Question:

snack

ANTS IN THE SAND

2 Graham crackers
Chocolate sprinkles

Place graham crackers in a plastic sandwich bag and crush with a rolling pin. Add a few chocolate sprinkles to make ants, then seal the bag. Give them to the kids to take outside and eat or let them pour it into a small bowl and eat at the table--using their fingers, of course. Variations: Add raisins (call them beetles), red hots (ladybugs) or mini chocolate chips (spider eggs).

Yield: 1 Serving

MUENSTER BEETLES

Great for Halloween!
Crunchy Chow Mein Noodles
Muenster Cheese (or other soft block cheese)

Cut cheese into 2" x 1" rectangular blocks. Gently insert three chow mein noodles on each side of cheese block for legs. Using two broken chow mein noodles, insert into "head" as antennae.
Note: Cheddar makes a bright and colorful beetle, but can be very frustrating for little fingers as the cheese is a bit too hard to press the noodles into without breaking. Use softer cheese such as Gouda, Monterey Jack, or even Mozzarella.

GREAT ANYTIME SNACKS

Keep this list handy when considering snacks that are nutritious as well as low in sugar.
These snacks can be eaten anytime in moderation.

White milk
Cheese
Plain Yogurt
Plain Whole Grain Muffins
Enriched/Whole grain crackers, bread and rolls
Raw fruits and vegetables
Unsweetened fruit and vegetable juice
Eggs
Peanut butter
Nuts and Seeds
Pizza
Nuts and bolts
Water

PUPPY CHOW FOR KIDS

1 stick Butter or Margarine
1 cup Peanut butter
1 lb. Box powdered sugar
1 lg. Box Crispix cereal
12 oz. Package milk chocolate chips
Melt margarine, peanut butter and chocolate chips in a microwave on medium setting until melted. Stir. Place one large box of Crispix cereal in a large pan and pour chocolate mixture over top and coat thoroughly. Place 1 lb. box of powdered sugar in a grocery bag. Put coated cereal in the bag and shake until powdered sugar covers cereal mixture.

APPLE CAKE

1 cup Melted butter or margarine or oil
3/4 cup Maple syrup or honey
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/ 2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2-3/4 cup Raisins
1 cup Chopped nuts
4 medium Apples peeled, cored and chopped small

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
Mix the melted butter, sweetener (syrup or honey) and vanilla.
In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Combine the liquid and dry ingredients, stirring until blended. Do not over mix. Stir in raisins, nuts and apples. Spread batter in the baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.
Decorate the top by placing a paper doily on top of the cake and sift powdered sugar over the doily.

HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE

10 apples
1 cup water
2 cups sugar

Core and quarter apples.
Add water and sugar to apples in heavy pot.
Cook over medium heat until soft.

Serve in small paper cups.
TRY
Adding cinnamon, nutmeg, or raisins.
Freezing in Popsicle cups.
Adding berries.

BUG GUTS

6 ounces butterscotch chips
1 cup peanuts
3 cups chow mein noodles
wax paper
Directions
In a double boiler or microwave, melt the butterscotch chips. Remove from heat and stir in the peanuts. Place the chow mein noodles in a large bowl and pour the butterscotch/peanut mixture over the top. Stir well. Drop mixture on wax paper using a teaspoon. Cool. Give these "disgusting" treats to the kids!

BUGS ON A LOG

Celery stalks
Peanut butter
Raisins

Spread peanut butter onto washed and drained celery stalks. Top with raisins. For children who are allergic to peanuts, try using cream cheese or processed cheese spread in place of the peanut butter.

OLD-FASHIONED POP CORN BALLS

2 quarts Popped Corn
1 cup Granulated sugar
1/3 cup Light corn syrup
1/3 cup Water
1/4 cup Butter
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla
Keep popped pop corn warm in 200°F oven while preparing syrup. In 2-quart saucepan, stir together sugar, corn syrup, water, butter and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue cooking without stirring until temperature reaches 270°F on a candy thermometer or until a small amount of syrup dropped into very cold water separates into threads, which are hard but not brittle. Remove from heat. Add vanilla; stir just enough to mix through hot syrup. Slowly pour
over pop corn, stirring to coat every kernel. Cool just enough to handle. Shape into balls, using buttered hands. Cool on foil or buttered wax paper. Wrap in plastic wrap; tie with a
ribbon.

DRESS UP YOUR YOGURT

Yogurt can be a fantastic snack. If your kids are hesitant to eat yogurt plain dress it up with fruit and honey, or use Jell-O mix to flavor. Top with chopped nuts, dried or fresh fruit. Serve with muffins from the freezer for a great breakfast idea.

PEANUT BUTTER POPCORN

Yield: 1 Serving
3 qt. Popcorn cooked in oil
1 1/2 cups Crushed Peanuts (or use crunchy Peanut butter)
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Honey
1/2 cup Light corn syrup
1 cup Peanut butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
Keep popcorn and nuts warm.
Mix sugar honey and syrup together. Hard-boil for 2 minutes.
Mix in peanut butter and vanilla. Mix with corn and nuts.

HORSE CHOW

Horse Chow is a combination of raw oats and dried or fresh fruits. You can also add nuts and seeds as well. There are about a million combinations. It's delicious, healthy and cheap. The kids like to add their favorites, and eat this fast, uncooked oatmeal/granola.
Here is the basic recipe:
4 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned, not instant)
1/2 cup raisins
juice of 1 lemon
dash of salt
a little vegetable oil to moisten
Mix all together and eat.

Note: Everything but the oats is optional. I substituted blueberries for the raisins, which was great! We have also added apples and cinnamon, and done strawberries with some milk. You can serve this with any fresh or dried fruit, and add a little milk. It then becomes a quick version of Muesli, a favorite European breakfast.

ICE CREAM CONE CUPCAKES

Flat bottom ice cream cones
Cake mix
Cupcake tin,
Icing & decorations

1. Follow the directions to make your favorite cake mix.
2. Have the kids spoon the batter into the ice cream cones. Be careful not to fill them more than 3/4 full.
3. Put the filled cones into the cupcake tin.
4. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check that they are cooked.
Let the kids ice and decorate their cupcake cones. You can use different colored icing, multi-colored sparkles, or candy as decorations.

MEAT ROLL UPS

Instead of packing a sandwich with flat slices of lunchmeat, try rolling the meat. You can either serve the rolled meat with crackers or make sandwiches with them. Kids love the 'rolling' texture on the tongue. (They think they're special!)

STRAWBERRY PIZZA

1 refrigerated unbaked piecrust
1-cup ricotta or cottage cheese
2-3 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 pint fresh strawberries cleaned/dried, sliced top to bottom
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1 tsp. Sugar
Preheat oven 450 Carefully lay out pie crust on baking sheet to form pizza bottom and cook 10-12 min or until lightly brown/done.
Puree the cheese in blender; add sugar and vanilla. Spread onto cooked crust.
Arrange strawberries on top of cheese spread making sure not to overlap.
Stir yogurt well and drizzle across strawberries to resemble melted mozzarella. Refrigerate and serve.

FROZEN FRUIT ROUNDS

Freeze an unopened 8 or 16 oz. Can of sliced peaches, pears or fruit cocktail overnight. Just before serving, run the sealed can under warm water for a few seconds. Open both ends of the can, slide out the frozen block of fruit, and slice into rounds.

PRETZEL KABOBS

Use stick pretzels to poke into cheese cubes, and apple and pear slices.

QUICK SNACK MIX

My kids really like to have this cereal snack. I mix up a big bowl of several different types of cereal. (Cheerios, Fruit Loops, Kix, whatever you have a small amount of leftover.) Usually I use about 2 cups of each. I throw in a handful of mini marshmallows, peanuts, M&Ms, raisins, little bite size crackers, goldfish crackers, or whatever I have leftover. I serve the snack in little 5 ounce Dixie cups, but a baggie would work. This is a really fun snack. I usually serve a glass of milk or a juice box with it.

ANIMAL CRACKER SNACK

2 cups animal shaped graham crackers
1 cup salted peanuts
1/2 cup M&M's
1/2 cup raisins
Mix together. Store in sandwich bags or covered container.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED HEARTS

Strawberries
1 cup of Chocolate Chips
3 tbsp. Skim Milk
Wash the strawberries and let them dry on a paper towel. Put the chocolate chips and milk into a microwave container. Put this in the microwave and cook on high for 1 minute. Stir it, if it is still has lumpy pieces cook it again for 30 seconds. Stir it until it is a smooth sauce. Put wax paper or tinfoil on a plate that will fit in the fridge. Take the strawberries by the leaves and dip them half way into the chocolate sauce. Place it on the plate and do the rest. Put them in the fridge until the chocolate gets hard. Put them on a fancy plate that you decorate with the mint leaves. Eat them!

While you have the chocolate melted... taste other fruit dipped in chocolate... mmmmm what a treat!

FROZEN YOGURT POPS

1 C. frozen unsweetened strawberries
1 C. plain yogurt
5 Tbsp. Honey
7-3-1/2 oz. Paper cups
7 wooden ice cream sticks
Put strawberries in blender and blend until smooth.
Pour into bowl and stir in honey and yogurt.
Fill cups 2/3 full with mixture. Put stick in center.
Freeze 1-2 hours.
Remove from cup and serve.

FRUIT AND DIP

1 jar Marshmallow Cream
1/4 cup fruit juice (orange or pineapple seem to be best liked)
Mix marshmallow cream and juice until well blended. Add more juice if too thick.

Serve with apple and banana and pear slices which have been dipped in Sprite or pineapple juice. Canned peach slices, pineapple chunks work well too. Watermelon chunks are also great when in season.

YOGURT FRUIT FROZEN POPS

1 cup Plain Yogurt
2 tsp. Orange Juice
1/2 cup pureed strawberries
1/4 cup Mashed Bananas
4 tsp. Lemonade
After mixing all ingredients together, pour into ice pop molds or into mini yogurt containers. Insert a popsicle stick and freeze. Not only tasty, they're nutritious

PEANUT BUTTER CATERPILLARS

Bananas
Peanut Butter
Grapes
Chow Mein Noodles

Peel and slice a banana. Join the slices together by "gluing" them with peanut butter. Carefully poke two chow mein noodles (or break a pretzel stick in half to make two pieces) through the top of the grape. Use more peanut butter to attach the head (grape) to the front of the body, with antennae (chow mein noodles) pointing up.

CEREAL SNACK II

Kix
Grape Nut O's
Multi Grain Cheerios
Plain M&M's
Cheese-E's
Animal Crackers
Raisins
Mix together. Store in sandwich bags or covered container.

KOOL-AID PIE

1 package of Kool-Aid or other powdered drink mix, any flavor
1 can unsweetened condensed milk
1 8-ounce container of non-dairy whipped topping (such as Cool Whip)
1 prepared graham cracker crust
Directions
This recipe is best made 12 or more hours before serving. In a large bowl, mix powdered drink mix and unsweetened condensed milk until thoroughly blended. Mix in the whipped topping. Pour into graham cracker crust. Chill until set.

DEVILED EGG CHICKS

Hard cooked eggs, mayonnaise, mustard
Remove the shell from hard-cooked eggs and cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Mix the egg yolk with mayonnaise and mustard to taste. Fill each egg white with the yoke mixture. Add two raisins and a small piece of carrot to each yolk mixture to make eyes and a beak.

FROZEN FRUIT TREAT

FROZEN FRUIT TREAT
1 3/4 cups strawberries
1 large can crushed pineapple
5 bananas (cut in cubes)
12 oz frozen orange juice - concentrate
1 1/2 cups water Mix ingredients together.
Freeze in small paper cups.
Serve partially defrosted.
Children love this nutritious treat!

SWEET CORN SNACK

1/2 cup Pop Corn, (un-popped kernels)
3 tbsp. Oil for popping
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
a dash of salt
Here's how:
Heat oil in heavy medium pan until hot. Add pop corn and sprinkle all of the sugar over it and add a small dash of salt. Cover and shake quickly and CONTINUOUSLY until popped. Remove from heat immediately.

MAKE YOUR OWN ROLLED FRUIT

2 cups berries
a bowl
a potato masher
a cookie sheet
wax paper
sugar

Mash the berries in the bowl with the potato masher thoroughly.
Spread the berries on the cookie sheet and lay them out to dry. (This takes several days)
When the fruit pulp is dry, dust with sugar.
Roll up like a jellyroll and cut into pieces.
Store in an airtight container.

PUMPKIN DELIGHT

1 (29 oz.) can Pumpkin
1 (13 oz.) can Evaporated Milk
1 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
3 Eggs
1 box Yellow Cake Mix
1 cup Pecans (chopped)
1 cup Butter or margarine (melted)
Beat together pumpkin, milk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and eggs. Pour into 9x12 glass baking dish that has been sprayed with a vegetable oil (such as "Pam"). Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture, then sprinkle on pecans. Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Chill. Cut into squares, top with whipping cream, and enjoy!

APPLE SMILIES

Apples
Peanut Butter
Miniature Marshmallows
Cut apples into wedges.
Smear peanut butter on one side of 2 wedges.
Stick a few marshmallows on the peanut butter on one of the apple wedges and top with
the other apple wedge - peanut butter side down.
When you look at this it looks like a smile (the red part of the apple are the lips and the
marshmallows are the teeth!)

PUDDNG SNACKS

1 5 3/8 oz box of instant pudding (any flavor)
1 c up milk
Cool whip
Colored sprinkles

Put 1 tbsp. inst. Pudding powder in a baby food jar for each child
Add ¼ cup mild and screw lid on tightly
Shake 50 times (good counting experience)
Wait 5 minutes
Top with cool whip and sprinkles
Makes enough for 9 children.

AIRPLANE CUCUMBERS

Slice away top third of cuke, the long way to look like an airplane fuselage. Scoop out the larger section of the cuke and stuff with chopped veggies mixed with veggie dip. Make wings from sliced (the long way) carrot. Decorate with other food items as desired.

CLOUDS AND RAINBOWS

Large and small marshmallows, get creative and make a rainbow and clouds out of diffenent colors of licorice strands. You can also use gummy worms for the rainbows. Get 3 flavors of jello (or more if you have the time) prepare as directed on package, but just as jello is soft set, pour another color on top to creat a striped, rainbow affect.

CARAMEL APPLE DIP

1- 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup milk
1 package vanilla instant pudding mix
sliced apples
Combine cream cheese and brown sugar; mix well.
Add remaining ingredients mixing well after each. Chill and serve with sliced apples.

SNACK WHEEL

Make a snack wheel by placing round crackers, carrot and cucumber rounds, and circles cut out of cheese slices on a "Lazy-Susan".

Let the children spin the "snack wheel" around to serve themselves on round paper plates.

PUDDING IN A CLOUD

To make pudding in a cloud, spoon cool whip in bowl or dessert cup, hollow out the middle and put lemon pudding in the opening. Instant sun in the clouds!

ROTTEN WORMY APPLES

This doesn't sound like a snack you would want to give your kids but they are pretty popular around my house. My grandsons just love them. Take an apple and cut it into sections. Remove any core and spread with peanut butter on the white sides. Wrap gummy worms around the apple sections and serve on a paper plate with plenty of napkins.

FRUIT CUBES AND DIP

You will need to have on hand a few fresh fruits, ½ cup plain Yogurt, Toothpicks and 2 tbsp. Unsweetened orange or apple juice concentrate

Help your kids cut cubes of fruit. Apples, pineapples, bananas or berries work well. Mix the yogurt and juice concentrate to make a dip. Then let them use the toothpicks to spear and dip the fruit cubes.

BANANA BOATS

Similar to cucumber boats. Cut away a center section through the peel of the banana so it looks like a canoe. Fill with other chunks of fruit.

SOFT PRETZELS

2 - 16 oz. loaves frozen bread dough
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon water
Coarse salt
Separate thawed bread into 24 - 1 1/2" balls. Roll each ball into a rope 14 1/2" long. Have children plan and design pretzel shapes (letters or numerals). Put pretzels one inch apart on greased cookie sheet. Let stand for 20 minutes and brush with combined egg white and water. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Place a shallow pan containing 1" of boiling water on bottom rack of oven.
Bake pretzels at 350 degrees on rack above water for 20 minutes or until golden brown.