I can't lie; there is no temptation quite like walking down the candy aisles this time of year. Halloween novelties are fun, but if you're trying to eat healthier or have kids in your life that don't become any more pleasant when on a sugar high, then you might be looking for some fun, healthy alternatives.
The picture above is a veggie skeleton that the elementary students I teach made to celebrate Halloween. They had a blast creating it, and it was very simple! It worked well to have the 10-11 year olds using knives under supervision to chop the vegetables and then to have the younger kids assemble the skeletons. To make the skeleton you will need:
6 oz plain Greek yogurt
1 packet ranch dip mix
2 leaves of dark green lettuce
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
2 stalks celery
1 cucumber
1 package baby carrots
Start by rinsing all your vegetables. For the face, mix the Greek yogurt and ranch packet together in a bowl. Tear the wider leaf-tops off of your lettuce. Place these along the top edge of the bowl to look like hair. Slice the mushrooms and use two slices for eyes (tear part of the white stem off so you have dark parts on the bottom for pupils). Cut your celery stalks in half and use two for shoulders. Slice the cucumber and stack the slices like fallen dominoes down the middle to make the backbone. Cut your red bell pepper into strips and place about 6 strips on either side of the cucumber backbone to look like ribs. Shape a big bunch of the mushroom slices at the bottom of the cucumbers to look like a pelvic bone, and place your remaining celery sticks on either side to be legs. Place one carrot pointing down underneath each piece of celery to be the lower legs and then place a carrot on each side pointing horizontally to be feet. Add a mushroom slice on each side at the end of the horizontal carrots. Take two carrots and make an arm pointing down from the celery-shoulders. Put a mushroom slice on the end for a hand and repeat for the other arm. Your skeleton is complete; now enjoy dismantling him for yummy veggies with dip!
Making a funny skeleton is a great way to encourage kids to eat vegetables, and the Greek yogurt ranch dip is high in calcium and protein! If you're looking for healthier alternatives for trick-or-treaters, check out these suggestions from Nourish Interactive!
The picture above is a veggie skeleton that the elementary students I teach made to celebrate Halloween. They had a blast creating it, and it was very simple! It worked well to have the 10-11 year olds using knives under supervision to chop the vegetables and then to have the younger kids assemble the skeletons. To make the skeleton you will need:
6 oz plain Greek yogurt
1 packet ranch dip mix
2 leaves of dark green lettuce
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
2 stalks celery
1 cucumber
1 package baby carrots
Start by rinsing all your vegetables. For the face, mix the Greek yogurt and ranch packet together in a bowl. Tear the wider leaf-tops off of your lettuce. Place these along the top edge of the bowl to look like hair. Slice the mushrooms and use two slices for eyes (tear part of the white stem off so you have dark parts on the bottom for pupils). Cut your celery stalks in half and use two for shoulders. Slice the cucumber and stack the slices like fallen dominoes down the middle to make the backbone. Cut your red bell pepper into strips and place about 6 strips on either side of the cucumber backbone to look like ribs. Shape a big bunch of the mushroom slices at the bottom of the cucumbers to look like a pelvic bone, and place your remaining celery sticks on either side to be legs. Place one carrot pointing down underneath each piece of celery to be the lower legs and then place a carrot on each side pointing horizontally to be feet. Add a mushroom slice on each side at the end of the horizontal carrots. Take two carrots and make an arm pointing down from the celery-shoulders. Put a mushroom slice on the end for a hand and repeat for the other arm. Your skeleton is complete; now enjoy dismantling him for yummy veggies with dip!
Making a funny skeleton is a great way to encourage kids to eat vegetables, and the Greek yogurt ranch dip is high in calcium and protein! If you're looking for healthier alternatives for trick-or-treaters, check out these suggestions from Nourish Interactive!