This crunchy peanut butter chocolate bars and snackation post was brought to you by Smucker's. All opinions are mine.

School started this week for the older two boys and man, it has been a long week! The Captain started off apprehensive, but finished the week confident and looking forward to the next week. D, however, back tracked and was very, very sad by Friday. We all needed a break, whether we wanted to admit it or not.

I had planned a special "Snackation" to celebrate our first week of school and we just had a nice, relaxing time as a family in our backyard. We are lucky enough to have the shade of a tree, a great swingset, and a relatively quiet neighborhood. We laid a blanket out and just sat, snacked, talked, and had fun. It was great quality family time. And of course, there was yummy food! I used the Smucker's and JIF products that I bought at Walmart for our Snackation and made a few special treats for us to enjoy as a family.

Baby Brother cannot have peanut butter, but he enjoyed a grape jelly sandwich and apple slices, as well as some strawberries.

D really loved dipping his apple slices in Jif to go peanut butter cups. I think I will send some to school in his lunch box next week.

We also tried the new Jif Cookies 'n Cream Hazelnut spread with strawberries. This spread has so many possibilities.

The biggest hit of our Snackation was the Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars that I made with peanut butter and chocolate Jif Whips! They were SO super easy to make. The whole process took less than 20 minutes and they were cooled and ready to eat in no time. They would make a great lunchbox addition or after school snack, simply because they're easy to make and travel well.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups Jif Whips – Peanut Butter & Chocolate
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
3 cups of cereal, any kind

Directions:

Pour Jif Whips – Peanut Butter & Chocolate, corn syrup, and sugar in a medium pot on the stove on medium-high heat.
Stir constantly and remove once it begins to slightly bubble.
Stir in cereal and stir to completely coat.
Pour mixture in a 8×8 (or larger) glass baking dish and smooth out with a spatula.
Let cool for 20-30 minutes, eat and enjoy!

For more ideas and recipes, visit My Snackation.

Where would you take a weekend "Snackation?"