Healthy Bites With TGMC | Snack Healthy!

Magic Fairy/Wizard Rainbow Wands

It’s almost time for the kids to get back in the routine of school…early morning wake ups, structured school days, after-school activities, and the list goes on! This is the perfect time to encourage and teach children about the importance of healthy meals and snacks. While we know children learn all day at school, we should also take advantage of small opportunities to teach them about being responsible with food in the kitchen.

There are several “lessons” that can be learned around meals and snacks. First, get your children involved in meal prep! Young children love getting creative in the kitchen! Using cookie cutters to cut soft fruit is a fun way to get them involved, and they will be more likely to try foods that they have prepared themselves. Children also love dumping and mixing ingredients, so if you are making the dip listed in this recipe, have them pour the ingredients into the blender for you, and they can watch everything blend together to make a delicious dipping sauce! Most importantly, this is a great time to teach and remind children of the importance of hand washing. Have them wash their hands before touching food and anytime that their hands get too messy.

Another “lesson” that we can teach children during meal prep includes talking about the health benefits of certain foods. In this particular recipe, you can talk about how fruit is a great source of fiber, and some fruit also provides a great source of Vitamin C. Fiber is found in the skin or peel of many fresh fruits. For example, an apple with the peel contains about 4.4 grams of fiber, while apple juice would not provide any fiber. Fresh berries, such as the raspberries found in this recipe, are also a great source of fiber! Citrus fruits and strawberries provide a great source of Vitamin C. This vitamin is an antioxidant that helps protect our bodies against infection.

Take time to teach your children small lessons with food in the kitchen, and enjoy making fun recipes together!!

Ingredients

Wands:

• Seasonal fruit in a variety of colors (try raspberries, strawberries, mini oranges, apples, blueberries, grapes, watermelon, or cantaloupe)
  
• Bamboo skewers

Dip:

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
• 2-3T powdered sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 c of raspberries(or more, to taste)

Directions

STEP 1

Place all fruit on bamboo skewers. You can use small cookie cutters to make fun shapes with melons and apples.

STEP 2
Place all dip ingredients in the blender and mix well. Chill dip for one hour before serving for flavors to mix well.•