Lovebugs on a log stuffed celery sticks

Lovebugs on a Log Stuffed Celery Sticks

Give your little lovebugs something to smile about—an adorable, bite-size treat. Make dainty ladybugs with cherry tomatoes and olives and then let them roam free atop cheese-filled celery sticks. This cute stuffed celery appetizer is a fun—and stealthily healthy—alternative to sweet Valentine's Day party treats that kids are sure to love.

Yield: Makes 12 lovebugs on 6 logs

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Ingredients

6 celery stalks
Cream cheese or other spreadable cheese
6 cherry tomatoes
6 pitted black olives
Fresh chives
Toothpick
Food coloring (optional)

Directions

  1. Spread or pipe cream cheese or spreadable cheese into celery “logs.”
  2. Cut each tomato in half, lengthwise and then quarters.
  3. Slice olives in half, crosswise, and cut chives into 1-inch lengths.
  4. Arrange 2 tomato quarters as the wings on 1 end of a celery piece, angling the bottoms of the wings outward.
  5. Add an olive half as the head, centered, above the wings. Poke 2 holes into the olive half using a toothpick. Then insert chives into the olive holes for the antennae.
  6. Further down, add another lovebug to the celery stalk.
  7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 on remaining celery stalks.
  8. Add food coloring to remaining cream cheese and make little dots on the lovebugs’ wings using a toothpick (optional).

Tip: To make the bugs more “lovey,” place them so they face each other on the stalk (not shown).