What better way to celebrate Earth Day with a sweet snack –
You’ll need big peanut butter cups*, vanilla frosting
blue and green food coloring
… and some knowledge about our planet
Divide frosting in two cups, color one green, one blue and there you go!
I would show kids pictures of planet earth and talk about how much percentage water (about 71%) and how much land (29%) there is, what forms of water (ocean, lake, river,…),
what we can do to preserve our planet (excellent time to talk about recycling) like for example plants that attract butterflies and bees, and so much more.
Whatever you make out of it, have fun and
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
*If your allergic to peanuts you also can make it with simple cupcakes.
We all know it’s sometimes not easy to get your kids eat their vegetables, so here are a some tips and tricks you can try –
Offer some type of vegetable every day. Just because getting kids to eat vegetables is a challenge doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother. Keep offering the foods, make the children familiar with them, and soon you may have them asking for a specific kind.
Or… use reverse psychology and place vegetables right out in the open. Make an appetizer platter of cooked or raw veggies to place on the table prior to lunch. Let the children nibble while you are putting the finishing touches on the meal. This is a slightly sneaky way of getting kids to eat vegetables because this catches children when they are really hungry and they may wind up eating plenty of vegetables.
Create meals that call for vegetables. Make casseroles, stir fries, tacos or homemade pizza. Menu choices that require veggies simply look more appealing to children than a side dish of vegetables.
When you want to get kids to eat vegetables, offer smaller portions. Children who may be willing to try “a little” will be overwhelmed by a larger portion. Sometimes a refusal is based solely on the size of the helping.
Make a big pot of vegetable soup and add some interesting noodles. Alphabet noodles, for example, may have the children so busy trying to make words they’ll pay no attention to what they are eating.
Make vegetables interesting. Try different types of dips for raw vegetables. Experiment with sauces for cooked vegetables.
An example: when I was young, I really didn’t care for peas. My mother, however, started making peas in a creamy white sauce. The sauce was superb and completely changed the taste of the peas for me.
My grandmother made carrots with a brown sugar glaze. The carrots were wonderful. Today, I’m a true vegetable eater, even without the sauces or dips.
It helps if the children see you enjoying vegetables. If you are trying to get kids to eat vegetables, and you’re not eating (and liking) them yourself, well,… they won’t be fooled.
Try making veggie kabobs or serve mixed vegetables. Sometimes serving more than one veggie at a time helps. Even if they don’t eat all the vegetables, children will normally pick out the ones they like to eat.
Children are typically wary of new foods. Try showing the children pictures of several types of vegetables. Let them choose one vegetable they have never had and make it the following day. Or… take a trip to produce department of the grocery store and let them personally choose a vegetable. Getting kids to eat vegetables is sometimes made easier by giving kids a choice.
Plant a vegetable garden. Just like when children are helping with the cooking, they will be more apt to try foods they have helped to grow. Let them be a part of the whole process. Planting, weeding, watering and of course, the harvest are all activities the children can participate in. Better yet is cooking and trying their creation.
Melt white chocolate chips in a glass bowl by microwaving for 1 minute 30 seconds. Let sit an additional minute, then add green food coloring and stir gently until smooth.
Add in chow mein noodles and stir until coated. Add marshmallows and stir once more.
Drop by spoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper.
Take candy Easter eggs and set 3-4 on top, pushing down until a small indentation is made in the top of the “nest.” Repeat until all chocolate mixture is made into nests. Makes 8-10 nests.
Let cool to harden. Store in an airtight container.
Let each child build their own parfait! Give them each 1/4 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup berries. They can layer yogurt and fruit until they reach the top of their cup. Add a tablespoon of granola on top for a little crunch if desired.
Wash the peppers and then cut off one of them where the stem is. Put it upside down on a plate and spead the dip around it. Make two eyes with the cream cheese dip or mayonaise . Put the cloves in the middle like pupils.
Cut the other pepper in stripes and put 4 on each side of the body.
Enjoy your little octopus !
Easy (Austrian) Cream Cheese Dip
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz salted butter, softened
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp capers, chopped
1 ½ tsp sweet paprika*
1 tsp caraway seeds, ground
1 tsp prepared mustard
¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in the a medium mixing bowl and blend using an electric hand mixer, until everything is well mixed and the cheese is fluffy.
Refrigerate the spread in an airtight container for at least 1 hour before serving.
Note: you can chop any leftover red peppers and mix it in
1 tbsp Italian herbs (if you use just plain tomato sauce)
3 tbsp shredded cheddar
1 tbsp grated Parmesan
How we do it –
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
All this your kid can do (with your help, of course)
brush oil lightly
on pita bread
mix tomatosauce with Italian herbs
1 tablespoon on pita bread, brush over it
Sprinkle about 3 tablespoons shredded cheddar and 1
tablespoon parmesan over bread
Bake for about 10 minutes until cheese melts and browns a
bit
Enjoy!
Optional –
Of course there are endless possibilities to make it even fancier, by adding cooked meat, olives, basil leaves, peppers, mushrooms, …. to the topping. I usually put it on before I add the cheese, so the cheese melts and keeps all the goodies underneath moist and yummy.
Put all the fruit you’re going to use on table(like a
pineapple, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, or whatever you can get.Talk
about using all of our senses to examine the fruit. What color is the banana? How does that prickly pineapple feel on your
fingers? What do those strawberries
smell like? Of course, we are going to
see what it tastes like later. It is,
not only an invitation to explore the fruit, but an opportunity to build
language skills…
Promote Self-help Skills
Give your child the opportunity to wash and cut the fruit
it just explored. Some of the fruit
requires big knives, which of course only the grown ups are allowed to
use. Give your child a plastic knive to
cut the fruit into smaller, bite-sized pieces….
it can be quite a daunting task but it isn’t one you
should shy away from. Children always
love the opportunity to create their own snack.
They are more eager to try a new food, when they have helped create it
themselves…
When all of the fruit is cut, let your child mix it in a
big bowl, maybe with some vanilla yogurt.
The children have now pride in knowing that they helped to prepare this
yummy snack…
