"Ants on a log" usually make their first appearances in the late spring or early summer, but they can really work any time of year. To begin, gather these ingredients:
- Celery
- Raisins
- Two small knives--one serated, one smooth
- Decide between cream cheese, peanut butter, or both.
It's smart to gather some paper towels for clean up and the plates for the finished product.
Getting Started
- To begin, the adult supervisor should clean the celery stalks, cut off either end using the serrated knife, and then cut the remaining celery hearts down to desired lengths. 3 or even 4 smaller logs can be formed from a single stalk.
- Divide the "logs" up amongst the children. The raisins come last because the next step is the application of cream cheese or peanut butter to the logs.
Preparing the Ant's Stomping Ground
The toughest part of preparation is deciding between peanut butter or cream cheese application down the celery logs. Feel free to try both.
- Now use the smooth knife to spread the filling of your choice. Apply a thin layer to the inside of the celery stalk. The cream cheese or peanut butter will usually level out the celery, filling in the gap between the wall sides. See the nutrition facts below to decide how much peanut butter or cream cheese is best for you to use.
Getting the Kids Involved
If you prefer the hands-on approach when it comes to your children learning about food, scoop the cream cheese or peanut butter into a smaller kid-friendly bowl. After the children have washed up, let them use their fingers to scoop up and smooth it out along the celery. The paper towels or wet wipes will definitely come in handy here.
Getting the Ants on the Log
- The last step before eating them is to sprinkle the raisin "ants" over the celery "logs" so they form a line, as if they were climbing up or down a tree.
- Press the raisins lightly into the cream cheese or peanut butter so they keep their form. While regular raisins from purple grapes are a classic favorite, try the sweet surprise of golden raisins at least once.
Nutrition Facts
A block of cream cheese has 8 servings, about the size of a square inch. For every serving, cream cheese contains100 calories. A serving of peanut butter is two (2) Tbsp and has 180 calories. While the cream cheese has 6 grams of saturated fats, the peanut butter has 4.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat--the good kind. Celery and raisins have no fat whatsoever, and the raisins have plenty of natural fruit sugars.
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