Five healthy recipes to make with kids this Christmas

The end of the school year is when we start thinking about what to pack for the class party or how to keep the kids busy during the school holidays. We've put together a few fun and fresh ideas for you to create and crunch! Remember that cooking with kids requires patience and letting go of perfection!

Apple Christmas Tree

Ingredients

• 3 large apples (2 green and 1 red)
• 1 carrot slice
• 3-4 breadsticks

• Handful of blueberries

Method

1. Cut your apples into 1cm thick wedges.
2. Create a tree trunk by placing the bread sticks side by side on a large plate.
3. Place your apple wedges in a tree shape alternating layers between red and green apple from the top of the breadsticks to approximately two thirds of the way down, leaving the bottom section of breadsticks to form a trunk.
4. Cut the carrot slice using a star-shaped cookie cutter.
5. Place the star on top of your tree and decorate the apple wedges with blueberries.

Banana Snowmen

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 1/4 of a carrot
• Handful of currants
• 3 strawberries
• 6 blueberries
• 6 skewers

Method

1. Cut each banana into nine thick slices.
2. Peel the carrot and cut it into six small triangular pieces to make pointy noses.
3. Trim and discard the strawberry stems, then cut each strawberry in half from top to bottom to make hats.
4. Thread three slices of banana onto each skewer followed by a strawberry half and a blueberry.
5. Gently press two currants into the top banana slice of each skewer to create eyes, and three currants as buttons on the second and third banana slices to make the body.
6. Add the carrot nose to the top banana slice below the currant eyes.
7. Assemble on a board or plate and serve.

Vegie Express

Ingredients

• 4 colourful capsicums
• 1 cucumber
• 1 carrot
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
• 2-3 celery stalks
• Tzatziki dip
• Toothpicks

Method

1. Slice off one long side of the capsicums and scoop out the insides to make carriages. Chop the removed sides into sticks and set aside for assembly.
2. Cut the cucumber into eight circular pieces for the wheels. Cut the remaining cucumber, carrot, and celery into sticks and set aside.
3. Using the toothpicks, secure the cucumber slices to the sides of each capsicum to form the wheels and arrange on a board to make a train.
4. Fill one capsicum carriage with Tzatziki. Fill the other carriages with the capsicum, celery, carrot, and cucumber sticks.

Cucumber Christmas Trees

Ingredients

• 1 large carrot
• 1 whole cucumber
• Toothpicks

Method

1. Peel the carrot, discarding the top and bottom.
2. From the thicker end of the carrot, cut eight rounds (roughly half a cm thick) and use a mini star-shaped cutter to make the stars.
3. Divide and cut the remaining piece of carrot into eight pieces, which will form the trunks of your cucumber trees.
4. Set the carrot stars and trunk pieces aside.
5. Using a vegetable peeler, peel long strips from the cucumber (the whole length).
6. Starting at the smallest end, carefully fold a strip of cucumber back and forth, starting with small folds and getting gradually bigger as you go, until you have created a tree shape.
7. Push the folds together and secure them with a toothpick.
8. Push the toothpick into one of the carrot trunk pieces with the thicker end on the trunk and the narrow end at the top.
9. Add a carrot star to the other end of the toothpick.
10. Carefully separate the folds so the cucumber fills the space between the trunk and star.

Santa Grapes

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 20 mini marshmallows
• 2 punnets strawberries
• 2 bunches green grapes (rinsed and patted dry)
• toothpicks

*Makes approximately 20 serves

Method

1. Slice each banana into approximately 10 pieces.
2. Cut the stem off each strawberry to make a flat edge.
3. Thread one grape onto a toothpick.