Posted at: 01/11/2012 10:20 AM

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Kid-Friendly Veggies and Fruits

Hy-Vee Registered Dietitian Jen Haugen will 5 tips for making healthy foods more fun for children!

Encourage children to eat vegetables and fruits by making it fun.

Provide healthy ingredients and let kids help with the preparation, based on their age and skills.  Kids may try foods they avoided in the past if they helped make them.

Smoothie creations
Blend fat-free or low-fat yogurt with frozen fruit pieces.  You can even use over-ripe fruits.  Try bananas, berries, peaches and pineapple.  Freezing the fruit first allows you to skip the ice!

Delicious dippers
Kids love dips.  Whip up an easy dip that kids will love for veggies by mixing plain non-fat Greek yogurt with a ranch dressing packet.  Fruit chunks go great with a little flavored yogurt mixed with some lite whipped topping.

Caterpillar kabobs
Make your own kabob creations by combining chunks of melon, apple, oranges and pears (leave the skin on).  Or for a veggie version, try chunks of zucchini, cucumber, yellow squash, sweet peppers or tomatoes.

Personalized pizzas
Set up a pizza making station in the kitchen.  Use whole-wheat English muffins, bagels or pita bread as the crust.  Have tomato sauce, low-fat cheese, and cut-up vegetables or fruits for toppings.  Let kids choose their favorites, then pop them into the oven.

Fruity Peanut Butterfly
Start with carrot sticks or celery as the body.  Attach wings made of thinly sliced apples with peanut butter or strawberry cream cheese for those with nut allergies.  Decorate with halved grapes or dried fruit.

Looking for ways to get kids involved in healthy cooking?
Here are 10 favorites from www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org :

Mean Green Cleaning Machine. Let them wash fruits and vegetables when preparing
for cooking or eating.
Pick A Peck!  When shopping, let them select a new fruit or vegetable to try … or several!
Make It Snappy! Let them snap the green beans, snap peas, or break the flowerets from the
broccoli or cauliflower.
I Spy. Play "I Spy" in the produce section when grocery shopping.
Tear It Up! Let them tear the lettuce for salads and sandwiches.
Measure Up! Let them measure the frozen vegetables before cooking them.
Peel & Slice. Older children can peel and slice carrots, cucumbers, potatoes … the list goes on!
Stir & Spice. Make applesauce from fresh apples. Let them help stir and add the cinnamon.
A Sprinkle A Day… Let them sprinkle herbs or other seasonings onto vegetables.
Monster Mash! Pull out the potato masher!

Jen Haugen represents Hy-Vee as a nutrition expert promoting healthy eating throughout the community.  
Jen is a member of the American and Minnesota Dietetic Associations.