Santa Party Poppers

December 7, 2012 By

Meet our cute little Santa Party Popper.

I’ve taken to calling anything on a short stick a “popper” because you can pop it into your mouth and enjoy in one or two bites.

These guys are a dessert for the kids to help make after dinner one night or in preparation for a little party.
*Note:  Santa Party Poppers should be assembled within an hour of when you plan to serve them, because the bananas will brown being out in the air too long.
To make 10 Santa Poppers you will need:
10 regular sized marshmallows (not minis)
2 additional regular sized marshmallows cut into eights (for puff on Santa’s hat)
10 one inch tall banana chunks
10 red mini M&Ms
1/2 cup chocolate chips (for melting)
10 strawberries cut to appropriate size for a hat

 

Before assembly, slice each full sized marshmallow in half lengthwise.  You will need 2 halves per Santa.
To assemble, slide the small marshmallow bit (from those cut into eights) to the top of a decorative toothpick.  Next, slide the strawberry (flat side down), one half marshmallow, the banana, and lastly the other half marshmallow.

Make sure you slice your banana into chunks evenly and straight to ensure that they do not lean or tip over once assembled.

Tip:  Sliding the bottom marshmallow on with the sticky side down will allow it to stand up better on the serving plate because it will stick!
Next, melt your half cup of chocolate chips in the microwave.  I melted mine for a total of 45-50 seconds on high, stopping to stir every 20 seconds.
Once melted, spoon chocolate into a Ziploc bag and snip a TINY triangle off one of the corners.  You will pipe the chocolate out through this hole.
Pipe two eyes and dot for his nose on every Santa.  I placed the nose dot right above the bottom marshmallow.
Place a red M&M on each chocolate dot and press to stick down for Santa’s nose.
Once this step is complete, refrigerate for 10 minutes and serve (see *note above)
The kids will love this dessert, and you can feel good knowing it is mostly fruit.  The only refined sugar they will be getting is the equivalent of 1 1/8 marshmallow and a tiny bit of chocolate.

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Grinch Party Poppers

December 4, 2012 By

The Grinch is one of Dr. Suess’ most beloved characters, and at Christmas we love to watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.
Just like we love to make Christmas trees, wreathes, snowmen, Santa, and reindeer for snacks this time of the year, we also love Mr. Grinch.

Today’s snack is a perfect finger food to put out for the kids at a Christmas party.
These would also be perfect for a Christmastime sleepover, featuring popcorn, the Grinch movie, and these scrumptious little poppers.
Healthy, cute, and super fun, you know these little guys will be a hit.
Here’s how to make them.

Step 1: Collect your ingredients and assemble Grinches

 
(Depending on how many Grinch poppers you would like to make, you will need that many of the following):
 
-slice of white string cheese (at least 1/3 inch thick)
-strawberry
-banana slice (at least 1/3 inch thick)
-green grape (with bottom sliced off so it lays flat)
-melted chocolate. (1/2 of a Hershey’s bar, broken into pieces and microwaved until melted, stirring at 20 second intervals will be plenty to make up to 25 poppers)
 
Assemble each Grinch by sliding each piece up a plastic toothpick.  I get mine from the dollar store.  They come in a package of assorted colors with little hearts on the top.  They are the perfect size, and not too sharp for the kids to eat off of.
 

 Step 2: Melt Chocolate

 
 Depending on how many poppers you are making, melt the appropriate amount of chocolate.  I used a simple Hershey bar in this recipe.

1/2 of a Hershey’s bar, broken into pieces and microwaved until melted, stirring at 20 second intervals will be plenty to make up to 25 poppers.

  Step 3: Pipe Grinch faces

Place your melted chocolate into a piping bag with a very small tip attachment; 
or do it the easy way by using a ziploc bag with a tiny snip off of one corner to pipe your faces.
Make 2 eyes with frowning eyebrows above them.  Next, make a wide smile with bumps and a little point at the bottom middle.

Step 4:  Chill, serve, and enjoy!

 
Chill in the refridgerator for at least 15 minutes.
 

 My little girls LOVED these guys.  I made about 10 of them for today’s post, and they had to be cut off after 4 each!  (They still hadn’t had their lunch yet)!
 
TIP: Pipe Grinch faces onto grapes and chill in advance if you want to work ahead and prevent the rest of the ingredients from being out in the air too long.
 
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Ladybug Dessert

August 23, 2012 By

I’ve been needing to add more deserts here, so it’s time for you to meet the little ladybug!
Slice a watermelon into a circle shape about 6 inches across.  You could make it smaller if you wanted.  Slice a small section out of the middle starting the cut from the back and slicing almost all the way through but not completely.

Next, add brown peanut or pretzel M&M’s for her spots.
Slice a piece of toast into a “D” shape as shown and spread with Nutella.
Add two cheerio eyes, and your ladybug dessert is complete!
My little girl LOVED this one (although, she loves all the desserts)!

(linked HERE)

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Healthy Dessert: Airplane

July 29, 2012 By

This is a dessert.  Make an airplane by slicing a banana in half lengthwise, then taking one of the halves and slicing it at a slight angle about 2/3 of the way through.  Arrange the pieces to look like a plane.  Add halved brown M&M’s for the windows, half a strawberry for a tail, and whipped cream from a can for the jet stream and the clouds.  The kids won’t be able to resist!

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