Little Foodies: Fruit & Vegetable Bug Snacks

The Foodies' KitchenMay 31, 2019

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Now, more than ever parents are looking for healthy snacks for their children. Which, even though you might try to stir them in the health direction from a very young age, it is difficult to get kids to like vegetables and fruits. That’s the plain truth.

A good way to get them to start eating them is by trying to make them fun, by using elements to create fun foods like these vegetable and fruit bugs.

For our little critters we used:

Celery: it’s great for digestion, rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Cherry tomatoes: good source of vitamin C, high in fiber and antioxidants that protect eyesight
Grapes: high in vitamin C, may protect against chronic diseases, nutrients important for bone health
Cucumber: promotes hydration, high in fiber.
Kiwi: extremely high in vitamin C, promotes kidney health, high in fiber, improves respiratory function
Green apple: promotes heart health, contains anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, regularly eating this fruit helps protect against major diseases.

Use cream cheese or nut butter to stick the pieces together. For the eyes, we used a straw to cut out the little circles out of black olives, and we found the best way to stick them on was to use peanut butter. We spread a small dab with a toothpick.

Tips: we recommend you use a cream cheese that is not too soft, so it doesn’t start to melt once it is out of the refrigerator and it holds the fruit pieces together. Also, before starting you will need to cut a flat edge at the bottom of the celery or cucumbers so they stand and don’t roll over.
you can use chives to make the antennae, for photographic purposes we used toothpicks because we didn’t have chives on hand. Make holes with the toothpicks and then try to insert the chive sticks in, which will make it safer for kids.

We visited Playground at Almacenes Siman to make our bugs. We found this beautiful base that imitates a cut up log, it comes in two different sizes, and also these handy glasses that keep your beverage cool with its double wall, they also have a nice variety of artificial green plants, we used an artificial fern as decoration.

Kitty & Helga

Fruit and Vegetable Bug Snacks

Recipe from Nature’s Path

Ingredients, for the vegetable bugs:

2-3 Celery stalks, cut into various lengths for different bugs or
1-2 mini cucumbers, halved lengthwise with seeds scooped out, cut into various lengths
½ cup cream cheese
cucumber slices
cherry and/or grape tomatoes
chives (for the antennae)
black olives

Ingredients, for the fruit bugs:
2-3 celery stalks, cut into various lengths for different bugs
½ cup peanut butter (or other nut/seed butter)
red and/or green grapes
strawberries, sliced
green apple, sliced
chives (for the antennae)
black olives

Procedure:

1. Prepare fruit and vegetables. Refer to the photos for a visual guide showing the many ways you can prepare the ingredients.
2. Scoop seeds from mini cucumbers. Help your bugs stand upright by slicing a flat edge on the bottoms of mini cucumbers and celery sticks.
3. Vegetable bugs: Fill celery stalks and/or mini cucumbers with cream cheese, using a piping bag or spoon or knife.
4. Fruit bugs: Fill celery stalks with peanut butter, using a piping bag or spoon or knife. These will be the base of all the fruit and vegetable bugs you make.
5. Use cherry tomatoes or grapes to make the heads, you can also use cashews. Use sliced apples, kiwi, cucumber for bodies. Sliced strawberries can be used as wings, and chive pieces make antennae.
6. Use a straw to cut eyes out of black olives for the vegetable bugs. You can glue them together with cream cheese or peanut butter.
7. Keep them in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen!

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