INGREDIENTS:
Vegetable Bugs
• 2-3 Celery stalks, cut into various lengths for different bugs
• 1-2 mini cucumbers, halved lengthwise with seeds scooped out, cut into various lengths
• ½ cup cream cheese
• 10 cucumber slices
• 1 cup cherry and/or grape tomatoes (various colors)
• 1 bunch chives, cut into 1” lengths
• 5-7 black olives
• 10 whole cashews
Fruit Bugs
• 2-3 celery stalks, cut into various lengths for different bugs
• ½ cup peanut butter (or other nut/seed butter for peanut allergies)
• 1 cup red and/or green grapes
• 3-4 strawberries, sliced
• ½ cup blueberries
• 1 apple, sliced
• ¼ cups mini dairy-free chocolate chips
• ½ cup of your favorite peanut butter or corn puff cereal
DIRECTIONS: Begin by preparing the eyes for your fruit and vegetable bugs.
Vegetable bugs: Use a straw to cut out black olive pupils. Alternatively, you can chop black olives into small pieces and use those for the pupils instead.
Pipe small dots of cream cheese onto a plate and top with black olive pupils. After assembling the eyes, place them in the freezer to chill for easier assembly later on.
Fruit bugs: Version 1 – Pipe small dots of cream cheese onto a plate. Top with mini chocolate chips.Version 2 – Use peanut butter or cream cheese to “glue” mini chocolate chips to the cereal. After assembling the eyes you can then pop them into the freezer to chill. TIP: If you don’t have piping bags, sandwich bags with the tip of the corner cut off will work well for piping eyes.
Prepare fruit and vegetables. Refer to preparation photos for a visual guide showing the many ways you can prepare the ingredients.
Scoop seeds from mini cucumbers. Help your bugs stand upright by slicing a flat edge on the bottoms of mini cucumbers and celery sticks.
Vegetable bugs. Fill celery stalks and/or mini cucumbers with cream cheese, using a piping bag or spoon.
Fruit bugs: Fill celery stalks with peanut butter, using a piping bag or spoon. These will be the base of all the fruit and vegetable bugs you make.
Unleash your imagination to make snails, caterpillars, dragonflies, and butterflies. Or get creative and invent your own bugs!
Snails: Start with a fruit or vegetable round for the shell. Stick chilled googly eyes onto the tomato, cashew, or grape “heads”. Insert chives or thin-sliced apples (with skins on) for antennae.
Caterpillars: Stick chilled googly eyes onto cherry tomato or grape “heads”. Add chive or apple antennae. Make the body with a line of cherry tomatoes, grapes, blueberries, or cereal.
Dragonflies and butterflies: Stick chilled googly eyes onto grape or tomato “heads”. Or place cereal eyes into peanut butter. Add chive or apple antennae. Use sliced strawberries or halved cucumber slices for wings. Use cereal, blueberries, grapes, or cherry tomatoes for the body.
Enjoy!
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