Fun Snack Ideas for School Lunches and Afternoon Tea
Two weeks ago I spent a fun filled week with one of my nieces and one of my nephews. We went on daily outings and only on one of those days did we eat out (we went to Sweetbones Café in Canberra), all the other days we packed up our picnic lunch. On one of those days there was a fire in Queanbeyan and when we got there found out that the swimming pool was closed, so we decided to go home for our picnic before going off to bowling.
Our picnics were super healthy and on one of the outings my nephew told me he had never eaten peanut butter (his dad and brother are both allergic) and that he would like to try it because he wanted to make ants on a log. He had seen somewhere celery sticks filled with peanut butter and then raisins sprinkled on top.
There and then I thought, that’s my next blog and lo and behold it fell on the same week as I have scheduled for children’s recipes. Love how these things happen.
This was one fun blog recipe development. I think many adults would like these snack ideas too and they would be good for parties. There are many alternatives so you don’t need to have nuts in any of the recipes.
Hope you have as much fun as I did creating these fun snack ideas.
Ants on a Log
1 stick of celery per person cut in thirds
2 tsp of either peanut butter, almond butter or a combination of tahini and rice malt syrup (per person)
1 tsp of currants or raisins per person
Fill the celery pieces with your choice of spread and sprinkle on the currants or raisins.
Apple Slices
1 apple for 3 people
Choice of peanut butter, nut cheese or sunflower cheese (recipe links in here)
Dried fruits of your choice – I used goji, mulberries and cacao nibs
Optional desiccated coconut
Cherry and Banana Caterpillars
(If strawberries are in season then these are even better than cherries – use a full strawberry with the leaves left on for the head and then slice up the strawberries. You can poke cacao nibs into the head strawberry for the eyes.
1 medium banana per person sliced into 2 cm rounds
6 cherries per person
Place a cherry then a slice of banana and then a cherry and then a slice of banana on a plate, keep following this pattern until all the cherries are used up. In the front cherry make two slits with a knife and place two of the cherry stalks in the slits for antennas.
Other blog recipes that are good for children
# If you make this recipe please share on facebook or instagram to #veetsvegancookingschool
Lowdown on the Modules (the learning doesn’t have to stop with The Vegan Foundation Cooking Course)
For those of you who don’t know I run both a three day Vegan Foundation Cooking Course and also full Vegan Chef Training. The full Vegan Chef Training has some brilliant modules that are actually open for anyone to do. You do need to complete the three day Vegan Foundation Cooking Course first and then you can do any of modules 2 to 5 in any order.
Module 2
Raw Food and Food Photography
In the Raw Food module we create simple raw food as well as learning how to make creative meals, including using a dehydrator. We also learn how to sprout legumes, grains and nuts. Rejuvelac is also taught which makes a very tasty nut or seed cheese. In the dessert session we make seven different cakes as well as chocolate covered marzipan. There is a cake decorating session and two food photography sessions. It is a very full four days with an emphasis on a finer detail to food preparation including refining our cutting skills
Module 3
Ayurvedic Cooking
Ayurveda is an ancient way of living that originates in India. In this module we focus on Ayurvedic Cooking. We cover the principles of Ayurvedic cooking and look at the different cooking styles, Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic and the elements as well as learn about the three doshas, Vata, Pitta, Kapha. We cook for all three doshas as well as learn how to make Tridoshic meals. We cover both Indian and Western styles following Ayurvedic cooking methods.
Module 4
Macrobiotic, Wholefoods and Italian Wholefoods
This is a fun three days where we explore three very different ways of creating vegan wholefood meals. We take one day to cook in the macrobiotic style, one to delve into wholefoods at their best, making lots of things from scratch including soy milk, tofu, sauces and butter. Then the third day we have a guest facilitator, Anthea Amore, come and teach a passionate day of Italian Wholefoods, where ravioli, panna cotta and tiramisu are part of the menu.
Module 5
Fermentation, Sprouting & Sourdough
Todd Cameron comes and teaches his activated grain method for cooking. We visit Byron Bay Tempeh to see how tempeh is made. Sue and Lilli from Organic Forrest come and teach kambucha, jammu, fire tonic and fruit shrub drinks. Simon comes and teaches sour dough bread and I teach sauerkraut, kim chi and miso. It’s a packed two days with so much to learn.
Book yourself into a Vegan Foundation Cooking Course so you can do as many of the other modules as you like. Still places in the March and April Vegan Foundation Cooking Courses and modules 2 to 5 are in April and May this year.
Have a great week everyone
With gratitude
Veet
