Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Sweet Ideas for Your Little Valentines


Cupid Clusters, and other yummy healthy Valentine Recipes

Every time you turn around at Publix, Fresh Market or even at your local pharmacy, there are sweet treats galore! They even Easter candy out now! Thanks a lot Russell Stover and Godiva! Now, how are we going to keep our New Years resolution to eat healthier and stay fit? Ha! Well, we know you have to indulge into your sweet tooth every now then, but we also know the importance of teaching our kids healthy eating habits too, right?

So as you are trying to not look at those yummy chocolates staring you in the face and tempting you to indulge more than you should, you opt to head for the more waist friendly side of the store, where you can find ingredients for some yummy, healthy Valentine's Day treats, and here are our favorites. The smoothies and cupid clusters are a hit at our house. Let us know what you like or if you have any recipes you  would like to share.

Cupid Clusters (From www.recipe.com) 

Cereal and dried berries are held together with melted white chocolate to make these easy snacks. Enjoy them for dessert as well.
Cupid Clusters
Servings: 24 clusters
Ingredients
  • 3 cups  Yogurt-Burst Cheerios or similar whole-grain cereal
  • 1/2 cup  chopped dried strawberries  
  • 1-1/2 cups  white chocolate chips
Directions

Place paper liners in 24 mini muffin cups. Toss the whole-grain cereal and chopped dried strawberries in a medium bowl. Melt the white chocolate in a microwave on high for a minute, stirring it frequently. Combine with the cereal and strawberry mixture. Spoon into prepared cups and refrigerate until the clusters are firm, about 5 minutes.
Recipes Below from http://www.examiner.com/

Pizza my heart. Form pizza dough into the shape of a heart and top with turkey pepperoni and lots of fresh vegetables. This is a simple, no fuss Valentine's Day dinner and kids love the idea of choosing their own toppings

1.    Love wrap. Spread a whole wheat tortilla with a thin layer of light cream cheese. Top with sliced strawberries and roll up. If you like, you may also spread a thin layer of strawberry jam over the cream cheese before adding the strawberries. Or substitute banana slices for strawberries. If you help them with the slicing, kids can assemble these all by themselves.

Recipe From http://www.themenumom.com/

Strawberry Roll-ups
  
You will need: 4 (6 inch) soft tortilla shells
  Low-fat Strawberry cream cheese
  4 T Strawberry jam
Spread the cream cheese to the edge of each tortilla. Add 1 T of strawberry jam, spread down the center. Fold in the edges of the tortilla, about two inches. Now roll the tortilla up- jelly roll style. Slice into 2-inch bites for the perfect Valentines Day snack.


Mini- Fruit Smoothies for Valentine’s Day

Kids love fruit smoothies, so why not serve them on Valentine’s Day to show your children how much you love them- in a healthy, delicious way. They’re so easy to make, you’ll find yourself whipping up a batch even when it’s not a special day. Simply combine a blend of fruits in your blender, with a little fruit juice added for liquid. You can serve them in decorated Dixie cups for little hands and decorate them with cocktail umbrellas for a special touch.

Valentine’s Day Kabobs
One way you can let the little ones indulge in a special Valentine’s Day treat, without giving up all things nutritious is by serving Fruit Kabobs with Yogurt Dip. You can find red or pink plastic skewers and then load them up with strawberries, cherries, watermelon and red seedless grapes. You can use a tiny heart shaped cookie cutter for the berries and watermelon to add to the festive look. Low-fat vanilla yogurt works great as a dip and strawberry yogurt would be perfect with your theme. You can even add in a little math by making patterns with your fruit kabobs! :)

Other Sweet Ideas:  Do heart shape pancakes or muffins for breakfast. Cut your child's sandwich into a heart shape and pack in their lunch bag for a Valentine's Day surprise. Then, add a sweet note to let your child or even your little honey know how much you love them. 
  

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