Picky eaters?  Try making food food fun!

Getting children to eat vegetables isn't always easy and we often look for new ways to make healthy eating fun for our young ones. At Veggiecation, we promote an interactive approach that involves getting the kids in the kitchen with us as we cook. Now, that's the preparation portion of the meal, but what about actually getting the kids to eat the stuff?

A study by Brian Wansink, a leading nutrition education researcher, has found that kids are more likely to eat veggies when a fun name is involved. Calling peas "power peas" almost doubled the preference in young children. Rather than tricking or hiding vegetables in your children's meal, creating a fun and descriptive name game gets them to let their guard down.

Let's take it a step further! Not only can you and your kids make naming a vegetable dish fun, you also have the chance to rename one of Veggiecation's very own recipes!

The prize for the Best Recipe Name will be: A Veggiecation Tote Bag filled with an Activity Book, Family Recipe Book and set of Informational Veggie Posters.

Recipe of the Month:

Jicama Sticks and Strawberry Dip

INGREDIENTS

2 Medium Jicama

2 Cups Fresh or Frozen Strawberries (unsweetened, thawed if frozen)

1/4 Cup Honey

2 Tbsp. White Vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Peel the Jicama and cut into long, 1/4-inch sticks.

In a blender, combine the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Serve the Jicama sticks with the strawberry dip.

Enjoy!

To Enter for your FREE Veggiecation Goodie Bag, complete one of the following or all three:

• Leave your new recipe name on this blog post with the following information: your state, grade and email address (use this format: name AT email DOT com).
• Like the Veggiecation's Facebook page for a second entry. Leave a comment on this blog post saying you did so.

Contest Rules:

Only separate comment entries will be counted for extra entries. The contest closes at midnight CST end of every month. The winner will be notified by email. 

Time to get children involved and eating!

Getting children to eat vegetables isn't always easy and we often look for new ways to make healthy eating fun for our young ones. At Veggiecation, we promote an interactive approach that involves getting the kids in the kitchen with us as we cook. Now, that's the preparation portion of the meal, but what about actually getting the kids to eat the stuff?

A study by Brian Wansink, a leading nutrition education researcher, has found that kids are more likely to eat veggies when a fun name is involved. Calling peas "power peas" almost doubled the preference in young children. Rather than tricking or hiding vegetables in your children's meal, creating a fun and descriptive name game gets them to let their guard down.

Let's take it a step further! Not only can you and your kids make naming a vegetable dish fun, you also have the chance to rename one of Veggiecation's very own recipes!

The prize for the Best Recipe Name will be: A Veggiecation Tote Bag filled with an Activity Book, Family Recipe Book and set of Informational Veggie Posters.

Recipe of the Month:

Jicama and Strawberry Dip

INGREDIENTS

2 Medium Jicama

2 cup Fresh or Frozen Unsweetened Strawberries

1/4 cup Honey

2 tbsp. White Vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Wash the Kale leaves and dry well.  Cut each leaf in half lengthwise.  Remove stem and center rib.

Toss kale with oil in large bowl.

Arrange leaves in single layer on 2 large baking sheets.

Combine Cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and sprinkle over Kale leaves.

Bake until crisp, about 25 - 30 minutes.  Check after 25 minutes.  Smaller leaves take less time and should be removed first.  The larger more wrinkled leaves usually need to bake for a few extra minutes to get crisp.

Transfer leaves to rack to cool.

To Enter for your FREE Veggiecation Goodie Bag, complete one of the following or all three:

• Leave your new recipe name on this blog post with the following information: your state, grade and email address (use this format: name AT email DOT com).
• Like the Veggiecation's Facebook page for a second entry. Leave a comment on this blog post saying you did so.
• Share the URL to this contest with others via your Facebook page or email. Leave a comment saying you did so.

Contest Rules:

Only separate comment entries will be counted for extra entries. The contest closes at midnight CST end of every month. The winner will be notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize by responding to the email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be drawn until prizes are claimed.

Time to get children involved and eating!

Getting children to eat vegetables isn't always easy and we often look for new ways to make healthy eating fun for our young ones. At Veggiecation, we promote an interactive approach that involves getting the kids in the kitchen with us as we cook. Now, that's the preparation portion of the meal, but what about actually getting the kids to eat the stuff?

A study by Brian Wansink, a leading nutrition education researcher, has found that kids are more likely to eat veggies when a fun name is involved. Calling peas "power peas" almost doubled the preference in young children. Rather than tricking or hiding vegetables in your children's meal, creating a fun and descriptive name game gets them to let their guard down.

Let's take it a step further! Not only can you and your kids make naming a vegetable dish fun, you also have the chance to rename one of Veggiecation's very own recipes!

The prize for the Best Recipe Name will be: A Veggiecation Tote Bag filled with an Activity Book, Family Recipe Book and set of Informational Veggie Posters.

Recipe of the Month:

Jicama and Strawberry Dip

INGREDIENTS

2 Medium Jicama

2 cup Fresh or Frozen Unsweetened Strawberries

1/4 cup Honey

2 tbsp. White Vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Wash the Kale leaves and dry well.  Cut each leaf in half lengthwise.  Remove stem and center rib.

Toss kale with oil in large bowl.

Arrange leaves in single layer on 2 large baking sheets.

Combine Cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and sprinkle over Kale leaves.

Bake until crisp, about 25 - 30 minutes.  Check after 25 minutes.  Smaller leaves take less time and should be removed first.  The larger more wrinkled leaves usually need to bake for a few extra minutes to get crisp.

Transfer leaves to rack to cool.

To Enter for your FREE Veggiecation Goodie Bag, complete one of the following or all three:

• Leave your new recipe name on this blog post with the following information: your state, grade and email address (use this format: name AT email DOT com).
• Like the Veggiecation's Facebook page for a second entry. Leave a comment on this blog post saying you did so.
• Share the URL to this contest with others via your Facebook page or email. Leave a comment saying you did so.

Contest Rules:

Only separate comment entries will be counted for extra entries. The contest closes at midnight CST end of every month. The winner will be notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize by responding to the email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be drawn until prizes are claimed.

Lisa Suriano, founder and CEO of Veggiecation, filmed with Shelley Goldberg of New York 1 this morning, March 20th.  Shelley has been on air for 18 years providing parents with tips on where to go and what to do with their children.  Lisa spoke of the free Whole Foods Market cooking classes that Veggiecation conducts in select Whole Foods in NYC.  To learn more about these cooking class dates, please click here. 

The recipes that were highlighted in the segment were our Shamrock Smoothie and our Super Snap Pea Salad.  Recipes are below and we welcome you to try them out for yourselves!  We would love to know how your version turned out, so feel free to comment on this blog post.

Shamrock Smoothie

*Note: Adding raw veggies to a fruit smoothie is a great way to increase veggie intake whether for you or for kids!  Try this with spinach, lettuce, or even radishes!*

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup kale, chopped
• 4 oz of milk (low fat, coconut, rice, almont,  traditional, etc...Whichever you prefer!)
• 4 oz plain yogurt (low fat, coconut, rice, almond, etc)
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1tbsp honey

Preparation:

• Chop kale 
• Measure ingredients
• Throw it in a blender
• Enjoy!

Super Snap Pea Salad

*Note: This salad can be stored in the fridge for a few days.  You don't need to worry about it wilting so feel free to send it with your kids for lunch!*

Ingredients:

For the Dressing:

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup canola, safflower, or grapeseed oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

For the Salad:

• ¾ lb snap peas, snip the ends and wash
• 1 cup cut corn kernels
• 1 red pepper, diced into small pieces (1/4"-1/2" pieces)

Preparation:

• In a small bowl, whisk the ingredients for the dressing 
• In a larger bowl, combine ingredients for the salad
• Toss dressing with the salad
• Enjoy!