June is Lettuce Month at Veggie Buds Club and we are excited to bring you a creative and tasty kid-approved recipe from Taesha at The Natural Nurturer! You can find more kid-friendly lettuce recipes and activities that are guaranteed to make lettuce tasty for your children in Veggie Buds Club's Lettuce Activity Book! Taesha Butler is the creator, blogger and recipe developer behind the site, The Natural Nurturer. A preschool teacher and mother, Taesha has a passion for healthy and natural living. Through her veggie-loaded family-friendly recipes, natural living tips, and honest parenting talk, Taesha aims to empower parents and caregivers to raise their families in healthy ways that fit into their busy lives. Mashed Chickpea Salad Lettuce BoatsThis mashed chickpea salad is a vegetarian version of the classic tuna salad! The perfect no-cook meal that you can easily make in minutes. When served on lettuce “boats,” this quick meal instantly becomes extra fun for littles to eat as well as getting some extra veggies in!
INGREDIENTS
0 Comments
Enjoy this crunchy and sweet Waldorf Salad that's on the lighter side because of the creamy yogurt dressing! This recipe is a great introduction to celery and salad to children if they're apprehensive about both. Be sure to have them assist you with chopping the celery and apples using a kid-safe knife or butter knife and have them mix up the sweet dressing! Waldorf Salad with Yogurt DressingIngredients
Breakfast is an important meal that gives you energy to get your day started. But often a major food group is missing from your breakfast plate or bowl... veggies! Join us for our #veggiebudsbreakfastclub challenge for the month of February: include at least one veggie in your first meal of the day. To give you some inspiration we've compiled some of our favorite veggie-packed breakfasts! We've broken them down into 3 categories: Savory, Baked Goods, and Smoothies. Each recipe below includes veggies, is delicious, and is simple to make! Savory Veggie-Packed Breakfast IdeasSweet Potato Quiche: This tasty quiche is packed with veggies and bacon (optional) and swaps the standard crust with shredded sweet potato instead for an extra veggie boost. Savory Corn Pancakes: These savory pancakes from Happy Kids Kitchen are great with avocado or spread with a little cream cheese and made into sandwiches. Yum! Sweet Potato Toasts: These sweet potato toasts from Eat Pretty Darling are so versatile because they are delicious both sweet and savory. That’s what makes them the perfect toast substitute! Rainbow Fried Rice: This rainbow fried rice from Happy Kids Kitchen is colorful, easy, healthy, and delicious for breakfast! Vegetable Frittata: Healthy Little Foodies has a great kid-approved and veggie-packed frittata recipe, make it ahead and reheat in the morning. Cauliflower & Cheese Muffins: Be sure to let your kiddos know that their yummy egg muffins have some "hidden" cauliflower inside, recipe from My Kids Lick The Bowl. 5-Ingredient Bacon & Broccoli Egg Cups: These are a great grab-and-go breakfast option from The Natural Nurturer. Carrot Banana Protein Oatmeal: This oatmeal from The Natural Nurturer is full of nothing but the good stuff and is super easy to make! Veggie Oatmeal: Happy Healthy Casa has some great options for veggie-packed oatmeal including how to incorporate zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, squash, sweet potato, and spinach! Veggie-Packed Breakfast Baked GoodsCarrot Cake Muffin Tops: The top of the muffin is the best part, right? These wholesome treats are a combination of a tender muffin and an oatmeal breakfast cookie. Recipe by Happy Kids Kitchen. One-Bowl Sweet Potato Pancakes: These pancakes from Happy Kids Kitchen are a great way to add some extra nutrients into your morning! No-Bake Pumpkin Energy Balls: These no-bake pumpkin energy balls from Stephanie Middleberg are tasty, and they freeze well so they're a perfect on-the-go breakfast or snack for your kiddos. Green French Toast Sticks: Enjoy this delicious kid-friendly way to "sneak" in some spinach from Happy Kids Kitchen! Little chefs will know that greens are in this fun breakfast, but they sure won't be able to taste them. Outrageous Orange Granola: This granola from Eat Pretty Darling is packed with pumpkin, sweet potato, and carrots- so much orange veggie goodness! Sweet Spinach Muffins: These kid-favorite muffins from Super Healthy Kids are 100% whole wheat, refined-sugar-free, and packed with fresh spinach! Banana Spinach Pancake Pizza: This pancake pizza from The Natural Nurturer is a perfectly delicious way to serve up veggies for breakfast! Sweetened entirely with fruit and loaded with spinach. Veggie-Packed Breakfast SmoothiesTropical Carrot Smoothie: Happy Kids Kitchen has developed a tropical vacation in a glass! Kids will love measuring and adding ingredients to the blender, helping to chop the carrot, and pressing the buttons on the blender.
Spinach Superhero Smoothie: This recipe from Motherhood and Meals is called "superhero smoothie" because just as superheroes in stories fight crime, the spinach in this smoothie helps fight off illness! Ants on a Log Smoothie: Adding celery to a smoothie with the addition of peanut butter in a tasty protein-and-veggie packed breakfast! Recipe from Motherhood and Meals. Vitamin C Immune Boosting Smoothie: This smoothie from The Natural Nurturer is made with strawberry, banana, red bell pepper and is the perfect way to start your day! Cauliflower Strawberry Banana Smoothie: Just 4 ingredients! Enjoy this simple and delicious smoothie from Live Eat Learn. We are excited to bring you this creative kid-approved recipe from Noelle Martin of @motherhoodandmeals- Ants on a Log Smoothie! A quick reminder that February's theme at Veggie Buds Club is "Celery-brate Celery!" and we still have a few boxes left in our shop, purchase one today to receive fun hands-on celery activities, games, growing projects, and more! Ants on a Log Smoothie Ants on a log is a super common snack for kids to expose them to the taste and texture of celery. But what about the children that struggle with the intense crunch or the “celery strings”? This applied to my youngest child so for his celery exposure I started with adding celery to smoothies, and gradually moved my way up in exposure with cooked celery in stir fries and eventually raw celery on veggie plates. One of his favorite celery smoothies was one I called “ANTS ON A LOG”. Here is the recipe if you want to try it too! INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
Noelle Martin is a Registered Dietitian and mom of three young boys. She has a passion for education, inspiring, and empowering moms to make healthy choices for themselves and their families. Noelle loves involving her children in food planning and preparation for their home and sees the kitchen as a perfect area for teaching both academic and life skills. Follow @MotherhoodandMeals on Instagram for Noelle's nutrition tips, recipes, product reviews, and motherhood moments.
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. Katie Blauser is the mama of two boys, wife of a picky eater, and food lover at Eat Pretty Darling. She believes in making food fun, healthy, & pretty! Katie’s not only outnumbered by boys in her little family, but also by picky eaters. She loves trying to find new ways to get both kids and adults to eat healthy while making food pretty yummy, pretty healthy, and pretty fun! Find Katie on Instagram (@eatprettydarling), where she shares colorful and cute food ideas for both picky and adventurous eaters. Celery Bugs!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! How to Make ThemMaterials Needed
February's featured veggie is CELERY at Veggie Buds Club! We hope you enjoy this delicious celery recipe from this month's Veggie Buds Club subscription box. 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. Creamy Celery SoupTurning crunchy, fresh celery into a warm and creamy soup allows kids to experience the veggie of the month in a whole new way. Cut the potato and celery into sticks and have your little chef chop the veggies into chunks and carefully add them to the pot. When chopping, don’t forget to include the leaves attached to the celery; they add so much celery flavor to the dish. While the soup is simmering, taste test some raw celery with a dip or make little ants-on-a-log bites with celery, nut-butter, and dried cranberries or raisins.
Ingredients
I hope you enjoy this recipe that was included in Veggie Buds Club's "Kids Love Veggie Soup" box this month! It was developed by the very talented Heather Staller. Heather is a mom of two boys, ages 4 and 2, 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. Get kids involved in the kitchen- peeling carrots, adding veggies to the pot, and
stirring in those fun alphabet noodles with this veggie-packed, comforting soup. Ingredients -1 tablespoon olive oil -½ small onion, cut into ¼-inch dice -1 large carrot, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice -1 stalk celery, trimmed and cut into ¼-inch dice -¼ teaspoon Kosher or coarse sea salt, plus more to season -1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced -1 medium sized waxy potato (red or yellow skinned), cut into ¼-inch dice -¼ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning -½ 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes (about ¾ cup) -3 cups vegetable broth, chicken broth, or water -Handful of green beans, trimmed and cut into small rounds -½ cup frozen peas, frozen corn, or a combination of both -½ cup alphabet shaped pasta* -1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or micro basil -Freshly ground pepper -Parmesan cheese, for the top (optional) Instructions 1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and ¼ teaspoon of salt and cook until vegetables have softened slightly, about 5 minutes. 2. Add garlic, Italian seasoning, and potatoes. Stir an additional minute. 3. Add tomatoes, broth or water, green beans, and alphabet pasta. Bring pot up to a simmer and cook until vegetables are tender and pasta is cooked, about 10 minutes. 4. Stir in frozen peas then turn off heat and stir in fresh basil. 5. Taste soup for seasoning then add in pepper and additional salt, as needed. 6. Ladle into bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of extra basil, if desired. *Cooked pasta will absorb lots of liquid if left in the soup for an extended period of time. If you’d like to make this soup in advance or freeze a portion to enjoy another time, you will want to cook your pasta in a separate pot, drain, then add to the portion of the soup you will be eating right away. |
Archives
January 2021
Categories
All
|