March's featured veggie is PEAS at Veggie Buds Club! We hope you enjoy this delicious pea recipe from this month's Veggie Buds Club subscription box.
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This recipe was developed by Heather Staller, a mom of two boys, ages 6 and 4, and cooking instructor specializing in bringing cooking into preschool classrooms. After college, Heather knew she wanted to be a teacher, but first followed her lifelong dream of going to culinary school. Teaching cooking combines both of her passions, and she truly enjoys introducing young children to the joys of cooking with fresh ingredients. Find Heather on Instagram (@heather.happykidskitchen), where she shares inventive kid-friendly recipes and ideas for cooking with kids at home.

These falafel patties are packed with peas! Your little chefs will love adding all the ingredients to the food processor, pushing the button, and helping to make the patties with their hands. Not only are they fun to make, but you can enjoy them in so many different ways. Eat them like “nuggets” with Greek yogurt for dipping, in pita bread, or on top of lettuce leaves
with any toppings you’d like. You could even make the patties a little bigger and eat them on a bun as a burger or cook the falafel mixture in a waffle iron to make falafel waffles. Any way you cook them, falafel is the perfect way to enjoy peas!

Ingredients

• 1 cup peas, cooked if from fresh or defrosted if frozen
  
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  
• ¼ cup Italian parsley leaves
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, minced
  
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  
• ¼ teaspoon cumin, optional
  
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
  
• 2 to 3 tablespoons oat or whole wheat flour
  
• 1 teaspoon olive oil, plus more for cooking
  
• Yogurt, pita bread, tomatoes, cucumber, or desired toppings, for serving

Instructions

1. Add peas, chickpeas, and parsley to a bowl of a food processor. Pulse until roughly chopped. 
   
2. Add lemon juice, garlic, salt, cumin, baking powder, and 2 tablespoons of flour. Pulse all ingredients until well combined and finely chopped, stopping to scrape the sides down a couple of times as needed. Form a little of the mixture into a small patty. If the mixture is too sticky, add another tablespoon of flour and pulse again to mix in.
   
3. Form the pea mixture into 16 small patties and place on a plate.
   
4. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook falafel patties in batches, browning on each side then placing back on a plate to cool.
   
5. Serve falafel warm with a dip or in a pita pocket topped as desired.

 
To make falafel mixture into waffles, mix in 2 additional tablespoons of flour. Heat waffle iron and grease well. Do not open waffle iron before 5 minutes of cooking. Use a butter knife to gently lift falafel from the waffle iron and transfer to a plate.

We are excited to bring you this month's post from Katie Blauser, the creator of Eat Pretty Darling: "Celery-brate Celery with Celery Bugs!". 
You can join in on lots of celery fun with our "Celery-brate Celery!" Veggie Buds Club box. This fun box is guaranteed to make celery fun for your kiddos! Learn more and purchase here.

Do you remember growing up with ants on a log? Why not get a little more creative and make a whole assortment of bugs instead! Celery is the perfect vessel to make some fun food art. Do you ever try food art at your house? It’s a great way to get kids exposure to new foods without the pressure. They can touch it and explore it and even make it into a little masterpiece.
We love getting crafty in the kitchen and these celery bugs are just as fun to make as they are to eat! The great thing about celery is it can go both sweet or savory. Venture out from the typical peanut butter and fill it with cream cheese or Greek yogurt ranch. Let your kids make their bugs and you might just be surprised by their creativity. From snakes to snails, ladybugs to butterflies, the possibilities are endless. My toddler was super obsessed with the grape snake!

Materials Needed

• Celery
• Filling (peanut butter, cream cheese, Greek yogurt ranch, etc.)
• Additional fruits and veggies for decorating

Instructions

1. Cut the celery stalks into different lengths. Spread your filling of choice to fill the middle of the celery.
2. Turn your celery into bugs by adding heads, wings, shells, antennae, or eyes. You can even create your own made up bugs!

Ingredients

• 1 small to medium-sized head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 cup milk (any kind)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour*
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• ¼ cup butter or oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ cup finely shredded cheddar cheese plus more for the top (optional)

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Finely chop enough broccoli florets to measure about ¾ of a cup. Set aside.
3. Pour milk into a liquid measuring cup and add the vinegar. Set aside for 5 minutes.
4. Measure dry ingredients into a large bowl and use a whisk to gently mix them together.
5. Mix butter or oil, eggs, and honey in a second bowl. Add milk and vinegar mixture and whisk to combine. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together. Stir in chopped broccoli and shredded cheese, if using.
6. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each hole about ¾ of the way full. Top each muffin with an additional sprinkle of cheese, if desired. Bake until golden brown on the top and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

* Flour can be all-purpose, whole wheat, or gluten-free blend.

Root vegetables are such a powerhouse of energy, vitamins, and minerals and super versatile for use. I especially love how butternut squash and sweet potatoes can be added to so many dishes to increase nutrient density. From soup to macaroni and cheese to dips, these gorgeous orange veggies fit into them all! The hummus recipe below is a favourite in our house year-round with its savoury taste and smooth texture. And this time of year it is a nice compliment to a tray of festive coloured veggies. So whether you need a nutritious after school snack for your kids or a colourful dish for the neighbourhood potluck, we have you covered! 

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash*
  
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  
• 2 Tbsp. tahini (or SunButter)
  
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  
• 1 clove of garlic, minced 
  
• 1/2 Tbsp. honey mustard
  
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice 

Instructions

1. Cut open and roast butternut squash at 375F for 30-40 minutes (or until it is soft throughout). 
   
2. Scoop the contents into a food processor and add chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, lemon, and honey mustard.
   
3. Blend on low for 3-5 minutes (until all is mixed well). 
   
4. Serve with your favourite vegetables, crackers, or on a wrap, sandwich, or pita.

*This recipe also works well with 1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes in place of the butternut squash.

Some weeks we like to have a little fun and instead of picking a color, we pick all of the colors! Rainbow is a color in our book. We grabbed one item in each color to go with our green kale in this month’s Veggie Buds Club box. My son picked some of his favorites for each color. Blueberries for blue, carrots for orange, yellow bell pepper for yellow, tomatoes for red, and purple cabbage for purple.
Salads may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of kid food, but making it full of color and having them help pick the ingredients makes it a little more exciting. The fun thing about this recipe is you could use almost any fruits or veggies that fit the colors, as long as you try to make a rainbow! Have your kids be a part of it from start to finish.

Ingredients

• 3 cups kale, stem removed and finely chopped
• 1 medium yellow pepper
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 1 cup blueberries

Dressing

• 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place kale in a large bowl. Mix all dressing ingredients in a small jar. Shake it well to combine.
2. Drizzle dressing on top and gently massage dressing into kale (this is a fun part for the kids!). Add in remaining ingredients and toss to coat the vegetables in the dressing.
3. Cover and place in the fridge to let the kale become a little more tender.

November's featured veggie is KALE at Veggie Buds Club! We hope you enjoy these delicious recipes for Gluten-Free Kale Crackers and Kale White Bean Dip from this month's Veggie Buds Club subscription box.
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This recipe was developed by Heather Staller, a mom of two boys, ages 6 and 3, and cooking instructor specializing in bringing cooking into preschool classrooms. After college, Heather knew she wanted to be a teacher, but first followed her lifelong dream of going to culinary school. Teaching cooking combines both of her passions, and she truly enjoys introducing young children to the joys of cooking with fresh ingredients. Find Heather on Instagram (@heather_kidskitchen), where she shares inventive kid-friendly recipes and ideas for cooking with kids at home.