear Tree Greetings - it was tough to decide because I loved the classic "puny" Valentine's Day cards and my husband loved the photo cards. We both loved the photo-booth Valentine's Day cards too.  I picked my favorite puny Valentine - Bee Mine, photo postcards to send to Grandmas, Grandpas, and MawMaws, and photo cards to give to friends and family.  

I'm packaging this obsessives snack mix with Ell'a classroom Valentine's Day cards, because I am official that mom and because I love Ella - I'm okay with that.  

Valentine's Day Snack Mix

makes 20 (1/2 cup) servings  

Ella really loves (we all do) the muddy-buddy style snack mix that my mother in-law makes for the holidays, but its full of sugar. I was looking for a way to mimic the fun of that snack in a little bit healthier way - I'd say we nailed it. Even my husband cannot stop eating this. 

2 large egg whites 

1 cup granulated sugar 

1 tablespoon water 

4 cups chex cereal 

4 cups multi-grain cherrios cereal 

1 cup pretzel goldfish crackers 

1/2 cup sprinkles  

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

1 cup freeze dried strawberries 

1 cup freeze dried yogurt bites 

Heat the oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly grease two baking sheets. 

Whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and water until foamy in a large bowl. Add the cereals and crackers to the bowl and stir until well coated. Add the sprinkles and stir until combined. Divide the snack mix between the two prepared baking pans and spread into an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes. Stir and continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the snack mix is dry. Cool completely before adding the strawberries and yogurt bites. Store in an airtight container for up to a week**. 

** The baked component of this snack mix will last longer without the strawberries and yogurt bites. You could make this now and add the berries and bites before packaging. 

Please note: Pear Tree Greetings did provide our Valentine's Day Cards (and sponsored last week's Instagram Giveaway) but all opinions are my own. I would never feature a product/company I didn't love. Its all about the recipes anyway, y'all.* 

Donut Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Let's agree on two things: if it is not fried dough, call it a donut, not a doughnut and this motherhood thing is not for the faint of heart. The first, I just made up and the latter I am slowly learning.

I'm typing frantically, hoping that Ella sleeps twenty more minutes so I can finish this post and clean the toilets. You probably shouldn't mention toilets on a food blog. Also, you probably shouldn't talk about poopy diapers while you're at lunch with a bunch of lovely ladies, but its kinda par for the course today. All of this to say, that this time in my life is full of emotions. Emotions and complete craziness.

Some days I wish Ella would just learning how to walk/talk/use the toilet already. And then, in the same day, I will cry because she's almost getting too long to lay in my lap anymore and the elephant pajamas with the ruffles on the butt don't fit. I feel guilt for leaving her to work, obligated to work so I can give her everything. And in twelve years she will absolutely hate me, and five or so after that she'll leave completely.

My mom came to visit recently, and I am reminded and glad for the way our relationship has grown. It got me thinking a lot about the lineage of mother's before me. In fits of daydreaming and tired-mind wandering, I remember my mom's mother. Her house cast a sepia tone on everything in the summers I spent there. She kept a small garden and her cellar was lined with canned beans and carrots. Two freezers below the house kept blueberries we picked, popsicles, cool-whip, and bags of her cake donuts.

I wasn't one of those cooks who was taught at my grandmother's hip. I begrudgedly picked snap peas and peeled the toothy thread from the back steps of her little house on the corner. She always always took me blueberry picking under the guise that it was something I loved. I do now, but I was easily bored with it as a kid. Now I wish I had paid more attention to her in the kitchen. She made the very best cake donuts. My father loved them so much that she continued to make them for him long after my parents divorced. She made them every time I came to visit until her arthritis bothered her too much and then she'd ask a friend to make them for me. I never learned to make them from her before she passed.

On a trip home last fall I got to look through her recipes and found two notes regarding the infamous donuts. Neither is quite right, I'm sure something is missing. Now I'm sure the secret ingredient was her well word hands and heart. She too knew motherhood is not for the weak.

Donut Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

serves 10-12

Inspired by my grandmother's cake donuts that were flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg and deep fat fried, this cake requires a few extra steps than most cakes; I promise its worth it.

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, plus 2 tablespoons for the pan
2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extra
1 cup whole milk

For the glaze:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
Sprinkles, optional but highly highly recommended

Heat the oven to 350˚F and rub a large bundt pan with two tablespoons butter. Make sure to cover the pan well to prevent sticking later. Next coat the pan with 2 tablespoons of sugar: it easiest to do this by dumping the sugar into the pan, covering the pan with plastic wrap and shaking the whole pan until it well coated, remove the plastic wrap and tap out any excess sugar.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium-high, until lighted, 3-4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla.

Add one third of the flour mixture and stir in at medium speed. Stop scrap down the work bowl and add half of the milk. Repeat, ending with the last third of the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 45 minutes to an hour, until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan, then remove and cool completely before glazing.

For the glaze: Combine the butter, milk, and vanilla in a small saucepan and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and toss in the chocolate. Leave the chocolate alone for 2 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and whisk, whisk, whisk until smooth. Pour over the cooled cake, sprinkle on your sprinkles and set for 30 minutes before slicing.

I suggest serving this cake with hot coffee and some good belly laughs.

More Donut Cravings? Check out:
Emma's Donut Cake
Luisa's Donut Cake 
Deb's Cinnamon Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs