Saturday, March 24, 2012

Healthy Easter Treats: How to Make Cheddar Bunny "Carrots"

Aside from all the plastic junk that accumulates around the holidays, the other thing that makes this green mom  crazy, is that Americans are conditioned to always celebrate holidays with large quantities of sugar. Candy candy everywhere! So if you aren't filling your little bunnies' easter eggs with candy, what do you put in their basket or bring as treats to class parties?

Creative Carissa's Favorite Healthy Easter Options
  • Make your own playdough
  • Books  (I just bought brand new Dr. Seuss books at Goodwill for $1 each)
  • Socks
  • Non-Toxic Nail Polish like Piggy Paint
  • Sidewalk Chalk
  • Healthy Snacks 
  • Cheddar bunny carrots!

What you need
These carrots are super simple and were made with things I already had on hand. You will need:
**An important note about plastic bags**
Beware of the triangle shaped party bags often sold in the seasonal section of department stores as the plastics used often contain questionable ingredients like BPA. Instead, purchase baggies made for food that are explicitly labeled to be PVC, BPA and phthalate free. I personally use the bags from Whole Food's 365 brand as they are 100% polyethelene and free of these questionable ingredients.


Step 1: Fill the bag
Open a bag and pour in about 1/2 cup of crackers.

Step 2: Check for "carrotiness"
Make sure your bag is filled to the right level to make you happy with its carroty shape. Add more crackers if needed.



Step 3: Trim the top
Trim the top zipper edge off the bag.


Step 4: Tie the top
Pull out a length of about 2 yards of yarn. Keep folding the length in half until you have a large loop about 6 inches in length. Tie it around the top of the crackers.



Step 5: Make it pretty
Slide your scissors in the ends of the yarn loops and trim them to make a cute little tuft of fringe.




Step 7: Repeat
Keep going until you have all the little carrots you need. If you are bringing these to a class party or group event, be sure to keep or photocopy the ingredients list from the box so anyone worried about food allergies can check them out before enjoying.

If you have a favorite non-toxic or non-sugary Easter idea, I'd love to hear about it! Please feel free to share in the comments.

3 comments:

  1. I loved this so much, I featured it on Momcaster. Just brilliant! http://momcaster.com/2012/03/26/activities-for-easter/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Plyethelene is a kind of plastic. the important distinction is that it is 100% polyethelene...it does not have PVC or other kinds of toxic plastics mixed into it. They are also BPA and Phthalate free.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me happy! Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Healthy Easter Treats: How to Make Cheddar Bunny "Carrots"

Aside from all the plastic junk that accumulates around the holidays, the other thing that makes this green mom  crazy, is that Americans are conditioned to always celebrate holidays with large quantities of sugar. Candy candy everywhere! So if you aren't filling your little bunnies' easter eggs with candy, what do you put in their basket or bring as treats to class parties?

Creative Carissa's Favorite Healthy Easter Options
  • Make your own playdough
  • Books  (I just bought brand new Dr. Seuss books at Goodwill for $1 each)
  • Socks
  • Non-Toxic Nail Polish like Piggy Paint
  • Sidewalk Chalk
  • Healthy Snacks 
  • Cheddar bunny carrots!

What you need
These carrots are super simple and were made with things I already had on hand. You will need:
**An important note about plastic bags**
Beware of the triangle shaped party bags often sold in the seasonal section of department stores as the plastics used often contain questionable ingredients like BPA. Instead, purchase baggies made for food that are explicitly labeled to be PVC, BPA and phthalate free. I personally use the bags from Whole Food's 365 brand as they are 100% polyethelene and free of these questionable ingredients.


Step 1: Fill the bag
Open a bag and pour in about 1/2 cup of crackers.

Step 2: Check for "carrotiness"
Make sure your bag is filled to the right level to make you happy with its carroty shape. Add more crackers if needed.



Step 3: Trim the top
Trim the top zipper edge off the bag.


Step 4: Tie the top
Pull out a length of about 2 yards of yarn. Keep folding the length in half until you have a large loop about 6 inches in length. Tie it around the top of the crackers.



Step 5: Make it pretty
Slide your scissors in the ends of the yarn loops and trim them to make a cute little tuft of fringe.




Step 7: Repeat
Keep going until you have all the little carrots you need. If you are bringing these to a class party or group event, be sure to keep or photocopy the ingredients list from the box so anyone worried about food allergies can check them out before enjoying.

If you have a favorite non-toxic or non-sugary Easter idea, I'd love to hear about it! Please feel free to share in the comments.

3 comments:

  1. I loved this so much, I featured it on Momcaster. Just brilliant! http://momcaster.com/2012/03/26/activities-for-easter/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Plyethelene is a kind of plastic. the important distinction is that it is 100% polyethelene...it does not have PVC or other kinds of toxic plastics mixed into it. They are also BPA and Phthalate free.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me happy! Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

 
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