Talking of play dates, this month I have some great tips from Organix for keeping play dates fun and healthy. When it comes to food, playdates can feel like a minefield! A trip to a friends how might mean junk food and sweets, and if you're the one hosting, finding healthy food that all the children will want to eat can feel like a daunting task. Organix has come to our rescue though with these great tips to overcome tricky playdate problems and help you be the hostess with the mostest!
When it comes to deciding what food to serve, it's tempting to fall back on less healthy but easy options, but there are plenty of healthy alternatives that kids will love too. Try making fun food plates together (lots of easy ideas in the food art plates section here on the Eats Amazing blog and over on the Organix website too) or easy fruit kebabs (we love these easy rainbow kebabs). Pasta always goes down well with little ones - try this superhero green pasta sauce or my easy tomato sauce that's stuffed with healthy hidden veggies. Entertain the kids by making homemade pizza (Organix have a great no-junk pizza dough recipe) or if you don't fancy the mess, try one of my 5 minute pizza ideas and let the little ones add their own toppings.
From personal experience, one of the easiest ways to keep everyone happy on a playdate is to pull together a platter of healthy snacks and let the kids help themselves. That way there's no pressure on visiting children to eat foods that they don't like (it's a good idea to check with parents first to make sure you include something they will eat!), and seeing other children happily eating them can often encourage them to try new healthy foods too.
Try a platter of crunchy vegetables and tasty ready made snacks - Organix have some lovely savoury snacks in their range, we love their mini cheese crackers and breadsticks and the corn puffs always go down well! Whizz up a quick batch of no-junk hummus (try our toddler friendly carrot hummus recipe) or if you're short on time buy a tub of organic ready-made hummus or cream cheese for dipping.
For a sweeter option or dessert, make up a simple fruit platter with a selection of bite-sized pieces of fruit and a simple fruit dip - you'll find my favourite coconut fruit dip recipe below. We always have some sweet treats on hand from the Organix Goodies range too, a much better option than traditional sweets or chocolate! They're perfect for play dates and for popping in party bags too.
Healthy Coconut Fruit Dip
Ingredients:
- 200g Natural or Greek yogurt
- 20g desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- Selection of fruit to serve
Method:
Measure the yogurt into a bowl along with the desiccated coconut and maple syrup.
Stir well until completely combined.
Place the fruit mix into a small bowl to serve and sprinkle with a little extra coconut to garnish.
Serve with a selection of fruit for dipping. We love strawberries, sliced apple, raspberries and sliced banana with ours.
Notes: The fruit dip can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for a day or two until ready to assemble the platter.
Try adding some little bento forks to make the platter extra fun for children, we love these cute little animal fork picks!
Do you have any great tips for surviving play dates? Do comment below or use #NoJunkJourney hashtag to join in the conversation with Organix across social media.
Grace
Disclosure: This blog post was commissioned by Organix as a part of a series of posts for the No Junk Journey campaign. I was compensated for my time, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Healthy Coconut Fruit Dip
Ingredients
- 200 g plain Greek yogurt
- 20 g desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- Selection of fruit to serve
Instructions
- Measure the yogurt into a bowl along with the desiccated coconut and maple syrup.
- Stir well until completely combined.
- Place the fruit mix into a small bowl to serve and sprinkle with a little extra coconut to garnish.
- Serve with a selection of fruit for dipping. We love strawberries, sliced apple, raspberries and sliced banana with ours.
Notes
I hope you will want to try this delicious recipe, please pin it if you do! For more easy healthy snack ideas and recipes, check out the snack ideas for kids section here on the Eats Amazing blog or pop over and follow my Healthy Snack Ideas Pinterest board for fresh and seasonal inspiration all the year around!
Albert Trotter says
i have tried it yesterday ,and it was so so yummy ,healthy and refreshing my whole family liked it ,thanks for sharing