Fruity Banana Split - and more!

I have been wanting to get out of the "snack time" rut in our house. It was lucky charms and more lucky charms around here for far too long. I was sick of feeding them sugary cereal, and SICK of throwing away large amounts of uneaten cereal (they ate only the marshmallows), AND SICK of picking up the lucky little pieces of cereal that Gabby carried with her all over the house.

SO... I was in Barnes & Noble the other day for some playtime (my kids LOVE to go there and flip through books), and this book jumped out at me: 365 Foods Kids Love To Eat. I spent a few afternoons sitting in the backyard watching the kids play and flipping through the pages picking out some things I thought my kids would eat... or would at least attempt to eat so I could try and expand their taste buds. I added the ingredients for a few of them to my grocery list for the week and slotted them in at snack time on my meal calendar. Today, was my first experiment... and I'm happy to report it was a GLOWING success! They devoured it! Now, it wasn't too far out there, and fortunately a lot of the recipes aren't. They are just a new way to think about foods that you usually already have on hand. Here is what I served today, and all I had was empty bowls and full tummies afterward!

Fruity Banana Splits
4 bananas
2 cups cottage cheese
Large can of fruit cocktail

Cut each banana into 4 pieces (or smaller for younger children). Put pieces in a bowl. Put 1/2 cup of cottage cheese on top of bananas. Cover generously with the fruit cocktail. This is a nice play snack for kids to help make. Yield: 4 servings