LUNCH – Tuna on Cucumber with Shredded Carrot & Radish
I love using shredded veggies. They are easy for the little ones to eat. They are fancy. And they are a great way to win over hesitant eaters, because the taste isn’t as strong and the commitment to try doesn’t seem so big. That’s exactly what happened when I served this lunch. Only one of the kiddos previously liked radishes, but all of the kids ate the shredded radish here and a few even asked for seconds on the side. Happy dance for sure.

The trick to making these, is to blot the cucumber slices with some paper towel before topping them with the tuna (I used tuna mixed with a bit of mayonnaise). For the shredded carrot and radish, I just used a simple box grater.

SNACK – Pumpkin Spice Pita Chips with Apple Dip and Concord Grapesicles
I can’t even tell you how much the kids loved this snack. Devoured. Completely. Pretty much sums it up though. I served the Pumpkin Spice Pita Chips with the Apple Pumpkin Dip in a small bowl on the side, for each child to have their own individual chips & dip. No worries about double (or triple) dipping then. Plus they liked the dip so much, that the pita chips became a bit of a spoon, which I was totally ok with because this is dip is healthy enough to eat with a spoon.

The concord grapesicles are the easiest thing to make, simply slide the grapes onto a skewer (I used 8″ bamboo skewers) and freeze on a baking sheet. At the same time I also tossed a few bunches of concord grapes on the baking sheet too. Also delicious and the kids liked pulling the grapes off the stems – plus, like no work, literally just toss them in the freezer. You can make these skewers with green or red grapes as well, but I like the concord grapes because they have more of a grape popsicle flavour.

SNACK – Garden Salad on Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds
Hands down one of my favourite ways to get kids to eat more vegetables, is to serve veggie only snacks. I find this works especially well for after school snacks, when they often are wanting to devour everything in sight. I try to make a point of doing this a few times each week to spread the veggie love:)

This snack is one the kiddos really like, I even serve it for lunch sometimes. Some of the kids pick the round up and eat them and some of the kids eat the vegetables off the top first and then eat the sweet potato, dipping as they go. The dip is a simple mixture of plain yogurt and a few drops of hot sauce, a take on the traditional mayo and hot sauce that comes with take out sweet potato fries.

To make the roasted sweet potato rounds, I sliced the sweet potato width-wise, creating circles (these ones were about 1/4 inch thick) and tossed them, in a bowl, with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Meanwhile, I heated a few rimmed baking sheets in a 400°F oven, then I spread out the potatoes on the heated pans (carefully because they’re hot), sprinkled them with salt and popped them into the oven for about 15 – 20 minutes per side, or until they start to turn golden brown. I let the rounds cool a bit and then topped them with the salad (made up of lettuce, cucumber and mini peppers) and some Parmesan cheese.

These also make a great side for dinner. For older kids and adults I slice the sweet potato lengthwise, so the slices are larger, top them with the salad and then drizzle on some Honey Dijon Dressing and then we eat them with a knife and fork (because we’re civilized like that:)