Day of Fishing with Smucker's Snackation #Smuckers #sponsored

*This is a sponsored post from Smucker's and the #Snackation campaign. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. 

Summer is coming to end and we celebrated by taking a trip to our local lake and taking a Snackation. We were teaching our son about fishing and making our own power bait by mixing a few items and he asked the curious question, "Is there power bait for kids?" So I made my own version of power bait for kids, Flax Power Balls with flax cereal, seeds, nuts, dried fruit and Smucker's jam. You can read the recipe here.

The day we went fishing it was 100 degrees outside so we did a little swimming as well as fishing. Making sure we stay hydrated I also wanted to keep our energy levels high with our Flax Power Balls. They were perfect for one handed snacking.

We were not catching any fish in the lake. We agreed maybe that it was the fact that there was only a small percentage of water than normal due to the terrible drought in CA so we changed up our bait a bit to see what would happen. My son put some of his Flax Power Ball onto the hook and cast as far as he could.

We did get a few nibbles but not enough to catch any fish. We did however capture the attention of a flock of geese. Oh my can geese be aggressive with food, especially something as tasty as a sweet flax power ball. They surrounded us and quacked at us very loudly! My son was giggling so much and I shared with him one of my stories I tell all the time, the time I was bitten by a goose as I ran from it cookie in hand when I was little. My son noticed that one of the geese had a hurt foot and hopped on one leg, he wanted to share some of his snack with another creature that was needing a Snackation. It is moments like this that are priceless and we will talk  about over and over.

It was a long hike back to the car being tired and hot but we were energized from our snacks. We finished them all and I plan to head back to Walmart to get ingredients for my next Smucker's creation for our next adventure.

Smucker's Snackation: Getting ready for our Fishing Trip #Smuckers #Sponsored

*This is a sponsored post from Smucker's and the #Snackation campaign. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

My son loves to be outside. Anytime we have a chance to go to the lake or river in our area we take it. We are lucky to live in a part of California that has Folsom Lake and the American River very close by. This summer we decided we would take a day to go fishing and show our son how to bait a hook.

We have been prepping a bait mixture we make to go fishing that we call power balls. Its a mix of worms, power bait and a secret ingredient to catch fish. My son asked about his snacks for the lake and if there was a human Power Ball he could have. This made me giggle but he did have a point. He wanted a one hand grab and eat treat that he could enjoy while on the lake waiting for a fish to bite.

We headed to Walmart, our go to spot for good prices on ingredients we need for baking and snacks. I wanted to make something that had fruit, nuts and grains in it for his Power Ball snacks. I enjoy baking with Smucker's Jams and had seen a similar recipe for granola bars on their website that I wanted to try to create my own spin on. I decided to make two separate flavors with their own jams and nuts in them for a delicious flavor using one of my favorite flax cereals as a base instead of granola.

My recipe is an easy one and turns out so delicious. You can add the dried fruits, nuts and seeds that you like to create your own version. I made two batches of the Flax Power Balls. One has Smucker's Apricot, cashews, dried cranberries and chia seeds. The other batch has Smucker's Grape, sunflower seeds, golden raisins and flax seeds.

Recipe for Smucker's Snackation Flax Power Balls:

2 Cups of Flax Cereal
1 Cup of Smucker's Jam
1/4 Cup of Nuts
1/4 Cup of Dried Fruit
1 tbsp. of Chia Seeds or Flax Seeds

Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Roll into small balls, place in 350 degree oven for 15 min or until slightly browned. Let cool and enjoy!

Now that we have our power balls for the fish bait and the Flax Power Balls for our snacks we are ready to pack up the car and head to the lake. If you are planning a fun outing and need Snackation ideas head to Walmart to see what you can create with Smucker's brand items.

Check back with us next week for the post where we will be going to the lake to test our power ball bait and see if our Flax Power Balls keep us full and energized while we spend the day in the sun fishing.