Valentine's Day Snack Mix

I will be the first to admit it, I love Valentine's Day. I have such fond memories of this holiday from my childhood. My dad spoiled his three girls (my mom, sister, and myself) each year with such fun and thoughtful gifts---a new puppy(!), a box of sweet treats and a Bangles tape(!), and nice dinners of fondue and seafood in fancy restaurants.

I love to celebrate holidays for Jack as my parents did for me. And, I've sort of adopted Valentine's Day as my homemade holiday. You may remember the Super Hero Lollipops that I made for Jack's school friends last year? This year, my main goal was to use red and white bakers twine (yes, I developed a little obsession with this!) and to make a non-candy treat for Jack to share at school. I thought of making heart-shaped, homemade chocolate chip cookies, but realized that making 6 dozen cookies smack in the middle of a work week was not a smart plan for my mental state. So, I went with option two- a sweet, salty snack that contained some of the traditional colors of Valentine's.

I wouldn't call this treat healthy, but it's not candy (No worries- we will eat plenty of that too- I love those heart shaped boxes of Valentine's chocolates! And, we are likely to eat some of those homemade chocolate chip cookies I was referring to as well...). I mixed goldfish crackers, whole grain pretzel nuggets, freeze dried cranberries and raspberries, and yogurt covered raisins, put a 1/2 cup in each clear sack, and tied it shut with baker's twine and a note reading, "xxo! Love (heart), Jack."