Children can get really excited when served attractive and interesting food – even if it’s food they’ve eaten a thousand times before. I’ve always found it far easier to make veggies appealing to kids by dressing them up a bit and serving them in a slightly fancier way. It also doesn’t hurt to do a little branding – I call these “veggie mugs” and the kids love that. Just peel and slice carrots and celery, fill the bottom of a mug with ranch dressing, drop veggie sticks inside of mug and serve. Kids are always going to double dip from a large bowl – no matter how much you nag them not to – these single servings illiminate that problem too.

When the kids rush into the house asking for a snack, surprise them with these healthy and fun veggie mugs. Add a 1/4 of a cup of ranch dressing to a mug and fill with sliced carrots and celery.

If you're making these in advance, just place them in the fridge or in a bowl of ice to keep them chilled. No one likes warm veggies and dip.

Serve in different colored mugs so everyone can keep track of their own snack.

The kids were happy to find these on the table when they came in from playing.