3 Recipes for Fun Fruit You Kids Will Gobble Up!

It’s the first day of spring – a season of hope, renewal, rebirth and rejuvenation.  In our family it is also a new year and excuse for another holiday.  We celebrate the Persian New Year, also know as “Norouz” with our extended families.  Norowz falls on the first day of spring and is a tradition that has been celebrated for over 3,000 years!

Like many parent’s you’ll rely on searching ‘things to do near me’ for to find family activity ideas and things to do with kids, however there is now an app called gojam to help you.

I get excited when I start noticing tiny blossoms on trees and fragrant Madagascar jasmine blooms.  I can’t help but pick them and bring that delicious sweet smell home to share and enjoy.  Days get warmer and longer, people get outside and lighten up their clothing.  Everyone and everything peels off layers and comes out of winter slumber. Discover why เดิมพันกับ UFABET stands out in the world of online gambling.

One of my favorite parts of spring is getting the first crop fresh local fruit.  Today we got a sample of first of the season strawberries from our farmstand – they were especially sweet and wonderful.  I took them to share with  my folks when I went to visit for a New Year’s greeting.  They were gone within a half hour.

Fruit kabobs are a fun easy way to make simple fruit a fun treat for kids.  I made the ones in the photo above to go along with breakfast after our daughter’s b-day sleep-over last month.  It was hard to compete with donuts but believe it or not, they were eaten up.

Festive Fruit Kabobs

grapes

raspberries

blackberries

wooden shish kabob sticks

Altnernate fruit colors to make a pretty fruit pattern.  Almost any fruit can be used.  We’ve made them with strawberries, melon balls, mandarins, …  add mini marshmellows for a little surprise.  Hopefully your kiddo’s aren’t the type that will pick out the marshmellows and leave the rest – actually, I’ve rarely seen that done.

I put together this fun fruit plate on Valentine’s day which falls very close to our daughter’s bday since I was on a fabulous fruit roll.  Making heart shaped strawberries is easier than it looks.  Use a sharp pearing knife and shape out the top of the strawberry into a heart shape.  Leave the sides and bottom of the strawberries whole.  Peel oranges and lay inbetween heart shaped strawberries to create a flowering effect.  Garnish with banana slices.  

Take your time and practice making the strawberry shapes.    Basically, cut a V-shape to remove the leaves and stem of the strawberry.  Round out the two upper sides with a sharp knife.  A strawberry with a naturally sharper bottom is going to turn out most like a heart shape.  Have fun and enjoy my Ideas for Fun Fruit Your Kids Will Gobble Up!

Be sure to check out more healthy recipes on Oven Hug where you will find low-fat, low-sugar tasty food ideas!

Healthy Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps

The first time our older daughter heard of lettuce wraps was several years ago watching her favorite tv show at the time, Arthur.  I can’t remember the details of the show but I think Arthur made a friend with a boy from China and got to try lettuce wraps which he loved.  It was soon after that our daughter was begging to try lettuce wraps.  Good ole’ grandma came over and made some for her.  They seemed so exotic back then.

Since those times we’ve seen lettuce wraps pop up in restaurants, namely P.F. Chang’s and subsequently recipes trying to imitate the Asian lettuce wraps from P.F. Changs.  The problem with many of these recipes is that they are heavy in oil and sugar.  Because our girls love Healthy Ground Turkey Asian Lettuce Wraps so much, I’ve made them a zillion times and adjusted this recipe to be both lower on sugar and oil, hence healthy, And very delicious.

These Asian lettuce wraps have replaced the beloved taco night in our house.  We literally have them once a week.  The girls are always thrilled when they hear we are having lettuce wraps.  I’ve learned to throw some rice in the rice cooker for the hubby who needs something a bit more substantial than flavorful meat and lettuce.  The meal I try to prepare includes the lettuce wraps that my husband eats as an appetizer and the girls and I eat as a main dish.  We have rice and stir fry fresh veggies as well.

Here is the ingredients list:

2 heads small gems sweet lettuce

2 lbs (2 packages) lean ground turkey meat

1 tablespoon olive oil or go lighter and use spray olive oil

2 t crushed garlic

2 T chives (cut small with kitchen shears)

2 T cilantro (cut small with kitchen shears)

juice of 1/2 a fresh lime

1/4 red onion or 1/2 medium size onion

Sauce:

Hoisin sauce

TJ’s Sesame Soy Ginger Vinagrette dressing

Rice vinegar

Low sodium Soy sauce

Toasted sesame seed oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

chopped peanuts

Directions:

Lightly saute the onions in olive oil or spray oil add crushed garlic and cook another minute.  Add ground turkey – cook until light brown.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Squeeze fresh lime juice into cooked meat.  Add all of the sauces, just a bit of each since individuals can add more soy sauce or dressing if preferred – I like to keep it light and flavorful.  Cut in chives and cilantro.

Stir all ingredients of meat mixture together in a bowl.  Remove lettuce leaves individually.  Dish out meat mixture onto lettuce leaves – the lettuce leaves act as cups or bowls.  My kids prefer to fill their lettuce on their own and create their own wraps.  When we happen to have peanuts in the house we chop some up and sprinkle on top of the meat in the lettuce bowl or wrap.

That’s it.  We never have left-overs on this dinner.  That is a good sign!  Hope you and your family enjoy this recipe for Healthy Ground Turkey Asian Lettuce Wraps as much as we do!  Leave me a comment if you try it and let me know what you thought and if you tried something different – love to hear about the variations.

Happy cooking 🙂

Our Neighborhood Farmstand and a Couple of Healthy Recipes

It always has seemed to good to be true. From my very first experience with Our Neighborhood Farmstand right up to today.
18 months ago I was leaving swim team practice with our younger daughter Ava. It was a beautiful summer day at our community pool. As we were meandering out towards our car we were approached by a soft spoken woman, later to be known as ‘Farmstand Shan’ (pronounced Sh-Ann). Shan asked if we could answer a few questions for a survey and we agreed. The questions were interesting. It went something to the likes of this:

– If you could have access to fresh, locally grown, organic produce similar to produce sold at Farmer’s Markets on the weekends, would you be interested? – Of course we said yes

– How often would you want to receive this type of fresh produce? – Maybe once a week

– Would you be willing to host a ‘Farmstand’ outside in front of your house? – What? A farmstand in front of our house? How would that work? Ok! Yes!

I left my name and email address with Shan and figured I would never here from her again. Sounded too good to be true – a farm stand in front of our house? How awesome and easy would that be?? Shan later went on to explain that the farm stand would be accessible by a special lock key for members of the neighborhood interested in participating in fresh produce deliveries.
Well almost exactly a year ago, in middle of the winter last year, a first rendition of the farmstand appeared outside of our house.  And that is how our neighborhood Farmstand came about!

“It will just be for about two weeks – a pilot project”, I was told.  I guess we have been a successful pilot project since we are well over 2 weeks now – we have been hosting the farmstand for over a year!  Every once in awhile I will get a comment from new people I have met locally, ‘Oh, you live in the Farmstand house’  I think it’s pretty funny. Well if I’m going to be known by anything it may as well be by the Farmstand!
The Farmstand continues to be good to us. We are summer produce people in our family – lovers of fruit and all things sweet.  When we are winter months and our local produce consists of potatoes, squash, kohlrabi, and other root vegetables I’ve never seen or heard of before.  Even out here in California, this time of year our skin is paler and hour produce is more dull.  Needless to say we have been hibernating from the farmstand recently.

True to form, Farmstand Shan has resurfaced. She has recently had an adorable baby boy that we had the pleasure of meeting – all cheeks and smiles and big bright eyes. Shan continues to be committed to the FarmStand. Added to the mix is a new addition to our Neighborhood Farmstand, Emiko. Emiko is like a young, adorable Julia Child – accept instead of being from England she is from Japan. Sophisticated and cute at the same time, packed in a small package, Emiko is full of energy and ideas. I don’t even know how it transpired but I was offered cooking demonstration/lesson by Emiko and observed by our Farmstand Shan.

Emiko and Shan came to the house on Sunday equipped with chef’s knife, mandolin, and of course, a bag full of winter Farmstand produce. It seems the purpose of their visit was to inspire me to cook and use winter vegetables and also to observe and take note of how a typical (?) family shops and cooks for weekly groceries. I am always happy to help the Farmstand and this time I got a big help too!

It so happened that we were on our way to a gathering at grandma’s house Sunday evening and I was in charge of bringing a veggie tray or salad. With Emiko’s knowledge, expertise, and help, I was able to prepare and take a beautiful Apple Beet Salad and a bowl of fresh baked Kale chips to my folk’s house to share with all the extended family. Both were a big hit – especially the pretty and delicious beet salad.

So without further delay, here are the recipes!
Apple Beet Salad

Ingredients

1-bunch Beets (peeled and cut into fine matchsticks – we used our mandolins)

1 Apple (peeled, cored and cut into fine matchsticks – again we used our mandolins)

Fatfree Feta cheese, about 7 oz. (we found ours at Trader Joes)

Fresh mint or cilantro (we used cilantro)

Cchopped walnuts (my addition – I like adding crunch of nuts to fancy salads)
Dressing:
5 T’s lemon oil dressing – combine fresh squeezed lemon juice about 1 T olive oil
Salt and pepper
This salad was a huge hit!  We served it at a family gathering we had at my folks house.  It was so pretty on the table and I noticed a few people going back for seconds. There wasn’t much left as we were cleaning up which is always a good sign. Surprisingly our younger daughter Ava was asking if brought any of that beet salad from last night home – sadly the answer was no. Emiko was so creative in her ideas to display the Apple Kale salad in little cabbage boats. We blanched the cabbage just a little to make it soft and nicer to eat. I was inspired to try the same technique with the cabbage the next time we make lettuce wraps (a favorite with the kids).

Now for the Kale Chips – I have to admit, I had never tried Kale chips! They looked gross to me, too healthy, and not possibly good. Also I have tried the dried seaweed snacks that are also trendy and I really don’t care for the seaweed. I assumed it must taste the same. Wrongo! Kale chips are awesome! So crunchy, light and flavorful! Who knew?? Even one of my 4-year-old nieces was gobbling them up.

Kale Chips

Ingredients

1 bunch curly kale

olive oil (we used olive oil spray to keep it light)

salt and pepper to taste
Emiko taught me how to remove the thick stemmy part of the Kale by holding the stem with one hand and then quickly pulling up the stem with the other hand – it’s very easy. From there you tear up the kale a little smaller but not too small. Use the olive oil spray and then rub the leaves around the oil a bit with your fingers. Add some salt and pepper.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the oiled and seasoned kale out on the trays. Bake/roast them in the oven at 250 degrees for about 15 minutes – you may need to adjust the temperature to 200 and keep a close eye on them to make sure they get crispy but don’t over brown. Taste and you may like to add a bit more seasonings. These things go fast!

Simple Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

Strawberry Banana Smoothies garnished with a strawberry half and served with a Boba milk tea straw. Kids love the presentation – makes the treat feel extra special 🙂

Smoothies feel like a special treat and nothing hits the spot like this Simple Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe.  I’ve tried all sorts, mixed up the fruit, added yogurts, tried green smoothies, but this pink drink beats them all in our house.  I love it when I can make something that everyone likes without having to be a short order cook.  We treat smoothies as treats understanding that the best way to have your fruit is to eat it in it’s natural state.  But when we need breakfast on the run or a cold treat that feels like ice cream, smoothies are the answer.

When I said simple I meant simple!  3 ingredients plus sweetener if you like.  Here are the ingredients for Simple Strawberry Banana Smoothies:

2 cups frozen organic strawberries

8 ounce glass of fat free milk

1 banana

2 small scoops of Stevia sweetener (optional)

Place all the ingredients in a high powered blender.  Blend on medium to high speed until the contents look smooth.  You most likely will need to use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides for even blending.  Our gals like their smoothies thicker so they can eat it with a spoon or a large straw (we save our straws after Thai bubble tea!)  If you prefer smoothies to be more liquid and drinkable, simply add more milk.

This recipe makes enough for 3 small mason jars.  Stick a strawberry in for garnish and watch how quickly they dissappear.  I literally poured the smoothies, garnished them for a photo, turned around for a second, and then there was only one!  Seconds are allowed, especially when the portions are nice and small in the mini mason jars.

Hope you enjoy making Simple Strawberry Banana Smoothies!  Leave a comment and let me know how if it turned out for you. 😉 Bita