11 Fun Recipes That Will Have Your Kids Asking For Their Greens

~ published by Diana Cohen

Every child, at one time or another, marvels at what we later decide is “gross”. Aliens, frogs, swamps, slime, and good old fashion boogers, are the secrets to success when it comes to getting your child (especially BOYS) to devour their greens. There are infinite games, shapes, adventures, and combinations that can be incorporated into a healthy diet.

Monster Snot

(If you want to get really snotty about this, let them eat it with their fingers!)

Ingredients:

4 T fresh orange juice
3 persimmons
2 soft pitted dates
6-8 soft leaves of Boston (butter) lettuce
4-5 ice cubes

Directions:

Place ingredients in the blender in the order listed and blend.

This chilly, refreshing pudding is a real treat for monsters of all ages.

Swamp Soup

Ingredients:

2 T lemon juice
3 tomatoes
3 big handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves
A few cherry tomatoes
Celery salt

Directions:

Place the first 3 ingredients in the blender in the order listed above. You can add a bit of water, if you like, but we like it thick like swamp slime. Place one juicy bug (a single cherry tomato) on top of the soup, and at least 3 circles of celery salt flakes to be lily pads. Gobble up that swampy goodness.

Bananerpillars

These are so real…

Ingredients:

I sun-dried banana
(aka: the slimy caterpillar)
1 large, leaf of green leaf lettuce
(use soft, pliable leaves)

Directions:

Take the slimy caterpillar, and hold it between your thumb and index finger. Careful not to let it wriggle away while you place it in the center of your leaf! This caterpillar is ready to make its cocoon, so roll it up tight in the lettuce leaf. When it’s all wrapped up, go ahead and gobble. Feel free to initiate a post-snack butterfly dance, if you think your kids are up for it.

Mom’s Tip: If you’re going to give dried fruit, this is a great way to do it. The lettuce helps scrub the sticky fruit off their teeth.

Oscar’s Rusty Sludge

Ingredients:

2 cups coarsely chopped, ripe papaya
1 juicy Anjou pear
6 big frozen strawberries
2 large leaves of green leaf lettuce

Directions:

Place all ingredients in the blender in the order given above. You might have to do some squishing to get it to catch with the blade. Blend until smooth and enjoy!

Gobbling Goblin Wraps

In case you didn’t already know, apples and bananas are terrified of goblins! But they happen to be a goblin’s favorite snack. This nifty trick is a surefire way to trap those tasty morsels before they flee from your little goblin’s plate in fear!

Ingredients:

The trap (pliable leaves of Boston or green leaf lettuce are nice.)
A small bowl of Goblin Glue (raw almond butter)
3 bananas, sliced thinly
2 apples, chopped into small chunks

Directions:

This is more fun if your let the kids handle the assembly and some of the preparation themselves. Slime the lettuce leaf with a nice, thin layer of goblin glue. Take the helpless banana and apple chucks and stick them to the goblin glue. Trap them there by wrapping the lettuce leaves tightly shut. Then gobble them quickly before they escape. Yum!

Mom’s Tip: You can use any combination of fruits. Try some berries, raisins, whatever your goblin likes best. You can also try different nut butters. Black sesame butter and apples, for example, is a dynamite combo!

Children’s Recipes From Famous Green People

If gross doesn’t work for your little munchkins, then try using a few famous green superheroes and cuddly characters to inspire them, instead!

The Hulk’s Choco-Power Shake

Ingredients:

1 1⁄2 cups fresh water
3 ripe bananas
1 frozen banana
6 big frozen strawberries
2 T carob powder
2-3 leaves of dinosaur kale
2 Medjool dates (remember to remove the pit)

Directions:

Stuff, blend, slurp. Feel the hulk power!

Peter Pan’s Pick-Me-Up

Ingredients:

1 cup of water
3 Fuyu persimmons
3 bananas
8 large leaves of black (dinosaur) kale

Directions:

Blend in the order listed, then pour into a pirate’s mug. Serve immediately, or let it sit in the fridge for a while to thicken resulting in the greenest, creamiest Peter Pan Pick-Me-Up that Neverland has ever seen!

Kermit the Frog’s “It’s So Easy Being Green” Guacamole

Ingredients:

3 ripe avocados
juice from 1 lemon
1 cup spinach
1 T celery salt
15 cherry tomatoes,
thinly sliced
6 sprigs of chives,
chopped into tiny freckles

Directions:

Blend the first four ingredients in the blender. When smooth like thick whipped butter, transfer into a handsome bowl, and toss in the cherry tomato slices and chive freckles. This confetti guacamole will look great with a few extra tomato slices and chive sprigs to decorate the top of the bowl.

Popeye’s Puddin’

Ingredients:

1 tsp. of lemon juice
3-4 big, ripe bananas
1 juicy red apple (cut in quarters)
1 BIG (really grab) handful of baby spinach leaves
2 long, crispy inner stalks of celery
1 handful of raisins

You will also need:

Two small, clear, glass bowls, drinking glasses, or even deep martini glasses if you want to make it special.

Directions:

Stuff 2 bananas, apple quarters, and spinach into blender base. Break 1 celery stalk into about 3 pieces, and stick it in the blender on top of the other ingredients. Start your blender on low, and use the second celery stalk to stuff the ingredients into the bottom. Replacing the lid, turn it up to high speed (for a nice creamy pudding texture).

Take the remaining bananas and mash them with a fork in a separate bowl. Mix in the teaspoon of lemon juice.

Layer the bottom of the bowl with half the banana mixture, and flatten it to make a nice, even layer on the bottom of the bowl. Pour the green goodness over the banana layer to fill bowl. After positioning the spoon, place about 10 raisins on the top of the bowl in the shape of a smiley face, the first letter of the child’s name, or whatever the Green Monster in you is inspired to create. You can let this chill and thicken a bit in the fridge before serving.

Ninja Turtle Salad

A true Ninja always washes his/her hands before preparing food.

Salad Ingredients:

1 head romaine lettuce, sliced very thin like spaghetti
1 English cucumber, chopped into small cubes
2 tomatoes, chopped into small cubes
1 small container of alfalfa sprouts (the whole thing)

Directions:

Dump all salad ingredients into a bowl

Secret Ninja Sauce:

4 T Tahini
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 T lemon juice
1 Medjool date
celery salt to taste

Directions:

Combine the salad dressing ingredients together in your Ninja blender, then push the top-secret, ultimate-speed button. Dump dressing onto salad ingredients. Get your little ninjas to roll up their sleeves and mix the secret sauce until it covers all the vegetables. You can let it sit for a few minutes to marinate before serving.

Shrek and Fiona’s Wedding Cocktail

This is a deliciously elegant dish that will impress even the fussiest of princesses. I pull out my best crystal for this dish, but you may just choose some handsome wine glasses The best part is: you can’t get to the chocolatey bottom without eating the greens.

Chocolate Mud (straight from the swamp):

Ingredients:

1⁄2-1 cup freshly squeezed orange or clementine juice
15 dates
1⁄2 cup soaked almonds
4 Tablespoons raw carob powder

Directions:

Blend until smooth and creamy in a power blender. Place a heaping tablespoon of this in the bottom of each glass. Then level, or flatten, as the bottom layer.

Slug Cream

3 bananas
splash of lemon juice

Directions:

Mush, mash, and layer on top of the Chocolate Mud.

Lovely Lizards

1⁄2 cup water
2 pears
1 apple
1 big handful chopped parsley

Directions:

Parsley has a strong flavor, generally not appreciated by young children, but with this sweet layered dish, you can get away with it. Blend and pour this layer on top of your Slug Cream layer. Decorate each glass with a strawberry: Chop off the green top, slice across the circular base, place the strawberry on the rim of the glass, pointed end up. Serve with a dainty spoon, and be prepared to make seconds.

May these recipes inspire the green goof in you to come up with a few winning recipes for your family.