Food Creations Archives - Page 4 of 11

{Fun Foods} Cookie Cutter Food Creations

June 10, 2013 By Deirdre

I have loved creating fun foods for JDaniel using cookie cutter food to make my creations. We have quite a collection of cookie cutters. Some are mini and others are full size. You have seen them in JDaniel’s bento and muffin tin lunches. Recently we pulled out the cookie cutters to make two really fun food creations.

Watermelon Puzzle Snack

The first was a watermelon puzzle snack. JDaniel helped me select mini cookie cutters to use to make the puzzle. It was fun to set the them into the watermelon and try to fit them in the right place. Despite the fact the butterflies were cut using the same cookie cutter, they were not exactly the same. One side of a slice of watermelon was slightly thicker than the other. When the wrong butterfly was in the wrong space it stood taller than the watermelon slice around it.

Idea for Later

After we used the butterfly and flower cookie cutters, I had a thought. Using a minis star cookie cutter in the watermelon would make a fun 4th of July treat. The cutouts could be used in a fruit salad or set out on plates with the slice of watermelon they were cut from for guests to play the puzzle game with too.

Fun Foods Cookie Cutter Food Creations -Star Shaped Berry Pancakes

We made these delicious strawberry and blueberry star shaped pancakes for a post that appeared on the Type A Parent. JDaniel and I first picked the strawberries for these pancakes and then mixed them with blueberries and pancake mix. They were awesome. JDaniel inhaled them.

I think we will be taking our cookie cutters out all summer to create fun food creations.

Here are some other fun foods we have made:

Star Wars Character Breakfast

Christmas Fruit Tree Snack

Kid Friendly Recipes- Teepee Snack

You will find lots more fun foods and food creations on my Food Creation Pinterest board.

Top 10 Ways to Serve Kids Snacks

June 6, 2013 By Deirdre

There are 20 members of the Kid Bloggers Network that are sharing their top 10 ways to keep kids learning over the summer. While you may look at the topic I chose to focus on (Top 10 Ways to Serve Kids Snacks) and think that it may not fit under the umbrella of learning over the summer, I would beg to differ. Children learn in many ways. Trying new foods, creating fun ways to each and exploring learning concepts while interacting with foods are all forms of learning.

I have searched through the blog’s archive to find some wonderful snacks to illustrate ways to serve snacks and I have also made some sample snacks for this post.Before I share them with you, I want you to know that I totally understand that you may not have all access to all the materials I am going to share. If you don’t have all of them, you may have some. If you see one you like and want to plan to get them, know that I have purchased most of the using a weekly discount coupons I found online.

Here are some of the tools I use to make my son’s lunches and kids snacks:

Without further ado, here are my Top 10 Ways to Serve Kids Snacks!

In a cookie cutter– I love to place a cookie cutter on a plate and fill it with a snack. It could be a dip like the one featured in the title picture or cereal that a child can decorate like the gingerbread man snack below.
Buffet Style– Giving children the choice of ingredients when they create a snack gives them the freedom to try new foods and new combinations. My son was served a frozen banana and was given a muffin tin filled with ingredients to try on the banana.
Food Picks- Toothpick or plastic food picks are wonderful for displaying and holding snacks. If you cut the sharp end of pick off, children can eat right off of the pick.
Cookie Cutter Shaped Foods- Both full size and mini cookie cutters are great for forming foods into fun shapes. Fun shaped foods may be eaten by picky eaters just because the food looks different and new. (Don’t through away the scraps! The outlines left in the food can be served along with the cutouts or used in salads.
Small containers- Containers like silicone muffin cups, cupcake liners, or old applesauce cups not only hold small amounts of food they also look less daunting to kids. My son seems to be more willing to try something new or understand portion size when it is in a small container.
Frozen- Whether it is smoothie ingredients, juice combinations, or applesauce mixtures, freezing them in ice cube or muffin tins makes them seem more appealing. Kids can suck on the cube or frozen shape or shave it off a little at a time with a spoon.
Character Shape or Themed – Using food to create a familiar character is a lot of fun. My son loves to see what I will serve him. Something he requests a particular shape and other times I just surprise him. Last year I made him a bento filled with Olympic symbols. He had had wonderful time watching the Olympics. He loved seeing some of its symbols.
Dips- Dips are a great way to encourage children to try new foods. It could be the dip itself that is new or the food they will be dipping. My son loves to be served spinach hummus, mixed vegetable dips, and yogurt based dips. If I put out a dip and some raw vegetables, he will inhale them. Without a dip he may pass up the vegetables.
Tiny versions of Favorite Foods- Small sandwiches with favorite fillings or mini muffins are great snacks. They look really cute too.
Sprinkles- Sprinkles can be placed over some many foods. My son loves them on yogurt, applesauce, cream cheese on crackers, and even in milk. I recently had a friend tell me she told her son he could have sprinkles on any food he wanted to try them on if he would then eat that food.

I hope you were able to look over the Top 10 Ways to Serve Kids Snacks and find something you would live to try with your children at home.

{Lunch for Kids} Jellyfish for Lunch

May 27, 2013 By Deirdre

Jellyfish for Lunch - This is a fun lunch for kids who love the ocean. It is fun and filled with healthy foods!

I was driving JDaniel to school a couple of weeks ago and he asked if I would have a special lunch waiting for him when he got home. “Sure, what would you like me to make?” I said. I know he loves jellyfish yet I was surprised when he told me that he wanted a jellyfish lunch. It is such fun to make lunch for kids that fit things they are interested. I had a great time making him a jellyfish lunch!

The foods that could be used to make the meal floated in and out of my head on the ride home. Finally I decided to just use what we had in the fridge. It didn’t take a lot of digging to find the foods I needed. They are all JDaniel’s favorites. I knew they would go over big.

How to Make This Lunch for Kids

A sandwich thin was cut in half to form the umbrella of jelly fish. One sandwich thin made umbrellas for two jellyfish. We used regular sized sandwich thins. You could use mini sandwich thins and have a larger group of jellyfish.

A slice of cheese and a slice of deli turkey were cut into the tentacles. The turkey was thinly sliced and made it a little challenging to cut into strips.

The jellyfish looked lonely on the plate so, I added a clementine starfish to the plate. The starfish I was later told should not have been put on the plate. This type of jellyfish lives below the zone that starfish do in the ocean.

Who knew? I didn’t realize that I was making a particular type of jellyfish. I thought I was just making generic jellyfish.

JDaniel did love the lunch and I think that he loved that I made it for him. Oh! and he ate the starfish that didn’t belong.

You will find more lunch like Jellyfish for lunch on my Serving Lunch board on Pinterest.

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you and yours are enjoying a wonderful weekend.

Preschool Graduation Bento Lunch

May 20, 2013 By Deirdre

I honestly can’t believe today is my son’s preschool graduation day. His time in preschool has flown by. Seriously! It seems like only yesterday I registered him for preschool. A special day like today totally deserves a preschool graduation lunch.

Tonight he will be wearing a cap and gown along with his Sunday best. JDaniel has been quietly singing the songs for tonight is his room. I am not supposed to hear them until the event. He was given a special instructions to keep them as a surprise. I don’t think they want all the mom’s sobbing while they listen to them at home All the tears I have will have to stored up for tonight.

What was in his graduation lunch?

JDaniel is still requesting cheese sandwiches for lunch. This cheese sandwich features a cap that I cut freehand. It took me a couple of attempts to get it right. I ended up filling up on cheese scraps while working on this project.

Meat is not one of his favorite lunch items lately. I rolled a single slice of turkey into a some what scroll like creation and slid it onto a graduation cap ring.

Watermelon and strawberries are not only favorite fruits of JDaniel’s they add a burst of of color to the meal. This meal definitely needed some color. I found the cutest cat pick at a local 5 and 10 for him to use to pick up the fruit . He was the closest thing I could find to a preschooler graduating.

I will be posting some of his graduation pictures tonight on Facebook if you what to see them.

Here are some more fun Bento lunches for kids:

Apple Chicken Salad Bento Lunch

Lunch Ideas with LEGO

Minion Lunch with Blueberry Overalls

How have you celebrate your children’s graduations?

Patriotic Foods for Kids

May 18, 2013 By Deirdre

The summer is filled with patriotic holidays. Memorial Day next week. Flag Day is on June 14th. Then there is the 4th of July in the middle of the summer. Finally, there is Labor Day which is celebrated at summer’s end. I searched through the blog’s archives to find patriotic foods for kids that I have served.

These meals, snacks, and desserts may have originally been served on Memorial Day or 4th of July but would be wonderful for any of the patriotic holidays I listed above.
I bet your children can help you make many of them with you. None of them are difficult to make and they use ingredients that will be easy to work with.

Patriotic Foods for Kids

Twisted Stripe Wrapped Hot Dog Meal

Pinwheel 4th of July Snack

Patriotic Ice Cream Sundae

Fruit Flavored Watermelon Stars

Child Build Stars and Stripe Meal

Labor Day Star Themed Meal

Memorial Day Picnic Foods Meal

I hope you have found a patriotic food the kids in your life would love among the collection above. There are several more in the blog’s archives. These are the ones I thought you might like the best.If you have a post or idea that you think would make a great patriotic food for kids, feel free to leave a link to it below. I am always looking for food ideas to add to my Food Creations board on Pinterest.Did I leave your families favorite red, white, and blue foods? Is one of your favorite holiday recipes left off the list. Please take a moment and leave a comment below sharing what your family likes to have for Memorial Day, Labor Day, or the 4th of July. It will be such fun to find different things to prepare for those holidays.

Father’s Day Breakfast- Cereal Tie

May 13, 2013 By Deirdre

I know it was just Mother’s Day yesterday and Father’s Day isn’t for awhile, but I have been trying to come up with a special Father’s Day breakfast. Last year JDaniel was taught how to make me a special breakfast fruit sundae. (Yes, we practice making it ahead of time.) I thought dad would like to have a special breakfast too. My husband gravitates to just cereal and coffee in the morning. JDaniel and I made his a fun cereal creation.
When I think of Father’s Day, I think of neckties. I am not sure why. My husband only wears one to church every now and then. I tried to put together breakfast cereal so it would like a tie in a shallow bowl. I thought he could just add a little milk to the bowl and have cereal for breakfast.After putting it together, I asked my husband what he thought and he said I needed to tell him what it was first. It looked obviously to me. Apparently, my husband didn’t. When I asked him why he didn’t see a tie, he said it was because the tie wasn’t long enough.

Well, I don’t think I can make a long tie in a shallow bowl. Maybe a platter would work, but then milk couldn’t be added to it.

Here are some other wonderful Father’s Day ideas:

Amazing Out of This World Father’s Day Card

DayDad’s Day Recipe – Dutch Apple Dessert

Walking in My Father’s Shoes

Here are some other Father’s Day Ideas

Out of this world Father’s Day Card

Father’s Day Treat- Dutch Apple Dessert

What do you think? When you look at the image on the plate above, do you see a tie?

If you don’t see a tie, what do you think I can to fix it?

{Kids Activities} 10 Fun Flower Posts

May 11, 2013 By Deirdre

Mother’s Day always makes me think of flowers. I think it is because my husband has always given me flowers for Mother’s Day. Here are some wonderful links to flower themed snack, meals, learning activities and crafts.

Three Child Friendly Spring Salads – Children will have fun trying three fun and fresh salads that they can help you make.

Upcycled Flower Craft – An old soda bottle, a cupcake liner, and a straw can be used to make a fun flower.

{Mother’s Day Craft} How to Make Paper Flowers – Directions for how to make three different types of flowers your children can make for Mother’s Day. JDaniel’s Flowers and a Mother’s Day Quote – Mother’s Day at my house just won’t be Mother’s Day with a bouquet of flowers.Paper Circle Flowers – These fun flowers will be just fun to make.Tissue Paper Dandelions – We you love the book and the dandelions you can make with tissue paper.Counting Flowers in Your Neighborhood – Children can take pictures of bunches of flowers found in your neighborhood. They can use these pictures to create counting sheets.

Paper Plate Sunflowers– You will love the book that goes along with this fun craft.Signs of Spring Bento Lunch – Leftover can be usedd to create a fun garden themed lunch. Tangram Rose Snack -This fun snack will give your children the chance to create a fun flower using tangram shaped sandwich pieces.I hope you find a kids activity featuring flowers that you love and decide to try at home. Whether you make one of the flower themed crafts or meals, I think you will find smiles blooming on your children’s faces as they create them. There will also be smiles on the faces of those people who receive them as a gift.Here is 1 more! That makes 11 fun kids activities flower posts!Sunflower Learning Kids Activities and Crafts

Cute Snack Idea – Tangram Rose

May 6, 2013 By Deirdre

A Mother’s Day Breakfast Sundae JDaniel made for me is featured today on B-Inspired Mama today. Please take a moment to show that post some love. I wanted to share another food creation too. This tangram rose is such cute snack idea.

Dig Into Gardening a link-up I am co-hosting starts tomorrow so, I have had gardening on my mind a lot lately. JDaniel recently found a set of tangrams on his nightstand. I started wondering if we could create a flower with them.

How I Made the Tangram Rose

After searching on the internet, I found a worksheet that showed the rose above. With the worksheet as my guide, I cut out the pieces for this rose.

The link below is an affiliate link.

It was hard to see that it was supposed to be a rose when it was just pieces of bread pieced together. I dug out my set of food markers to create the outline of each shape. The rose really jumps out with the outlining.

After putting the tangram rose together, you can help your children place their favorite food spread on the bread. Jam, peanut butter, or cream cheese would be great!

While I was working on this food creation, JDaniel announced he was going to make his own food creation. His creation would have microorganism meal.He headed to the fridge and searched through the shelves the way he has seen me do millions of times.

Cute Snack Idea - Tangram Rose and Microorganism Meal

It was such fun to watch him put his lunch together. It has a giant cell orange, spinach leaf photo plankton, a microscopic being on a bagel, and applesauce filled with microorganisms.When he finished, he grabbed his magnifying glass and took this picture.

JDaniel loved creating and describing this lunch to me. When he finished, I told him we would have to eat lunch. He said, “Fine! It is filled with favorites.”

I love that the loved his lunch. I love how the rose cute snack idea turned out too.

If you like the tangram rose activity, here are some other tangram activities:

Valentine’s Day Tangrams to Give to Friends

Homemade Giant Tangrams

Do your children enjoy making their own lunches?

Kids Lunch Ideas – Painted Milk Sandwich

April 29, 2013 By Deirdre

I like to give him a sandwich that is special in some way. Just plain bread is nice, but it isn’t fun. I have a few kids lunch ideas that focus on sandwich presentation. Sometimes we don’t have the correct cookie cutter to cut out a shape for JDaniel’s lunch. I love it when I do, but many times we just don’t. Then I try to figure out if shape can be cut out with a knife or kitchen scissors. If it has simple lines and edges, I can usually freehand cut it out. When I don’t have the right cutter and it is going to be to difficult to cut out, a third option is available. JDaniel can have a painted milk sandwich.The recipe for paint milk is really easy. You just add a little food coloring to about 1/4 cup of milk. Keep adding food coloring until the mixture is the color you like. If it gets too dark, just add a little milk.

A simple paint brush can be used to paint the mixture onto the bread. We have a couple paint brushes that I have set aside just for painting bread and other kids lunch ideas that need to be painted or spread. I think I got a bunch of them for less than $1. They are run through the dishwasher before we use them.

Here is a lunch JDaniel just had last week with a painted milk sandwich:

It contains a ham, cheese and spinach sandwich that has an umbrella painted onto it. The top of the umbrella was painted first. A dash or two more of blue dye was added to the milk to make the mixture darker and than I painted on the umbrella’s handle.

JDaniel also had applesauce with flower sprinkles and rainbow colored goldfish. The bento lunch had a April showers bring rainbows and flowers theme.

Here are so more kids lunch ideas:

Apple Chicken Salad Bento Lunch

Summer Sunshine Bento

Do you have favorite kid lunch ideas you use over and over again?

Earth Day Lunch – Leftover Signs of Spring

April 22, 2013 By Deirdre

Depending on what we have done in the morning, JDaniel may end up with a big lunch or a small almost snack lunch. For this Earth Day Lunch he ended up with a smaller lunch that features signs of spring created with some of the leftovers in the fridge and cabinets.

The Annies Bunnies are leftover from Easter. The Easter Bunny placed them in JDaniel’s Easter basket. Even though he really likes them he hasn’t been asking for them for snack or for his lunch time dessert. I decided to put them in his bento box and he ended up inhaling them.

The clementine orange is one of the few left after our Spring Break trip. I brought a bag of them with me to have as snacks. JDaniel and I ate them, but his cousins didn’t favor them. That wasn’t a problem is was great to bring the remainder of the bag home. I really like them for a mid-day snack and JDaniel loves them at meal time.

The Earth Day Lunch flower garden is filled with leftovers and a little cheese. (JDaniel thinks every meal needs to have cheese in it.) There was only a tiny bit of pizza leftover in the fridge. I used two different cookie cutter flowers to create delicious flowers with them. The stems of the flowers are from leftover Earth Day pancakes. I made a bunch of blue and green pancakes last week for fun after making the Earth pancake for last week’s bento meal. The ground is a bread stick coated in cheese leftover from when we ordered the pizza used for the flowers.Leftovers make great parts of bento meals. Sometimes there isn’t a large serving of a particular food and it can easily be used in a lunch or dinner tin. It is a great way to recycle them.