This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Dixie. The opinions and text are all mine. This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

Back to School Traditions – Friday Night Family Barbecue

I’d like to say that I made a fancy sign for them to hold on their first day of school (does holding up fingers count?) or made them a special first day breakfast (um – cereal?), but the thing is, our lives our busy and sometimes we just have to make an effort to enjoy more moments just with each other.

As life with a family of 5 gets hectic, I find that it’s important to stop stressing about the small things. (like how I look in the picture above after a full day of mommyhood and having a kid photographer)

The truth is, my kids do not need a “Pinterest Worthy” back to school picture in order to remember their first day of school. They will remember my smile after taking a goofy shot to send Grandma and Moms lingering embrace.

My kids do not need homemade cinnamon rolls or waffles topped with strawberries and whipped cream, although it does sound good.

My mantra this year is to stress less and enjoy the moments more.

What my kids need is – ME.

Without the stress of making picture-worthy events. Without the stress of rushing to clean up and do dishes. Without the need to impress anyone.

They need to have me in the moment, cherishing time with family. I’m lucky to have them in my life and need to take time during the busy moments to embrace the moment.

So in lieu of all the extravagant back to school traditions, we are kicking it back to the basics this year with an end of the first week of school Family Night Barbecue.

It didn’t take much planning at all.

Steps to Organize a Family Night BBQ for Back to School

STEP 1: Ask your family what they would like to eat on the grill.

STEP 2: Get the kids to make a table decoration.

1. Grab a piece of card stock
2. Fold in half.
3. Let them write the words and
4. Decorate it.

STEP 3: Assemble a tray with Dixie plates and silverware, vegetables, fruit, and any needed buns.

If you have more time you can also make a side salad using these simple recipes for Vinegar Coleslaw Recipe, Potato Salad, or Old-Fashioned Three Bean Salad.

STEP 4: Grill.

Doesn’t everyone grill and serve certified Angus beef filet mignons on paper plates?
(That way my choice! The kids wanted hot dogs)

STEP 5: Sit down and enjoy the meal.

My husband walked through the door just as I was setting the food on the table…

WHAT? Filet Mignon on paper plates???

You bet honey!  A delicious meal and no one’s doing dishes tonight

STEP 6: Talk about your first week of school

• What are your classmates’ names?
• What is your favorite subject to learn about so far?
• What do you hope to learn this year?
• In 3 words, how would you describe your first week of school?

STEP 7: Then clean up! Which takes only a few seconds!

STEP 8: GAME TIME… because we saved time on clean-up using Dixie Plates – we were able to play a game of Spot It before snuggling up with a good back to school book and heading to bed.

Back to School BBQ Ideas

• Steak and Mango Salsa Flatbread
• Healthier Potato Salad
• Kale and Orzo Pasta Salad
• Salad Bar Ideas
• Delicious and Easy Appetizers

Family Notes:

Although we typically use glass plates, it’s really nice to bring out the disposable Dixie products for a really quick cleanup. Back to school can be hectic and stressful. Those extra few minutes that would have been spent doing dishes were instead spent snuggling with kiddos.

It’s important to find the balance. My kids need me present in the moment. Family gatherings should be cherished and enjoyed by all!

Dixie believes nothing should interrupt family moments. Gather around your loved ones, linger a little longer, and be more here.

You may also enjoy these activities…

Every day it’s something you have to think about when you have kids and what you’re going to send with them to school or even at home too.

Here are some of our favorite lunch box ideas for kids. We’ve gathered our top lunch box idea PINS just for you!

Don’t forget to pin it for ideas all school year long!

School Lunches can become a little boring at times to make for kids. Day by day we take a peek in the fridge and pantry and try to decide what to put into their lunch box that they might actually eat. Having a plan for what you’re packing each day can be one of the keys to success.

Being organized and creative are two elements that will be a big hit with your kids.

Finding ways to get them involved in the kitchen like in making homemade sushi, alphabet soup or even tuna salad without mayo can be a lot of fun.

Top Lunch Box Ideas on Pinterest

Follow The Educators’ Spin On It’s board Help for Packing School Lunches on Pinterest.

Let’s be honest though sometimes it’s hard to come up with new ideas. Pinterest can be such a great source for finding inspiration for kid’s lunches. I thought it might be fun to feature my top kid’s lunch box ideas for you to get ready for back to school time with your family.  

Be sure to FOLLOW our Pinterest board for the latest Lunch Box Ideas!

Top Lunch Box Ideas for Back to School

We’re sharing our top most pinned and favorite lunchbox ideas for back-to-school that have been featured on our boards. Take a peek and see which one inspired you to pin too so that lunchtime can be a little bit easier this year for school.

Using a Printable Magnetic Lunch Chart from Martha Stewart can make meal planning easier. Getting kids involved can encourage better eaters.

Many of us are looking for budget friendly ideas for lunch. Brown Bag School Lunches on a Budget from Snack Picks.com shares her tips for staying on track with lunches.

Sometimes finding one ingredient your child loves is a way to start sneaking in healthy ingredients.  Here are 13 Ways to use Tortilla for Back to School Lunches from Evolving Motherhood.

Encouraging your child to help pack lunches using Simple Solutions for Healthy School Lunches from The Educators’ Spin On It can be a huge time saver. I’ve even included a list of what to shop for to keep in containers for quick access for snack time too.

These cold lunch ideas for kids will make lunchtime as fun as it is yummy. Fifteen different lunch ideas that can be put together ahead of time so packing your child’s lunch will be a breeze every day.

Finding fun ingredients that kids enjoy can be a challenge.  Here are Lunchbox Ideas that Kids Love from Family Fresh Meals.

25 Best Back to School Lunches from Remodelaholic with her favorites for what to include in these adorable Bento Boxes!

One peek in a school cafeteria and you’ll see it’s getting more difficult to expose your child to healthier items.  Here are 100 Healthy, Delicious and Easy Lunchbox Ideas from Family Fresh Cooking to get you started.

Take moment to print off this Printable Lunch Box Idea List. While you’re there check out the 1000+ Bento Lunch Ideas from the Bento Gallery at Wendolonia.

Here’s an easy way to have a whole month of lunch planned with 30 Days of Lunch Boxes from Peanut Blossom.

Finding new ways to make lunch can be so much easier with these 50 Tips and Tricks for Packing School Lunches from Love from the Oven

A month of school lunches already planned from  you makes the job a no brainer, love this Month of School Kid Approved School Lunches from Mom Endeavors.

Many schools have begun to request peanut free foods for the lunchroom.  Here are 15 Peanut Free Lunch Ideas from Smart School House.

Don’t forget about planning for After School Snacks. Here are 20 On the Go Healthy Snack Ideas from Let’s Lasso the Moon.

Tips for Success for Packing School Lunches

Think about it, we need to pack a school lunch for 180 days, trust me we need resources to turn to! That’s not even counting all the other days we’re just home with our kids on the weekends and summertime. 

My biggest tip as a mom of 3 and a teacher for over 10 years is to make healthy choices with your child for their lunches.

• Get Kids Involved– The more you encourage them to be involved the more they are likely to eat what you packed. Have a few things they can help put into their lunches when you’re packing them. Click here for ideas
• Easy Open Containers– Select containers and items that they can open independently. Sometimes that means practicing at home before hands for a few days.
• Label Lunch Box & Containers– It’s the easiest way to ensure all your costly lunch items are returned to their owner if they get left anywhere.
• Pack Healthy Items– Make healthy choices with the items you’re choosing, it’s brain power for your child as they are learning throughout their school day.
• Avoid Peer Pressure– You will hear all sorts of stories about what each student is allowed to bring to school in their lunches.  Go with your instinct and pack what you know is best for your child’s health.  Many prepackaged items are packed with sodium and ingredients that our kids don’t need to consume.
• Pick a Fun Theme– Sometimes it’s fun to pick a theme for lunch.  Cookie cutters, napkins and toothpicks can be the easiest way to add a little fun.

Pinterest can be an amazing source to come up with new ideas for Lunch for Kids with so many parents pinning new ideas they read on sites and also bloggers pinning their own ideas. It’s a WIN WIN for parents.

To find even more ideas be sure to FOLLOW our Helping for Packing School Lunch Pinterest Board at The Educators’ Spin On It. 

Lunch Box Options for Kids

Here are a few of my favorite lunch products to pack lunch with!

Disclosure: Amazon affiliate links for easy shopping for you. 

Wishing you the best as you begin your school year with happy tummies and growing minds!

Click now for more Back to School Resources for Parents

Amazon Affiliate Links included in this article.

Steak and Mango Salsa Flatbread

The night before:

What is my favorite thing about this recipe is that you get to enjoy grilling Certified Angus Beef® twice! The night before, select a nice large steak of your favorite cut to grill. We like thick cuts slightly over 2 pounds medium to well done.  Before serving it to your ravenous family, slice of a portion and hide it in a covered dish in the fridge. (If I serve the whole steak, my family would eat it).

If you have a few beef fans in your house, I recommend storing it in a container that you cannot see inside and labeling it something like asparagus or brussel sprouts. Hey, some of us need to go to drastic measures to keep some steak left to make Steak and Mango Salsa Flatbread. We grill extra steak routinely so I can get more protein into my every day. I use the “hidden” steak to top my salads and lunch& time, to toss into our breakfast roll-ups and add to our grilled flatbreads.

How to Make the Mango Salsa

Make ahead of time – or assemble last minute. We’ve done it both ways and both are tasty. The overnight version lets flavors meld better. Let the kids help assemble and mix this mango salsa. Any extras are great scooped up with corn chips!(You will only need a large spoonful for the Steak and Mango Salsa Flatbread)

Ingredients needed:

• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1/2 sweet onion
• 1 green pepper
• 2 hot peppers
• 1 cup chopped mango
• 1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
• pinch of salt.

Directions:

1. Wash and chop all ingredients.

2. Combine in a medium bowl.

3. Cover and let sit overnight in the refrigerator for flavors to combine.

How to Make the Steak and Mango Salsa Flatbread

Ingredients Needed:

• 1 prepared thin flatbread
• 1 tablespoon Mango Chipotle Yogurt Dressing
• 1/2 cup of prepared mango salsa
• 8-10 thinly sliced steak strips.
• 1/2 cup of shredded Monterrey Jack.

Directions:

Heat up your grill

1. Spread a thick layer of Mango Chipotle Yogurt Dressing on the flatbread.

2. Evenly top with mango salsa and steak strips.

3. Sprinkle cheese on top.

4. Grill covered on medium heat for 4-6 minutes until the cheese has melted and the flatbread is lightly crispy on the edges.

This recipe has been entered into the Food and Wine Conference Certified Angus Beef recipe contest.

I cannot tell you how much I love my Weber Genesis Grill. It has lasted for over 5 years and we use it almost every night during the summer months so that we don’t heat up the inside of our house when it is 90+ degrees outside.

My friends came over for a playdate this week and I fired up the grill to make pizza. They were all impressed with my grill skills and wanted to know everything about it.

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Which team are you cheering for?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. All opinions are entirely my own.



I’ve shared some ideas for the games and crafts planned for the kids and now it’s time for the DELICIOUS FOOD! Tyson Foods ® has quite a few options that are going to be a game changer for our Game Day Table.

Take a look at these recipes shared for your next party. We shared one already for Football Shaped Lit’l Smokies. You could also make this tasty Beef Sliders Recipe.

Now I have quite a few more to share from some extremely talented bloggers! These recipes include some easy to cook ingredients like chicken, sausage, and even salami.  

Pick a few and then go grab the ingredients at your local Walmart for game day! Easy WIN in my recipe playbook!

Gametime Appetizer Ideas 

I’ve included a “Pin It” link option so you can easily visit and pin these game day creations to have a winning party spread!

Gametime Appetizers with Sausage

• Easy Ranch Sausage Rolls   {Pin it}
• Sausage Pinwheel Appetizer  {Pin It }
• Slow Cooker Spicy Sausage Cheese Dip   {Pin it}
• Sage, Sausage, Olive Pizza Pull Apart Loaf    {Pin it}

Gametime Appetizers with Salami

• GameDay Salami Cheeseball   {Pin It}
• Cheese Stuffed Breadsticks with Salami and Pesto   {Pin It}

Gametime Appetizers with Chicken Breasts 

• Balsamic Chicken Bites  {Pin It }
• Make Ahead Chicken Hoagie     {Pin It}

Gametime Appetizers with Lit’l Smokies Sausages

• Football Shape Lit’l Smokies   {Pin It}
• Spicy Blood Orange Lit’l Smokies   {Pin It} 
• Game Day Mini Corn Muffins  {Pin It}
• Buffalo Blue Cheese Potato Chips with Lit’l Smokies   {Pin It}

Gamtime Appetizers with Tyson’s Anytizers

• Boneless Chicken Wing Sliders   {Pin It}
• Bacon Wrapped Chicken Fries   {Pin It}
• Loaded Buffalo Chicken Fries   {Pin It}

Gametime Appetizers using Chicken Nuggets

• Buffalo Chicken Nugget Appetizer   {Pin It}
• Buffalo Chicken Ranch Roll-ups    {Pin It}

Gametime Appetizers with Chicken Strips

• Easy Baked Chicken Parmesan Sub  {Pin It }
• TGI Friday’s Sesame Jack Strips Copycat   {Pin It}
• 3 Unique Dip Recipes for Chicken Strips    {Pin It}

Game Day Fun on Pinterest

Now that the food is covered take a peek at ideas for hosting your Game Day Party with this special Football Themed Pinterest Board called Talk About Delicious Gametime . RePIN your favorites!

Follow The Educators’ Spin On It’s board Talk About Delicious Gametime on Pinterest.

Talk about Delicious Gametime Appetizers

After visiting the bloggers recipes, be sure to visit www.talkaboutdeliciousmag.com  for the full lineup of delicious recipes and top tips to win over your crowd!  Stop by your local Walmart to pick up these popular recipe items for your Game Day Table! Many thanks to the sponsors of #DeliciousGametime including Tysons Foods, Inc., Gallo Salame Company, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farms, & Tyson Any’tizers.

Thanks for making Game Day Party hosting just a little bit easy with all of these delicious recipes.

Which recipe are you going to add to your GameDay Party table?

Affiliate Links

Christmas Salad Bar Ideas

We like to set out a variety of bowl sizes and colors on top of a simple one solid color tablecloth. Luckily, I’m not the only one who loves a good salad bar!

A special thanks to Certified Angus Beef  for allowing me to share photos of their amazing Christmas Salad bar prepared by their Culinary Team for the Sunday Supper Team. It was a tasty as it was beautiful!

Their holiday salad bar reminded me that all too often we get stuck on the ideas of how we think holiday dinners should look, when the reality is, breaking bread with our family and friends is the most important.

Simplifying the holidays doesn’t mean trading elegance for paper plates, it just means re-thinking the classics. A Christmas Salad Bar does just that.

For a more classic meal idea – try roasting!

What I love most about the Christmas Salad Bar Idea: Children can assist in almost every task of this meal from washing the produce, filling bowls, and arranging them on a long rectangular table.

Want to bring a salad for a Christmas party? Try these recipe for the popular Jennifer Aniston Salad!

Lettuce 

Every salad bar needs a base of lettuce. Select 2-4 options for people to use as the base of their meal.

• Spinach
• Romaine
• Iceberg Wedges
• Spinach
• Butterhead
• Green Leaf Lettuce
• Red Leaf Lettuce
• Kale

Set the lettuce in large wooden salad bowl or large jar at the beginning of the serving line.

Toppings

Serve toppings finely chopped in small bowls. Include a mixture of fruit, nuts, vegetables and cheeses.

Fruit

• Dried Cranberries
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Pineapple
• Melon

Nuts

• Pecans
• Candied Pecans
• Walnuts
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sunflower Seeds
• Sliced Almonds

Vegetables 

• Chives
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Roasted Squash
• Shredded Carrots

Cheeses

• Cheddar
• Parmesan
• Goat Cheese
• Feta Cheese

Serve with

• A variety of breads and rolls.
• Thinly sliced roast beef and chicken cubes.
• Salad Dressing
• and Croutons.

You may also enjoy these during the holiday season with your family…

“Eat. Walk. Be Merry.” How can you not love a company who have that as their motto.

We received complimentary tickets from Chicago Food Planet to share about our experience on the tour with our readers. We accepted the invitation and shared on my instagram account at each stop while we were on the food tour. All opinions expressed are my own… ok confession well maybe my husband’s too.

Chicago Food Tour

Chicago Food Planet offers four different types of tours as you explore Chicago. Even on our trip to Chinatown in Chicago I was able to peek at their tour there and see what they’d recommend. Plus a little tweet out and they responded back with a link which was super helpful.

Here’s a peek at our experience on the Gold Coast and Old Town Tour.

We first met in the Gold Coast Area of Chicago, the homes in this area are so pretty and the spring flowers made everything so happy and cheerful. We met with our group at Lou Malnati’s home of the deep dish Chicago style pizza.

One of my favorite features on the food tour was the history and details the guide is able to share with you about the location and food you’re sampling. The pizza to be honest was hard to resist eating just one slice, it was so delicious but we had to save room for the rest of tour. We did work our way back there on another day to enjoy our very own deep dish pizza in Chicago.

One nice thing is that the tour book includes coupons as well.

Then we walked over to Tee Gschwendner for some raspberry mango green tea and a little background information about the types of tea.; I was amazed at the variety of loose teas they had available.  It was the perfect time for the tea as we had a little walk ahead of us to Old Town Chicago.

Next up was Kamehachi which is the first sushi restaurant in Chicago. We sampled their sushi and saki in the upstairs area which had beautiful Japanese interior design influence. Our guide Angela was such a treat to listen to at each stop as she explained in detail this history of the restaurants in Chicago.

Across the street we ventured over to The Fudge Pot with a little back scene tour of their shoppe and some history about chocolate.  We enjoyed our chocolate covered butter toffee, wish we would have stopped to bring some home to our girls or perhaps a molded chocolate, they had so many choices to choose from.

When I met my husband I was exposed to so many new spices with Indian food but those were nothing to our next stop at the world famous The Spice  House. We ventured to a gorgeous outdoor area in the back and explored a variety of cinnamon and a few other spices.

Our final destination was a big win in my books with Europeans pastries at the Delightful Pastries. The was the first time I had tried a pierogi, so delicious! Plus the macarons where so moist and popping with color and flavor.

My husband and I had such an amazing time together on this 1.3 Mile trip to explore 7 Chicago hot spots for food. Once we finished up we continued north to do a bit more sightseeing in Lincoln Park including the Lincoln Park Zoo and Chicago History Museum. I must admit walking the streets of the town in Gold Coast and Old Town was such fun appreciating the architecture and local businesses in Chicago.

Although it was just my husband and I on this trip, I can imagine how much fun our kids would have had on this food tour with Chicago Food Planet. Food Tours can be a useful tool for exposing your child to new foods and location in a fun environment. One of the teenagers on our tour tried sushi for the first time and found out she liked it. We look forward to bringing our kids with us the next time we go on a Food Tour while traveling. It’s the best way to explore a city, through their tummies.

Have you ever gone on a food tour? Where? Share your experience in the comments below.

Thank you Chicago Food Planet Tours!

Click here to read more about Things to DO in CHICAGO

Click here to see more ideas for Places to Travel

Not only that, but the recipes are all vegan with soy-free and gluten-free recipes too.

“OATrageous Oatmeals!”

Amazingly talented Kathy Hester releases her latest book , “OATrageous Oatmeals!”

I had the opportunity to have lunch with her at the Orlando Food and Wine Conference and she is about the nicest lady you could every meet. Not only that, but she is an extremely talented chef.

When I heard her new book was all about OATMEAL, I asked if I could share it with YOU! Oatmeal is such a healthy, versatile grain that is reasonably priced. It fills up tummies and keeps them full for a longer period of time. 

I received a copy of this book. All opinions in this article are 100% my own.

This book came at the perfect time for our family. We were just discussing the increasing price of groceries, eating healthy and how to fill tummies with the healthy foods while staying within a budget. Oatmeal is a GREAT solution! The first recipe we tried was the Full-Of-Veggies White Chili. The book arrived on my doorstep at 4:30. I happened to open to that page and thought… oh. I have most of the ingredients, looks like dinner! I didn’t have tomatillos on hand, so just threw in tomatoes.

Next time, I will follow the recipe to a T. My husband, toddler, and I thought it was fabulous. He actually couldn’t believe there were that many vegetables AND oatmeal in it! The 4 year old and 7 year old were not big fans of it.

Next on my list to try was Gingerbread Pear Crumble.  Not only did it sound yummy, but it was a recipe my kids could help make. Pears are great for little hands to cut because they are so soft. The crumble is easy to measure and mix as well. We thought it looked a lot like Gruffalo Crumble and read the book The Gruffalo while it baked!

Read more of our Cooking with Kids articles here

Gingerbread Pear Crumble

From OATrageous Oatmeals by Kathy Hester printed with permission of Page Street Publishing soy-free, gluten-free option*, oil-free option**

This is a wonderful way to keep your holidays healthy, and it takes less time to make than a batch of cookies. If you aren’t a huge molasses fan, you can use half the amount or even replace it with another sweetener.

Depending on what you have on hand, use either apples or a combination of pears and apples.

Makes 8 servings

Topping Ingredients:

• 1 cup (96 g) rolled oats
• 1 cup (132 g) whole wheat pastry flour (*use a gluten-free baking mix)
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons (40 g) molasses
• 11/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1⁄8 teaspoon cloves

Filling Ingredients:

• 5 cups (805 g) chopped pears (peeled if not organic)
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) agave nectar,optional pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C).

Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with oil. (**You can also line with parchment paper or use a nonstick pan to make it oil-free.)

Combine all of the topping ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Set aside. If your pears aren’t very sweet, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of agave nectar and a pinch of salt.

Crumble the gingerbread topping over the pears, then bake for 30 minutes.

Per serving: Calories 202.3, protein 3.1 g, total fat 1.1 g, carbohydrates 47.2 g, sodium 1.9 mg, fiber 5.7 g

Hungry for More?

Here is just a sneak peek at the other awesome OATrageous Oatmeal recipes included:

• Steel-cut Oat Sausage Crumbles
• Chickpea Veggie Soup
• Blackberry Mojito Overnight Oats
• Curry Cashew Savory Granola
• Veggie Oat Taco Mince
• Coconut Vanilla Nut Creamer
• Mushroom Congee
• Gluten-free Lemon Blueberry Belgian Waffles

Buy a copy for you and one for a friend. Pair it with a wooden spoon and a bag of oatmeal and you have a perfect gift!

Fruit Food Group Activities, Books and Recipe for Kids

Many of us take advantage of welcoming the New Year to cherish our family and friends and to also reflect on our lives and see how we can improve them. I want to take some time this year to work with my family on healthy food choices.

There are so many things made readily available in our stories, roads and in our homes for our children that it’s hard to really teach your children what is a better choice when they all seem so attractive and delicious.

Balanced Eating Lesson for Kids: Fruit Group

I wanted to start with really teaching my 5 year old daughter what Balanced Eating looks like.

She already loves to cook with me and grocery shop with me and I felt she was ready. Although I’ve tried to model it all along I haven’t given her the specific vocabulary and made a big deal out of it. Thus far we’ve been using the phrases “healthy foods” and “sometimes foods” as we describe our foods with her.

We’ve spent some time on learning food groups but not on how much we need of each. So to help her out we made an activity to play that will help her to sort out the various food groups and then we used this plate to distribute them accordingly to how many each meal should have.

Something even as an adult I need reminding of how many serving I need of those fruits and vegetables each day.

This post contains affiliate links to amazon

Food Group Printables

First we completed the following Food Group Printables and hung up them up on our fridge
5 a Day Plate

To help us visualize what should be on our plates

Food Group Sorting from The First Grade Sweet Life to help us identify food groups

Berries Coloring Sheet from Free My Plate

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Coloring Sheet from Eric Carle

DOWNALOD AND PRINT at Eric Carle.com

Check out ideas from our Very Hungry Caterpillar Party too!

Books about Fruit

We read the following books to help prepare us for our Fruit Lesson.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

I Like Fruit by Lorena Siminovich

Fruit by Sara Anderson

Eating The Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

Oliver’s Fruit Salad by Vivian French

Fruit Bowl by Mark Hoffmann

We’re starting our Balanced Eating Fun with the Fruit Group for our Cooking Lesson

I created a word list of all the fruits we had and we sat and sorted the words to the fruits. We used real fruit and our play fruit and even some pictures of fruit to create groups of fruits. As we were sorting the fruit and words we discussed where they came from and how she thought they tasted. Always trying to build vocabulary and background information

Then we created a Fruit Kebabs with our fruit to work on our fine motor skills and patterning skills.

Fruit Kebabs Recipe for Kids

Ingredients

• Watermelon
• Cantaloupe
• Pineapple
• Grapes
• Strawberries
• Skewer Sticks

The lesson in cooking class was to learn how to wash, cut and assemble fruit kebabs. We talked about food safety and how you had to wash your fruit before you can eat it. I had them cut each fruit up into bite size pieces using a butter knife. We discussed knife safety. Then we created her own Fruit Kebabs by placing the fruit onto the fancy sticks. We called them Princess Wands for our Princess Tea Party. You can always attach something special to the end of the stick to make it unique for your little one.

We moved through the Food Groups with fun activities that help your child become more aware of food, food groups and how they fuel our body with ENERGY and help us GROW.

See the rest of our Princess Tea Party

Serving Sizes for Kids Ages 2-6

SOURCE http://www.healthy-eating-made-easy.com/fruit-and-vegetable-servings.html

FRUIT SERVINGS Sizes for Children

• Apple, dried 4 rings
• Apple, fresh 1 medium
• Apricots, dried 3 whole
• Banana 1 medium
• Blackberries Handful
• Clementines 2
• Cherries, fresh 14
• Dried fruits, mixed 1 tbsp (1/4 cup)
• Figs, fresh 2
• Fruit and vegetable juices 250ml (1 cup) glass
• Fruit salad, fresh or canned 3 heaped tbsp, (1/2 cup)
• Kiwi 2
• Grapefruit Half
• Grapes Handful
• Lychees, fresh or canned 6
• Mango 2 slices
• Melon 1 large slice
• Passion fruit 6
• Peach, canned 2 halves
• Peach, fresh 1 medium
• Pear 1 medium
• Pineapple, canned 2 rings
• Pineapple, fresh 1 large slice
• Plums 2 medium
• Prunes, canned 6
• Nectarine 1 medium
• Raisins 1 tbsp (1/4 cup)
• Raspberries 2 handfuls
• Rhubarb, cooked 2 heaped tbsp (1/3 cup)
• Satsumas 2
• Strawberries 7

Check out ALL the

Balanced Eating Fun Series with Little Hands that Cook with Books!

Make your Own

• Food Tracker
• Vegetable Group
• Protein Group
• Grains Group
• Dairy Group
• Heart Healthy Foods

GRAB a fruit set for your pretend play from AMAZON

Learning Resources New Sprouts Fresh Fruit Salad Set

Melissa & Doug Cutting Fruit Set

Life Sized Bag of Fruits Play Food Playset for Kids

We’d love to hear what your child’s favorite fruit recipes are!