Bugs

Butterflies with celery or cheese string bodies and pretzel wings or use grape bodies and orange or apricot wings.

Ants On a Log:


This is a classic children's snack. The base remains the same: celery. Add the spread of your child's choice...peanut butter, almond butter, hummus, cream cheese... Then top with little ants (raisins).  VARIATION:  If your child doesn't like celery use a banana!

A Snail using celery, cream cheese, apple slice, peas and chives.

Lady bugs with Cherry tomatoes and olives or raisins on or off a cracker.  We used black icing for the dots.

Grape Catterpillers on celery like "ants on a log" or on a wooden skewer. You could even turn banana slices into a catterpiller.

Mud and Worms:

Ingredients: Chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo cookie crumbs or chocolate wafer crumbs (optional), gummy worms (or pieces of gummy circles if you cannot find the worms).

Step 1: Make pudding according to package instructions (or buy pre-made to be quicker) and put some pudding in a dish per family member.

Step 2 (Optional): Add crushed chocolate cookie crumbs over the pudding.

Step 3: Arrange gummy words squirming out of the pudding mud.

Photo: J. Rock

BREAKFAST:

Ladybug B.L.T:

I found this idea on Pinterest from this website: https://canadianfamily.ca/food/cute-meal-idea-for-kids-ladybug-b.l.t.-sandwich/


Toast your bread and layer mayo, bacon and lettuce on top.

Then create your ladybug! Add tomato slices, blueberries or olive pieces for the spots, and a large olive for the head. Chives can be added for antennae and I just adore the look of candy eyes on everything!

Bug Pasta:

See if you can find some bug shaped pasta are your grocery store. We found ours at a bulk store.  You can serve with plain with oil and sauteed garlic, with your favourite pasta sauce, with simple tomato sauce, or do as we did and use green pesto for an earthy looking dish!


If you can't find Bug shaped pasta serve up some spaghetti (because it looks like worms).

A Dragonfly with peas, peapods and chives. You could use coloured peppers for the eyes but we love the look of Candy eyes!  and peppers or apricots and blueberries.

Fruit and Vegetable Creepy Crawlies:


Ingredients: various fruits and veggies, cream cheese, crackers, candy eyes or raisin, black icing for details, toothpicks, pretzels, dried chow mein noodles, cheese...and your imagination.


You can make these with your kids and use their creativity or make some ahead of time for snack time!


Here are some ideas...

Centepede Sugar Cookies:

Make your family’s favourite sugar cookies (or use cookie dough or a box mix of sugar cookies) and bake a fresh batch.  Attach small coloured chocolates in the shape of a centepede with icing and then draw in little black legs.

FOODS

Butterfly Quesadilla:


Ingredients: tortillas (whole wheat or corn etc.), shredded cheese, carrots stick, cherry or grape tomato, chives, ketchup or hot sauce to decorate.


Step 1: Add some vegetable oil to a hot skillet and set a tortilla on it.  Flip it after a minute.

Step 2: Add shredded cheese (you can add chopped veggies here or left over chicken etc. if you wish) to one half of the tortilla.

Step 3: Carefully flip over to cook for one more minute until the cheese melts.

Step 4: Let it cool and then slice to form two wings.

Step 5: Arrange the wings on a plate with a carrot stick as the butterfly's body. Add a tomato head, chives antennae. Decorate with ketchup and hot sauce if desired or serve it plain.  My kids LOVE spicy food!


DESSERT: 

DINNER:

The Very Hungry Pancake:

Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour,  1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 2 cups buttermilk, canola oil for the griddle or non-stick pan, your child's favourite fruit.


Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Step 2: In a separate bowl beat the eggs and add the buttermilk.
Step 3:  Mix the egg and milk combo into the dry ingredients with a large wooden spoon.

Step 4: Heat a pan or griddle to medium heat and add some canola oil. Scoop small spoonfuls of batter onto the hot griddle to cook smaller pancakes, flipping once bubbles have formed on the top side.

Step 5:  When all the pancakes are cooked arrange on a plate like a caterpillar.  Add raisins or candy eyes for eyes and then add your child's favourite fruit in the middle as though the caterpillar was encircling it to eat it.

SNACKS:

Bee Breakfast:
Ingredients: apples, blueberries, corn cereal or cheerios, pretzels.

Step 1: Arrange rows of blueberries and cereal on a plate to mimic the stripes of a bee.

Step 2: A sliced apple round as the head and two apple slices as wings.

Step 3: Add pretzel and 2 eyes (either raisins or candy eyes) and a pretzel stinger.

Easy Grasshopper Pie:

Ingredients: Half a 200 g box of chocolate wafer cookies (about 30 cookies), 5 cups vanilla ice-cream (half of a litre box of ice-cream), 1 tsp peppermint extract (or to taste), 2 or 3 drops of green food coloring.

Step 1: Crush the cookies in a re-sealable bag (kids like this crushing part) and spread the crumbs in a 8 or 9 inch round cake pan or a large rimmed glass or tin pie plate.
Step 2: In a food processor (or by hand in a large bowl after letting the ice cream soften for a bit) mix the ice cream, peppermint and food coloring. You may have to do this a few scoops at a time if your machine is smaller.
Step 3: Spread the ice cream over the crushed cookies in the cake/pie pan.
Step 4: Freeze for at least 6 hours before serving.

LUNCH:

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Snail Cereal:

I'm including snails as creepy crawlies!


Ingredients: 1 bowl of your child's favourite cereal, 1 peeled banana, candy eyes or raisins, 2 stick pretzles.


Step 1: Arrange a bowl of cereal on a plate.

Step 2: Arrange the banana under the cereal to look like the snail's body.

Step 3: Add pretzel antennae and 2 eyes (either raisins or candy eyes) .

Another Dragonfly with apricots, blueberries and apples.

Kids buggin' you for some snacks and fun dinners etc.? Try some of these ideas: