Fun Food Friday - The Avocado Bug

Kid-friendly food and Sprout favorites are on the menu for Fridays - sometimes prepared by the Sprouts themselves! We'll share recipes and pictures for healthy food your kids will love.

Big Sprout actually chose Lentil Loaf, a meatloaf-style meal made with lentils instead, for our first Fun Food Friday since it's one of his favorite dinners. But since I just pushed this meal back until Sunday, it will have to wait for next week. Instead, I let Little Sprout pick one of her favorites, and fortunately for me, she picked one I'd already blogged about on my homeschooling blog.

To give you a little background, this idea came from my friend Gretchen at What a Healthy Family Eats during a co-op she taught to our homeschool group about nutrition. The topic was Healthy Fats, and the kids learned about Omega 3, Omega 6, Omega 9 and Trans Fats, including what foods contain each type. After learning how fat affects the body, they dipped their fingers in skim, 1%, whole milk and heavy cream to feel the difference in the unhealthy fat content of each. Then, they sampled some healthy fats in the form of an "avocado bug" with sliced avocado for a body and walnuts for legs.

The picture at top is one we recreated at home with the addition of almond eyes and sesame seed spots. We have varying views on avocado in our house. Little Sprout is a raving fan; she could barely stand for me to photograph the bug because she wanted to eat it so badly. I actually had to take a break from writing my initial post to make her a second bug! Big Sprout eats them because he knows they're good for him, but he's not particularly crazy about them. But, like most healthy eating habits, the results lie partially in the presentation and partially in the setup. His avocado is sure to be eaten when it's dressed as a funny bug (and when I'm holding a more favored food - in this case, applesauce - hostage!)