Jerky Snack Platters For Kids That Double Up As An Easy Meal

Do your kids often turn up their noses at your supper offerings?  Are you over meal planning?  Stuck for ideas that are healthy, tasty, easy to prep and fun to eat?

We’ve put supper on a plate (make that a platter) which will get the thumbs up from even the fussiest eater – and which won’t leave you feeling frantic or frazzled. 

Fun and healthy snack platters for kids

They say we eat with our eyes (OK, we know that kids love to eat with their hands too) which is why we think themed finger-food platters are a perfect solution for an easy meal.  Your kids will find them visually appealing and oh-so munchable – and what’s more, these platters not only look good, they’re good for your kids too. 

We’ve put together some great platter suggestions which provide a variety of yummy AND nutritious choices from the different food groups that are essential for your family’s healthy growth and development, including beef jerky which is a potent combo of protein, iron and essential vitamins and minerals.  Read more here on why biltong and jerky are a superfood adventure! 

A snack platter is a great way of bringing some fun into mealtimes – and it’s also great way of introducing kids to new flavours and textures.  Don’t think of it as a ‘lazy’ meal just because you aren’t putting the traditional protein and three veg in front of your family – rather think of a snack platter as a communal share plate where everyone gets to try and taste lots of different things.

When you’re putting your platter together, make sure you include lots of different choices in order to cover the various food groups and to make it as appealing and interesting as possible.

These platter suggestions contain a balanced selection of foods, but you can also mix things up according to your family’s tastes and preferences (and what’s readily available in your fridge and pantry!)

As a starting point, you’ll need a child-friendly flat platter.  This could be a wooden board, a melamine platter, plastic or bamboo tray etc – the key thing here is an unbreakable flat surface on which to build your visual feast. 

Beef jerky seaside platter

Jerky is not only a healthy and tasty addition to a snack platter, it’s also a really good pantry cupboard staple.  It’s easily transportable, convenient (no refrigeration needed for this on-the-go meaty treat), mess-free and full of healthy goodness.  And talking of transport, if you’d like some of this delectable meaty treat delivered to your door anywhere in Australia, you should visit DJays Gourmet and order Australia’s best beef jerky online. 

Some ideas for creating a beachside scene:

• Cooked spiral pasta (for the beach)
• Grated cheese (to sprinkle over the pasta)
• Blueberries (for the sea)
• Cooked broccoli florets and cucumber slices (for vegetation)
• Small peeled mandarin and thin carrot sticks (to make a crab)
• Slice of wholewheat bread (for a beach towel) – with a healthy topping of your choice such as vegemite or peanut butter
• Empty cup or yoghurt container (for a bucket) filled with cherry tomatoes, bits of ham, chopped up cheese, cooked chicken etc
• A stick of beef jerky stuck into a cherry tomato (as a spade)

Anything goes of course, so fire up your creative juices and let your imagination run wild.  You’ll probably have as much fun making the platter as the kids will have eating it!

Beef jerky train platter

• Make ‘carriages’ using cooked sausages (top and tailed with a thin slice cut off the top to make them), baked potatoes (cut in half lengthways and slightly hollowed out), sausage rolls or anything else that your children will eat
• Beef jerky (to use as the links between the carriages and as train tracks)
• Hummus or cream cheese (to use as a ‘glue’ to stick wheels on the carriages etc)
• Sliced cherry tomatoes and Lebanese cucumbers (for the wheels of the carriage)
• Top the ‘carriages’ with things like popcorn, blueberries, little chunks of cheese, grapes, nuts, sliced beef biltong, raisins, pretzel sticks, jerky
• Use half a capsicum as the train engine – otherwise use a (washed and sterilised) toy engine
• Another way of putting this ‘train platter’ together would be to use little Tupperware containers or clean margarine tubs as the carriages, filled with tasty and nutritious bite-sized nibbles such as cheese, grapes, nuts, mandarin segments, sultanas, biltong, shredded chicken, popcorn, diced cucumber, apple slices etc.  Use beef jerky to create deliciously edible train tracks.

   

Bunny faces beef jerky platter

• Slices of wholewheat bread or toast (for the face)
• Cream cheese and peanut butter (for spreading on the bread)
• Bananas (halved and sliced lengthways to make long bunny ears)
• Watermelon or strawberries (sliced to form the pink inside of the bunny ear)
• Carrot (sliced into rounds for the eyes)
• Blueberries or raisins (to place onto the centre of the carrot for the eyes)
• Use your imaginations to create a mouth/nose, such as thinly sliced cucumber rounds, knobs of cheese, slices of hard-boiled egg, slices of cold sausage 
• Beef jerky for the whiskers
• Shredded lettuce, cooked broccoli florets, peas and diced carrots for the bunny’s food

   

Plate up a perfect snack platter

Remember, there are no rules or awards for the aesthetics of your platter.  It’s about having some fun while you put together a healthy and easy meal.  Simply unleash your inner creative and have some fun – and you can always get the kids involved in the prep too.

No shopping trips required either!  Use whatever’s in your fridge, the pantry, the fruit bowl (even leftovers can be incorporated into your platter) and you’ll soon have a delectable array of different foods on the platter that will appeal to the whole family.

Thinking about plating up a jerky snack platter in the next few days?  Don’t forget to order your DJays Gourmet beef jerky or beef biltong and we’ll have it delivered via fast freight to your door in no time – anywhere in Australia.  Contact us here.