I love the holidays and it’s that time of year to start planning for them. I have a lot of clients at The Worx in Alexandria, VA, that want ideas for healthy meals and sugar free snacks kids love. Of course, they also want ones they’ll enjoy eating, too. Let’s face it, even if you made a spaceship out of Brussels sprouts, that wouldn’t encourage kids to eat them. Children have a more vivid sense of smell and taste than adults do, so many of the foods we love, they hate. Here are some ideas that will be healthy options for both kids and adults.
How about turning a veggie tray into a scary scene?
While some kids automatically love veggies, not all kids do. You have to entice them. Get creative with the food and even let them help. For Halloween, you can make spider deviled eggs. Make the deviled egg, placing half a black olive on top for the body and cutting eight slices from the other half for the legs. You can also make eyeballs by cutting cheese and topping with half an olive cut lengthwise to eat plain or put on top of a healthy dish.
Make the turkey the center of attention with creative snacks that are healthy.
A half a pear can be the turkey’s body with edible candy eyeballs and two thin slices of cheese for feet. Create the tail out of other sliced fruits for a colorful display. If you want a veggie turkey, make a healthy dip and top it with the bottom of a three lobed orange pepper. Put two lobes on the bottom for the cheeks and one lobe on top for edible candy eyes. Slice holes for two small yellow pepper slices for a beak and one for a red pepper waddle. Fan out cut veggies for the tail. Healthy pumpkin oat cookies and cinnamon apple chips are easy to do. Coat apples with cinnamon or a cinnamon/sugar mixture and dry in the oven at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours.
Green grapes topped with a banana slice and half a strawberry make great Grinches.
You just need toothpicks, a banana, strawberries, green grapes and a mini marshmallow for the ball on the end of Grinch’s Santa hat to make a treat perfect for watching the holiday special. Frozen Greek yogurt bark is also a special holiday treat when topped with kiwi slices shaped like a Christmas tree with dried cranberry and strawberry decorations. Spread out the Greek yogurt in a pan, decorate and freeze.
Pecan pie snack bites just takes five ingredients and no baking. Use a cup of medjool dates that are pitted, ¾ cup pecans, ¼ cup rolled oats, ½ tsp cinnamon and 1 TBSP maple syrup. Then use a food processor to mix it, processing the dates first, and form into balls. Chill and store for up to a week.
- Homemade microwave popcorn just requires a small brown paper lunch bag, some coconut oil and popcorn. You can even add toppings like Parmesan or American cheese.
- Create your own trail mix and let the kids help. Have nuts, dried fruit and even some dark chocolate bits ready to mix together. Let the kids help with mixing and dividing into individual bags for snacks.
- Pull open the end of string cheese to create a string cheese octopus. Lay the legs over a slice of apple for a tasty, healthy treat that will boost enjoyment and creativity.
- Banana ice cream takes nothing more than bananas sliced into small coin shapes and frozen. When you’re ready to make the ice cream, throw it in the blender until smooth. It’s ready to eat.
For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness
