Archives for September 2012
We are in love with Costco’s strawberries. We’ve bought them all summer and they are consistently delicious.
This week I had some strawberries in the house as well as some organic colby jack cheese, also from Costco. I decided a Winnie the Pooh snack was in order.
Cut cheese to shape using a sharp knife. I think I used two slices to make this snack, giving the leftover cheese to my two year old. Next, create a shirt with strawberries sliced in half to lay flat on the plate and fit together to look like a shirt.
Add Pooh’s nose and eyes with some raisins, and draw his mouth and “Hunny” pot using the technique shown below. Serve the rest of the yogurt on the side, and you have a fun and healthy snack!
Healthy Christmas Tree Snack
Healthy Christmas Tree Snack
Ingredients:
1-2 stalks celery
1 slice ham
1-2 baby carrots
1 cheese stick
small section of a yellow pepper
Directions:
Use cut celery arrange on an angle to create the shape of the tree. Slice a baby carrot into wheels for the ornaments. Cut a yellow pepper into the shape of a star for the top of the tree.
Create the trunk by rolling a slice of deli ham into a one inch wide roll-up and folding it in half. Slice the bottom off to create a straight line if you wish.
My favorite part of this snack are the snowflakes. I created them by slicing some string cheese into wheels, then carefully slicing little triangles out of them (from the outside in).
Serve with a little ranch for dipping, and enjoy!
(My kids ate this whole snack up! So much good fiber and protein!)
Variations:
Use cucumbers for the tree (sliced in “sticks”)
Use a carrot or two for the trunk and cherry tomatoes for the ornaments
Use yogurt for the snowflakes
Camp
Have you had a memorable family trip like this one? Why not re-create it?
Camping scene: Tent is made of a peanut butter sandwich, the tree trunks and ground are made of Triscuit crackers, the leaves on the trees are made of cucumber and the campfire is made out of a base of walnuts and flames of carrots and yellow pepper.
My husband and I are off to the Great Smoky Mountains for a little getaway, so this also reflects a little of my anticipation for our trip!
A Day at the Beach
We had our last beach day of the summer this past weekend.
So sad to say goodbye to the lazy days of summer, but we can still commemorate them with a creative snack.
This snack is made by laying turkey breast along the bottom of a plate to look like sand.
Slice some watermelon squares to look like towels. Cut a baby carrot in half and lay on top of the watermelon like little people. Add little arms and legs by thinly slicing another baby carrot. Finally, add little swim shorts and waves using the following method:
Grover
Blueberries are known to be a superfood, containing lots of antioxidants, fiber, and other vitamins that are so beneficial for our kids.
Why not have a great big serving by creating Grover the monster for our snack?
This Grover was made on a 6 inch kids plate. Make the eyes by slicing the sides (lengthwise) off of a hardboiled egg. Cut a blueberry in half to lay it flat over each eye.
Next, create Grover’s mouth using raspberries running from one end of the plate to the other. Raspberries are also full of great vitamins like C, E, and A as well as magnesium and fiber, to name a few.
Add a sliced strawberry in the center of the plate for the nose, and fill the rest of Grover’s face in with blueberries.
Blueberries are not number one on my daughter’s list of favorite fruits, but she ate every single one in this snack! It’s truly a snack to feel great about giving to your little one!
Variations:
Use yogurt for the whites of Grover’s eyes
(Linked HERE)
Lion
The Flood
Genesis 6-9 tells the awesome story of Noah and the ark. This story has fascinated kids for all time, and they love to picture all of the animals filing in two by two to be rescued in the safety of the ark from the great flood.
Read the story with your kids, or read the story of Noah in the children’s bible. Talk about how they must have felt when they saw all of the water covering the earth. Then talk about how they must have felt when God allowed them to land safely upon dry ground again. You can make a list of the foods Noah might have used to feed all the animals, and which animals your child might like to take care of if he or she were in the ark during the flood.
Create this super easy lunch by inverting a peanut butter sandwich, slicing out two rectangular sections from the sides and slicing the top into a point. Next, create the rain, clouds, and waves using this technique:
Add the lightning bolt with some thinly sliced pineapple or some cheddar cheese cut to look the part.
(Linked HERE)
Kite
Do you own a kite? Last summer, we took the girls to a kite festival. They got to see professional kite flyers putting on a great air show. There was music, and even a chance for the kids to make their own kites. Granted, the kites they got to make were only out of paper, but it was a great way to introduce the kids to all that kites can do when flown right!
To create this kite lunch, take a peanut butter sandwich and cut a diamond. Next, slice a baby carrot into thin sections to create the criss cross over the kite. To make the string, slice a banana into a thin strip, and place strawberries over it to look like bows.
Show that the kite is in the sky by adding a bird made of sliced apples and a puffy cottage cheese cloud.
Variations:
Create a larger kite using a banana for the outline and fruit for the colorful filling. Use yogurt to draw a string.
Use yogurt or whipped cream for a cloud.
Make this into a dessert by making the kite out of a s’more or a brownie/bar you have on hand.