HALLOWEEN TREAT: Snack-O-Lanterns Fruit Cups

I've been looking for some new activities, recipes and such to help spice up the holiday's for my daughters. Things have been a bit rough lately and I want  to make sure they have the best Holiday Season yet! 

Snack-O-Lanterns

Photo and Recipe Source: Cookie's Kitchens

I found a super simple recipe that puts a new twist on fruit cups with a Halloween touch. These little guys are fun and festive and kids love 'em! (Grown-ups do too!) Snack-O-Lanterns are perfect for any Halloween themed party and are sure to be a conversation starter. They're also great for a quick festive snack for the kiddo's.

You will need:

Oranges

2 or more fresh fruits of your choice

(strawberries, peaches, mango, etc.)

Sharp kitchen knife

Spoon

Plastic spoons or forks

To make Snack-O-Lanterns you simply:

• Slice the top off of the oranges and hollow them out with a spoon. Do not throw away the top piece.
• Dice a bit of the orange into cubes and set them to the side.
• Dice up the other fruits into cubes as well and mix together with orange cubes. You can also use pre-made fruit cups from the grocery store.
• Carve faces into the oranges to make them look like Jack-O-Lanterns.
• Add the fruit the orange bowl.
• With the knife slice a hole in the center of the top piece and slide the handle of plastic silverware through the hole and place into orange bowl to finish off the Snack-O-Lanterns.

All that's left to do now is serve them and watch as your guests eat 'em up!!! (Of course you'll be eating one too!)

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Making Meal Time Fun

I recently read a wonderful eBook called "What to Cook for Dinner for Picky Eaters" and it got me thinking. What making food fun? I know, I know, We were all taught not to play with our food. But what if alittle play helped our picky eaters to eat more... to eat healthier? I'm not talking about letting your child build a tiny fort with their carrot sticks and ranch dip (even though that may work) but alittle creativity in the kitchen can go a long way.

Let me explain what I'm talking about...

Kids are naturally attracted to fun and colorful things. Try making their food fun and colorful too.

• Give your child a plate of pretzel sticks and have them spell out different words or biting regular pretzels into different letters and shapes
• Make funny faces out of fruit slices
• Sandwiches are the simplest snack that can be made with a variety of ingredients.
• Use whole wheat bread instead of white bread. Try different combinations of lunch meats and spreads to see which ones your child enjoys.
• Maybe a Nutella and Peanut Butter sandwich or squish up a banana mixed with some peanut butter and add it to a sandwich or between graham crackers.
• You can use cookie cutters to make fun shapes with the sandwiches and let your child help squish the banana.
• If your daughter helps you make the pasta for supper, Name it "Anna's Fantastic Pasta" and make a big deal about it when you bring it to the table and serve it to your family. It will make them feel good about themselves and they will want to try it more because they made it along with everyone making a big deal about something they helped with.

Kids also like things that are their size. Miniaturize their food.

• Bagel Pizza's are always a big hit - Split a bagel and cover the top in tomato sauce. Add some low-fat mozzarella cheese. Heat until the cheese is melted
• Make a bagel snake out of mini bagels - Split the mini bagels and cut each half into half circles. Spread the halves with toppings like cream cheese, egg salad, chicken/tuna salad, peanut butter, etc. Decorate with small fruit or veggie slices. You could use raisins or olives for the eyes.

Who don't enjoy Smoothies?

• Mix your kiddo's favorite fruits with yogurt and milk (you can also use soy milk or even juice)
• Try Soy Milk, Strawberries and blueberries with some low-fat yogurt.
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• Let your kids gave control of the smoothie making sometimes. Have them pick out the fruit they want and put it in the blender. They can also help add the yogurt and milk/juice.
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• Even better - You can turn your left over smoothies into Popsicle's!
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• Pour the smoothie mix or juice into small paper cups, add plastic wrap to the top (Aluminum Foil would work good also) Poke a wooden craft stick down the middle of the wrapping. Try not to touch the bottom with the Popsicle stick, if you do, don't worry about it. Pop in the freezer for a few hours and you have a healthy fun snack for a hot day! You could even stir in some fruit slices to your mix before you add it to the cups.

Be creative and Don't forget to add some fun to your meals!

The Yummy Nutella Dream Cookies

I found this recipe and I knew I HAD to share it with yall! I did a review of Nutella not to long ago and these cookies are sure to bring a smile to my little girl's faces! If you didn't read my review then you can read it here - Why my family is crazy for Nutella! I haven't gotten the chance to make these cookies yet but when i do I may leave out the nuts but I'm sure they will be delicious with or without the hazelnuts.

Ingredients

• 2 cups plus one tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped hazlenuts
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup Nutella

Directions

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixture until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs. Add cocoa powder and beat until fully incorporated.
4. Mix in flour mixture until well combined. Stir in hazelnuts and chocolate chips.
5. Take two tablespoons of dough and form into a ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
6. Press a large indent into center of ball and fill with about 1/2 tablespoon of Nutella. Crimp dough on top to seal in Nutella then roll dough gently in your hands to recreate the ball shape. Repeat with remaining dough.
7. Cover cookies and chill in refrigerator for one hour.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies until beginning to look dry and cracked on top (Nutella will be viscous in the center), 15 minutes.

 Recipe from Serious Eats

The Little Green Pouch Giveaway

The Little Green Pouch is the coolest idea I've seen in a while!! I am always buying those little pouches full of fruit at the store and they vary in price fro $1 a piece to almost $2 a piece! My daughters LOVE them though and they make great lunch-box and after school snacks. But the money adds up when your buying 5 or 6 of those pouches at a time.

With the Little Green Pouch you can wash and reuse the pouch over and over again and add anything you like!

The giveaway is for (1) 4 pack of Little Green Pouch

 

OPEN TO US AND CANADA

 

Read below to learn more!

This review/giveaway is hosted by The Momma And Boys!

Little Green Pouch was made to make mom's lives easier. Your able to feed your children on the go without a big mess. One of the great things about Little Green Pouch is that they're reusable and dishwasher safe!!

As you see, on the back of the pouches they have very simple directions on how to fill them up, which makes it extremely easy to use.

When trying to open them I found that they were real simple to open without any problems.  I was able to open Little Green Pouch with one hand and hold on to it while filling the pouch with the smoothie I made for my son.

Another great thing is that if you need to... you can freeze them.

As you see Momma's Boy #3 loved the Little Green Pouch and drank his smoothie.  We didn't have any issues will spilling either.  It's a nice thing to bring on the go also.  There's a lid that places over it so while it's not in use you can make sure it doesn't spill out. When you are all done using your Little Green Pouch you can put it on the top rack of your dishwasher!

It's dish washer safe!!

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Disclaimer: The Momma And Boys has received the product as a gift to do a review and giveaway and all opinions are from The Momma And Boys! The Momma And Boys and My Kind Of Introduction is not responsible for shipping of the product.

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