cottage cheese

Train

February 11, 2013 by Amy Hudson

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!

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:

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!

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.

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.

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

Downhill Skier

January 21, 2013 by Amy Hudson

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.

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)

Healthy Christmas Snacks for the Kids

November 26, 2012 by Amy Hudson

Looking for some healthy snacks to serve this Christmas?

Get the kids into the Christmas season with these fun snacks and lunches!

#1: Veggie Christmas Tree

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

#2: Santa Panini Sandwich

I made this snack by first making a turkey and cheese panini sandwich on our Cuisinart Panini grill.

After placing it on the plate, I spooned some cottage cheese around the bottom of the plate and left a little gap where Santa’s mouth would be. Note: the sandwich is placed with the rounded side of the bread down.

Next, I created his hat and nose with some strawberries. Finish the look of the hat with a little whipped cream and finish with some raisin eyes.

This one was a favorite!

#3: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

I made Rudolph out of a peanut butter sandwich. Leave the round (top) part of the bread in tact, then slice into an oval for the main part of the body as shown.

From the remaining portion, slice four thin legs and a head. Think of cutting the shape of a shoe for the head. Add a raisin eye, a strawberry nose, and two pretzel antlers.

A little pine tree made of sugar snap peas completes the look of Rudolph’s flight through the air!

#4: Cottage Cheese Snowman

Meet one of the first creative snacks ever created.

Our sweet snowman has a cottage cheese body , raisin eyes and buttons, 1/2 a baby carrot for a nose, and celery sticks for arms.

Scoop the cottage cheese onto the plate with a small spoon into three circles. Slice your baby carrot in half and add for his nose. Place his eyes and buttons on, and finish with arms. Done!

You can’t get much healthier than this for a festive winter snack!

Variations:
Use pretzels for his arms to look more like sticks
Use yogurt for his body
Use blueberries for his buttons

#5: Holiday Wreath

My daughter Grace asked for a wreath for lunch. I decided to go with celery for the greenery as opposed to lettuce or cucumbers, which, depending upon your child’s taste buds, you could definitely use. My girls love celery, so I went with that.

Next I added carrots and grapes sliced up for the “berries” of the wreath. You could use cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers, or even strawberries here, but I used what I had on hand.

The bow was made out of a slice of ham. I cut one full slice from the deli into quarters, and rolled each up as big as I wanted it to be for the parts of the bow.

Once all that was done, I snapped the photo.

Before I served it, though, I had the idea to add some background “snow”!

This is how I served it, and, as usual, it was gobbled up!

Which version do you like better? I really can’t decide. This second one is definitely more filling for lunch, though, and the girls do love their cottage cheese. So for that reason alone, I know my kids would vote version 2!

(Linking up HERE)

Kite

September 3, 2012 by Amy Hudson

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.

Hot air balloon

August 13, 2012 by Amy Hudson

Have you spotted a hot air balloon in the air with your child this summer? Why not make one for lunch today?

Hot air balloon: The basket is a graham cracker, ropes are string cheese thinly cut, balloon circle is made from a banana cut in half lengthwise and made to look like a circle, interior is strawberries and celery. The clouds are cottage cheese and the people are carrots with raisins cut into fourths!

This snack really allows the fruits and veggies to be the star!

Variations:
Basket: cheese, peanut butter sandwich, ham,
Balloon interior: grapes, raspberries, blueberries, orange slices, any fruit or veggie that fits!

(linked HERE)

Cottage Cheese Lamb

August 7, 2012 by Amy Hudson

Create a little lamb for your little lamb by using some mozzarella cheese cut into somewhat of an oval for the face and little rectangles with a point cut out for the legs.

Next, use a small spoon and lay cottage cheese for the head, body, and tail. cut a baby carrot in half for the ears, and give him some grass to walk on. Can you think of a more perfect use of cottage cheese?

(linked HERE)

Helicopter

July 26, 2012 by Amy Hudson

We saw a helicopter in the sky this morning, so that was today’s creative lunch. A helicopter body is made of a peanut butter sandwich, then baby carrots were positioned for the blades atop the helicopter as well as the feet. Windows are sliced string cheese and clouds are made of cottage cheese.

(linked HERE)

House

July 25, 2012 by Amy Hudson

To make this house, make a sandwich and slice to a square shape. Create a roof out of celery, a door out of strawberry and a raisin doorknob. The window and the chimney are made of carrot. The chimney smoke is cottage cheese and the sidewalk is Triscuit crackers. The little bush outside the house are little sugar snap peas. Cheese finishes this scene up as the sun.

If you have a specifically colored home (like yellow), try to make your own home with cheese, or use celery to make a green house! Our house is tan, so the sandwich worked for us!