Festive Food for the Fourth In 15 Minutes or Less

Happy 4th of July Week!  I just love celebrating the holidays with my family.

I really look forward to all the color themed foods, the stars and stripes and the gatherings.

But lately, I've been thinking that fun festive food does not have to be complicated.  It doesn't have to take hours to prepare.  Holiday foods can be really simple.  Don't let holiday foods intimidate you!  I promise - they're easy!  Oftentimes I'll hear friends say, I don't bake or I don't have time to put together fancy food for my family.  I'm here to say You can do it!!

Today I'm going to show you lots of recipes that you can put together in about 15 minutes.

1. Red, White & Blue Snack Board
Gather all your favorite foods from your pantry - a good mix of salty and sweet - to make a red, white and blue themed snack board.  My family loves treats like this and they're really easy to put together.  They don't make a mess and clean up is a breeze because there are no dirty dishes.  We had this snack board midday so I tried to include fruits, cheeses, salty snacks and treats.  It was a hit!

2. Top Your Favorite Desserts with M&Ms
We love to make our favorite desserts - chocolate chip cookies, brownies, ice cream sundaes and top them with red, white and blue M&Ms.  Sometimes I'll buy the specialty bags of red, white and blue and other times I'll just pick out the red and blue M&Ms from my stash of mini M&Ms that I keep in my pantry.  Both options work great.

3. Bomb Pops
Need a really quick, festive dessert??  Add Bomb Pops to your grocery list and you're done.  Hurry and do this ASAP because these tend to sell out in stores this week.

4. Berry Treats
Cut up strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries, wash and top with a big dollop of whipped cream!  Perfectly festive, sweet and so good this time of year!


5. Marshmallow Wands
Pick up a bag of marshmallows shaped with stars and hearts.  Give your kids tooth picks or skewers and let them make their own marshmallow wands.  You could also add in some red and blue berries.  It'll be a fun and not too messy.

6. Festive Kid Plates
Gather all your red, white and blue foods to make fun plates for your kids.

Which treat sounds best to you??

Hope you have a fabulous 4th of July week!

This is the treat my kids are most excited about having this week: