Thursday, 15 November 2012

HEALTHY SNACKS AND DESSERTS FOR KIDS


Hummus with vegetable crisps
It's not complicated making your own hummus, it also puts you in control how much salt you use and kids will enjoy snacking on it. It's ideal for lunch box. Experiment with the recipe, use peanut or pumpkin seed butter instead of tahini or add fresh spinach or roast pepper to the basic recipe. Play with it.
Ingredients
200gr cooked chickpeas
2-3 tbsp. tahini
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2-3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic (if kids don't mind it)
Water to incorporate it all
Emit the salt if the kids are small or leave it completely out
Blend all ingredients into a smooth dip.

Heat your oven to 150 degrees.
Use mandoline slicer or potato peeler to thinly slice parsnip, carrot, beetroot or sweet potato - whatever you have at hand. Mix all the vegetables in a bowl, adding very little sea salt, 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and a ground spice to taste (sweet paprika or coriander). Bake in the oven an hour or two, turning them every half an hour and until they crisp up.
Keep it in closed container for a week.

Apples and pears with peanut butter sauce for yum-yum dipping
You can offer it to kids when they fancy something sweet for snack. Use cashew, pumpkin seed or almond butter instead of peanut.
For kids over 1 year.
Sauce:
3 tbsp. peanut butter
3 tbsp. rice syrup
2-3 drops of umeboshi vinegar
Combine all the ingredients, adding water to dilute it. Slice apple or pear and serve.

Roast seeds
Mix pumpkin and sunflower seeds and dry roast until they start popping and browning. Keep it in a jar kids can easily reach. For those younger than a year, ground them in pestle and mortar and add to purees.

Polenta fingers fried with coconut oil and cinnamon
Add half a cup of water and half a cup of coconut milk to a pan (or substitute with almond, rice or oat milk). When it boils, add polenta and stir until cooked. Pour into a small rectangular dish to cool; it should be 1-1.5 cm thick. When it cools down, slice into fingers and fry on each side in coconut milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve warm. Kids will lick their fingers!

Kanten or fruit jelly with agar agar - sugar free
Agar agar is your new gelatine, but it's vegan and full of minerals. When you notice that your kids are hyperactive and are getting anxious at night, this is a marvellous dessert that relaxes the body at the end of the day. This recipe is for a family of 4.
Ingredients:
500 ml freshly pressed apple juice (with no added sugar and definitely not from concentrate)
2 tbsp. agar agar
Blueberries or sliced strawberries, raspberries or blackberries
Pour juice, agar agar and a pinch of salt into a pan, heat until it boils and turn the flame down to simmer. Occasionally stir until agar agar dissolves, it might take between 8 and 10 minutes. Pour over fruit that you placed over a silicone mould. Leave to set for half an hour. Keep it in the fridge for a few days or serve on the day.

Popcorn with gomasio or toasted nori flakes
Pop the corn using coconut oil. Sprinkle gomasio over (ground 12 tbsp of roasted sesame seeds and 1/4 tsp of sea salt; keep it in a jar for a week) Or you can toast a sheet of nori and flake it over popcorn.

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