Vegetable Elf Hats: Quick and Easy Christmas Appetizer

Vegetable elf hats make a cute Christmas appetizer
Source: ©AlyssaScheidemann

No-Cook Christmas Appetizer

I was recently told by my doctor to eat a low-carb diet. With Christmas coming up, I've been thinking about how to adjust my favorite holiday recipes—and about how many other people might also be looking for these kinds of recipes, as well for holiday get-togethers and parties.

Since vegetables are good for those who need to eat healthy, I came up with a quick and easy vegetable and cheese appetizer version of the Fruit Santa Hats dessert that works for low-carb meal plans. These elf hats are similar to the Santa hats in terms of their design, but they are made with vegetables and cheese.

In addition to being healthy, these elf hats are really quick and easy to make. This is great for people who are busy and don't have much time to prepare food for holiday get-togethers.

Cook Time

Prep time: 20 min

Ready in: 20 min

Yields: 18 elf hats

Ingredients

• 1 mini cucumber, sliced
• 9 grape tomatoes
• 18 mozzarella balls or pearls

Instructions

1. Wash the grape tomatoes. Slice the tops off and then cut each one in half horizontally. Set aside.


2. Take your mini cucumber, cut the ends off, and slice it into around 1-inch slices. Make sure you don't make them too thick. Set aside.


3. Take out the toothpicks and the mozzarella balls. Pick up a toothpick and slide a mozzarella ball on it.


4. Next, slide half of a tomato onto the toothpick. The rounded end (non-cut side) should rest against the mozzarella ball.


5. Follow with a slice of cucumber and push that through also. The cucumber should rest against the cut side of the tomato.


6. Place the finished elf hat on a tray or serving dish. Repeat the process until you have used up all ingredients.


7. Serve and enjoy!

Enjoy!

Now, wasn't that easy? I hope you and everyone enjoy this fun and festive appetizer. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

© 2022 Alyssa Scheidemann

Originally published December 22, 2022 on Hubpages / Delishably. Last updated on Whimsical Thoughts on December 18, 2025.

Shrimp and Spinach Salad

A simple and healthy salad is a great meal to have if you want to eat healthy. Salads are a great way to eat light but feel full.

I've been researching the best and healthiest foods to incorporate into my daily meals. My plan is to incorporate as many fish and healthy products as I can. 

Being a very creative person, I enjoy mixing different fruits and vegetables together. This Shrimp and Spinach Salad - made with my own sauce/dressing - is the result of this second creative meal. I decided to share the recipe to my second creative salad with all of you. Hope you enjoy it!

You can read my recipe and full article at Delishably – Shrimp and Spinach Salad.

Shrimp & Spinach Salad

Spinach and Cheese Egg Mini Muffins Recipe

As a busy person, it can be hard to find the time to cook, sit down, and have a healthy breakfast before heading out of the house early in the morning or if you have a busy day in general. It can be even harder if you spent part of your morning working out, in addition to getting ready for the day.

Since I don't always have time during the week to cook a healthy breakfast, I've started doing the prep work the night before or over the weekend so that I can just take my healthy breakfast from the fridge and have it with me on the go. My search for healthy breakfast items led me to discover egg mini muffins.

You can read my recipe and full article at Delishably – Spinach and Cheese Egg Mini Muffins.

Enjoy!

Easy Triple Berry Smoothie

Smoothies are a great way to get healthy nutrients. Usually, I love to go to a juice bar to get a smoothie to drink while I work or relax. My favorite type of smoothie is one with berries, especially one with strawberries.

Though, since the pandemic began and I started working from home every day, I decided it was time to try to learn how to make my own version of my favorite berry smoothie. Especially since I had just gotten a new and better blender in the beginning of 2020. The smoothie would be a version where I can control all the berries and juices going into it. This way I can tailor the smoothie to only include the fruit that I like.

You can read my recipe and full article at Delishably – Easy Triple Berry Smoothie.

Hope you enjoy this smoothie!

Fruit Santa Hats: Easy and Quick Christmas Dessert

These Santa hats made out of fruit are a super cute Christmas dessert!
Source: ©AlyssaScheidemann

No-Bake Christmas Dessert

The winter holiday season is a time for holiday parties and get-togethers. It is also a time for holiday-themed food, especially desserts. With Christmas finally upon us, and having felt like it was a long year, there are many holiday and Christmas themed desserts to eat this time of year, ones that are fun and delicious to make and eat.

Some desserts can get complicated and take a long time. For those of us who are busy and don't have much time to bake or to make something complex, it can be a challenge finding desserts that are quick and easy to make, whether this year you are celebrating with your small bubble group or just with your immediate family.

This Santa hat fruit dessert is a fun solution. Using fruit means you don't have to worry about serving and eating unhealthy desserts during the holiday time. Even better, there is absolutely no baking or cooking required!

Cook Time

Prep time: 25 min

Ready in: 25 min

Yields: 22 Santa hats

Ingredients

• 22 mini marshmallows
• 22 strawberries
• 2 bananas

Instructions

1. Begin by gathering the strawberries and washing them. Then cut the stem off of every one of them. Put them aside.


2. Take your bananas and slice them into medium-sized slices. Make sure you don't make them too thick. Set them aside.


3. Take out the toothpicks and the 22 mini marshmallows. Put the marshmallows in their own dish.


4. Pick up a toothpick, and put a marshmallow on it.


5. Follow with a strawberry by putting the toothpick through, starting with the pointed end (non-cut side) and pushing it through.


6. Follow with a slice of banana and push that through also.


7. Place the finished Santa hat on a tray or serving dish. Then repeat the process until you are out of strawberries and toothpicks.


8. You are ready to serve a beautiful platter of adorable Santa hats!

Enjoy!

Wasn't that easy and quick? Hope you and everyone enjoy the festive dessert! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

© 2015 Alyssa Scheidemann

Originally published December 5, 2015 on Hubpages / Delishably. Last updated on Whimsical Thoughts on December 15, 2025.

Raspberry and Tomato Salad

Who doesn't love a nice simple salad for a meal? Salads are a great way to eat light but feel full.

One day I wanted to make a salad for lunch, but I also was feeling very creative. I went through the fruits and vegetables in my fridge, and found some items I wanted to try in a salad. I didn't want to make it too complicated because I just wanted to make something quick to eat… and that would be healthy too.

I wanted to find some way to include them in a quick meal I created. This Raspberry and Tomato Salad is the result of that creative meal. Hope you enjoy it!

You can read my recipe and full article at Delishably – Raspberry and Tomato Salad

Hope you enjoy this salad I have created. Mangia! Buon appetito!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate Chip Muffins - one of the most popular favorite type of muffins - and my favorite type - but difficult to find a decent recipe.

I was craving chocolate chip muffins but wanted to try to bake them myself. I searched online trying to find a decent recipe. I came across a recipe that included brown sugar and decided to give that recipe a try. Those muffins ended up being the worst muffins - and worst item - I have ever baked my entire life. That's how terrible the recipe was. Plus I am not fond of using brown sugar at all. The recipe, needless to say, did not work for me.

After coming up without any good results for other possible recipes, I decided to take matters into my own hands and figure it out on my own, with my own "trial and error." I started using my Strawberry Cinnamon Muffin recipe as a basis. After lots of trial and error - and getting better and closer to figuring it out each time over months - I had eventually cracked the code to amazing chocolate chip muffins!
I decided to share my recipe with all of you!

I hope you enjoy the muffins as much as my friends, family, and I do! Happy baking!

You can read my recipe and full article at Delishably – Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe.

Strawberry Cinnamon Muffins

One day, I decided to bake strawberry muffins for the first time ever. 

I decided to bake them myself rather than buying them at the store, so I started searching for recipes. I came across one on the Food Network, which called for strawberries, cinnamon, bananas, nutmeg, blueberries, and nuts. It looked like a great recipe, though being the baker and cook that I am I love to experiment and change up recipes, customizing them to my preferences. I don't like blueberries, nuts, or nutmeg—and I didn't have any bananas lying around—so I cut those ingredients out.

Instead, I only included strawberries and added a bit more cinnamon than I probably should have. The result was these strawberry cinnamon muffins.

You can read my recipe and full article at Delishably – Strawberry Cinnamon Muffin Recipe.