Amy Hudson

Turkey

September 18, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Fall is in full swing, and soon it will be Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays – great food, family, gratitude, and, best of all, no present-buying frenzy! Build up anticipation for Thanksgiving with this fun and healthy lunch!

Turkey

Ingredients:

Turkey sandwich (fresh turkey breast, whole wheat bread, and mayo) / Substitute a peanut butter sandwich if desired!

Baby Carrots

1 cashew

1 raisin

1 cube pineapple

2 celery stalks

Directions:

Slice a turkey sandwich into a pear shape as shown above. Next, arrange baby carrots all around the body to look like tail feathers. You can also slice carrots in half lengthwise to control portion size or to allow them to lay flat on the plate. Slice a raisin in half and place onto sandwich for eyes. Place a cashew beneath the eyes to look like a beak. Slice a pineapple chunk into two thin strips, then slice two thin triangles and place beneath legs. Finish off the plate with celery “grass” where the turkey is happily frolicking!

My Super Snacks Review and GIVEAWAY

August 28, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Moms, how many times does the following scenario happen to you?

You feed the kids a healthy breakfast, wash faces, get dressed, find shoes, get out the door, buckle into car seats, and are off to your morning play date when you hear from behind you a little voice saying, “I’m hungry”!

My kids can be hungry at all hours of the day sometimes. I think the little one may be in a growth spurt, because she’s constantly wanting more to eat. Feeding her while we are at home is no problem, as we have a variety of healthy and nutritious foods from which to choose. On-the-go food is different however.

Our typical “portable snacks” usually include mini bags of goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, and, if I’m lucky and have been planning ahead, little snack bags of pre-washed grapes ready to go. Other than that, I don’t have time to prepare all of my kids’ potential traveling snack food as well as all of the other meals.

Enter a great solution for moms like me who want to give their kids the most nutritional bang for their buck when it’s time to eat. My Super Snacks.

My Super Snacks were developed by Slivia and Katie, two moms who began mysuperfoodscompany.com out of a desire for wholesome and nutritious snacks that could go anywhere.

Each package of granola bites has lots to brag about: all natural, non GMO, containing flax seed, whole grain oats and real fruit. Each pouch contains 800+ mg of Omega 3’s, 11 g of whole grains, and 3 g of fiber and protein.

We got a sampling of all three flavors of My Super Snacks:

– Blueberry Banana Acai

– Chocolate Chip

– Apple Raisin

The girls couldn’t wait to try them. We busted open all three bags and each member of our family of 4 got one piece from each bag.

Each bite was about the size of a regular sized marshmallow, just a little less round. They remind me of a Nutri-grain bar, except the fruit is mixed through each bit and there are far less aritificial ingredients and sugar content.

The blueberry banana acai was my personal favorite. It had the most moisture and best overall texture of all three.

The girls loved the flavor of the apple raisin, as it reminds you of an oatmeal cookie, or a mini apple spice cake.

Hubs liked chocolate chip the best. Chocolate chips are always a crowd-pleaser.

If you are like me and looking for a quick snack containing wholesome ingredients that are actually beneficial for your child and isn’t simply a “filler” food, then I suggest you get yourself some of these snacks!

P.S. The best part of buying this product is that they are donating a portion of sales to end child hunger in the US.

Like My Superfood Snacks?

You can visit and “like” MySuperFoodsCompany on Facebook

Follow My SuperFoodsCo on Twitter

Order online or find your closest store HERE

Follow their blog full of great recipes and tips for feeding a healthy family

Visit their website and learn more about MySuperFoodsCompany.com

Win your own!

Enter below for a chance to win a box of each of the three flavors (that’s 18 pouches!) of My Super Snacks to try with your own kids. Be a trendsetter for all the other kids on the block!

How to Enter:

-Like MySuperFoodsCompany on Facebook

-Follow MySuperFoodsCompany on Twitter

– PIN the following image to one of your Pinterest boards.

(You will need to leave a comment on today’s post letting us know your Pinterest URL and the name of the board you pinned to. This entry is worth 3 points! Woo Hoo!)

Pinnable Image:

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Shapes Lunch

August 26, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Lunch and snack time are an important part of the day which can be used for purposes beyond simply providing sustinance for our children. Why not use this time as an opportunity to teach your child new things? At Creative Kid Snacks, we are about leveraging meal time to connect with our kids on a deeper level, while serving super healthy food in a fun and engaging way.

Today’s snack can be used to help your child learn to form shapes. This skill goes beyond simple recognition, (which would be great for a younger child), and extends into the area of fine motor skills. Read on to see how to do it!

Practice forming shapes during lunch time using superfoods #healty #creative kids food

Step 1: Create the “examples”

On a plate, form each shape as shown using the following supplies:

Star: 1 baby carrot (sliced into thin strips)

Square: string cheese sliced in half width-wise, then sliced into 4 flat sections of equal length

Triangle: blueberries sliced in half so they lie flat on the plate

Oval: Avocado, 2 sliced sections

Heart: Red bell pepper, sliced horizontally accross from standing position.

Step 2: Provide the kids’ materials

Collect the same ingredients sliced in the way described above and place all onto a plate. Provide enough for each child to make one of each shape.

Step 3: Model how each shape is formed, and allow the kids to try!

One shape at a time, show the child how to form the shape using the food. (Example: For the triangle, I said “Take one blueberry and lay it on your plate for the tip of the triangle. Next, take two blueberries and make a row right underneath your first blueberry. (showing them the second row of blueberries on the example plate), and so on).

Practice forming shapes during lunch time!

Step 4: Correct any mistakes and praise a job well done

The point of this is to learn the right way to form shapes. Gently nudge your child along until they correctly make the shape. If they make a mistake, place the food in the correct place on the plate, hand it back to the child, and have them place it there themselves. Sometimes it takes patience, and there are some things a younger child might be able to do. For example, the star was too difficult for my 3 year old to make, but my 5 year old got it with several corrective directions from me. She was SO proud of herself when she got it! We snapped a picture of her joy shown below.

Practice forming shapes during lunch time!

Enjoy teaching the kids to form shapes using this delicious and healthy food.

Health Benefits of this snack:

Health benefits of red peppers

Health benefits of avocado

Health benefits of carrots

Health benefits of blueberries

Health benefits of cheese (particularly combining cheese with fruits and veggies as we did in this meal)

Practice forming shapes during lunch time using superfoods #healty #creative kids food

(Sharing HERE)

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

Octopus

August 18, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Looking for a healthy and fun after school snack for the kids? Try this fun little octopus, which they’ll be sure to love.

Ingredients:

1 slice cheese (any kind)

8 baby carrots

1 red grape

2 black beans or raisins

Directions:

Slice your piece of cheese into a large, oval head with a bit of a neck on the bottom. Lay that on the plate towards the top. Next, slice your baby carrots into 5-7 circular sections each. Throw all of your little carrot circles into a small bowl. Arrange eight legs coming out of the octopus’ body, starting with the larger sized carrot rounds and ending the leg with the smaller sized carrot rounds. This will look more realistic. Add two black bean eyes, and slice a thin section off of a red grape that has been sliced in half. Place onto your octopus to look like a happy smile.

Did you enjoy today’s snack? Check out a whole bunch more SUPER HEALTHY AFTER SCHOOL SNACKS! Try them all with your kids this fall!

(Sharing HERE)

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

Jacob’s Dream

August 12, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Teaching Bible Stories to my kids is something I love to do. We have an awesome Children’s Bible that we read together most nights before bed, and it has been so cool to see my girls learning the stories and remembering them as we see them over and over.

One way to reinforce what we have been reading in the Bible is to make a snack about it. Basically, we are using the tools we have available (in this case, food) to create an artistic visual of the story. It is a way to celebrate what we are learning in scripture and a tool to use to help kids retell and remember the story.

Jacob’s dream is a fascinating bible story. Jacob is on the road, fleeing from his brother Esau, and going to his uncle Laban’s house. On his journey he lies down to sleep, using a rock as a pillow. While he sleeps, he dreams of a great ladder going towards heaven, with angels ascending and descending. Can you imagine seeing that? Jacob awoke from the dream saying to himself, “surely God is in this place”, and he took the stone pillow he had used and placed it as a pillar to remember the way God had met him there. He called that place Bethel.

Ingredients

Yogurt (plain or vanilla)

Fresh pineapple

1 baby carrot

small turkey/tortilla wrap

Directions

Slice a fresh pineapple into thin sections about one inch wide, and lay onto plate, pushing them gently to look like a diagonal staircase. Next, spoon yogurt into a plastic baggie, snip a tiny corner off of the bag, and pipe yogurt onto the plate in little swirls to make the cloud. Use the method shown below.

Use the same technique to make the angel’s body and dream bubble as shown. This does not have to be perfect (you can see mine is not!) but just enough to get the idea.

Slice a baby carrot in half lengthwise and lay one half on the plate. Slice two thin legs out of the other half and place beneath the body. Use a small section of a turkey wrap to look like the stone pillow, and you are finished!

Additional Learning Ideas

– Act out the story

– Ask the kids about a special time that God met them or helped them in a special way, and think of a way they can mark that place in a special way.

– Make an angel craft and place them around your child’s room for the day as a reminder that God has sent angels to be his messengers and to help us on while we are here on earth. Brainstorm other Bible stories in which angels were involved. (Daniel and the Lions Den, Mary, Joseph, etc.).

(Sharing HERE)

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

Back to School Snack Ideas

July 17, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Creative and Cute Back to School Snacks for the Kids

After the 4th of July comes and goes, summers for me have always taken a speedy nose dive into fall – which means back to school. I suppose that being a school teacher before staying home with my girls has continued to remind me of the ever-repeating school cycle.

This fall, my oldest will be heading to kindergarten (Sniffle)! Actually, I’m really very excited for her. I know she will thrive in school setting; she absolutely loves to learn and loves making new friends. I’m thankful to have reasons to actually look forward to her being able to start school!

In honor of the start of a new school year, we have a back to school snack for you today! Make this snack the day before school begins, or after the day is out, whichever you feel like!

Creative and Cute Back to School Snacks for the Kids

Ingredients:

1 slice of colby jack or cheddar cheese

1 tbsp jam (spooned into plastic baggie for piping)

2 slices banana

1 small section of apple

Directions:

Slice cheese into a rectangle, then slice corners off of the top of that rectangle as shown above to use as the main body of the bus. Next, slice a small square with a corner sliced off to place at the front of the bus. Add 2 banana wheels. Take a small plastic bag with jam inside, snip off a tiny corner of the bag, and pipe two lines accross the bus as shown. Next, pipe small dots of jam onto bananas to look like wheels. Finally, slice a section of an apple into several small thin squares. Arrange on bus to look like windows.

In the version shown above we placed the apples skin side down. If you like, you could also serve the snack with the skin side up, as shown here:

Creative and Cute Back to School Snacks for the Kids

Which version to you like better? Let the kids decide!

Other Back to School Snacks We Love:

We’ve also scoured the great world of the web to find some other back to school snacks that are sure to get the kids excited for fall!

Click on either the photo or the title to be taken to the source for directions on how to make each awesome treat.

Back to School S’mores

Cheese Stick Pencils

Oreo – Apple Snack Stacks

Back to School Bus Twinkies

Back to School Party (includes all kinds of cute food)

One of my favorites from the Back to School Party

Back to School Banana Bus

Giant School Bus Chocolate Chip Cookie

ABC Lunch

Edible Crayons

What other cute ideas do you have for celebrating the start of school? Leave your links in the comments below! I’d love to add them to my Pinterest boards for future inspiration!

(Sharing HERE)

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

A Whale of a Breakfast: Moby Dick

June 30, 2013 by Amy Hudson

The other day we were feeling creative at breakfast time, and, since we were having oatmeal that morning, we decided to make a friendly whale!

We love to do sea and ocean inspired food, like our “Under the sea“, “Fi nding Nemo“, “Tropical island“, “A day at the beach“, and “Jonah” snacks.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup instant oatmeal (plain) cooked according to directions

1 raisin

1 small section of banana

1 small section of strawberry (or cherry, red grape)

Directions:

Spread cooked oatmeal onto plate in the shape of a whale as shown. Next, thinly slice a small section of banana, and place above whale to look like a spout. Add a raisin for an eye, and a small bit of strawberry for a happy little smile.

. . . . . . .

We just finished reading a children’s version of Moby Dick. I read the chapters aloud each night to Grace (my now 5 year old). I discovered an awesome collection of a bunch of classics in adapted versions perfect for reading aloud. Since it was a used book store, I snatched up a ton of different books, including Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Secret Garden, Little Women, and more. It has been so fun for us to read these chapters aloud each night, and introduce the classic literature at a young age!

I suppose that, in honor of our recent read, we should name this breakfast “Moby Dick”.

(Sharing HERE)

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

Copy-Kids Review and GIVEAWAY

June 25, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Moms, have you heard of Copy Kids? I stumbled accross their website awhile back and was SO EXCITED when I watched this video about what they do.

Copy-Kids DVD Trailer from Copy-Kids on Vimeo.

These moms are seriously helping kids all over the world to learn to love eating fruits and veggies!

What is Copy-Kids?

Copy-Kids is a DVD (they have one out and currently have a second one in production coming out at the end of the summer 2013) that shows little kids happily eating different fruits and veggies. The DVD includes different chapters for different foods.

The Copy-Kids eat raw broccoli, bell peppers, avocado, cucumber, tomato, carrots, and all kinds of healthy fruits and veggies. The theory is that children who watch this DVD will desire to mimic, or “copy” the kids they see on TV and eat the veggies too!

Because teaching kids to love eating healthy foods is one of my passions as a mom, as well as a big “why” behind this blog, I was so excited to be able to get a Copy-Kids DVD to try out on my own little ladies.

Click photo to be taken to source

The girls were SO excited to open a package the mailman brought just for them, and were delighted that it was a DVD. I told them the name of the DVD, and it intrigued them; they asked to watch it RIGHT AWAY.

What I wanted to do was to make sure I had all of the fruits and vegetables on hand before playing the DVD. This way, as they viewed each part, the girls could reach for that food. Although I did not have everything featured in the DVD in my house at that moment, I chopped up what I did have and got us all set up to watch!

Note: After putting the DVD in, I realized that each chapter (featuring one fruit or veggie) was 7 minutes, I realized that we wouldn’t be making our way through the whole DVD in one sitting anyway.

The girls were so excited to check out the kids on TV, and were ready to copy!

Using the DVD

As I played each chapter of the DVD for the girls, I removed all bowls of food except the one being shown in that chapter. This way, little Emma wouldn’t down the avocado the whole time (she loves that stuff), instead of trying the food being shown on the TV.

One of my favorite things the girls saw on the DVD was a little girl eating a bell pepper like an apple. Grace, my oldest, got a kick out of that, and for the next few days she’d ask for bell peppers to eat. Once she even “snuck” one and I found this in her room:

(Excuse the pixels, this one was taken with my phone!)

Anyway, is that cute or what? I’m thrilled that a bell pepper has become a fun snack.

My little one, Emma, was not ever a big fan of raw broccoli. Most adults I know don’t even care for it that much! However, as Emma watched the Copy Kids eat the broccoli, she learned to like at least the stems, or the “bottoms”. Check out this cute 1.5 minute video of our escapades as we watched Copy Kids.

Want to try this with kids you know?

This DVD works like a charm! I was very surprised to see how much it inspired my little girls to love their veggies. Grace is still loving her bell peppers and eats them every day!

You can buy the Copy-Kids DVD here.

You can also keep up with Copy-Kids on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and their blog.

Following along will ensure that you stay in the loop about that second DVD coming out soon!

Win a Copy-Kids DVD + a $25 Whole Foods Gift Card

Cai from Copy-Kids would like to offer one lucky winner a FREE Copy-Kids DVD as well as a $25 Whole Foods Gift Card to be able to go out and purchase the produce you will need to provide for the kids as they watch. Yes, you heard me right: A Copy-Kids DVD + a $25 Whole Foods gift card.

*If the winner does not have a Whole Foods nearby, we will work with you to come up with an alternative gift card to the grocery store most convenient for you.*

How to Win:

Enter below for a chance to win your very own Copy-Kids DVD + $25 Whole Foods Gift Card.

*Note* – one entry choice will be to PIN the following image to one of your Pinterest boards. You will need to leave a comment on today’s post letting us know your Pinterest URL and the name of the board you pinned to. This entry is worth 3 points! Woo Hoo!

Pinnable Image:

Giveaway is open to US residents until Tuesday, July 1 at 11:59 pm! Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kids Dinner Menu: Healthy Hot Air Balloon

June 21, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Do you struggle to provide dinners for your child that are nutritious and yet appealing? Maybe you have a picky eater. Maybe you need some ideas for those nights when just the kids are eating.

Here at Creative Kid Snacks, we focus a lot on healthy lunch ideas for kids, as well as lots of healthy snack ideas, but today we have a healthy dinner with chicken, fresh carrots, red pepper, corn, avocado, and cheese. They will not be able to resist! (By the way, if you’re interested to see our lunch version of a hot air balloon, here it is).

Healthy and Creative Kids Dinner: Hot Air Balloon Ride

Ingredients:

1/2 grilled chicken breast

3.4 c corn

1/4 diced red pepper

2 t guacamole

1 baby carrot

1 piece string cheese

Directions:

Grill or saute a chicken breast. We love to rub this spice on our chicken before cooking. Cook a 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick chicken breast 4 minutes per side on medium high heat. After removing from grill or saute pan, let sit for 2 minutes, then cut into shape for a balloon basket. Next, slice rounds off of a piece of string cheese and arrange off to the side of the plate to look like a cloud. Slice two thin strips from the remaining portion of string cheese for strings coming up from the basket. Create the balloon by adding your heated corn to the plate in a circular shape. Sprinkle the red pepper in with the corn. Next, slice a baby carrot lengthwise into a thin section. Cut in half width-wise to look like a person in the balloon. Slice 4 little strips from the remaining carrot and place two next to the little body to look like arms, and two along the bottom of the plate to look like tree trunks. Add a dollop of guacamole atop each carrot, and your dinner is complete.

Healthy and Creative Kids Dinner: Hot Air Balloon Ride

Nutritional Benefits of this Plate:

This plate is full of lots of wonderful, whole foods we want our kids to eat!

Chicken: a wonderful source of lean protein

Red Pepper: tons of Vitamin A, C, and K

Avocado: beneficial fats, protein, anti-inflammatory properties

(Sharing HERE)

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

Shrek

June 17, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Today, I’m sharing a new snack over at Housing a Forest. Meet Shrek! I did not realize this, but Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shrek 3 were some of the top grossing movie sales of all animated movies throughout the last 15 years. Shrek is much beloved, so we made him into a healthy snack.

Click HERE to be taken to our Shrek post at Housing a Forest.

Have a great day!

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Turkey

Ingredients:

Directions:

Like My Superfood Snacks?

Win your own!

Step 1: Create the “examples”

Step 2: Provide the kids’ materials

Step 3: Model how each shape is formed, and allow the kids to try!

Step 4: Correct any mistakes and praise a job well done

Health Benefits of this snack:

Ingredients:

Directions:

Ingredients

Directions

Additional Learning Ideas

Ingredients:

Directions:

Other Back to School Snacks We Love:

Ingredients:

Directions:

What is Copy-Kids?

Using the DVD

Want to try this with kids you know?

Win a Copy-Kids DVD + a $25 Whole Foods Gift Card

How to Win:

Ingredients:

Directions:

Nutritional Benefits of this Plate:

Best of

Copyright Note

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