Kids Love Red Veggies!

We are excited to bring you this month's post from Katie Blauser, the creator of Eat Pretty Darling. Each month on our blog we feature a "Color of the Week" that corresponds with Veggie Buds Club's veggie of the month. August's veggie is TOMATO so we're focusing on RED veggies this month!

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.

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Color of the Week - RED

It’s time to find all things RED this week to go along with our yummy veggie (technically a fruit!) of the month, tomatoes. You could literally just stick to the tomato section this week and just get different varieties of tomatoes because there are so many! Are your kids like mine and they love everything made from tomatoes, just not an actual tomato? This is a great time to make some of their favorites like ketchup and red sauce to show them that some of the things they love are made with this pretty red fruit. And calling it a fruit is such a selling point for my picky eater!
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This week we ventured out of the produce department and snagged some red lentils. While there are tons of great fresh food options for the color red, there are so many others throughout the store! Just make sure to stick with items that are just the ingredient. This week, we’re making a crowd pleasing PIZZA!!! It’s allergy friendly because there are no grains, no nuts, and no eggs! Can you guess what makes our pizza crust red?

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Really RED Pizza

Ingredients
Pizza Sauce

• 2 pounds whole fresh tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1-2 teaspoons honey (optional)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

Red Lentil Crust

• 3/4 cup red lentils, soaked up to 24 hours
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

1. First, prepare the pizza sauce. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Make a small X in the bottom of each tomato and dunk into the boiling water until the skins are slightly loosened, about 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of ice water for 1 minute. Peel off the skin.
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook while stirring, until beginning to brown, about 4-6 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes (and any juice), Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and honey. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until tomatoes have broken down, about 2 hours. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and/or honey.
3. Transfer the sauce to a blender (or use an immersion blender), add tomato paste and blend until smooth. Use caution when pureeing hot liquids! If not using the sauce right away, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 6 months. It will make more than you need for your pizza so you can also use it for spaghetti another day! Now it’s time to prepare the crust.
4. Rinse and drain lentils and preheat oven to 425 F. Place all pizza crust ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.
5. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the batter onto the sheet and spread into an even layer about ¼ inch thick. Bake for 20 minutes.
6. Remove pizza from oven, spread on pizza sauce and top with desired toppings and cheese. Bake pizza for additional 5 minutes or until cheese it melted, brown and bubbly. Slice and serve!

Get the kids involved!
Have them peel the tomatoes after they are tossed in the ice bath. Ask them help sprinkle on the pizza toppings and cheese! 

Red Food Ideas

There are more out there, but here’s a list to get started!

• Apples
• Cherries
• Red Lentils
• Cranberries
• Red Pepper
• Tomatoes
• Red Meat
• Raspberries
• Red Onion
• Strawberries
• Watermelon
• Red Potatoes

Want your kids to eat more veggies?

Check out our shop for interactive and fun products that teach kids that veggies are fun and tasty! In our shop you can find kid-safe knives, interactive placements, veggie-themed activity boxes, and more!