VWES Healthy Snack Idea Book

the
VWES Healthy “Snack Attack”
idea
book
Alterna ve Healthy Op ons to Tradi onal School Treats
holidays
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Back to School/Fall
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Christmas
Winter
Valentine’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day
Easter
Birthdays
Miscellaneous
Back to School/Fall
Back to School/Fall
Apple Dippers—Apple and caramel or yogurt for dipping placed in a
clear bag or baggie
Apple Pretzels—Tradi onal pretzels dipped in red (hard candy
coa ng or hardening yogurt), with stems
Fall Trail Mix/Ruler Mix—An assortment of trail mix items for the
Fall season (cheerios, chex cereal or oatmeal squares, peanuts, red/
yellow/orange M&Ms, cheese-its, etc.)
O “Fish”ally Time to “Shine”—Gold fish crackers and glow s cks
Go Go Squeeze Pumpkins—Make a construc on paper pumpkin and
a)ach a Go Go Applesauce to the paper pumpkin with a green pipe
cleaner and curl to pipe cleaner to resemble a vine
Mini Apple Dippers—Take an apple, use a ball/melon cu)er to take
pieces out, place on a toothpick and dip or pair with caramel and/or
yogurt dip
Halloween
Halloween
Apple Mummies—Use a peeler to peel only parts of the apple skin
to resemble mummy gauze, placing on edible eyes
Grape Frankies—Place green grapes and either edible eyes or
marshmallow eyes in a clear cup and decorate outside with a Sharpie Marker for “Frankenstein” hair, mouth, etc.
Spider on a Log—Clean and cut celery into decent snack sizes, top
with peanut bu)er and place raisins along the peanut bu)er, using
fros ng gel or fros ng p to draw “legs” on each raisin spider
Fruit Ghosts and Pumpkins—Peel and cut a banana in half and place
raisin eyes to resemble a ghost and peel an orange/cu e and place
something green and edible (ie: celery) to resemble a stem
“Pumpkin Juice”—Small containers of orange juice decorated on the
outside with a Sharpie marker to make different Jack-o-Lantern faces
Brooms cks—Cut a piece of string cheese in half, string it out and
place a pretzel s ck in the end to resemble a witches broom
Ghosts—String cheese, le6 in the wrapper, decorated with Sharpie
marker ghost faces on the outside
Pumpkin Party Snacks—Containers of mandarin oranges (no added
sugar) decorated with Sharpie markers to resemble Jack-O-Lanterns
Halloween (cont.)
Witch Hat Bowl—Make a witches hat out of black construc on paper and fill with popcorn or a healthy trail mix
Fruit Bats—Place a dark fruit (blueberries, dark purple grapes, blackberries, etc) in a baggie, decorate a clothes pin to resemble a bat
and clench the center of the baggie to resemble a bat shape (with
equal amounts of fruit on each side as “wings”)
Ghost-Berries—Dip strawberries in white chocolate coa ng and,
once dried, drizzle melted chocolate or use decora ve gel or fros ng
p to make black ghost faces
Orange Pumpkin Bowl—Take the peel of an orange/cu e (in as
much of a bowl shape as possible, top cut off), cut Jack-O-Lantern
faces into it and fill it with other fruit or healthy snacks
Spider Snack—Cut bananas into bite size pieces and s ck pretzel
s cks on each side to resemble spider legs, place raisin eyes on the
banana (may have to use a bit of yogurt to hold the eyes on)
Orange O Lantern—Oranges/cu es decorated with Sharpie markers
to resemble Jack-O-Lanterns.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
“Candy Corn” Snacks—In a clear plas c container/cup place a cut up
yellow fruit (pineapple) then layer an orange fruit (orange, melon) and
top with whip cream and an orange slice or candy corn
“Pumpkin” Snacks—Peel an orange/cu e and place a small piece of
celery in the top to resemble a pumpkin
“Owl or Turkey” Snacks—Take a flat pretzel thin (come in bags) and
decorate with white chocolate, yogurt or fros ng to make whites of
eyes, raisins for blacks of eyes and a piece of candy corn for beak
“Fruitocopia”— Fill a waffle or sugar cone with an assortment of colorful fruits
“Corn Husk” Snacks—Fill a clear fold over baggie with a yellowish colored healthy cereal (Cheerios or Yellow Kix), gather the end and cover
with a green napkin or ssue paper (may have to cut or shape to resemble husk) and e off with twine
“Harvest” Mix—Get crea ve on the Fall like items to mix together for a
Fall Harvest Trail Mix
“Turkey” Fruit Pla/er—Cut up different colorful fruits and arrange to
resemble the feathers of a turkey, cut a pear in half and decorate for
the body and pretzel squares beneath for a healthy, crea ve snack
pla)er
Thanksgiving (cont.)
“Turkey” Juice Box—A juice box (100% fruit juice) covered in construcon paper made to look like a turkey
“Veggie Turkey” Snack—Place Fall color cut veggies (carrots, red,
green and yellow peppers, celery, etc) in a clear plas c cup and decorate the cup with a Sharpie marker and construc on paper to resemble
a turkey
“Turkey” Rods—Pretzel rods dipped in white or milk chocolate coa ng
and decorated with Fall colored sprinkles, candies, etc. and a “turkey”
face/feathers (make sure to dip in sprinkles prior to the coa ng drying)
Christmas
Christmas
Grinch Kabobs—On a long toothpick stack a green grape, thin slice of
banana, a topped strawberry and top with a miniature marshmallow
“Santa-berries”—Using larger strawberries, top it and cut it about 1/3
of the way down, stand the larger bo)om piece, add some whip cream
and place the other 1/3 pointed end on top, adding just a hint of whip
cream to the top, adding black gel fros ng eyes
Santa Belt Snacks—Ritz crackers, white cheese cut into circles the size
of the crackers and rectangles to make the belt, layer the circle cheese
and a round salami/pepperoni, top with the white cheese rectangles
and center the belt with a cut square of orange cheese
Banana Santa—On a wood skewer layer a miniature marshmallow,
topped strawberry, thin marshmallow, thick banana slice, and another
marshmallow, decorate the banana with a Santa face (red M&M nose
and raisin or decora ve eyes)
“Reindeer-wich”—Make a thin sandwich of your choice (peanut
bu)er, peanut bu)er and jelly, turkey, turkey and cheese, etc.) and cut
into a heart shape with a cookie cu)er, use brown M&M for the eyes
and red for the nose and place two tradi onal pretzels on each side to
resemble antlers
Rudolph Sauce—Decorate an upside down applesauce cup with a red
bell nose, cra6 eyes and gold or brown pipe cleaners as antlers
Christmas (cont.)
Santa Fruit Cups—Red fruit cocktail, or red other fruit, cups decorated
with construc on paper Santa belts (may be able to do with markers)
Reindeer Treat—Decrust a piece of wheat bread or toast or use a
graham cracker and cover it with peanut bu)er, raisin eyes, a red
M&M nose and tradi onal pretzel antlers
Jolly Berries—Dip full strawberries in melted white chocolate and,
while s ll melted, dip in an assortment of Christmas sprinkles
Baby “Bel”ts—Red wrapped baby bell cheese wrapped with a
construc on paper Santa belt
Winter
Winter
Penguin Bananas—Ingredients: Bananas, Chocolate Coa ng Melt, Red
Hots, Edible Eyes...cut the banana in half, dip a por on of it in the
melted chocolate (to represent the black of the penguin), place the red
hots on as the feet and beak, and add edible eyes
Snowman Party Popper—Cut a block of white cheese into 3 varying
size cubes, stack and top with a grape half and draw on a face with
black gel fros ng, adding pretzel s ck arms
Juice Box Snowmen—100% fruit juice box covered with a construc on
paper snowman
Cheese S ck Snowmen—Decorate a wrapped cheese s ck to resemble
a snowman...Sharpie marker face, ribbon scarf, black construc on
paper hat
Cozy Snowmen—Take a banana (s ll in the peel) and decorate to
resemble a snowman...paper hat, Sharpie face and ssue paper scarf
Penguin Snack Crackers—Oval crackers topped with cream cheese and
olives to make the black of the penguin and cheese cut to make the
feet and beak
Hiberna ng Bears—Graham crackers (either topped or not with peanut bu)er) topped with a whip cream, yogurt or fros ng bear nose and
raisin eyes and nose p
Winter (cont.)
Snowman Snack Mix—Combine trail mix items that would resemble
snowman parts (pretzel s cks for arms, mini marshmallows for snowballs, chocolate chips for coal eyes, etc.)
Snowmen Popcorn Cups — Take a clear plas c cup and decorate it
with a Sharpie marker to have a snowman face with an orange construc on paper nose and a fabric, ribbon or felt scarf and filled with
popcorn
Apple Treats—Slice an apple in thin slices and top with peanut bu)er,
chocolate chips, nuts, marshmallows, etc.
Valentine’s
Valentine’s Day
Heart and Grape Kabobs—Take a mini heart cookie cu)er and cut
large strawberries in heart shapes, layer on a skewer alterna ng with
purple grapes
“Hearty” Hearts—A “hear er” snack plan...a heart shaped sandwich
(on wheat bread) of your choice, partnered with heart shaped fruit,
cheese or veggies (cut with a small heart cookie cu)er) and vanilla or
strawberry yogurt topped with Valen ne sprinkles
Cupid’s Fruit Arrows—On a wood skewer layer heart shaped strawberries at the top, followed by stacked blueberries un l the end of alterna ng orange/cu e slices and blueberries to resemble arrows
Message Fruits—Keep various fruits in their skins or peels and decorate with catchy Valen ne Sharpie marker saying and décor (a
pear…”we are the perfect pear”, etc.)
A Pair of “Cu es”—Place a “pair of cu es” in a plas c baggie and label
Mini Heart-wich—Make a variety of mini sandwiches out with a small
heart cookie cu)er (peanut bu)er, peanut bu)er and jelly, turkey and
cheese layers, etc)
Valen ne Cracker Snack—Ritz crackers topped with heart shaped
meats and cheeses
Valentine’s Day (cont.)
Love Bug Fruit Cups—An upside down fruit cup decorated with heart
sponge s cker feet, cra6 eyes and pom pom noses and antennas on
pipe cleaners to resemble bugs
Snack Kabob—Get crea ve with this one! Veggies (cucumbers, peppers, etc) can be cut in heart shapes and layered on wood skewers with
cut grapes, cherry tomatoes, cheeses, etc. ...the possibili es go on
Fruit Skewer—Again...be crea ve...all red fruit placed on a wood skewer (some may be cut into heart shapes) or mul -color heart cut fruits
Valen ne Bites—Oh so simple, but delicious! Inside of washed raspberries place white chocolate and milk or dark chocolate chips...they fit
perfectly and take plain raspberries “up a notch”
Grape Hearts—Cut a grape in half and arrange as a heart, held together by a pink or colored toothpick
Cupid Cones—Fill a waffle or sugar cone with red fruits or fruit and yogurt (vanilla or strawberry), top with Valen ne sprinkles
Heart Window Treats—Mini sandwiches of your choice, with the top
layer of wheat bread having a cut-out heart “window” (crust on or off)
St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day
“Green-sauce”—Decorate the top of a green applesauce with clovers
or other St. Patrick’s Day saying or decor
Pepper Clovers—Thinly sliced green peppers naturally resemble clovers, pair with cheese or crackers and other treats
Rainbow Fruit Cups—In a clear plas c cup, layer colorful fruits to resemble the rainbow, top with whip cream cloud and pot of gold club
crackers or other toppings
Pretzel Clovers—Melt a Hershey kiss (or other treat) to hold together
three tradi onal pretzels to form clover shape with a pretzel s ck to
resemble a stem...center with a green M&M or other treat
Leprechaun Hats—Cut cucumbers (cut to small pieces) and yellow
peppers to make leprechaun hats, you can even use yellow cheese
square as the buckle
Fruit Skewers—All green fruits placed on a wood skewer (green
grapes, apples, melon balls, etc.)
Assorted Rainbow Treats—Endless possibili es...rainbow fruit cups,
fruit kabobs and pla)ers, mul -colored veggie/pepper rainbow with
cauliflower clouds and green food colored ranch, various 100% fruit
juices (to resemble rainbow colors) frozen to make homemade popsicles, veggie leprechauns, spinach tor llas cookie cut into clover shapes
and partnered with hummus, green yogurt smoothies or fruit drinks
St. Patrick’s Day (cont.)
Leprechaun Crunch—Popcorn, pretzels and any other fes ve snacks
(green M&Ms) combined, with maybe even a li)le green food coloring
added to make a yummy mix
Green-fest—A plate of green foods that kids will love...green grapes,
healthy op on tor lla chips and guacamole (if kids don’t like guacamole, you can add food color to ranch or hummus and dip chips or green
veggies in either), kiwi, green peppers, etc
St. Pa/y Pops—Homemade popsicles or ice cubes made with orange
juice and green juice op ons
Easter
Easter
Cracker Chicks—Round crackers topped with various cheeses cut into
round shapes and topped with carrot faces, “feathers” and feet (black
dot gel eyes), placed above a bed of spinach leaves or le)uce
Chicky Fruit Cups—Peaches or other orange fruit cups decorated with
Sharpie markers to resemble chicks
“Bunny” Mix—Trail mix made with Easter/Spring op ons (bunny crackers, pretzels, raisins, orange, yellow and green M&Ms, etc.)
Carrot Treats—Take a cone shaped plas c bag and fill with an orange
snack (carrots, goldfish crackers, cheese-its, etc.) and e together with
green twine, ribbon, or fabric to resemble the carrot top
“Egg”-xcellent Snack Choices—Get crea ve...fill an egg carton with
plas c eggs and an assortment of Easter/Spring healthy snacks
(carrots, cheeses cut into flower shapes, raisins, veggies, cereal, etc.)
Bunny Juice Boxes—A juice box (100% fruit juice) covered in construcon paper made to look like a bunny
Birthdays
Birthdays
Banana “Cake Pops”—Cut bananas into larger bite size pieces, dip in
yogurt and then all sorts of birthday sprinkles, mini-chocolate chips,
etc. and place a cake pop s ck into make it “authen c”
Banana “Cupcake” Cones—A new take on “cupcake cones”...take a tradi onal ice cream cone and fill with cut bananas, yogurt or whip cream
and top with a cherry
Mini Fruit “Pizzas”—Take a miniature bagel, top with yogurt or cream
cheese and assorted fruits
“Fruit Cars”—Apple slices, toothpicks and grapes...there ya have it
Smiley Sauce—Applesauce cups decorated with Sharpie marker faces
(you can even add google eyes and addi onal décor)
Birthday STAR-wich—Cut sandwiches of your choice into large stars
with a cookie cu)er, if you would like, make smaller star “windows” in
the top bread slice and add sprinkles or just see what’s inside
Watermelon S cks—Simple and sweet...sliced watermelon with a popsicle s ck placed in the rind...decorate the s cks with birthday wishes
and fun sayings for the birthday boy/girl
Bell Cheese Monsters—Baby bell cheese with the red wrappers cut
various ways to make monster faces and cra6 eyes
Birthdays (cont.)
Bu/erfly Birthday—A bu)erfly theme? Make these bu)erfly snacks
with fruits, veggies, clothes pins and baggies
Flower Fruit Cup—In a small clear plas c cup, cut up various fruits for
the “dirt” and melons into flower shapes, placing the flower in the
base with a toothpick
Birthday Wands—Cut watermelon or other fruit into a large star with a
cookie cu)er and place on top of a wood skewer, with blueberries added below for the wand
Ninja Turtle Apples—Green apples, ssue paper and Sharpie markers
to decorate as Ninja Turtles
Fruit Cone—A tradi onal ice cream cone dipped (the top only) in white
or milk chocolate candy coa ng and, while s ll wet, dipped in birthday
sprinkles, fill with assorted colorful fruits
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
Banana Dips on a S ck—Cut bananas into bite size pieces and dip a
por on of the bites into milk chocolate coa ng...you can even dip
different amounts of the bananas in the chocolate to help the students
with frac ons, add a popsicle s ck and enjoy
Veggie Cups—In a clear plas c cup, place an assortment of cut up veggies, top with an individual ranch cup OR add poured ranch into the
bo)om of the cup, prior to adding the veggies, and leave top open or
cover with a lid or plas c wrap
The Hungry Caterpillar—On a wood skewer, stack green grapes and
top with a strawberry or tomato for the head and add eyes
Apple “Doughnuts”—Core an apple (to make the doughnut hole) and
slice in thin slices. Layer a slice with peanut bu)er, nuts, granola, raisins, etc. and top with another apple layer
Dr. Suess Snack—On a wood skewer, draw a face on a green grape and
layers alterna ng cut strawberry, marshmallow, strawberry, etc
Snack Kabobs—Snack kabobs are endless possibili es...fruit, veggies,
cheese, healthy deli meat...shapes and sizes...have fun
Apple Treats on a S ck—This one is endless too... slice apples and dip
in caramel, peanut bu)er, chocolate, yogurt, etc...and, while s ll wet,
dip in granola, nuts, raisins, dried fruit, etc. Make different recipes for
the kids to try (i.e. Apple Pie...caramel, cinnamon and maybe
nuts) ...add a s ck to the apple slice for easier ea ng
Miscellaneous (cont.)
Yogurt and Fruit Pops—Add either 100% fruit juice or orange juice to a
small container and add fruit and a s ck and freeze, or just simply add
a s ck to a yogurt cup, freeze and remove the container once frozen
Banana Split Bites—Cut bananas, strawberries and pineapple into bite
size pieces, dip in chocolate coa ng and, while s ll wet, dip in nuts
(op onal), place all three on a small wood skewer
Bug Snacks—Green grape caterpillars on a skewer, cucumber and carrot bu)erflies, or “ants on a log” (celery with peanut bu)er and raisins)...create your own fun bug and share
Banana Bites—Cut bananas into bite size pieces, add peanut bu)er
and layer another banana slice, freeze and serve cold
Fruit Cones—Tradi onal ice cream cone and fruit! That’s it. Add a
cupcake cone beneath the fruit, if you think the fruit will make the
cone so6
Robot Snack—Needed: Juice Box, Mini Boxes of Raisins, Individual Applesauce Containers, Google Cra6 Eyes, Something for Arms (Pretzels,
Fruit Roll Ups, etc.) and Spoon...assemble to resemble a robot