Day 6 - Make Food Fun

A touchy subject in my home is snacks and desserts.  There seems to ALWAYS be room in Munchface's tummy for sweet treats.  I know she'd make a meal of Gold Fish and gummy snacks if we let her and she often questioned the amount of junky stuff we'd let her eat... UNTIL NOW! We try to manage the amount of unhealthy snacks and I've found that if you make food fun, the amount won't be a topic of conversation.  Check these kid-friendly and healthy snacks out:


- Animal Crackers. Munch thought she was too big for this classic snack... Until I jazzed it up something similar to the picture below.  I used celery, peanut butter and animal crackers (from the Dollar Store) to create my version.  Isn't it cute:

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- Munch loves butterflies.  Apple slices, pretzel sticks, 1 carrot and (I prefer) dried cranberries make this an adorable and tasty treat:

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- Pretzel Snowmen.  Pretzel sticks dipped in white candy melts.  Use sprinkles for the eyes and a fruit roll-up for the scarf.  Top with a gummy saver and a gum drop hat... ADORABLE and 1 is MORE than enough sugar for the munchkin. Also, these work for any holiday or season so get creative!

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- We have this next treat often in our house. 5 grapes shaped into a flower head with a twizzler stem and 1 starburst cut in half for leaves...  I just added the lifesaver to stage for the picture.  Munch LOVES it:

- Meet our gators.  I cut half of a twizzler into quarters and use them for legs under our sugar wafers. One strawberry halved with piped eyes and the Queen of the jungle, Munchface, enjoys this yummy snack every time (please note, she ate the legs of 1 of our gators before I could snap the pic)!

- This flower salad makes me smile every time! Spinach leaves, a celery stem, tomato face, cheese teeth, a carrot mouth and olive/cucumber eyes  make this snack adorable...

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- Munch really enjoyed the smiles below.  2 apple slices and 5 mini marshmallows complete the smile... use honey or Peanut butter to hold the "teeth" in place. You could also add a fruit roll up tongue... I add a slice of cheese and tell her to SAY CHEESE before I give her the plate.




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 - I let Munch get in on the fun when we made these donut snowmen.  She decorated the face with the sprinkles and I cut the fruit roll-up scarf for her dress him. Just slide the donuts onto the straw and you'll have the perfect presentation.  Plus, with the donuts on the ends of our straw, after the first one, you can sip some milk... I.E. - no plates are needed... I.E. - I'm minimizing dishes?!! I LOVE IT!

- I made these vanilla wafer girls for a recent Pinkalicious party.  These were almost too cute to eat! The originator of these cute snacks posted a tutorial here, check it out!

- These broom stick pretzels are adorable and delish!  Perfect for a snack or a party! Halloween or Wizard of Oz tablescapes would be complete with these broom sticks!

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- We ask her the shape she wants every night and we use whatever we have to create it.  Hubby thinks his pool (he quartered 1 twizzler, halved 2 strawberries, and used them to create the the frame of the pool... then added blueberries in the center for the pool water) was the best to date - WHATEVER! I think my 3-D horse (suger wafer, with twizzler legs and half srawberry face - all held together with peanut butter) won BUT again, WHATEVER!


 Mommy Tip: I do not always make crazy desserts and snacks like the ones above. I do, however, always have snacks pre-packed and ready to go for Munch to grab.  Consider an area in the fridge where you can have pre-portioned snacks (5 carrots or grapes or apple sauce) so when they asked (and we know they will), you can say yes and be confident that whatever they choose from the snack area is healthy and mommy-approved.  I also pack these kinds of snacks for school Sunday evenings... Now that we're all big and in KINDERGARTEN! Let me know what creative ways you guys incorporate healthy snacks into your life!