Healthy Valentines Day Food Ideas for Kids

With a week to go until Valentines day, I thought now would be a good time to share some healthy Valentines day food ideas for kids.  I've created a fun menu of food ideas that I think will be ideal for Valentines day, all of which are healthy, delicious and approved by my very own mini taste testers.  This post is also written in support of the Organix No Junk campaign,  a fantastic campaign which aims to help families find, cook and eat healthy food full of simple ingredients and free from junk.

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Valentines Day Breakfast

 

I think that my DIY Breakfast Sundae recipe makes a perfect no junk healthy breakfast for Valentines day.  Get the children involved by letting them make their own, and add a little extra love to the sundaes by topping with heart shaped strawberries.  For more details and the full recipe click here.

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Valentines Day Lunch

 

Most children love pizza, so treat them to their own extra special pizzas for lunch.  Make your own healthier pizzas with English muffins for the base and hide extra veggies under the cheese.  You could even let your little chefs get busy in the kitchen and make them for themselves!

The full recipe plus a free printable recipe sheet for these pizzas can be found here: English Muffin Pizza Recipe. The simple recipe sheet is aimed at children and is a great way to grow confidence in the kitchen.  Be sure to decorate them with pretty hearts for Valentines Day!

Why not serve up a tasty no junk milkshake with your pizza? My healthy berry milkshake recipe has no added sugar, flavourings or colourings, just delicious fruit, milk and yohgurt! You can find the recipe for this yummy pink milkshake here: Healthy Berry Milkshake Recipe - it's perfect for Valentines day!

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Valentines Day Treats and Snacks

 

If you are after a special treat idea for Valentines day, then this delicious recipe from Organix for No Junk Love Heart Biscuits would be a perfect project.  Make them in advance to surprise your little sweetheart, or make them together for a fun activity in the kitchen.  They are free from refined sugar, gluten and dairy so allergy friendly too.

No Junk Love Heart Biscuits

Ingredients (makes around 35 biscuits)

• 300g ground almonds
• 50g dried sour cherries
• 100g coconut oil (or butter if you prefer and are happy to include dairy)
• 60mls maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan, Gas Mark 6).  Combine the ground almonds and sour cherries in a large bowl.

Gently melt the coconut oil over a low heat in a pan. Remove from the heat and add the maple syrup and vanilla extract, stirring together.  Pour this liquid over the ground almonds and stir thoroughly to form a soft dough.

Divide the dough into two balls. Place each ball on to a sheet of parchment paper, press down, then place a second piece of parchment over the top. Roll the dough out between the sheets of parchment to about 5mm thickness. Place onto a flat baking tray, then pop into the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up (note: the parchment paper prevents the dough from sticking to the rolling pin and makes this really easy. The freezer makes the dough firmer and easier to cut. Don’t miss these steps!)

Remove from the freezer and use heart shaped cutters to cut out biscuits. Use a spatula to carefully lift the biscuits onto another lined baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool for a couple of minutes on the tray, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Roll up the left over dough and repeat the process, rolling out between sheets of parchment and freezing for 10 minutes before cutting out. Repeat until all the dough is used up.

Notes:

The dough can be frozen in a ball in a freezer bag, defrosted in a couple of hours and rolled out. Or the baked biscuits can be frozen in a tub, and defrosted in less than an hour.

If dairy isn't a problem then butter can be used instead.  If you need to avoid nuts then you can replace the ground almonds with plain flour or gluten free flour.  As flour is drier than almonds you may need a little extra oil to bring the dough together.

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Valentines Fruit Wands

 

If you are short of time or baking seems a bit too much effort, these no junk valentines themed fruit skewers are super easy and healthy too - a fun way to get your five a day!

To make, simply thread blueberries onto bamboo skewers, then top with strawberry hearts (cut triangles from the top of the strawberries to create the hearts - so easy!).  For younger children, be sure to cut the sharp tip off of the skewers with kitchen scissors before serving.

I hope I've managed to give you some tasty ideas to celebrate Valentines day with some lovely healthy food this year.  Do pop over to the Organix website where you can learn more about the Organix No Junk campaign and find loads more delicious no junk recipes for your little ones.

Grace

Disclosure: This blog post was written in conjunction with the Organix No Junk Challenge.  I was compensated for my time, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own.