I love dessert and so do my kids. Often times I purchase one rather than make my own. Since I have been trying to keep my grocery bill down, I have been making my own more often but it does take time. Bill and Rosemary Haley writing in their book Haley's Hints have some wonderful ideas about easy desserts for kids. Here are some of Haley's ideas and some of my own:
Stuffed fruit - For a great dessert kids will love, first core an apple or pear. Replace the core with some fresh marshmallows.
Desserts
Banana Pops - For a quick dessert that's also good for your kids, put bananas in the freezer and make Popsicles (peel bananas first and insert popsicle stick lengthwise). If you want to go gourmet, dip the banana in melted chocolate, place on wax paper and then freeze).
Easter fondue - Once Easter is over and your child is left with all that chocolate, why not use it all up at once? For a tasty chocolate fondue, melt the chocolate eggs and bunnies in a fondue pot (or you do this in the microwave) and add some milk. Cut up chunks of different fruits and let your kids dip the fruit in the melted chocolate. You can also use small graham snacks, marshmallows and pretzel sticks.
Easiest pie - Buy or make a graham cracker crust Graham cracker crusts come in chocolate now too. Fill the crust with any flavor of instant pudding, chill and top with whipped topping. Alternately you can fold the whipped topping into the pudding and fill the crust with the mixture. Decorate with sprinkles or any kind of candy (gummy worms are very popular with kids) or chips (chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter)
Brownie sundae - Buy or make brownies. Place brownie in bottom of a small dish, top with a scoop of ice cream. Pour hot fudge or chocolate sauce over ice cream and top with whipped topping and sprinkles.
Homemade ice cream sandwiches - Buy or make chocolate chip cookies. Depending on size of cookie scoop about a 1/4 cup (small cookies) to 1/2 cup of ice cream on bottom of the first cookie and top with
another cookie. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until firm.
For some good ideas about Healthy Kid Snacks visit us at Cheapskateliving.org