Beloved snack gets facelift

Ants on a Log is a time-tested treat. Celery, peanut butter and little raisins, marching along the top. What’s not to love?

My child hated it.

So we got creative, and changed it up to “Fire Ants on a Log,” dropping the raisins, and adding in craisins. It worked, and finally, I had a somewhat healthy snack for my child.

It was tough in the preschooler years to get my child to try new fruits and veggies. Pinterest-worthy scenes constructed out of carrots, grapes, spinach and avocado were pretty but they didn’t change the fact that my child saw absolutely no reason at all to try any of the aforementioned foods.

Then one day, I had an idea.

I took my preschooler to the produce department at the grocery store, and told her to pick out three items that she wanted to try. What looked tasty? What caught her attention?

For once, she was in charge of the grocery cart, not me. There was only one rule – she had to actually take a bite when we got home. If she didn’t like it, no worries. Her dad and I would eat it. My hope was we would find some foods outside of her normal range that she enjoyed.

Along the way, we learned that she was a fan of raw veggies, not cooked. And the few acceptable cooked veggies had to come with a lemon wedge. But that was OK, because her horizons expanded a bit.

And in the end, that was my ultimate goal.

Ants on a Log

If you want to try making ants on a log at home, or fire ants on a log, it’s pretty easy.

• Wash and trim stalks of celery.

• Dry the stalks, cut them to size, and fill the celery canal with peanut butter.

• Press craisins or raisins along the top of the peanut butter, and voila – ants on a log.

If you want to get really crazy, check out the dried fruit section at the grocery store. Along with the raisins, there are now dried blueberries, cranberries, mangos, strawberries, apples, pineapples, apricots, dates and more, all available at Yuma stores.

Or, even better, try using a flavored cream cheese in place of the peanut butter.

The possibilities are endless!