Stuck in the doldrums of lunchtime? Do you often hear, "What else can I have?" I recently viewed a post at Whole Foods on a Budget and it made me remember that I used to hear those same groans at lunchtime (and still do occasionally, I will admit), but then one day inspiration struck. It was one of those slow days when we didn't have leftovers in the fridge and we pretty much only had vegetables. Although my 5 year-old son loves veggies (it took a lot to get him here; more on that another time) I could tell it wasn't a good day to hand over a bowl of lettuce leaves. What did I do? I decided to play with the food until it made a funny face! When I heard the question, "What's for lunch?" I announced, "A Funny Veggie Plate!" Curiously he ran to the table to look. He was so tickled with his lunch that now a regular lunchtime request I hear is, "Will you make me a funny veggie plate, please?!" I don't know about you, but I love to hear my son ask to eat bell pepper and tomatoes, and to consider it a treat to boot! If your kids don't eat a lot of vegetables you might not be able to hand over one of the plates I show here, but you can make mini faces with some veggies and fruit. Start small and work up to more and more veggies as the weeks go by! While you're at it, boost your own health by making yourself a funny veggie plate.
Simple designs can be made out of almost anything. Pinwheels, flowers, bugs! Also try asking your kids to help! I handed my son a plate with a variety of vegetable fixings and had him design his own funny veggie plate! Check out some of the plates I've made in the past!
After making my son a funny veggie plate, I cut my store-bought veggie sandwich in half. When I brought it to the table there was excited laughter directed toward my plate. My son gleefully announced that there was a face in my sandwich. Can you see it? He saw a character called Bouldergeist from Super Mario Galaxy. The rest of us saw something between Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster. What do you see?
In our house we managed to see Bugs Bunny in the one below, maybe it was the carrot eyebrows?
I don't know exactly what I was thinking when I made this one, but it was interesting enough to make eating a salad a joyous occasion.
Work with what you have on hand, adding in leftovers in the fridge to make creative features!
Okay, I know this next one isn't veggies, but I had to add the fruit turtle I made with mango, clementine segments, kiwi and blueberries! My son thought it was awesome!
What have you done to shake off the ennui that sometimes surrounds eating yet another pb&j?
I love food art, but I have never thought about making my own :). What a great idea! I will have to try this. Isla does not love uncooked veggies, but she seems interested in my salad, so I think that I will try something like this tomorrow.
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