Spring is upon us which means no more ballet, our friends are done with their rigorous preschool schedule, and warm air floods our lungs and bathes our skin. The Nerd goes to year round school which is incredibly amazing and allows us short vacation breaks throughout the year vs one long, boring, exhausting break during the hot, muggy summer. We rarely get sick of one another this way. It’s amazing. The spring/summer break can still seem monotonous, though, especially without the weekly ballet distraction. I am constantly having to find ways to keep the babies interested in life and not rip one another limb for limb. Let’s not mention how difficult it is to keep them excited about their meals and snacks. Kid friendly food is a struggle for me.
OH the joys of motherhood.
One area I lack on a consistent basis is lunch. OH the dreaded lunch. I eat leftovers or smoothies for lunch on a near daily basis. Unfortunately, my children inherited their father’s disdain for the leftover . They also bore quite quickly with the same ol’ same ol’ gluten-free mac & cheese & nitrite- /nitrate- free hot dogs for lunch. Every once in a purple moon I’ll let my kids play with their food and make a ridiculous mess with some leftover crafting supplies I have lying around from incomplete crafts I’ve started then abandoned. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle . . . right? There’s that whole, “My mom makes prettier food than your mom” thing too . . . Though maybe that’s my own competition and not my 3 year old’s? I digress. With spring on the horizon I thought I’d go out on a limb and make a fun lunch for the babies out of chicken nuggets and Tomatoes. While I’m at it, I’m going to put a shameless plug out for Tyson to please bring the gluten-free nuggets back to my local stores. I live in Wake Forest, North Carolina. I need gluten-free nuggets. Please and thank you.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming:
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: We are not a perfect Paleo family. About 90% of our meals are 100% Paleo, but we’re not above quick meals like Annie’s Gluten Free Mac & Cheese, or some chicken nuggets on occasion. We also eat french fries and sweet potato tater tots. Sue us. We’re no different than The Paleo Mama who eats pizza every weekend.
It doesn’t get any more real than this, people!
That said, when we indulge, we like to do it right & tight so I came up with this brilliant idea to make a flower topiary out of nuggets and cherry tomatoes. I could have most certainly used (my favorite homemade Paleo nugget recipe) for this spring table decoration, but I’m still recuperating from Brandcation and SoFabCon, so I recruited Tyson Chicken Nuggets for the job because I was far too exhausted for a “real shopping trip” . The intent was for it to look like a flower. You can draw your own conclusions as to what it looks like, but it is undeniable that it is absolutely full of awesome. Whatever it may be, it’s a FUNtastic kid friendly meal or snack. To build your own tower of amazinuggets follow the simple instructions below:
Materials:
- 1 Styrofoam Cone
- 1. Styrofoam Sphere
- 1 Yard Aluminum Foil
- Toothpicks. Lots of them.
- Tyson Chicken Nuggets
- Cherry Tomatoes
Steps:
- Bake chicken nuggets according to package instructions
- While nuggets are baking, take 1 Styrofoam or floral foam cone & and 1 sphere, and cover with aluminum foil.
- Use a toothpick to attach sphere to the top of the cone.
- Place tomatoes onto toothpicks and insert uniformly into sphere, covering entire surface.
- Once nuggets are cool enough to handle, pierce nuggets with toothpick and insert uniformly into the cone, covering all empty space.
- Place your masterpiece onto a beautiful dish and take photographs to share on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram.
- Allow your children to dig in to your work of art thereby completely ruining it and littering your floor with crumbs.
Then bask in the glow of knowing that your children are actually eating their lunch. Oh wait – or is that just the sun you’re feeling?
Do you like to play with your food too? Join this Facebook Group and get in on the decorating action!
JanetGoingCrazy says
That is the most FUNtastic use of chicken nuggets I have ever seen! You are a rockin’ mom!
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom says
This is such an adorable idea!