Creative Kid Snacks

make fun of lunch!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

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How many baseball fans do we have out there?  Kids in little league?  T-ball?  I’ve got a few fun ideas for you today inspired by one of our favorite game-day snacks: Beer Nuts!

Fun Baseball Snack by CreativeKidSnacks.com. Made from yogurt, strawberries, and peanuts. Add more fresh strawberries and yogurt and serve in individual cups for a little fruit/yogurt/nut parfait!

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I was so excited when Beer Nuts offered to send us some of their nuts to see what cute snacks we could come up with.  I asked for their classic peanuts, and a bag of almonds because they are one of the more nutritious choices out there.

(Yay for yummy Beer Nuts!)

About Beer Nuts

Beer Nuts, by the way, are specialty nuts with a unique glaze on them that has a sweet and salty flavor.  The original skin-on peanuts were an accidental hit when their creator, Edward G. Shirk, who owned a small confectionary store called the Caramel Crisp back in 1937, occasionally made them available for free as an incentive to purchase one of his other products.  These tasty redskin nuts became so popular that Shirk decided to go from selling them over the counter by the scoop to package them up and making them available for widespread distribution.  That distribution started in local taverns, and the glazed peanuts were named Beer Nuts, as they became known as the perfect accompaniment to a glass of beer.  Nowadays they are a popular snack at baseball stadiums, circus, and other sporting events.

Now, let’s get on to what fun we had with these guys!

“Skin-on Peanut and Almond Butter”

I was excited to find out that research has shown substantial amount of extra health benefits in peanut skins!  These benefits include things like antioxidants (equal amounts, if not more that fruits and vegetables), anti-inflamatory properties, anti-aging compounds, even lowering blood sugar levels.  Read all about it in this article.

Most peanut butter is made with blanched, or skinless, peanuts.  This article explains why.  One of the reasons listed is “if not handled properly, the natural oil in the peanut skins could may become prematurely stale and cause off flavors when the peanut butter is being made”. Fair enough, but when we have a full pound of skin-on peanuts at our disposal, let’s go for a great-tasting peanut butter!

“Skin-on Peanut and Almond Butter”

2 cups Beer Nuts original peanuts

1 cup Beer Nuts brand Almonds

Combine ingredients in a Vitamix machine or food processor.  Continue mixing until a smooth, warm peanut butter consistency is reached. Mmmm.

This peanut butter is perfect because the Beer Nuts have that special “slightly sweet. slightly salty” coating on them already, so no additional ingredients (including oils, sugars, etc.) are required to make a great-tasting, delicious snack.

The girls and I ate this all up in a couple days by dipping apple slices into it or spreading it onto celery sticks.

Baseball Mitt Snack

Fun Baseball Snack by CreativeKidSnacks.com. Made from yogurt, strawberries, and peanuts. Add more fresh strawberries and yogurt and serve in individual cups for a little fruit/yogurt/nut parfait!

The next fun thing we did with our Beer Nuts is make a baseball mitt.  To make it, simply spread your Beer Nuts brand peanuts onto a plate and arrange to look like a mitt as shown.  Leave a small round circle in the center of the mitt.  Next, spoon 5-6 tablespoons of yogurt into the round opening.  Use a butter knife to smooth out the dome of yogurt you have created.  (We used plain Greek yogurt.  I’m telling you, it’s absolutely astounding what kids will eat if it’s presented in a creative way)!  Complete your look by adding thinly sliced bits of strawberry to look like the red stitches on a baseball.

Add more fresh strawberries and yogurt and serve in individual cups for a little fruit/yogurt/nut parfait!

“Hitting a Home Run” Snack

Fun Baseball Snack by CreativeKidSnacks.com. Made from yogurt, strawberries, and peanuts. Add more fresh strawberries and yogurt and serve in individual cups for a little fruit/yogurt/nut parfait!

A third fun idea we had was to make a baseball bat and ball.  This size snack is a better serving size for just one.  When your child mixes the yogurt, strawberries, and peanuts together, they get a little parfait perfect for them!

Simply arrange your Beer Nuts brand peanuts on your plate to look like a bat as shown.  Follow the same directions as above for the baseball.  You can finish the look with a couple yogurt motion lines on either side of the ball to look like you are seeing the impact of the bat and ball.  We made those lines by scooping a tablespoon or so of yogurt into a plastic baggie, snipping off a corner of the bag, and piping it onto the plate where we wanted it.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out our other sports-themed snacks!

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

Porcupine

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Who doesn’t love peanut butter?  A peanut butter porcupine is even better!  Make this snack for your peanut butter-loving child and he will be delighted to dip every part of the snack into the yummy peanut butter.

My girls love to make snacks that reflect nature.  Things that they see around them every day.  Some examples of our nature snacks include Solar System, Flower Garden, Dragon Fly, and others found here.

Pocupine peanut butter dipping snack

This guy is super easy to make and the kids love dipping everything in the peanut butter.

First, spread a tablespoon or two of peanut butter in the center of the plate.

Next, give him some spikes using mini pretzel sticks.

Cut several slices of banana into circles and slice two of those circles in half to lay flat on the plate.  Now place a head and a tail on each end of his body.  Add a tiny dollop of peanut butter for his nose, and break off a small end of a pretzel stick to stick into the banana for his eye.

Finally, add some celery as the grass he’s playing in, and you are done!

When I made this snack for my girls, They loved dipping everything in the peanut butter to eat.  This snack is definitely a winner!

Pocupine peanut butter dipping snack

Make sure to check out our other nature and everyday scenes snacks!

(I’ll be sharing this HERE)

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

Valentines Day Apples

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Valentines Day is coming up!  Last year I showed you a cute way to make use of your heart shaped cookie cutter in this Valentines Day Snack.  This year, I have more cute little treats coming up for you soon, but first I’d like to show you a healthy Valentines Day snack.

Valentines Day Apples - Sweet, healthy afternoon snack for Valentines Day

Apples are perfect for cutting into hearts with the cookie cutter!

Slice an apple so that you have a surface area large enough for your cookie cutter to go through.

vday apples 3

Next, spread some peanut butter and sprinkle some Rice Krispies over each slice.  The cereal adds a little crunch.

Valentines Day Apples - Sweet, healthy afternoon snack for Valentines Day

You can serve them open faced like this, or you can put them together for a Valentines Day apple sandwich!

Valentines Day Apples - Sweet, healthy afternoon snack for Valentines Day

Stay tuned for several more Valentines Day treats to make for your little ones this year!

(Sharing HERE)

ABC Lunch

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Is your child learning the ABC’s?  How about their vowels?  Today I have a lunch for you that is inspired by a story and that is perfect for teaching the ABC’s, practicing vowels, and spelling.

Slice a banana into 21 sections, and then find something else, like celery or perhaps apples or graham crackers, to use for your vowels.  Next, find a plastic bag, snip off a tiny piece of the corner, and fill with several tablespoons of peanut butter.

Before piping the letters onto each space, work the peanut butter around in the bag using your fingers until it softens a bit.  It will come out much easier that way.
Before eating, here are a few things you can do with your child:
a. Sing the alphabet song, of course!
b.  Ask him to point to the first letter in his name.
c.  Ask her to spell her name by pointing to each letter.
d.  Ask him which letter makes the sound __(fill in the blank)___.
e.  Point out the vowels and explain that there is a vowel in every English word.  (“Y” is also used as a vowel in certain cases)
f. Sing the “I like to eat apples and bananas” song to practice your vowel sounds.
g.  Use your imagination.
Now, read and play!
Screen shot 2013-01-22 at 2.05.44 PM
How Rocket Learned to Read is an adorable book about a dog who meets a little bird who happens to be teaching a class right in his favorite napping spot.  Rocket and the bird meet up every day, and the bird teaches Rocket his letters, reads him stories, and inspires him to love learning.  When winter comes, the bird flies south for the winter, leaving Rocket to practice his letters and wait for the bird to return.  They develop a beautiful friendship, and Rocket finally learns to read.
PLAY.
Take a few moments and practice your letter sounds with those magnetic letters that most of us have on the fridge.  Right now, my daughter is at the beginning stages of reading and knows her letter sounds well.
Use a simple word like “cat”, and practice moving new letters in front of the “at” and ask your child to sound out the new word.  Since they will be so similar to each other, it will be fun for your child to successfully read so many words in a row.
Try the same thing with different word endings, or by moving vowels in and out of the middle of simple words.
Kids will love this tasty alphabet snack!
(Sharing HERE)

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Copyright Note

Please feel free to use any of these ideas with your children at home, school, church, or anywhere you are inspired to make fun of lunch. If you would like to share a post on a blog or site, you may use one picture so long as you include a link to the original post. Please do not re-post the whole article or distribute printed-out content without written permission from the original author.

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