CRAFTY CHRISTMAS FOODS THAT BRING ON THE CHEER!

Happy Holidays All!

I don’t know about you, but I love doing little holiday activities that help get me in the spirit! And of course, as a dietitian I am always thinking about FOOD! Last week, I wrote about how fruits and veggies can be part of the holiday meal and be ever so festive. This week, I show you my festive fruit and vegetable creations. Normally, we think to tell our kids NOT to play with their food BUT get ready, this requires lots of playing with food 😊 and quite honestly this is a very good activity to get them interested and experimenting with food. When children are part of the cooking and preparation process, they are more likely to try new foods.  You can teach them about the different textures, tastes and smells and even turn it into a learning session. Using food to teach colors, shapes and even counting; possibly even discuss what letters the different foods start with as well! My kids had an absolute blast making these! Of course, I am not saying these are only for kids- they are totally adult friendly too. 😉

1. We made some stick snow people!

You will need bananas, mini chocolate chips, strawberries, grapes and of course the skewers! Yogurt works as a great glue to attach the buttons, eyes and nose!

These snow people are made out of hard-boiled eggs, carrots for the nose and hats and for the buttons and eyes. Parsley leaves make up the arms! How cute are these!?

For the cheesy snowmen, you just have to buy string cheese and let you child decorate with coloured paper, markers and a ribbon!

• Christmas Trees:

We made Christmas trees made out of pita bread and topped them with guacamole and red bell peppers for the décor with a pretzel for the trunk of the tree.

I really think Christmas trees are my favorite thing about this time of year! For this one, just take a plate, lay the sliced zucchini or cucumber as such and you can either place the cherry tomatoes or hold them in place with a skewer and or toothpick depending on the size of your tree. The trunk is made out of almonds of course and topped with a star made out of cheese! Talk about a balanced snack!

Here are a couple more ways to get in those Christmas trees! These look way more visually appealing than a typical veggie tray!

Cheese and fruit tray anyone?!

Mini Pizzas! Take whole grain bagels or English muffins, top with pizza sauce and lay out shredded cheese or slice you cheese with a cookie cutter and voila!

For dessert, a fruit-filled Christmas tree!

Watermelon Christmas trees!!

• Here is MR. GRINCH!

Just take a toothpick and put on the grape, a slice of banana, a strawberry and mini marshmallow!

• Tree Ornaments…

For the baubles, simply take your favorite round cracker, rye bread or mini bagel top it with some cream cheese and decorate with all the veggies! Get creative with different shapes, colours and cuts!

• Christmas Wreaths

Holiday wreath anyone? Talk about an innovative way to lay out a salad. Make the shape of your wreath with lettuce greens and then add toppings with holiday colors! Here are some pears, apples, pomegranate seeds, oranges, pecans, star shaped cheese and beet slices! I bet your children will eat a beetroot if its shaped like a star! 😉

• Candy Cane

A Christmas compilation would not be complete without candy canes! Here, you simply take sliced banana and strawberries- you could really do this with any food that is red and white, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese would be another delicious and aesthetically pleasing combination.

Candy cane out of apples slices

• Santa

We NEED Santa! Here he is! Peanut butter toast topped with bananas for the beard and grapes for the eyes and nose. The peanut butter works great as glue. He wouldn’t be complete without his big hat so bring on the strawberries to crown your Christmas creations!

More Santas, or Christmas carolers that only need two ingredients to make: strawberries and whipped cream!

• Reindeers

Reindeers bring Christmas cheer! You just need celery, peanut butter (or any nut butter) pretzels and a cherry for that red nose! The eye can be made out of mini marshmallows or even a tiny dollop of yogurt or a mini white chocolate chip.

•  Holiday Mice

Holiday mice are nice and only made of strawberries, little slices of cheese and chocolate chips! The tails are little strings of licorice.

1. And Joy…

Oh hey, it’s a salad!

I hope these inspire you to get in the spirit of the festive holiday season with food! Food is an important part of the festivities. Our holiday favorites are readily available and are meant to be enjoyed but here are some ways to make healthier foods, especially those fruits and vegetables for more fun and exciting! I bet your kids will love to help you in the kitchen with these! Be sure to share photos of you and your kids making these fun festive treats! We would love to see y’all getting into the holiday spirit!

Cheers!
Ashley

Disclaimer: All these images have been used from Pinterest. They are not my own original content.