We took a trip to Ireland last year, but it was just us. We knew immediately the kids would love it, so this time we brought the kids to Ireland! Day 1 We left the house Monday, August 14th about noon and arrived at Newark International Airport at about 2:30, breezed through security, and sat […]
Throwing it Back with Game Night
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Life is tough. It gets so busy and and we get into this routine of Go-Go-Go and don’t take time to really do things for ourselves. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, especially if you have kids.
We used to have a game night often before we had kids. It was actually happening more than once a week because we love our strategy games that much. Prior to getting into some great strategy games, we’d sit and play video games for hours. And no, I’m not talking about when we were kids. I mean as grown adults, we would sit and play games for hours at a time. After kids, that changes.
Things have been busy for all of us it seems and Game Night has fallen to the wayside. I’m pushing to bring it back! Everyone needs to take a break, catch up and have a little fun!
When I was pregnant with Charlie, I took a job that required I work mostly evenings. It kind of stunk to work opposite schedules of my new husband, but we did it. During that time, Tom and his best friend revived game night and made it a weekly thing. They would play for hours at a time and just get some socialization in with each other to catch up on life. Then came Charlie. When I went back to work after having Charlie, we were always working opposite schedules to avoid sending him to daycare. Game night for the boys continued for a couple of years, once a week on Tuesdays or at one point they switched to Wednesdays I think.
Hasbro® is helping me bring back game night this week with some great classics! Who doesn’t love Jenga or Monopoly? Instead of playing our intense strategy games, let’s take it back to the games we played as kids!
And what fun is game night without a snack? We’re big on dips around here. For game night, I’ll usually make something savory and something sweet. Here’s our something sweet this week with a big thanks to Peanut M&M’s®!
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup butter, slightly softened
- ½ cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter or chocolate peanut butter
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups quick oats
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1½ cups Peanut M&M's®
- In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter until smooth.
- Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and brown sugar.
- With a spoon, fold in the oats.
- Add the M&M's® and chocolate chips.
- Store in the refrigerator and serve chilled.
- Serve with pretzels, vanilla wafers or apple slices.
We were able to grab everything we need to bring back Game Night at Walmart. Quick recipes are my favorite and I’ve seen a million variations of a Monster Cookie Dough Recipe, so I threw this one together with a mix of what we had in the pantry and what we grabbed at the store when we picked up Jenga and Monopoly!
A quick run to the candy aisle scored us a party-sized bag of Peanut M&Ms (I’ll pretend they’ll last awhile, but I’m sure they won’t around here). Here’s a coupon to save you $1! We’re always into stretching our budget, so to save money on something I’m buying anyway is a big hit with me!
Both games are easily found in the toy section. Our store has a back aisle just for board games!
Charlie is a little too young to understand Monopoly and honestly, it lasts too long to hold his interest anyway. We’ll leave the Monopoly playing to the adults! Jenga is a game he can get into though because I think kids of all ages can enjoy trying not to knock down the tower (or maybe intentionally smacking it down from time to time).
Sometimes it’s great to just sit back and feel like a kid again and the classic games from Hasbro® help make that happen!
Be sure to check out more delicious recipes and ideas for game night.
What are you favorite game night ideas?
Phyrra says
That dip sounds great! Pinned it to try at our next game night!
Margy says
I do enjoy playing Monopoly on my iPad. It goes much faster that way. This is a new idea for me, cookie dip. The ingredients sound like just the thing for a game night. – Margy
David says
That dip looks like it would also be good as a cake icing.
Ashley Mullen says
You’re not helping me eat healthy! We just brought all our games up out of the basement yesterday so we’ll play them more. 🙂
Akaleistar says
That dip looks amazing!
Kim @KandyKreations says
I love game night! Now that my kids are getting older, we get to do it much more often. I think “Mini-Me”, our youngest may not be ready for a long strung out game of Monopoly, but the way my hubby plays, I’m not sure I even am. He could go for days until everyone’s bankrupt and has no spirit left. Yikes. By then, I’m ready to take the Jenga pieces and throw them at him.
But we do have a lot of fun playing together. Our favorite is probably the Catch Phrase games. They are so much fun. The next time we play, I’m definitely going to throw this dip together. My kids love cookie dough, and I love Peanut M&Ms.
Thanks for sharing this! I’m definitely pinning to my game night pinterest board!
Dianna Davis says
What a fun dip for everyone– I am always looking for something new and different for our game night or movie night at church and home. These are my very favorite days of the month. Thank you –Its easy and yummy. 🙂