Valentine's Day is just around the corner, which means that its time to whip up some creative treats for you and the kids. While Valentine's Day is always associated with sweet treats such as chocolate and candy, you can create some yummy treats for the kids while still keeping it on the healthy side.
Valentine's Day Kabobs
Smoothies
One way you can let the children indulge in a special Valentine's Day treat, without losing nutritional value is by making Fruit Kabobs with Yogurt Dip. You can buy 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 well as a dip and strawberry yogurt would be perfect with your theme.
Here's another nutritious treat idea for your favorite little Valentines. For breakfast on this special day, make heart shaped muffins. You won't need a special muffin pan either. Just fill your muffin liners with the batter and then press a piece of tin foil, rolled to 1/2inch thick between the muffin liner and the pan to shape the muffin liner into a heart.
Here's one that's a bit different:
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 evenly across 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
Little ones enjoy fruit smoothies, so why not serve them on Valentine's Day to show your kids how much you appreciate them- in a nutritious, tasty way. They're so easy to make, you'll find yourself making 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 embellish them with cocktail umbrellas for a special touch.
In staying with the theme of the day, use mostly red fruits and juice. Strawberries and raspberries are excellent options and you can mix in bananas without changing the color scheme. Apple juice combines well with the berries for your liquid.
Jell-O Hearts- Without the Sugar and Dyes
Little ones love Jell-O, but as a Mom you stress about all that sugar and artificial coloring. Try this instead for a nutritious option:
Boil 1 cup of water, add ½ cup of grape juice and 1 packet of unflavored gelatin. Stir until dissolved. After it cools slightly, add another ½ cup of grape juice. Pour into heart shaped molds and refrigerate until firm. If you don't have heart shaped molds, you can pour the gelatin mixture into a baking pan and then cut out heart shapes with a cookie cutter after it is firm.
These treats will add some special touches to Valentine's Day for you and your kids. You can make them as a surprise or the children can partake in the fun!
Healthy Valentine's Day Treats For the Little Ones
Don't miss our other feature Valentine articles including How to Prepare a Romantic Dinner at Home for Valentine's Day: http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/article-romantic-dinner-at-home.htm) and Say I Love You with Cookies http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/article-valentine-cookies.htm