Rocketship lunch

April 14, 2013 By

3-2-1 Blastoff! What kid wouldn’t love a rocket ship going off into space for their lunch?

Awhile back I guest posted over at Build a Menu sharing this Rocket Ship Lunch.  I made a new one that is even better!  Today’s plate incorporates carrots, yellow pepper, fresh turkey breast, a high-protein wrap, and greek yogurt.  I made this lunch for my girls several times and each time I did, they were so excited!  I think it is one of their favorites!

Rocket kids lunch by CreativeKidSnacks.com | Turkey breast in a whole wheat tortilla wrap (high fiber and protein) with carrots & yellow peppers. Made this for my own kids using technique shown in post with unsweetened GREEK yogurt and they ate it all upIngredients:

1 whole grain tortilla wrap (I use the Ole Xtreme wellness Multi-Grain.  It has the highest protein and fiber bang for your buck)

2 baby carrots

3 thin slices yellow bell pepper

1 T yogurt (any kind – I used greek for the high protein content)

To make Rocket Lunch:

Assemble your turkey wrap by placing some mayo or miracle whip,turkey breast and any other desired elements into tortilla.  Roll as you would a burrito.  Slice off one end completely so you have a straight bottom edge for your rocket.  For the top of the rocket, slice your wrap into a point shape.  Take a small portion of the tortilla you cut off and slice two thin triangles to place on the sides of your main wrap as shown above.

Next, slice a baby carrot into wheels.  Use two wheels for windows on the rocket.  Slice another baby carrot in half lengthwise and cut about 1/3 off of the top of each half to create a straight edge.  Place one half carrot in the center beneath the rocket, and slice your other remaining half in half again.  Arrange carrots with two thin slices of yellow bell pepper as shown.  Now you have your flames coming from the rocket!

Finally, it’s time to make your smoke trail and stars.  Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of yogurt into a plastic bag.  Snip off a tiny corner of the bag, and use the bag to pipe little stars all around the rocket as well as little trails of smoke beneath the rocket.

*I’ve mentioned before that I can get away using any kind of yogurt when it becomes a design piped on a plate.  Although my kids would never reach for a cup of unsweetened Greek yogurt from the fridge, they lick it all up when it’s served on a creative plate like this! *

If you enjoyed today’s snack about outer space, you might like our Solar System snack as well!

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

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Butterfly Quesadilla + Weekly Kids Co-op

March 21, 2013 By

Butterflies are a sign of new life.  Spring always gets me motivated to get outside, enjoy nature, and celebrate it with our food, too!  My daughter has been very in to butterflies lately, and she has even requested a rainbow butterfly birthday party!  We’ve already made delicious fruit butterfly for a snack, and today’s butterfly will be a lunchtime butterfly treat.

Butterfly Quesadillas

Buttefly quesadillas by creativekidsnacks.com. Super easy and so fun!

I have two daughters.  I made one quesadilla with a 8-inch tortillas, (I love to use the whole wheat or multi-grain tortilla wraps), and cut it into 4 equal portions.  Place two quesadilla “wings” on your plate.

Create the body by slicing the end off of some beautiful green grapes and laying them on your plate to look like a body.

Thinly slice a baby carrot into strips to use for antennae, and place two blueberries on top of the carrots to complete the look.

If you feel so inclined, you could even use a food marker to draw a happy face on the top grape for your butterfly.

That’s it!  Super easy and so fun for the kids.

Butterfly Quesadilla from creativekidsnacks.com. Super easy and so fun for the kids!

If you enjoyed this, check out our other animal snacks, as well as our nature themed snacks.  The kids will love them!  I know mine did!

By the way, I found another blogger who has another take on the butterfly quesadillas.  Check her version out here!

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

 

And now it’s time for the Weekly Kids Co-op!

As moms, we are constantly on the lookout for great teaching tools and resources to use with our children.  I know I always benefit from seeing the creativity of others as they share lessons, activities, crafts, food, and more in their various blogs.  Mommy bloggers have become popular for a good reason: information is power.  Right, ladies?

The Weekly Kids Co-Op

The Weekly Kids Co-op is one of my very favorite such resources.  I have been linking my snacks to this link party for months now, and I am excited to be able to co-host it here at Creative Kid Snacks.

If you are a blogger, link up your kid related posts to share with all of us eager beaver mommas.  If you are a mom, take some time to look through all of the great ideas for teaching and playing with our kids.  Pin what you love.  Like I said before, information is power!

This party will take place every Thursday at Creative Kid Snacks.  You will find it hosted on several other blogs, but the days the party goes live will vary from blog to blog.

Get ready for all the great ideas!  Link, share, and enjoy!


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Tangled

March 11, 2013 By

My kids love Disney’s Tangled.  If you’ve seen our Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Lion King, Monster’s Inc, “Up” and Peter Pan snacks, you can tell that we are big Disney fans.  Tangled is no exception.

Rapunzel from #Disney's "Tangled" - from creativekidsnacks.com

To create Rapunzel, I sliced 12-14 red grapes in half lengthwise.  I arranged them on the plate to look like her dress.  Making the dress first helps to scale the head, feet, and arms.  Next, cut a slice of white cheese (I used mozzarella) into shape for a neck, feet, arms and head.  I wasn’t ambitious enough to create hands with tiny little fingers using cheese, so I hid her arms behind her hair.  For her lips I used a tiny slice of a grape, two tiny currants for eyes, and a small slice of cheese for her nose.

Next, boil a small handful of thin spaghetti noodles until cooked.  You can make a quick cheese sauce for it if desired, or just use a little olive oil or butter and place it right onto the plate.

Finish the scene with some celery grass and a couple orange tulips made from carrots.

I loved the scene in the movie where Rapunzel feels the grass and the earth for the first time.  This lunch was pattered after that.

Enjoy!

Don’t forget to check out our other Disney snacks: Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Lion King, Monster’s Inc, “Up” and Peter Pan

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

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Butterfly

March 4, 2013 By

When Spring starts to peek around the corner after Winter finally ends, it’s fun to embrace the feeling of new life, warmth, brightness, and outdoor fun.  Nothing says new life to me like a butterfly!  The butterfly snack we have for you today is refreshing, super healthy, and beautiful for the kids to enjoy.

Butterfly Snack made of fruit from creativekidsnacks.com

Ingredients:

1 piece string cheese.  (You can also use just half of one, sliced lengthwise).

8-10 green grapes, sliced in half

3 strawberries

1 baby carrot

Directions:

To make this guy, simply place a piece of string cheese in the center of the plate.  Next, slice your green grapes in half and lie them on the plate as the outline of the butterfly’s two wings.  Slice strawberries and fill in the outline formed by the grapes.  Next, slice two round slices from the end of a baby carrot.  Slice two thin sticks, and slice a tiny bit off each stick.  Arrange antennae as shown, place two tiny carrot bits on the string cheese for eyes.  Enjoy!

Continue the Fun with a “READ.PLAY.EAT” activity

READ.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is such a classic story book!  Just like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an Eric Carle staple I’ll bet most of us have in our bookshelves (if not memorized) and read often.  I know it’s been a favorite for my girls.

The story is told of a caterpillar that hatches from an egg, grows, and eats and eats and eats until he is so full that he becomes big and fat.  He builds his cocoon, stays inside for more than two weeks, and becomes a beautiful butterfly.  It’s the classic metamorphosis story.

 

PLAY.

Create a “beautiful butterfly” with your child that they can play with over and over again.  Follow the simple steps shown below:

Butterfly Craft

My girls love to make these, and they only take about 5 minutes.  I love them because they aren’t messy, and they don’t involve too much skill on the parent’s part!  We have quite a collection, and my oldest daughter Grace plays with hers often.  She loves to hold the butterfly by the stick and swing him around to flap his wings.

It is also fun to make each one unique and different.  One thing we have done is make a butterfly for everyone in the family.  The kids have fun deciding which colors, patterns, and designs best reflect each person.  So fun!

 

EAT.

Make a healthy caterpillar for lunch!

Very Hungry Caterpillar: Creative Kid Snacks

Take a large strawberry and slice to create his head.  Next, create his eyes by using little bits of pineapple cut into circles and place sliced green jelly belly candies in front.  Form his body with green grapes , carrot feet, raisin mouth, and ham antennae.  He is walking on an oatmeal ground and taking in the cheddar cheese sun!

If you enjoyed this, check out our other animal snacks, as well as our nature themed snacks.  The kids will love them!  I know mine did!

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

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Easter Morning

February 25, 2013 By

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is, in my eyes, one of the singe most important events of all time.  On Easter, we celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, conquering sin and death, and paving the way for all who believe in him to have forgiveness and everlasting life.

After Jesus’ death, his body was placed in a garden tomb by a couple of his disciples.  Three days later, Mary Magdelene went to the tomb to anoint the body with spices and oil, and saw the stone rolled away from the tomb entrance.  As they entered the tomb, they saw an angel who said to them, “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” (Mark 16:6 NIV).

Resurrection day proved that Jesus was who he said he was.  The son of the most high God, able to defeat even death, so that we who believe may live!  Amen!

This Easter snack will help you to teach the story of Jesus’ resurrection to your children.  Read the story from Mark 16 or John 20, (or read it from the Children’s Bible – here’s the one we use), and then make this snack together.

Teach the story of Jesus' resurrection and the true meaning of Easter with this snack by creativekidsnacks.com
To make this snack, start with the tomb.  Slice an apple near the core on one side so you have a nice large chunk of apple.  Then slice that in half so that there is one round “stone” piece and another that looks like an empty tomb.  Easy!  Next, thinly slice a baby carrot and place the strips around the tomb to look like beams of light.  Add some celery grass underneath the tomb.  (After all, the tomb was in a garden)!

Next, slice a hard boiled egg in half to use as the angel’s body.  Carefully pop out the yolk of one of the halves and place it on top as the angel’s head.  Slice two small traingles off of the half of boiled egg you didn’t use for the body, and place those next to the body as arms (well, sleeves).  Add some pretzels as wings, and use a small almond for his smile and tiny brown sprinkles for his two eyes.  I normally use raisins for eyes, but this guy’s face was too small for that!

You now have a delicious, nutritious, and educational bible story for lunch.  Enjoy!

Teach the story of Jesus' resurrection and the true meaning of Easter with this snack by creativekidsnacks.com

If you enjoyed this Easter snack, check out our other biblical snacks like Jesus’ birth, Jesus on the cross, Jonah in the big fish, and more.

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Train

February 11, 2013 By

Does your child watch Thomas the Train?  Have you gone on a train ride for a fun family adventure recently?  We love to ride the train just to go a few towns over, as a fun way to get to a relatively nearby destination.  This past Christmas, we rode the train from our local station 3 stops down to go see a fabulous lights display in a nearby town.  We had a blast!

Let’s make a choo-choo train for lunch today!

Train Lunch from creativekidsnacks.com

I have been loving using wraps lately as an alternative to sliced bread.  I can cut it into neat, fun shapes and the girls love the texture.  We like these:

Wraps

These particular wraps contain more protein and fiber than many of the other brands available at my local grocery store.  I’ll take any protein boost I can get out of a typically protein-lacking item like bread (or in this case tortilla wraps).

To make the train

First, I made a wrap using fresh turkey breast and some mayonnaise.  I recently learned of an awesome home-made mayo recipe that I will try and implement in an upcoming snack and share here!Wrap Slicing to create a train

Once the wrap is made, I sliced in into two rectangular sections, then sliced a triangle out of the remaining portion.  This triangle will be the top of the top of the train.

Arrange the train on the plate as shown below, then add some wheels.  I used sliced baby carrots.  For the front window, I sliced a grape in half and then slice one rounded edge off to look more like a window.

Train Lunch from creativekidsnacks.com

I spooned a bit of cottage cheese to look like steam coming from our little steam engine.

To complete the look, add some pretzel sticks below the train to look like tracks.  A happy sun in the sky creates a happy choo-choo train.

Train wrap

Look how yummy this lunch looks for the kids!  It’s an adorable lunch that the kids will love to eat!

(I’ll be sharing this HERE)

If you liked this lunch, check out the other lunches that reflect everyday scenes: Helicopter, Kite, Solar System, Hot-air balloon, Stoplight, and House

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Superbowl Snack

January 31, 2013 By

Looking for a cute, healthy Superbowl Snack you can make with the kids?  I’ve got a Superbowl inspired veggie tray you can make with the kids before the big game.  This is not too fancy, but I’m sure people will get a “kick” out of extra effort you put into it!

Superbowl Snack

First, lay celery along the center of your platter for the field.  If you have a big crowd, you could use two layers of celery.

Next, create the lines across the field.  I used white string cheese sliced into thinner sections and just laid them across the celery.  An almond football goes down right onto the line of scrimmage.

To make the “fans” I used several serving cups to stand some red bell pepper and baby carrots in to look like they are slightly elevated from the field.  I filled in the extra areas with some cashews.

As a finishing touch, I just laid some pretzel sticks down to look like a goal post.  (I tried to make them stand in the air, but it was just too much work – even for me!)

What are your plans for the Superbowl this year?  What Superbowl Snacks are you ready to chow down on?

Check out a few of our other Sporty Snacks:

Downhill Skier
 
 (Sharing HERE)
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Downhill Skier

January 21, 2013 By

Do you love skiing?  Have you taken a family trip to Colorado to hit the slopes this year?  Even if you haven’t gotten to go in person, celebrate the fun of winter sports with this cute little lunch.

skiier

Cottage chesse is a favorite in our home.  Any lunch with cottage cheese as one of the elements is sure to be gobbled up quickly!

To create this lunch, take a baby carrot and slice it in half lengthwise so it lies flat on the plate.  Chop off one of the rounded edges from the bottom.  This will be your skier’s body.  Next, slice the other half of the carrot you didn’t use for the body into small sticks to serve as the arms and legs.  Create the look of bended knees by cutting what would be one leg in half and laying on the plate to look like it is bent.

Take some thinly sliced celery and cut to desired length for skis.  Add two small pretzel sticks for the poles.

Now, take a spoon and spread the cottage cheese onto the plate to look like it is sloping upward on one side as a mountain would.

I decided to add a fun touch in the background by using some string cheese for a chair lift.  Use a small rounded edge of a carrot for a little guy, and give him one leg (that you are seeing from the side), and one ski.

Give each skier a cap to keep warm.  I used turkey breast cut to shape with a little puff of cottage cheese on top.

Your kids will love this protein and fiber filled snack.

Check out some other winter snacks:

Cottage Cheese snowman, Snowman Popcorn Cups, Snowman Milk Chugs, Snowman party poppers.

(Linking up HERE)

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3 Creative Christmas Veggie Trays

December 13, 2012 By
Today is all about creative veggie trays for the holidays.  Transform your traditional relish tray with these three vegetable platters that rock!

This year, volunteer to bring the vegetable platter to Christmas dinner!
Create an awesome veggie tray that everyone will love!  The kids will LOVE to help you!

 Use a large round serving platter.  Start with the celery, and create several zig-zaggy rows going accross.

Next, fill in the yellow peppers, saving one for the “hook” on top, then carrots, then cherry tomatoes, and you are all set!

I got the idea for this Christmas present veggie tray when I found the following little boxes at Walmart.

I bought the boxes with the inspiration for this veggie tray, but knowing I could eventually use them as gift boxes down the road.

What I did to create the present was to place all four boxes onto a larger platter, tie a nice thick ribbon around them to make them look like a present and then LINE them.

To line each box, simply open a baggie, roll the top zipper part over so it lays on the outside of the bag, and fill with the veggies.  This will ensure the boxes stay dry and, the best news of all, the veggies are easy to put away once the tray is done being used!

Try this fun and popular idea with the kids this year!

For this tree, I first created the outside branches of the tree with cut celery.  It is just the perfect shape and look to go on the outside.
Next, add sliced cucumber to fill in the middle of the tree.  This cucumber layer can be 2-3 layers deep if you have a large crowd to serve.
Add broccoli to fill in any gaps between the cucumbers and celery, and place some nice red cherry tomatoes to look like ornaments.
To ensure the baby carrots used to make the tree’s “trunk” stand up, cut them in half so they sit flat on the tray.
Finish with a yellow pepper star, and you are all ready to dig in!
Variations:
Use deli meat for the trunk by placing thin rolls next to each other in a vertical pattern.
To feed a bigger group, use celery for the entire bottom layer, cucumbers for a second layer on top of that, etc.

To me, the very best part of making these fun trays with your kids is the fact that they are munching on veggies the whole time!

Check out more Christmas food!
(Sharing HERE)

 

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Baby Jesus in the Manger

November 30, 2012 By

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6
The true meaning of Christmas is awesome story of God sending his son Jesus to be born into the world, in a humble stable, to save the world from sin.  
I’ve always loved the way Linus tells the story in the Peanuts Christmas special!

 

 

I’ve already shared some of the festive Christmas snacks I’ve made for my kids to get them excited about the season (as if they need any help with that)!  However, the real reason we celebrate Christmas is because Jesus was born!  The miracle of His birth and the story of God’s amazing love for mankind still blows me away. 
Luke 2 tells this awesome story.  Read that or read about the birth of Jesus in the Children’s Bible.  
After that, make this lunch together.

Baby Jesus is a baby carrot sliced in half to lay flat.  He is lying in a manger made of a peanut butter sandwich.  He is wrapped in swaddling clothes of string cheese peeled and wrapped around him.  His eyes are raisins.  The stable is made of carrots sliced to lay flat, and the hay and the star are made of organic colby jack cheese.  I use a pizza slicer to create the thin strips of cheese to look like hay.  The support for the manger is celery shaped like an “x”.

As a finishing touch, Grace and I sang “Away in a Manger” together right before she ate!

(Linking up HERE)




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