Thanks for being our (muddy) buddies

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Serene and Valor have a little party with the other kids in our church's children's program tonight, so we brainstormed some valentines to pass out. I had everything in the pantry for muddy buddies, which was a fun and easy treat to make with Serene. Her favorite parts were mixing the chocolate into the cereal, dumping in a whole ton of sprinkles, and shaking the bag to mix everything up into a sweet, crunchy, chocolatey concoction. There are a ton of recipes for muddy buddies, but here's what we did according to the ingredients we had in the pantry:

Muddy Buddies
Ingredients:
1 box Chex cereal
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:
1. Pour Chex cereal into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Heat butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Add sea salt and vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
3. Pour chocolate mixture over cereal. Stir until coated.
4. In a large paper bag, pour in powdered sugar and sprinkles. Add coated cereal. Fold bag tightly over and shake until all coated.

To package the valentines, I  poured some muddy buddies into mini kraft bags, taped them shut with washi tape, and wrote "Thanks for being our (muddy) buddies! Love, Serene Joy & Valor Zeal." The kids passed out healthy valentines last year. The year before that, Serene passed out non-candy valentines. This year, we're embracing the sugary sweet holiday with these no-fuss and tasty valentines. I bet the muddy buddies would look even cuter with heart sprinkles. Whip some up for your loved ones this lovely holiday! We don't have grand plans for Valentine's Day, but we are looking forward to celebrating love with one another. Alex and I will probably go out for dinner one night, and we'll take the kids on father-daughter and mother-son dates another day.