I always wanted the Snoopy Sno-Cone machine

Woo. It has been hot here already.  Not every day but pretty often.  I'm not complaining, you know I love the warm weather, but I do feel terrible when my kids get off the bus all red-faced and sweaty. I remember miserably hot bus rides. So I have been trying to come up with some after school snacks to cool them off. We've had carrots and celery with ranch, fruit salad, already cut open Popsicles (in the freezer- no waiting for mom to put the baby down and sort through the mountains of school papers), smoothies, and my latest invention.... 

Slushies! Can you believe my genius? Oh yes, I was the queen of all mothers that day. I rocked. I ruled. Don't ask me, ask my kids. They were so happy it was ridiculous. 

I always wanted a Snoopy Sno-Cone machine when I was little. Didn't those commercials make it look like so much fun? It was so cute, the little Snoopy Dog house and those adorable paper cones. Oh, I can picture it now. And how I loved a good Slushie when I was little. So cool and refreshing. I got one every time I had the chance, which wasn't often but I still remember them fondly. My older cousin had one and I swear it was the one thing I wanted to steal from her. She lived next door to me and we were like sisters, always spending time at each other's houses. She would never share it with me, she didn't want to "use up all the syrup". I remember thinking, "just one dang Sno-cone, that's all I ask!" I was bummed. Every time. I'm over it now. Slushies are way to syrupy sweet for me but I know kids love them. Especially the $6 ones at Reds games and the fair and the carnival and every other summer event we go to!

I made my own by putting the crushed ice (right from our fridge ice dispenser) into my smoothie maker (I don't have a blender- I killed it a while ago) and then crushed the ice some more, maybe these cooky experiments are how I kill so many blenders and food processors? It got really shaved looking, you know like a Hawaiian Shaved Ice treat. (Please tell me you have had one- like a Slushie but not as syrupy).

Then I put this over it.

I found this syrup at Target. I am going to get a whole bunch the next time I go. That way I don't "use all the syrup up." It was about $3. I used about half to make these three slushies, they are kind of big and I wasn't sure how much to use, maybe I could use less next time to really stretch my dollars. But these are way better than paying $6 each. And they taste the same.* I swear.  Try them, being a queen mother is such a lovely experience.

For those days I am feeling like I shouldn't load my kids up on sugar, this is our standby. Believe it or not, these oranges get gobbled up almost as fast as the slushies. And they cost about the same.  ;)

Now, I'm going to go scour Craigslist for a Snoopy Sno-cone machine. Maybe I'll luck out and find one at a garage sale this summer.

*these are not the healthiest of all after school snacks but it's just one dang Sno-cone! Everything in moderation, right?