Kids either love veggies or it is a battle to get them to consume any at all. Luckily my kids love veggies so they are pretty open to anything. But let me tell you I have tricked many of their friends through the years with some of my sneaky veggie recipes. This week while I was at the Cleveland County Farmers Market my friends at Selzer Farms gave me some gorgeous kale and zucchini! So I went into the kitchen and decided to share some kid friendly recipes that your kids will never believe is good for them!
Here is one of the best snacks around. Kale Chips. I have been making these for about 4 years and during that time I have sprinkled them with everything. Even cinnamon and sugar. They were delicious that way too!
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale, unstemmed and chopped
- 2 tbsp. olive oil (flavored olive oil is great too!)
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dry rub or seasoning blend of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Wash and dry kale. Using a large bowl add in the kale and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and seasonings. Toss well. Place on baking sheet and put into hot oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Toss 1/2 way through and cook till kale is crunchy. Serve!
As a kid growing up in Bartlesville I can still remember the abundant zucchini crop we had every year. We had fried zucchini, roasted zucchini, stuffed zucchini boats, and then the best thing ever…Zucchini Bread. This was one of the first breads I learned to make. I remember standing in my kitchen with my Mom grating countless zucchini’s. Learning the valuable lesson to watch the knuckles. Thankfully now I have a Kitchen Aid 13 Cup Exact Slice Food Processor that does all of that work for me in less than a minute! My food processor works in overdrive during the summer months. Between slaw, zucchini breads and all the chow chow/relishes I make, my Kitchen Aid is my BFF!
Here is my recipe for Rocky Road Zucchini Bread. It is so delicious there is no need to ever tell your family that it has zucchini in it! They will NEVER KNOW!
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 loaf pans with non stick cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and oil till well combined. Add in the eggs stirring just till eggs are combined into the mixture. Add in vanilla paste and zucchini.
- Using a separate large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder. Remove 1/2 cup of flour mixture and place into a small bowl. Toss together the pecans and chocolate chips.
- Add the large bowl of flour mixture to the sugar/oil . Mix just till combined. Do not over mix. Add in the bowl of pecans and chocolate chips. Stir well and pour cake batter into both loaf pans. Place into hot oven and bake for 50 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of baking, sprinkle marshmallows on top and allow to get light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool!
Notes
**For a lighter version: 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/2 cup oil in lieu of the 1 cup of oil. Use egg whites instead of whole eggs.