In The Kitchen -- Ladybug Snacks

Cutest little snack that kids make themselves. Nutritious, fun, and tasty. You'll find yourself nibbling on them, too. (And there's an adult version at the end.)

It goes like this... 

Ingredients:

Round Crackers

Cream Cheese

Black Olives (sliced circle-wise)

Cherry Tomatoes (quartered)

Chives

Spread the cracker with cream cheese, lay two of the tomato pieces on to look like wings, and place an olive slice at the top as a head. Fill the olive hole with two chive antennae, and voila -- an edible ladybug. You can go one step further and use tiny specs of black olives to make dots on the wings, if desired.

I actually think these could make lovely Spring-time al fresco adult fare, too. Simply choose a more gourmet cracker (I love Water Wheels), an alternative creamy cheese such as Brie or La Tur, grape-shaped sugar plum tomatoes, and a more exotic black olive such as a Kalamata. Or go a step further and try Caviar in place of olives. Endless possibilities...

(Idea for this snack was first spotted in a Scooby Doo Magazine -- the kids', not mine.)

ladybug in photos -- assembled by my kiddos