Food Art for Kids & After School Snacks

Have fun spending time with your little ones making these fun foods. My co-worker, Beth, printed out these recipes for work and I knew I had to share them!

Banana Dippers:

Bananas- Cut in chunks
Colored sugars
Cinnamon sugar
Peanut butter
Chopped nuts
Coconut
Ice cream sprinkles
Crushed cookies
8 oz chocolate chips

Peel the bananas and slice into several pieces.

Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high until melted - about 1 minute, stirring every thirty seconds until smooth. Dip the banana slices in the chocolate, then roll them in other ingredients as desired.

Shamrock Parfaits
Perfect since March 17th is around the corner!

2 cups cold milk
1 (4-serving) package Jell-O Pistachio flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
Chocolate sauce
2 cups thawed Cool Whip whipped topping
Chocolate Shamrock cut-outs (optional)

Pour milk into large bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with a wire whisk 1 to 2 minutes.

Layer pudding, chocolate sauce and 1 cup topping alternately in 4 parfait glasses. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and chocolate sauce and chocolate shamrock cut-outs. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 4 servings

No Bake Quickies

2 cups sugar
1/2 cups butter
3 Tablespoons, cocoa
1/2 cup milk
3 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
wax paper

Directions:

Have your wax paper spread and ready for cookies. An adult can help the child with the boiling part.

Boil together sugar, butter, cocoa, and mild for approximately 2 1/2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla and oatmeal. Stir quickly. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Put into refrigerator to harden. Yum!

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

1 - 24 oz. plastic container of Vanilla Sandwich Cookies
Block of real baking chocolate -Do not use an off brand to save money...yuck!
Waxed paper
Colored sugars, jimmies, and cut-out shaped sprinkles

Slowly melt chocolate 30 seconds in microwave in a microwave safe bowl. Stir. Microwave another 30 seconds. Keep stirring in between so as not to burn chocolate. Once chocolate is completely melted, dip cookie in chocolate. Set on wax paper. Have kids decorate with colored sugars, colored jimmies and cut-out shaped sprinkles.

These cookies are amazing. Recipe given to me by my friend Joey. This is an easy cookie to decorate in mass quantities for Christmas gifts, Halloween or Valentine classroom parties or a cookie exchange.

Easy Cheesy After School Snack

1 flour tortilla
Cheddar cheese

Slice cheddar cheese and/or any other favorite cheese

Put cheese in the middle of the tortilla. Melt for 30 seconds or until cheese is melted. Fold tortilla over. Enjoy the melty goodness.

Fruit Character "Puppy Dog Salad"

Fun for a birthday party menu or after school snack.

1 lettuce leaf
1 pear half, canned
1 prune
1 maraschino cherry
1 raisin
2 mandarin orange slices

Wash lettuce leaf, shake off water and lay on a plate. Place pear half on the lettuce leaf so that the large end is higher than the small end and the rounded side faces up. Place the prune on the large round side of the ear. Place the maraschino cherry at the end of the small side for the nose. Place raisin in front of prune for the eye. Place the two mandarin orange slices along the bottom of the paper to look like a collar. Serves 1.
Taken from Neiman Marcus "Pigtails and Frog Legs" Family cookbook.

Toad in the Hole
I used to LOVE it when my mother made me this any time of day! I loved making this for my husband. Now I am so allergic to eggs I cannot even make this for my kids. When eggs are being fried I have to be out of the room.

1 slice of bread
2 teaspoons of butter
1 egg
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Adult to prepare. Heat skillet. Butter 1 slice of favorite bread on both sides. Use the rim of a small juice glass to cut out a hole in the middle of the bread. Put bread and "hole" in the middle of the skillet. Break one egg and put in the hole. Turn bread when egg turns white, turn "hole", too. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with "hole" as a lid to cover toad. Serves 1.

Apple Dippers

Use cut and corer to slice and core apple.

Set out a bowl of carmel, cream cheese, and peanut butter.

Or spoil your kids. Dip a few slices in the peanut butter. Spread cream cheese onto one slice of apple. Dip apple into carmel. An array of taste for your child.