March Break Bites |

It’s March Break! That means fun times with the fam or friends, and some fun snacks to keep you going!

Kids love to help out in the kitchen, as long as you can make food (and healthy food especially) fun. All these recipes are kid-friendly in the kitchen. They are also team-appropriate if your derby team requires more supervision than normal… ;)

If you don’t have kids, find your local junior derby league and bring them some snacks – those young athletes work hard!

First off, a recipe that’s simple to make together:

Coconut Lime Bites (20-24 balls)

Ingredients: 1 medium lime, 2 C pitted dates, 1 C coconut flakes, ¹/₂ C pumpkin seeds, ¹/₄ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions: Zest and juice the lime, pulse everything together in a food processor until the mixture forms a large ball. Add water (one tsp at a time) if the mixture isn’t combining. Get kids to help you roll into 1″ balls and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate 10-15 minutes to chill. Serve or store in the fridge.

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Next, a bunch of pops that you can make and store easily:

Blueberry Chia Pops (6-10 pops)

Ingredients: 1 C frozen blueberries, 4 tbsp Chia seeds, 1/2 large avocado, 1 C almond milk

Instructions: Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until frozen through (8 hours minimum).

Blueberries not your jam? You can do the same with bananas (3 large, and some cinnamon and vanilla instead of the other ingredients). Or, you can just add chopped fresh fruit into the molds and pour in some coconut water and freeze. The only limit is your imagination!

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If you want a challenge, check out the next recipe –

Rainbow Smoothie Straws (20 straws)

Ingredients: 2 C frozen strawberries, 2 C frozen mango, 2 C frozen pineapple, 2 C frozen kiwi, 2 C frozen blueberries, 5 C plain yogurt, 3-4 C almond milk, Zipzicle bags , pastry bags, rubber bands

Instructions: Blend each frozen fruit separately with 1 C yogurt and 1/2 C almond milk (add more milk if you need too, but you want the smoothie to be pretty thick). Pour each mixture into its own pastry bag and close the tops with a rubber band. Place the bags into cups upside down and cut the tips off the bags. Squeeze about an inch of each mixture one by one into the Zipzicle bag (blueberry, kiwi, pineapple, mango, strawberry for a rainbow) until the bags are full. Seal the bags and freeze a minimum of 4 hours.

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Want a simple salsa that kids will love? Look no further:

Strawberry Salsa & Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients Strawberry Salsa: 1 lb chopped fresh strawberries, 2 chopped kiwis, 1/2 a lime (juiced)

Ingredient Cinnamon Chips: 4 whole wheat tortillas, 1 tsp melted coconut oil, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp raw coconut sugar

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash and chop the fruit for the salsa, get the kids to mix it together in a bowl, add lime juice for zest. Brush both sides of the tortillas with the melted oil, stack them and cut them into 8 triangles. Spread the triangles on a foil lined baking sheet, try not to have them overlap. Sprinkle the chips with cinnamon and sugar, flip and sprinkle the other side. Bake for 8-12 minutes, flipping partway through. Bake until the edges are dry and crispy. Allow to cool slightly, but you can dip in the salsa when the chips are still slightly warm!

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Finally, to make food fun for kids (and adults), get creative! Encourage folks to play with their food:

Cut up some fresh fruits: strawberries, grapes, bananas, apples, orange slices
Or some veggies: carrots, celery, cucumber, radish, peppers, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower
Include some almond slices, dark chocolate chips, etc.

Encourage everyone to make animals out of their fruit! You can make all sort of cute creations!