There are many choices for serving picnic finger foods for kids. Although there are no specific rules for what to prepare, let’s classify them in three categories:
1. Healthy: Although you probably shouldn’t tell the kids when you give them these foods, they are totally nutritious. If the kids find out the foods are good for them, you’ll probably find plates full of uneaten ones at the end of the picnic.
Prepare plates containing raw spears of peeled apples, pears, orange and tangerines. Additionally, cook just for a minute and serve cold spears of asparagus, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, yams and celery. Use very little or no salt, but if you want to make crunchy spears, coat veggie slices in an egg and crushed Rice Krispies paste and bake for five minutes.
Arrange them all in an attractive design or as a picture of a house, clown face or other creative way. Put out bowls of dip with healthy ingredients, including honey, sour cream and a frothy mix of cream cheese and milk.
2. Main course: Especially for the smaller kids, these should contain typical ingredients, usually fish, meat or poultry, that would normally be served to the family at any meal. For example, a dish every kid will go for is pizza bites. They’re available in the frozen food section of your grocery store, or you can make them yourself.
Just get frozen pizza dough or bisquet flats, stack on top chopped meat, chicken or fish, sweet red pepper and onion bits and shredded mozzarella cheese. Roll them all up tightly in the dough, slice the roll into bite-sized wheels and bake for 20 minutes. Serve them piping hot, along with a bowl of mild pasta sauce for dipping.
You can also buy other main course finger foods from the grocery freezer section, such as fish sticks, won tons and pigs-in-blankets, but their salt and chemical content make them much less healthy than homemade ones.
3. Dessert: These finger foods are for the sweet tooth, and also appropriate for the very youngest who haven’t yet attained any teeth. For preparing the most nutricious, use fruits as the main ingredients. Dip apple, banana and other fruit sticks in chocolate or caramel sauce that will harden on the ends. You may be happily surprised that you can use your orange and tangerine peels as tasty dessert finger foods by coating them in melted sugar and flour and baking for just a minute.
Healthy finger foods for kids are easy to prepare, and serving them makes picnic menus simpler and more enjoyable for everyone.
