Use Ice Cream Cones to Spruce Up Healthy Snacks

I‘m constantly on the lookout for healthy snacks ideas. My 4-year-old is more likely to eat something if it is presented creatively so ice cream cones are my new strategy. Put something healthy in an ice cream cone and see if it helps. Today, I surprised her with her favorite “cracker salad” (recipe below) in an ice cream cone. She asked, “Is this my treat for the day?” to which I responded, “(errr) Yes, it is.”

Benefits Of Using Ice Cream Cones As Snack Containers

• No dishes to clean!
• Cone snacks make a cute display at parties.
• They’re great for portion control.
• Kids have fun making them.
• They’re inexpensive.

I buy organic, vegan cones at Whole Foods. They’re made with all natural ingredients and are 20 calories each. I don’t feel guilty about La Jolla Girl eating them. Any ice cream cone can get a little flaky, so there might be some crumbs to clean up afterward.

Ingredients Cracker Salad

Annie’s Whole Wheat Bunnies
Organic Dried Cranberries
Organic Raw Walnuts
Organic Ice Cream Cones

Directions: Mix together by hand and place contents in ice cream cones. She made this recipe up all by herself and it’s delicious.

This is not an original idea, but I continue to be surprised by simple things that get La Jolla Girl to eat healthy snacks. Try fruit (blot any water off) such as blueberries:

Here are the cones I buy at Whole Foods.

(Speaking of Whole Foods, they’ve recently rolled out a Health Starts Here initiative, designed to provide a simple approach for creating healthier meals for the whole family. To help kids have fun while learning about healthy eating, parents can task their kids to choose healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds representing all the colors of a rainbow. Keeping track visually to make sure all colors get eaten in a week adds to the fun!)