Kids Healthy Cooking – Healthy Dips for Kids

healthy dips for kidsDips are another great ‘tactic’ to use when encouraging kids to eat fruits and vegetables that they may not eat otherwise. The challenge is to find a healthy dip for kids, that they like and is not loaded with sugars and other ingredients you want to avoid. Unfortunately a lot of store bought dips have these extras that we don’t want.

The good thing is that healthy dips for kids are super easy to make at home and something that the kids can easily participate in making. A quick easy dip is simply a matter of putting the ingredients into a bowl and mixing – seriously less than five minutes!

healthy dips for kidsIt can be a challenge to find a healthy kids dip that the kids enjoy as their palates are so varied when their young and can change from day to day. There are many ingredients in dips like mayonnaise and sour cream that I did not like myself until I was closer to being an adult, but if your kids eat these already, you’re halfway there! And if they don’t eat them already introducing it mixed with other ingredients may just be the trick!

In our Mini Chefs class we made two healthy dips for kids, one for vegetables and one for fruit. Knowing that many of the children prefered sweet we made and tasted the veggie dip first (this sets things up for the most success with both dips, always introduce the sweetest last). The kids loved measuring, scooping and mixing all the ingredients, each asking for their turn, making sure not to be left out. We were literally finished in 5 minutes and trying it out. As usual, there were some kids that loved it and some that didn’t care for it, but they all tried it. I also provided a variety of vegetables for the kids too as serving a variety of vegetables, not only in texture and taste, but also in color makes it more appealing for them to try.

The fruit dip, which is a caramel dip that I discovered through Nina Manolson at Smokin’ Hot Mom, is a fantastic dairy free, sugar free, sweet dip that is fabulous with apples. Of course you can use it with other fruit (pineapple is excellent) but the combination of apple and caramel is so good. When this dip is around at our house I often eat an apple just to have some dip!

healthy dips for kidsUsing dates (which have many nutritional benefits) as your sweetener, as well as coconut oil and a few spices, this dip has many nutritional benefits that you will be happy with and the kids will have no idea. Plus it’s another easy one, just toss all the ingredients in the blender and mix until smooth. Yum!

Now don’t be deterred by the color of this dip, it is supposed to be caramel afterall. When it was ready the kids just dove in and even one of my pickiest eaters loved it! I had to laugh though when I took the leftovers after class to the staff in the office and no one would touch the caramel one because they weren’t sure what it was. That is one of the benefits of getting the kids involved in making it, they see what goes into it. Now I understand that this could go the opposite way and because they see what goes in it, they won’t even try it, but my experience has been that the majority of time the kids are more willing to try it because they saw what went into it, and they helped make it.

Caramel Dip – great with apples or fruit of choice

1 c. dates healthy dips for kids

¼-1/2 c. almond milk (or other non dairy milk of your choice) – start with less milk and add to get the blender moving smoothly and the consistency you want

1 tsp. coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla

dash of cardamom or 1 drop of Cardamom essential oil

dash of sea salt

Put all ingredients into Vitamix or powerful blender and mix until creamy. Dip apple slices into caramel and enjoy.

Dill Dip – great with veggies and/ or tortilla chips

1/3 c. veganaise (or mayonaise)

1/4 c.  vegan sour creamhealthy dips for kids

1 tsp. parsley flakes

1/8 tsp. onion powder

1/16 tsp. celery salt

1/16 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dill weed

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Serve immediately or chill until ready to use.

Recipe can easily be doubled. Makes about 1/2 c. dip

Coming next in Kids Healthy Cooking, Energy Bites! Sticky, easy, messy and lick your fingers good!

Kids Healthy Cooking – The Perfect Mini Pizza

making mini pizzas with kidsPizza is another one of those fabulous recipes to make with kids that is super easy and fun. Not only do kids like eating pizza, kids like making pizza to! It is fun, easy and something they can get their hands into.

Making mini pizzas with kids is great because they can choose their own ingredients and put on what they like. Giving them choice and control over what they are having. It is also great because they use their hands to make it, and most kids, (though I do know some who don’t), like getting messy and using their hands to make and create things.

The key as the adult is providing a number of ingredients for them to choose from, not only in hopes that they will choose ingredients that will provide a balanced diet, but also an opportunity for them to try something new.

making mini pizzas with kidsMaking mini pizzas is also a great way to give kids further autonomy over their pizza because they are truly making their own, that they are going to eat and no one else.

I had to laugh when we made these in our Mini Chefs class. As soon as I took out the ingredients we were using, little ones started expressing how they did not like tomato sauce, or mushrooms, etc. I just smiled and said that was the great thing about making your own pizza is that they could put whatever they wanted on it!

So they did. Some of them completely excluding the tomato sauce and just placing ham and cheese on top. Others experimented with all the ingredients, while some went for the simple straight forward ‘just cheese’.

And it’s so great to watch them experiment and try new things. Sometimes I don’t know what is actually new for them until after class when I talk to Mom and say “Suzy had ham and cheese on her pizza today.” Then Mom looks at me in surprise and says “Wow, she tried ham, she won’t touch it at home,” looking impressed.

Once you have the kids making a basic mini pizza, you can then start adding in some new ingredients the next time you make them, like spinach or feta. You can also get creative around holidays like Halloween and have them make spooky faces on their pizzas (again adding new ingredients to try like peppers or olives – they’re great for faces). Pizza options really are endless and once they’re hooked and involved they’ll be no limit to what you and they can try.

Mini Pizzas

Ingredients:

Tomato saucemaking mini pizzas with kids

Daiya mozzarella cheese (or regular mozza if preferred)

Sliced ham

Pineapple, sliced and cut into pieces

Mushrooms, sliced

Whole Wheat English muffins

Cut english muffins in half. Place both halves face up on counter. Spoon on 1-2 tablespoons of tomato sauce (to taste). Be careful not to use too much as it will make the muffin soggy. Place desired toppings, ham, mushrooms, pineapple on top of tomato sauce. Spread toppings evenly. Sprinkle with Daiya mozarella.

making mini pizzas with kidsPlace in pre-heated oven (350F) or toaster oven until cheese is melted and muffin is golden brown around the edges – approximately 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on your pizza as some ovens are warmer than others and may cook faster.

Next week we experiment with dips – the caramel one is to die for (and is fabulous with apples – you’ll want to eat an apple just to eat the dip)!