Holiday Recipes for Kids

These Christmas-tree mini pizzas are easy to make and have broad appeal with kids.

Mini Pizzas: These healthy mini pizzas are easy to make and fun to serve. This recipe yields two mini pizzas, but you can multiply your ingredients and make several at a time if you need to feed a crowd.
Prep Time: 0 hour, 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 hour, 3 minutes

Ingredients:

1 English muffin
1/3 cup Marinara sauce
2 slices of mozzarella cheese, sliced as broadly as possible and about 1/4-inch thick
Chopped olives

Preparation:

Preheat your oven's broiler.

Cut the English muffin in half, if necessary, and toast it in a toaster on a medium-low setting.

Place the two toasted English muffin halves on a baking sheet. Spread the marinara sauce on each muffin.

Cut your cheese slices with a tree-shaped cookie cutter or a cookie cutter of your choice. Place the cheese shape on top of the marinara sauce.

Sprinkle the chopped olives on top of the cheese tree, as if they are ornaments.

Place the baking sheet in the oven under the broiler. Broil for just a few minutes, watching carefully. You don't want the cheese to become so melted you don't recognize the tree shape.

Allow to cool slightly and serve.

Optional: serve the mini pizzas with yellow fruit leather cut into the shapes of stars.

Kids will love Christmas recipes that make food fun, like this "jingle bell juice."

Jingle-Bell Juice: Red raspberries are the surprise ingredient in these glasses of holiday juice.
Prep Time: 0 hour, 5 minutes

Ingredients:

One part sparkling water or club soda
3 parts fruit punch, pomegranate juice or other red juice
3 red raspberries per serving
Adorn the bottom of the glasses with rings of fake holly or fake berries.

Make it fun to eat vegetables with this mashed-potato snowman.

Mashed-Potato Snowman: Having a hard time getting your kids to eat their vegetables? They won't be able to resist this snowman made from mashed potatoes, carrots, raisins and radishes.
Prep Time: 0 hour, 20 minutes
Cook Time: 0 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

For the potatoes:
6 pounds of potatoes, peeled and quartered
About 1 cup whole milk or heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
Salt and Pepper

To adorn the snowman:
1 long carrot
1 baby carrot
3 raisins
2 small radishes

Preparation:

This recipe makes 15 to 20 servings.

Place the quartered potatoes into a large pot. Don't overcrowd the potatoes. You may need to use two pots if you don't have one that's big enough.

Cover the potatoes with salted water, bring the water to a boil on the stove and cook at a gentle boil until the potato pieces are fork tender, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl and mash with a hand masher until smooth, adding the milk or cream, butter, salt and pepper as you go. Be careful not to add too much milk or cream. You don't want the potatoes to be runny.

Set a large serving tray (preferably not a white one) next to your bowl of mashed potatoes.

Scoop the potatoes onto the tray, starting with the large, bottom "snowball." Scoop a slightly smaller amount of potatoes onto the tray above the first snowball to create the snowman's midsection. Then, add the smallest helping of potatoes on top for the head. Smooth out the potatoes with the back of a spoon.

Scrape off the tips of the radishes with a potato peeler and place them scraped-side-up on the snowman's face for eyes.

Insert the baby carrot for the nose and the raisins as buttons.

Working in long motions, peel off two thin layers of the large carrot with your potato peeler and drape the carrot strips across the snowman's neck like a scarf. You could also snip the ends of the carrot peels with kitchen shears to make the scarf look like it has fringe.

Tell the kids this is what Santa feeds his reindeer, and they'll gobble it up.

Reindeer Snacks: Sometimes, serving your kids a healthy snack is all about the packaging. Kids will love imagining that Santa feeds these sacks of trail mix to Prancer, Dancer and the rest of the reindeer crew.
Prep Time: 0 hour, 5 minutes
Ingredients:

Use any of your favorite trail mix ingredients such as:
* Cashews
* Walnuts
* Peanuts
* Almonds
* Shelled sunflower seeds
* Pumpkin seeds
* Flax seeds
* Pretzels
* Raisins
* Other dried fruit
* Chocolate chips
* Carob chips
* M&Ms
* Yogurt-covered raisins

Preparation:
Combine your choice of the above ingredients, using your desired quantities, in a bowl and mix until evenly combined.

Scoop about one cup of the trail mix into individual sacks, such as cellophane baggies, brown-paper pastry bags or simple burlap sacks you've sewn, as pictured. Tie the bags shut with a red or green ribbon.

Optional: Add a tag to each bag that says "reindeer snacks," perhaps with each child's name on it, too.

Note: If you're low on time or not interested in customizing the look and taste of your trail mix, just use a pre-packaged variety.

Who says ice cream is just for summertime? This Christmas recipe for a mint Jack Frosty shake is a perfect wintertime treat.

A 'Jack Frosty' Mint Shake: Who says ice cream is just for summertime? This Christmas recipe for a mint-flavored shake is a perfect wintertime treat. This recipe yields six 8-ounce servings.

Prep Time: 0 hour, 5 minutes

Ingredients:
4 cups mint or mint-chocolate chip ice cream
2 cups milk
Optional: whipped cream
Optional: candy cane

Preparation:
Place the ice cream and milk in a blender and mix on high for about 1 minute or until smooth.

Pour into 8-ounce serving glasses.

Optional: top with whipped cream and insert a candy cane.

source :kidsparties
Recipes by: Megan Cooley