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The older my boys get, the more they seem to eat. And with a new baby at home, I need easy to make snacks, especially for the afternoon snack time. One of my favorite things is to find something ready-made and adapt it. I had a great time with the boys adapting Delimex and Bagel Bites for fun #AfterSchoolSnacks. I’ll share the recipes and a few tips to making food with kids, plus give you our hands-down favorite snack. You can find more great snack ideas here.
I grabbed a few boxes of Delimex Taquitos and a few boxes of Bagel Bites from our nearby Walmart along with some fresh ingredients like zucchini, avocado, and tomatoes. You can find a Bagel Bites coupon here and a coupon for Delimex here.
- 1 package wontons (you won't use them all)
- 4-6 Bagel Bites
- 1/4 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/4 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded zucchini
- Heat oven to 350. Grease a mini muffin pan with nonstick spray and press wonton wrappers in to form little cups. Bake for 8-10 minutes until they are beginning to lightly brown. Chop Bagel Bites into small pieces and shred zucchini. Mix salt and basil into the crushed tomatoes. Once the wontons are out of the oven, layer Bagel Bites, crushed tomatoes, cheese and zucchini on top. Bake until the cheese is melted and remove for oven before the wontons are too brown.
First up, I had the idea to incorporate Bagel Bites into a wonton wrapper. Wonton wrappers are a great way to make a nice bite of a snack and can hold sauce and really any kind of flavor. We stuck to the pizza idea and chopped up the Three Cheese Bagel Bites as the base, then added some homemade pizza sauce, more cheese, and (my bright idea) shredded zucchini. It’s a great topping on veggie pizzas, but my kids (who normally eat all kinds of things) weren’t having it.
The wonton Bagel Bite cups were good, but the boys both decided that sometimes you don’t mess with what’s already simple. They preferred unadulterated Bagel Bites. Hey— they ARE made with real cheese and homemade sauce with 0 grams trans fat. Simple is sometimes better. Which brings me to Tips for Cooking with Kids.
Tips for Cooking with Kids
1. Lower your expectations. You need to realize that your best plans may fail and your kids may not appreciate anything you want to do. They may fight through it or complain or hate it or get tired halfway through. Take what you get and realize that kids are kids. Take what you get and don’t hope for more.
2. Be ready for mess. Everything was so much messier! It was hard even taking pictures for this post because of the mess. It was everywhere! And the way that tray of won ton pizzas looks above? Normally, I wouldn’t have even posted that picture. The good news is that you can always clean messes. And even teach your kids to help clean! Don’t fret over the mess.
3. Say a prayer for patience beforehand. I am the queen of lowering expectations and knowing that my best plans for any kid’s activity may result in a disaster. But still I found myself getting impatient or frustrated as the boys jumped in without waiting for instructions or ate cheese right out of the bowl and fought over spoons. Take a deep breath, say a little prayer, and remind yourself that you are doing this because you love your kids. It’s about them, not about the end result or even the process. I assure you that they are learning as they go and learning by watching you. Try to enjoy and let go of your need for control.
The second recipe we created was Taquito Kebabs. If you’re a longtime reader, you know that my kids love anything on a stick. (Check out my fruit kebabs here!) I do this often and it makes food so much more fun! I heated the Taquitos, then cut them up into similar sized pieces and let the boys build their own kebabs with grape tomatoes and sliced avocados.
- Delimex Taquitos
- 2 avocados
- 1 package grape tomatoes
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 T lime juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 2 T juice from canned, diced tomatoes
- Cut the taquitos and the avocado into sizes similar to the tomatoes. Either put them onto kebab sticks or let your kids make their own.
- For the dipping sauce, put the sour cream, cilantro, avocado and seasonings into a blender or food processor. The tomato juice helps loosen it up and add a little sweetness.
This was a HUGE HIT. Not only was this tasty, but the boys loved building their own kebabs. Plus they were begging for me to make the avocado dipping sauce again. We have a winner! This was easy, fun, and made very little mess. I think I may start serving every meal or snack on a stick. Just because.
What are your favorite snacks for after school? Do you have any tips for cooking with kids??