Craft Jr. » summer recipes

Smoothies: Nutritious Snack for Kids that They Actually Like!

Lorna Doone Brewer — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:59:24 +0000

This homemade smoothie recipe is healthy and totally kid-approved.

When it comes to getting kids to eat healthfully, it’s not always easy. Dot and I got to experimenting a while back and ended up making some awesome soothies. She likes them so much that we went through quite an experience one night when she kept asking for “foovies,” and we had no idea what she was saying. Now the whole family calls them foovies, and we have them all the time.

Related Pages: Non-Alcoholic Drink Recipes for Kids,Watermelon Recipes

There are tons of ways to make smoothies, but we like our version, and it’s even pretty healthy:

3/4 cup yogurt (we like fruit or vanilla)
3/4 cup frozen berries or fruit
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 banana

Everything in this yummy smoothie recipe is pretty healthy.

Blend the smoothie ingredients until...well...smooth.

I just recently tried freezing some of the smoothies in these popsicle molds I got from Tupperware, and they are a HUGE hit.

Smoothie popsicles are awesome!

Watermelon Fruit Salsa Recipe

Wendy Piersall — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:34:07 +0000

Since our garden is overflowing with tomatoes right now, I wanted to come up with a recipe that would entice my kids to help me eat them. Normally they aren’t too into tomatoes, but they are huge fans of Mexican food. My husband and I came up with an amazing taco recipe, which I adapted into a nachos platter for dinner last night. Served up with this sweet watermelon salsa, my kids gobbled this meal up!

Related Pages: Healthy Pasta Recipe for Kids, Applesauce Recipes, more Summer Watermelon Recipes

Chips and Watermelon Salsa

Watermelon Salsa Ingredients

This is a mild and sweet salsa with a really fresh taste. I used onion and garlic powder to add flavor that wasn’t too overpowering for the kids. If I were to make it for adults, I would substitute fresh minced onion and garlic instead. If you have really juicy tomatoes, this salsa can get pretty watery because of the watermelon. So you may want to strain it just a bit when it’s completed. Putting watermelon in the recipe is a great ‘selling point’ – my youngest very picky eater was so curious that even she was willing to try it (to my absolute amazement!).

6-7 Medium tomatoes, diced (Preferably fresh from the garden!)

1/2 Banana pepper, finely diced (about 1 tbsp)

1 cup Watermelon, diced (Don’t squish it! Keep it a little chunky.)

1 Lime

1/2 tsp Onion salt

1/4 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Onion powder

1 tbsp Garlic powder

Dash of chili powder

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Red wine vinegar

Chopped parsley or cilantro to taste

Combine tomatoes, banana pepper, and watermelon in a medium mixing bowl. Microwave your lime – whole – for 30 seconds. This releases the juices amazingly well. Squeeze the lime juice into the bowl and try to get as much pulp into the mix as you can. I cut the pulp off with a knife. Add the parsley or cilantro and mix well with a spoon.

Sprinkle the rest of the dry seasoning ingredients and vinegar on top and again mix well. There’s no need to puree or mush the ingredients together – the watery tomatoes and watermelon take care of themselves. Like I said earlier, you may even need to strain it a bit.

While you can serve this immediately, it tastes even better if it can sit overnight in your fridge!

Check out all of our easy and kid-friendly recipes while you are here!

Family Friendly Summer Fun Links – The All Things Family Blog Carnival

Wendy Piersall — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:51:30 +0000

My friends and I continue to try and share link love with the All Things Family blog carnival – welcome to the July 20, 2010 edition. If you have a blog, feel free to add your own family-friendly links to our future editions!

The All Things Family Blog Carnival

Yummy Summer Food

Char Polanosky presents Large Batch Pasta Salad Recipe posted at Raising A Healthy Family, saying, “This pasta salad recipe is perfect for summer picnics, swim meets, and heat-free dinners.”

Randa presents Family Friendly Restaurants at The FunPlace Database.

Shannon presents Make Fast Iced Tea at The Tea Cabinet.

Jen presents Tuna salad lettuce wraps posted at Projects for Preschoolers, saying, “a tasty treat the kids will love to help put together.”

And I’ll add Craft Jr.’s Easy Summer Recipes Kids Will Love.

Summer Crafting & Activities

Heather Mann presents Sew Cloth Diaper Inserts from Scraps posted at Croq Zine – The Blog, saying, “Use scrap fabric to create absorbent inserts for cloth diapers.”

Vera Lang presents Vintage Shell Prints for Beach Cottage Decorating posted at Fine Craft Guild .com, saying, “5 free prints for you to download. You can find these and other craft & home decorating tools, ideas and tutorials at this site.”

Jen presents Watermelon Coloring page and counting activity posted at Projects for Preschoolers, saying, “summer fun with a sweet twist, this watermelon coloring page is also a fun counting activity!”

More Misc. Links I Wanted to Include

Sheryl Owen presents Change of Address: Top 10 TV Shows About Cleaning and Organizing Your Home posted at Change of Address.

Pamela Jorrick presents Summer Days posted at Blah, Blah, Blog.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of all things family using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Easy Summer Recipes Kids Will Love

Wendy Piersall — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:56:14 +0000

One of my absolute favorite things about summer is going to our local farmer’s markets. While Illinois can make a mean corn on the cob, it’s our neighbors in Michigan that really set my heart aflutter with their berries, peaches and cherries. We just spent a week up there and came home with tons of summer fruits – that unfortunately don’t last very long in our house! Thankfully many of them come to our area every week for our farmer markets, which means we get our berry fix anytime we want!

But man (and child) cannot live on berries alone – though my kids would if they could! So here’s a roundup of really easy summer recipes both you and your kids will love. These would be perfect for summer BBQs, summer party food, or just take a rainy afternoon and make them with your kids!

Related Pages: Watermelon Recipes, Summer Party Games, Ice Cream Party Games

Summer Fruit Recipes


Watermelon Dippers & Dip	Strawberry Mice Snacks	Watermelon Cupcakes	Berry Yogurt Parfait

Easy Kids Lunch Ideas


Kids Sandwich Ideas	Salad for Kids	Corn Dog Muffins	Little Window Sandwiches

Smoothie Recipes


Berry Banana Smoothies	Tropical Smoothie Recipe	Virgin Watermelon Slushies	Blueberry Smoothies

Summer Dessert Recipes


Berry Popcicles	Flower Cupcakes	Fruit Pizza	Frozen Fruit Treats

Rainbow Cupcakes	Jello Oranges	Mini Peach Cakes	Berry Pudding

Check out all of our summer kids crafts while you are here, too!

Summer Watermelon Recipes and Watermelon Carving

Wendy Piersall — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:14:53 +0000

Drool. Drool. Drool. That’s all I’ve been doing while putting up this post!

Watermelon is the ultimate summer fruit, and who doesn’t love watermelon, anyway? I had no idea that there is this whole watermelon carving underworld until I put this post together. And holy shizzzzzz - this is only a fraction of what people are doing with watermelons!

Watermelon Carving - Incredible!

(Relatively) Easy Watermelon Carving Ideas and Watermelon Recipes

Halloween Watermelon & Pumpkin Carving Stencils


Watermelon & Pumpkin Carving Stencils	Cute Halloween Stencils	Disney Princesses and Disney Villains Stencils	Scary Carving Stencils


How to Carve a Watermelon Whale	Teapot Watermelon Basket	Smiley Summer Watermelon Carving	Dinosaur Watermelon Carving (via Craft Gossip)

Baby Carriage Watermelon Basket	Swan Watermelon Carving Instructions	Watermelon Football Helmet Carving	Make a Watermelon Spigot

Watermelon Rose Lime Punch Recipe	Fresh Watermelon Popcicles	Fresh Watermelon Yogurt Ice	Watermelon Dessert Cake