Easy Chocolate Cheesecake Pudding + Simple Summer Snacks

We’re on week two of summer vacation and so far things are going great.  My kids have activities almost daily, we live within a short walking distance from a big swimming pool, and if they get really bored there are always boxes to pack! During the school year I send a lunch a few times a week, but in the summer I’ve got to make lunch every day, usually it’s a meal on the go. I put together a few of their favorites to share with other mom’s looking for ideas.

Snack Ideas

• air-popped popcorn.  You can add all kinds of toppings like cinnamon and sugar or my tandoori spice mix.
• fruit – if I know my kids will be outside with their lunches I pop fruit like bananas, grapes, or blueberries in the freezer, they’re ready to eat my lunch and not mush.
• cheese and crackers
• peanut butter (or nut butter) and crackers
• pudding!
• small yogurts or yogurt drinks
• tortilla chips and hummus
• olives
• vegetable slices with homemade ranch 

That cute wooden spoon and wooden bowl came in a box I received participating in the Food Blogger Prop Swap, hosted by Alyssa of www.EverydayMaven.com and Faith of www.AnEdibleMosaic.com, I sent a box of props to Tara of Tara’s Multicultural Table and I received a box from Patti of Comfy Cuisine (and a fellow #SundaySupper blogger!) in return. The swap was a lot of fun and it helped me to pare down my prop collection.  Deciding what, if anything, I’ll take with to Morocco has been a challenge!

My kids love pudding in their lunches but it gets expensive buying those little plastic cups.  This is a sometimes treat for them, and I’ve found in the summer it’s a great dessert to have when they’ve got friends over.  It’s low-cost and goes a long way. There are many organic pudding mixes that exist, and you can make cheesecake filling but I admit I don’t always have to whip that together.  So this is my shortcut method

Easy Chocolate Cheesecake Pudding + Simple Summer Snacks

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Ingredients

• 1 lg box of sugar free instant chocolate pudding mix
• 3 cups milk
• 1 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1 container of Philadelphia Cheesecake Filling
• Crushed gluten free Oreos (or regular!)

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Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the instant pudding with the milk, whisking continually so that no lumps form.
2. Do the same for the cheesecake and heavy cream. You should have two bowls, one with chocolate pudding and one with cheesecake.
3. At this point you can refrigerate the chocolate pudding for 5-10 minutes, allowing it to firm (it will still remain soft).
4. Once this is done you can layer chocolate and cheesecake.
5. Alternately you can mix both together and refrigerate. You will want to leave it alone until it sets.
6. I dish the pudding into smaller containers for my kids lunches, top with some crushed cookies and/or sprinkles.

You could make this with other kinds of pudding as well.

What are some of your favorite snacks for summer lunchboxes?