Thanks all

duck popcorn maker
they aren't made anymore but i bought one a while back on ebay for a friend whose children loved ours

think it is Prima. Lost the box years ago...not sure if it says on the machine. Will check later

molly, what brand is your duck??

DD2 is obsessed with popcorn and has a birthday coming up ... Good tip, thanks!

seriously, we bought the duck around 8 years ago, it still going strong and used on a weekly basis. It's probably one of my best ever parenting buys

we have the duck also moll
search for popcorn maker if you fancy one - it makes popcorn without any oil or mess

If the dc are thinking that fruit is boring, just chop up a load and then thread onto wooden skewers, making them nice and colourful. My dc love that and will even eat fruit that they would normally not eat!!

Thanks all. I don't have an anti-splatter lid but just did some googling and apparently kitchen paper or a paper plate work equally well. Now I have learned something

Plain popcorn is DD's ultimate treat, just as Grimma said, in a tub with a lid and no covering. They love it <weirdos>

Banana flapjacks, or any flapjack goes down well here as well.

I make custard and give ds 2 drops of green food colouring and dd 2 drops of pink. They stir in wonder and then top with sprinkles to dd's delight. Or give them a square each of choc to stir in and make chocolate custard. Lovely! (sorry did you want healthy stuff?!)

Those microwave packets of popcorn are my new favourite snack and my guys all love a fruit platter of blueberries/melon/pineapple etc...if they're lucky I might grate some choc over or make a choc sauce.

Thanks for posting that Grimma - I'm feeling really inspired now

I popped some corn in the microwave just in a large plastic bowl with an anti-splatter lid on top.

I do banana muffins whenever I have 3-4 overripe ones. They get less fatty and sugary every time I make them but are still yummy.

they are
4oz plain flour
4oz wholemeal
2 1/2 oz oatbran
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
1tsp cinnamon

sifted in big bowl;
mash 8-10oz overripe bananas in smaller bowl, add an egg and - here it gets variable - it was 2 1/2 oz veg oil but last time I used 1oz oil and 2oz skimmed milk and they came out the same. Then the original recipe called for 3oz brown sugar, but I cut that way down and last time replaced with 2tbs Splenda (cos DH was on anti-sugar drive).

Oh, and to make it healthier (according to all advice dark choc is goood for you in moderation) I add 2oz plain choc chips or chunks.

mix everything lightly and bake 20 mins at 175.

That sounds great snigger. I've made fruity jellies with water + elderflower cordial before, but not with fruit juice - can you give me instructions?

What's an air popper Franny? I've only ever done microwave popcorn which contains all sorts of scary stuff

oh yes fran - we have a popcorn duck and even sophisticated ds (11) and his oh-so-cool mates love watching it come out of the duck's mouth and making toffee sauce

Oh good reminder about the ice lollies molly, thanks. And home baking more or less counts as healthy in my book, when I can find time to do it! I always do these muffins with some of the flour wholemeal - can almost do them in your sleep

popcorn made in an air popper usually gets a big response here and it has nothing added except what you choose to add

baked bananas with good dark chocolate in (poke squares of choc into a slit in the banana, bake in foil) are appealing and different

Similar to mollyroger, only we make multi coloured jellies - supermarkets sell individual lidded moulds, you can make up a dozen or so, and I make the jellies with fresh juice rather than water, and fill them with chopped fruit, or jelly tots if I'm doing the unhealthy version.

Tangerine jelly made up with tropical juice, over blackcurrant jelly made up with blueberry juice, was a particular favourite.

I make home made ice lollies with fruit juices and all the kids think they are ace (especially if I can be arsed to do 'cocktail' ones like a layer of pomegranite juice topped with orange and lemon)

I also make big batches of fruit muffins whish are probably not that healthy except for the fruit in them.

Piss easy too.

Cross post Magna - love the fridge idea

I sometimes melt some chocolate and dribble it over strawberries, put in fridge so the chocolate hardens - or use the melted chocolate as a dip. Either version goes down well and you don't use as much chocolate as the kids think.

Ooh - just remembered I also melted down some choc eggs back at Easter time and served them as a fruit fondue which went down very well. Will try that again with some Green & Black's.

There is a definite expectation when I have the DDs' friends round that they will be offered 'treats', and I'm feeling the need to up the stakes these days in order to rival the junk they are offered elsewhere.

My defaults are Goodies bars for snacks, and vanilla ice cream/banana splits with sprinkles for puds.

Not much time for anything elaborately home-made these days, but I do do pancakes which always seem to go down well, and am going to try Eton mess made with Greek yogurt this week.

Now I'm after further inspiration ...