Cheap but tasty and low sugar (if you choose) sparkling apple cider

So about a week before Thanksgiving I went shopping for everything we would need for dinner. Well I of course bought sparking apple cider as it's not a holiday at my house without it. Well the bottles sat out on my counter and I began craving the sweet bubble drink. I felt too guilty about the price to drink some so I came up with a cheap but nonetheless tasty substitute.  We had apple juice and Sprite in the fridge and I was curious what it would taste like combined. Oh man, was I inspired! The juice tasted JUST like that expensive apple cider you buy in a bottle.

The savings is incredible! The cheapest bottle of apple cider I saw this season was $2.50 for a 25.4 ounce bottle. That's about 10 cents an ounces.I was able to buy a gallon of apple juice for $4 and a two liter bottle of sprite for $ .99.That comes out to 2.5 cents an ounces. So in simple terms I would have 4 times the amount of homemade cider compared to store bought for the same price. If you are throwing a large party the saving could add up real fast. Or if you want to enjoy this treat year-round its a lot more budget friendly.

Directions:
Mix half apple juice or cider with half Sprite.

Note: If you are diabetic or watching calories feel free to use Sprite Zero. It tastes nearly as good and I really enjoyed it.

Crazy Easy White Chocolate Pretzels

So I've seen all over Pinterest the melted Hershey's Kisses on pretzels topped with M&Ms. Well I thought this idea was fine and dandy but I never really thought I would make it until I was at the store and saw Candy Cane Kisses. BTW I love peppermint. My plans were solidified when I saw mint flavored Christmas colored M&Ms.

My inspiration came from a visit to Costco a few weeks ago. I saw a huge bag (what at Costco isn't huge?) of white chocolate peppermint covered pretzels. I couldn't resist buying them. Well my husband and I blew through the bag in a matter of days. They were kind of expensive but my main issue with them was they weren't satisfying enough and my husband thought they were not peppermint enough. Well this version of peppermint pretzels solved my sweet tooth issue wonderfully. It is also the quickest and easiest way for peppermint pretzels. Not to mention the clean up will take less than a minute. How's that busy mom! Now if you haven't tried the Candy Cane Kisses your missing out but by melting the chocolate the tiny pieces of candy cane inside melt and the flavor of peppermint intensifies.

I let my husband eat the green ones :)

You need:
1 bag of square or circle pretzels
1 bag of Mint M&M (you can use regular M&M's too)
1 bag of Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses
Parchment Paper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
2. Line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.
3. Place pretzels on baking sheet and top with unwrapped kisses.
4. Place in oven for about 4 minutes give or take depending on your oven and rack position. Just watch them until the Kiss is melted enough to press down. You don't want it completely melted or they wont hold there shape.
5. Remove from oven and quickly press an M&M into the chocolate.
6. Allow to cool and harden at room temp for at least 5 hours.
7. ENJOY!