Fun snacks for kids

Kids love to have fun, so why not make the dreaded mealtime more fun?

Dip - Kids love to dip...no doubt about it. It is my experience that if you give a child dip with anything, they will eat it. Here are some awesome recipes for healthy, yummy dips

Dilly Ranch Dressing

Cucumber yogurt dip 

Vanilla Yogurt Fruit Dip

Kabobs - With a little wooden stick you can turn any meal into a kabob. It's fun, different, and your kids will love it. If  your meal doesn't work on the kabob, try using a toothpick. They are fun to eat with too.

Quesadillas - You can hide almost anything inside a quesadilla and your kids will eat it. My favorite is sweet potato, black beans and carrots. Not all together of course, but just one petit serving with cheese underneath that tortilla will do just the trick. I also put in a little cilantro to add some flava flav.

Yogurt pops - If your little one isn't a big on eating a particular fruit, throw it in the freezer with some yogurt and a pretzel as the stick, and bam. You have a popcicle. I even prefer these over ice cream now. The combo of the sweet and salty is perfect. So yummy, and healthy.

Cooking with Flavor

Jenny Stegall has traveled all around the world and back again with her little family.  I love her appreciation for the little things in life, especially food. Jenny had a catering company in San Francisco and worked as a personal chef before having three precious children. She now uses her skills, time, and energy to feed them, create with them, and make traditions with them. I also love Jenny's theory for cooking with flavor for her kids. She so kindly offered to let me share with you these ideas she wrote up for Bloesem {and a recipe!}. Here's what Jenny has to say...

"I like healthy food for kids, but I am not concerned with the occasional birthday cake, movie popcorn, or candy. All kids will reject some tastes and textures, but after a while, most flavors will grow on them. I don’t follow the no salt, no sugar, no butter rule for kids. If I am roasting vegetables for my kids, I make them taste good- a little (!!) olive oil, a little (!!) kosher salt, etc. I want food bursting with flavor and believe they do too. There are some easy foods to introduce flavors to kids. Don’t start by putting a bowl full of roasted beets in front of them; they might sit there until they get married. Instead, make some yummy Israeli couscous and start adding flavors to it one at a time: shallots, herbs, tomatoes, or beets, pine nuts, and feta cheese. Some other great dishes that are easy to introduce (not hide!!!) flavors in are:  rice salads, couscous, pastas, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and a personal favorite- pancakes. When my babies can eat small bites, I start making pancakes filled with grated vegetables- beets, zucchini, squash, carrots, etc. They end up being mostly vegetables with just the batter to hold them together. They love the batter/bread and without realizing it, are becoming aware of flavors that they will later enjoy in a more adult version.

We visited the San Francisco farmer’s market this morning with our kids. The food from the farmers makes me want to stay in my kitchen for weeks. It is also fun because the kids see the pride and beauty in the many stands of fresh, organic produce. If you find yourself with some extra root vegetables, try some of these yummy pancakes! Keep experimenting with flavors. I think you will be pleased with the results."

What you will need: ( I never measure these, but these measurements will get you started)
1 cups Grated Vegetables or Fruits (carrots, zucchini, beet root, apples)
 1 cup Flour
1 Egg
1 _ cup Milk
1 tsp Baking powder

To do: 
1.) Mix all ingredients
2.) Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat
3.) Coat with cooking spray or a small amount of oil or butter
4.) Drop by spoonfuls or _ cup heaps
5.) When bubbles appear on top, flip and finish cooking until golden in color
*These are great to take as snacks or on road-trips. They also freeze well. If they eat enough of these… 

DIY - Baby food

I am a firm believer that you don't have to sacrifice flavor when eating healthy.

Now, I also know that our little ones have to be introduced to flavor slowly.

Very little salt. Not too sweet. No nuts. No dairy. And all that makes sense! You don’t want to go ruining their virgin taste buds or anything, but it still seems like your first introduction to food should be a good one.

Have you ever opened a can of store bought green beans? They wreak. No wonder our little ones make those faces.

Another problem with store bought baby food is it doesn't even taste like the real deal.

After I started making my own baby food I felt so much more comfortable knowing exactly what my kiddo was eating - he liked it more too. I like to think that the reason he loves peas and carrots now are because he was getting what he eats now in the beginning.

Here were our favorites:

Peas and Zucchini
Baked Apple and Carrots with cinnamon
Baked Apple and Sweet Potatoes with cinnamon
Potatos with a few herbs
Avocado
Bananas with a drop of OJ

Now, when I first started my little guy on solids I thought, how in the world do moms have TIME to make baby food?

Let me just tell you...it probably takes more effort going to the grocery store to buy food than it does to make it. You can probably make 1 month worth of baby food in two hours.

There are so, so many ways to make your own baby food, but this is how I've done it.

1. Clean Veggies/Fruit thoroughly.
2. Cook  - I saute the zucchini, boil the potatoes/peas/beans, and bake the apples. This is when I add the herbs or cinnamon. One trick I learned was to cook the veggies with homemade broth. {Recipe here}This made a HUGE difference (in my opinion).
3. Puree in a blender untill smooth

That's it. You're done.

I stored my baby food in recycled jars and ice trays.

I got all my recipes from my sisters and this site here
I did a little research on these sites here, here, here and here
photo from here

Good luck friends! Let me know if you have any questions....not like I'm a pro or anything...but you know, about how I did it.