In honor of St. Patricks Day, I’m going with a green theme for my foods. There’s no way I’m dying any food green, so you know, green eggs and ham are just out of the questions! However, here’s my top 7 favorite naturally green foods.
1. Lettuce – We all love salads! It’s a great way for me to get my family to eat green leafy vegetables. My favorite dinner salad is a good “cobb” salad. And I use “cobb” rather loosely, because I don’t usually make a traditional cobb salad. I make a salad with lettuce, 2 types of cheese, 2 types of meat (usually sliced sandwich meat and bacon bits), sliced tomatoes, and ranch dressing. Makes a great protein-packed dinner for hot days in the summer!
2. Granny Smith Apples – These were always one of my favorite apples as a kid. I also really like them in an apple pie, a nice tart apple with the sugar and such in an apple pie is so delicious! They’re also really good sliced up with some peanut butter.
3. Peas – My now 6yr old loves peas. They were one of her first finger foods as a baby and she still loves them to this day! I used to just pop a bowl of frozen peas with a Tbsp of water into the microwave for about 1 minute for an instant snack. These days, with three kids I have to make more peas so I just boil them on the stove with a little bit of salt and everyone loves them! I can put peas in just about anything and my 6yr old will eat it because it has her favorite vegetable.
4. Kiwi – I love these tart fruits as well (sensing a pattern here?). I don’t like the fuzzy peel, so I peel them, slice them into rounds and eat them with a fork. The best thing about this fruit? No one else in my family likes them so I get to eat them all!
5. Grapes – Grapes are such an easy fruit. You can take them to a party, pull out a few for the kids to snack on, or slice them in half and toss them in a fruit salad. I like my grapes nice and firm, once they’re squishy I won’t eat them so I have to eat them up pretty quickly when I get them.
6. Broccoli – Another favorite in my family. The kids prefer to eat broccoli with ranch dip which is way easier than the cheese sauce my husband prefers. This is probably the only green vegetable that everyone in my family will eat! I prefer to steam it on the stove and eat it plain.
7. Green Beans – My kids only like canned green beans because they’re softer than fresh or frozen. But that just makes my life easier, I’ll dump a can of green beans in a pan, add a clove of crushed garlic and simmer while I’m making dinner. All 3 kids gobble them up. (some nights I don’t get any, I’m going to have to start making 2 cans if I want some). Easy and healthy!