One thing you may not know about me is I love bowling! Like really love it. Each year when the kids go back to school I take time to indulge in my bowling passion by joining a bowling league.
I love bowling, but that does not mean I am very good at it. In fact, last year my average game for the season was 113. I bowled 3 games over 150. I did bowl a 196 once, but not at league. My league team was okay, we did not come in last for the season, nor did we come in first. Solidly in the middle. My kids love that I bowl, and often want to go with me. So I thought a bowling themed food art would be just the thing to surprise them with as a back-to-school lunch!
And because I have 4 kids, I was able to make a few different scenes!
California Ripe Olives are perfect for food art. They can be used in so many ways, and provide a pop of color, a great texture, and of course amazing flavor! I had such a hard time deciding how to use them, I actually made the kid friendly version, and my more grown up version, using an egg-salad sandwich recipe I will share next week, and cutting the bread into pins! So fun! Don’t you think these would be perfect to take to the bowling league luncheon?
Anyway, let’s get to the recipe for the kid-friendly back to school food art!
![](https://www.eazypeazymealz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/bowling-food-art-450x450.jpg)
Back-to-School Food Art with California Ripe Olives
Ingredients
- white bread
- California Black Ripe Olives
- carrots
- Cucumbers
- Cheese
- Other veggies: You can substitute out any of the veggies such as bell peppers, sweet potatoes, or something else to make the pins
- Cream cheese optional
Instructions
- Free hand cut a bowling pin out of cheese (the easiest medium to work with)
- Then use that pin as a stencil to cut out 9 more pins out of the veggies of your choice, I used a mandolin cutter to slice my veggies thin for this part.
- Put a thin layer of cream cheese over your bread (optional)
- Then create your scene by laying your pins, four on the top, then three, then two, then one.
- Further decorate your pins using thin slices of California Black Ripe Olives
- Create a "lane" with cheese, cucumbers, or your choice of veggies.
- Create a "bowling ball" with a California Black Ripe Olives
- Assemble your scene on a plate, and let your kids dig into their healthy lunch!
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
And, what is more, California Ripe Olives are grown on over 1,000 multigenerational family farms that crisscross the warm inland valleys of California and processed by two family-owned canneries. I love that these are not some huge conglomerate, but rather a family owned and operated business. And guess what? They are giving away an Amazon Kindle Fire HDX!
To enter, you can visit the Sweepstakes with this link, or head over to Facebook, and follow California Ripe Olives, then visit the custom tab that says “Sweepstakes” on their page. You can enter once per day from Aug 18 – September 12 for a chance to win the Kindle Fire HDX!
So head over and enter so you could win, and read, browse, and enjoy yourself while your kids are at school. I know I will certainly enjoy some bowling, as well as a little free time, which would be much improved with an Amazon Kindle Fire HDX! By the way, my sis was like, “Uh, what’s that?” to the thing with the carrot sticking out. It is the ball return peeps! I promise.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Catherine S says
What a neat and fun idea and it looks yummy. I also love bowling, I bowl in one league in the summer and two in the winter. I will have to make something like this for my son. He also loves to bowl.
Diana Villa says
You are so creative Rachael! I will try this wonderful recipes this week for my daughter. Thanks for sharing 😀
Vanessa says
I love these ideas! I bet these would be fun to create with your kids. It gets their creative juices flowing before and or after school. Great job!
rochkirstin says
I commend moms who make food art for their kids to make food look more appetizing, especially vegetables. Do you have to do 4 different ones every day?
Rachael says
No, I only do food art from time to time, and rarely do different scenes for each kid, this one just happened to be easy to change up!
Amy @ Will Run For Ice Cream says
I think this is adorable! I will have to do this for my son. This would make a really cute after school snack.
DesignedDecor says
This is way too cute! I love black olives, they are my favorite! My brother once gave me a restaurant size jar of them to me for Christmas, because we always fought over the small jar at Christmas!
The New Classy says
Oh man! That food looks almost too cute to eat. I would eat it anyway, though. 😉
Russ R. says
This is the cutest, most adorable twist I’ve ever seen on a sandwich. While it can be brought to school, I think it will also work well with parties. Love this.
Tessa Smith says
What an adorable idea! So cute! I know my daughters would love this!
Teresa McCluskey says
I love Olives! I am going to have to check these out!
Amanda Love says
What a great idea but I have to admit that I just hate olives. Hubby on the other hand loves it. He’s the only one in my household who eats it. If I was to make this I would have to use grape as a substitute. 🙂
Mrs. Mashed Up says
Very cute idea! Anything that will get kids to eat healthy is a great thing in my book. Plus this a adorable!
Kristin Yach says
that is so cute. I have never been that creative with food. the closest I ever did was apples with peanut butter and teddy grahams.
joyfulgiftsbyjulie says
Making shapes out of food is a great way to get kids to eat healthy food. Had to pin this one. Very cute!
Nikki Dargantes says
What a cute and sweet way to prepare food for your kids. This reminds me of the japanese bento art boxes. They even sell food moulds at the japanese home stores. 🙂
shadylane85 says
This is so cute. My kids like bowling, I bet they would love to see this at lunchtime!
Ronda Sexton Ogilvie says
Those little bowling allys are so stinkin’ cute!!! I love playing with my food! LOL
Celebrate Woman says
Very Cute! I don’t think I am that creative to do it day in and day out! But wish I could do it!
New York Cliche says
super cute!