Easy Manger Food Craft

My husband and I were discussing how much we like to create "something out of nothing". 
Meaning, I would rather have an idea and try it than googling and copying something another person has already done. I like to brave new waters, to go where others may not have traveled. (In all other aspects of life I am actually on the cautious side and don't enjoy unpredictable outcomes)

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When my daughter's first grade teacher asked me if I'd like to do the food craft for our upcoming Christmas party, I gladly said yes.

I then thought, what about making an edible manger and filling it with something similar to the shredded wheat "nest" material? We could use graham crackers for the structure and as long as the "hay" was sticky, it should all hold together!

I then thought, but what about the baby in the manger? All the first ideas I had were easily perishable and required refrigeration (wrap the baby in a soft cheese slice like mozzerella, or a slice of meat with an olive for the head). I asked my husband, what about a "baby" carrot? That was good for a chuckle, but still I was on the search.

While at the grocery store, I spotted a bag full of perfect candidates!

As I chose ingredients, I tried to limit the sugar content and knew that paying a little more for better quality was okay. The cereal? 0g sugar. The graham cracker? 3.5g per cracker. The peanut butter? 1g per serving. And the roll-ups? 10g per roll-up, but you need only 1/8 of a roll.

 To assemble these, I also tried to plan for a classroom setting. Each student will need 5 to 6 wheat "bites", one graham cracker separated into four whole pieces, then break one of those in half for the ends.

Add 2 Tbsp peanut butter (I used Adams Natural which has 1g natural sugar per serving).
Place the wheat and peanut butter in a sandwich bag for easy mashing. 

Once mashed together (wheat is soft and easily broken by hand), turn bag inside out and dump it onto your first piece of graham cracker. (You may decide to add some honey to make this mix a little sweeter and even stickier)

You then take the side pieces and place them around the "hay" so they all form a box.

For the "swaddling cloth", I took the fruit roll-up and cut it while still rolled into 8 strips. 

 I only needed one strip to cover my little peanut.

And, there you have it! A totally edible food craft for Christmas time that is humble in appearance, mildly sweet, and has some protein to prevent a total crash. Not to mention? Very little prep time required.

For those with peanut allergies, I would recommend purchasing "butterscotch" chips and melting them, mixing in the shredded wheat, and then using the orange candy "circus peanuts" which are not nut-based at all, and wrapping them. This will be a lot sweeter, but still a fun craft.

Remember, anything worth doing is worth trying.
~Tammy