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12 Ways To Get Kids To Eat Their Fruits And Vegetables

*a repost from the archives
 I have had much success in getting my kids to eat their fruits and vegetables. 
How?

By appealing to the things they love!

~Kids love COLOR
~Kids love GAMES
~Kids love LEARNING
~Kids love feeling “GROWN UP”

Below are some tips that appeal to these very things:

1. Keep It Fun & Playful, Like A Game
 We try to “eat the rainbow” every day in our home.  We talk often about the importance of getting some of each color, everyday. It is 1:00 p.m. and I just asked my 8 year old a question I ask often, “How many colors have you had today?”  Her answer, “Blue blueberries in my oatmeal for breakfast, orange orange juice, yellow banana with my lunch, green asparagus with lunch, red apple with  lunch, green kale for snack, blended up in my fruit- smoothie popsicle.

2. Take Advantage Of Kids Natural Desire To Learn  
Why do we need to eat our fruits and vegetables?  When kids understand the reason for doing something they are much more likely to cooperate. Learn together what “free radicals” are and why we don’t want them in our bodies. Teach what “antioxidants” are what they do to help our bodies. Learn the different nutrients and vitamins in each fruit and vegetable, and how they benefit the body.  “Nutrition For Dummies” is a great resource for teaching simple nutrition lessons.


3. Shop The Rainbow
This can be fun and easily turned into a game.  In the car on the way to the grocery store, talk about how you are going to “shop the rainbow.” Ask the kids for their help.  Ask them to name as many “red” fruits and vegetables as they can.  When they can’t think of anymore, ask them to name the “yellows.”  You could even have one make a list of all the vegetables you come up with under each color category, then vote in the car what you should buy in each category.  Circle those items, take it into the store with you as your grocery list.

4. Take Advantage Of Color
Comment on the  natural beauty of fruits and vegetables.  Talk about all the different, beautiful hues.  The deep purple of eggplant, the bright red of strawberries the bright green of broccoli. While you are admiring the colors also notice all the beautiful shapes and textures. We use mason jars in our home for food storage.  I have many reasons, but my favorite reason is that you can easily see what is in the jar.  There is nothing better than opening the refrigerator and seeing jars full of shredded orange carrots, bright green peas, yellow pepper strips, or balls of pink watermelon.  My kids know that if they are still hungry after a “salty” or “sweet” snack that they can go to the refrigerator and help themselves to the vegetables in mason jars.  I love seeing them grab a jar, grab the dip, and munch away!


5. Keep Your Power 
It is important to keep healthful eating lighthearted and playful, but there will also be times when it is not, and we will have to be the parent. If your kids need medicine it is your job to make them take it. Good food is just as important.  We look at fruits and vegetables as medicine in our home, “Nature’s Pharmacy.”  My kids know that eating their fruits and vegetables is not an option.  They know it is a necessity and it is expected. 

6. Implement This Simple Rule 
To keep power struggles to a minimum, especially at the dinner table, our rule is “no eating your main dish until your vegetable is gone.”  This is very effective.  They come to the table very hungry, smelling the spaghetti and garlic bread.  They are sitting there face to face with their desires.  They eventually give in and eat their vegetable.  It is a great strategy which takes advantage of the fact that everything tastes better when you are hungry!  This rule was needed when they were younger, but we rarely use it anymore as our expectations are now known.
7. Keep Portions Small
Especially when introducing a new vegetable!  Give them time to acclimate to new textures and tastes.  Broccoli is not my girls favorite vegetable so we started with one small broccoli floret, and worked our way to almost a full serving. Gradually work the serving size up to at least a 1/2 cup.

8. Appeal To Kids Desire To Feel “Grown-Up”
One of the most simple strategies we have used is saying (as they are chewing with scrunched up noses), “Oh, you don’t like that vegetable?  Your taste buds must not be old enough for that one yet.  Maybe next time you taste it, it will be different.”  This creates a positive goal in our home, being old enough and having a “mature enough palate” to like all types of vegetables.

9. Talk About Palates
We watch “Top Chef” as a family.  It has been very educational when it comes to different types of foods.  We comment on how the judges have such mature palates.  When my kids like something healthy I will say, “Wow, you have such a healthy palate!”  We have even talked about how eating just a bite or two of a new taste and texture can help train our palates to appreciate all types of food.  This appeals to kids desire to feel “grown-up” and also keeps things lighthearted and fun, like a game.

10. Teach About Texture
Again, the show “Top Chef” has been helpful in this area.  The judges are always talking about how a certain dish needs more “texture.”  For the longest time my kids would complain about lettuce and tomatoes on their tacos.  It would frustrate me because it turned a healthful meal into a “meat and cheese” meal.  Not what I wanted.  So, one night when having tacos, I casually said, “I bet the “Top Chef” judges would say your tacos need more texture.”  I saw this sparked their curiosity and continued, “Lettuce gives a type of crispy crunch and tomatoes are soft and cool down the spice of the meat.  Wow, the textures of the food work and taste beautifully together!”  It worked.  They tried it and agreed. Yes!

11. Make It A Game
Hang a chart on the refrigerator to keep track of “who ate the most colors that day”.  If it is over 5 servings give a sticker!  Or make a matching game- match the color of fruit or vegetable with the main nutrient it provides.  This is a great way for adults to learn too!

12. Grow Them
The last two years, we have had much fun with our Square Foot Garden. {link-https://www.amynewnostalgia.com/time-to-garden/}  When my kids watch something grow from a seed they squished into the dirt they are very eager to eat the reward.

{wrapped lettuce photo here}

Simple Ways We Eat Fruits And Vegetables
~Frozen berries in cold cereal
~Frozen berries in oatmeal
~A bowl of frozen berries thawed to perfection during dinner in time for dessert
~Apple slices almond butter
{link-https://www.amynewnostalgia.com/my-favorite-healthy-snack/}
~Bananas sliced on bran flakes for breakfast
~Banana slices on whole wheat peanut butter bagel
~Celery and peanut butter or cream cheese
~Pepper strips and hummus
~Cucumber slices and dip
~Frozen grapes-so refreshing!
~A 6 cup muffin tin full of different colors for snack
~Clementine slices on our salads
~Frozen mango chunks in a bowl
~Edamame with sea salt-my kids favorite
~Fruit smoothies made green by blending in spinach
~Eggplant in place of beef in our spaghetti sauce
~Fruit kabobs-so pretty and fun
~Fresh berries in pancakes
~Homemade, no- cook berry jam
{link-https://www.amynewnostalgia.com/strawberry-freezer-jam/}
~Sliced berries on ice cream
~Spinach salad with mason jars full of vegetable toppings to add themselves
~Make our own fresh vegetable and fruit juices using our juicer.
How-Tos/ RECIPES

Q & A, part one

“You mentioned on your page that you make strawberry bread – this sounds so interesting – can you share your recipe. Thanks.” – Sandy R.
The strawberry bread I mentioned in the post “Hulling Strawberries With A Straw“is a recipe from my childhood.  I used to make mini loaves when I was 11 or 12 and sell them at my mom’s craft boutiques.  I loved how it made the house smell, and they sold like crazy!  This recipe from Taste and Tell is the same one I used as a child.  If I were to make it today, I would use coconut oil, whole wheat flour, and maybe a sugar substitute.

“On your post on May 9 (Simplifying My Morning Routine) you posted a picture of a white bench and shelf (I am guessing in your entryway). Can I ask where you got them? I need those things exactly! Thank you,” Carol H.

The white bench and shelf are from this article at Women’s Day.com.  Its a great look, isn’t it?

“What does the banana do? Could I leave it out? I’m allergic to latex and bananas are a cross species or something…so fresh bananas make me react.” – Halle

The banana in Chocolate Almond Chia Oats really acts as a thickening agent and to add substance and creaminess to the recipe.  I’m not sure what else you could use.  Maybe some pureed strawberries?  In smoothies I substitute peaches for bananas because they both add good bulk to the recipe, but chocolate and peach doesn’t sound appealing to me for this recipe.  Try strawberries.

“I have a large bottle of concentrated lemon juice in my fridge and use that. Easy, quick, and no mess, no fuss. Is there a reason I should not be using that?”  – anonymous

Hi there!  Thanks for your question.  The fresh squeezed lemon juice in my 5 Reasons to Drink Lemon Water in the Morning post is in my opinion very important.  Fresh is best.  I’ve read in many juicing books that the minute juice hits air it starts to lose nutrients, so the sooner you can drink juice after it is squeezed, the better, which is why I am a big fan of freshly juiced juices!  Bottled also contains preservatives-sulfates I believe-so another reason to stick with fresh.

“What brand is your antique juicer?” – Cindy
Funny what I learn from my commenter’s.  I thought this was antique, until I wrote the post and asked for help in finding another from my readers.  In the comments, I found that this is a older model from Crate and Barrel.  Whoops! They don’t sell them anymore, but there is one very similar at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

“How much chicken do u use?!”  – anonymous

In my Crockpot Fajitas-A Fix and Forget Recipe, the recipe calls for 1 1/2 lbs of chicken, but as you can see in the picture in the post, I used a little less.  It is a forgiving recipe.

“Hi! What are the muffin looking things in this photo (from the sponsor page)? They look so neat!”  – konacupcake

That is a picture of my Oatmeal Freezer Pucks.  I make a big pan of steel cut oats, then freeze in large muffin cups.  Pop them out, store in the freezer, and have awesome, fresh tasting steel cut oats in minutes in the morning!

“This is a beautiful article in tribute to one of my favourite things, esp. since I grew up drinking it fresh squeezed, in season. How does one get to write a sponsored ad and what is the compensation? If it was 100% Florida orange juice (which is so expensive for our huge family that I only buy it on special occasions), I wish I had kept up with my blogging better!”  – michelle mad docks

I am so glad you enjoyed the article featuring Florida orange juice in my Chilled Melon & Citrus Soup with Kiwi Salsa. I work with a company called Social Spark.  They hook up advertisers and writers.  Social Spark sends me offers from different companies, and I chose which ones would be a good fit for New Nostalgia.  The compensation is a sliding scale based on how many page views a blog receives each month.  It has been a blessing to our family to be able to write some occasional paid posts.  Note that any paid posts starts out with acknowledgement that it is one.  Also know I will never promote anything I don’t support here on New Nostalgia.  For more information, visit Social Spark.

“I was wondering what kind of taste the ginger adds. I don’t like ginger, but don’t know how much of it you can feel. I watched the movie too and really wanted to do it, but then went on the website and saw ginger and my mind just shut it off. I know….excuses, excuses, but still…if I left the ginger out would the juices taste yucky? Could I replace it with something else?” – Luliana

I don’t think it is “excuses, excuses!”  I get that your brain would say no if I kept seeing an ingredient I didn’t like pop up in juice recipes.  Yes, you can taste the ginger, depending on how much you use.  You don’t have to use the ginger in any of the recipes in the post, Juice Cleanse Day 3, especially if you don’t like the taste.  For people who do like the taste, it adds a freshness and helps mask the taste of some of the greens.  It also has great health properties, BUT no problem if you want to skip it.  You could add another half of lemon instead..or just skip it all together.

“I was on your blog site awhile ago and thought that I found a list of about 10 leg exercises ( simple planks, wall sitting etc.) and it was called the “sexy leg workout”. I recently searched your site and I can not find it. Is it still on your site somewhere?” – Diana

That was from my post Simple Workout Inspirations.  I was not sure where that was located, either, so I used the search box in my sidebar and searched the word “workout.”  FYI if you ever need to find something else on the blog…or, just leave another comment! πŸ™‚

Would it make a difference if I left out the cranberries?”  – Libby

Hi Libby.  No, it would not make a difference.  You could substitute dried cherries if you like them, or just leave them out all together.  These Chewy Granola bars are so awesome, I may have to go make some now!

 

Healthy Eating/ RECIPES/ Sides

22 Simple Ways To Eat Fruits And Vegetables

 

 

22 Simple Ways to Eat Fruits And Vegetables

  1. Frozen berries in cold cereal
  2. Frozen berries in oatmeal
  3. A bowl of frozen berries thawed to perfection during dinner in time for dessert
  4. Apple slices almond butter
  5. Bananas sliced on bran flakes for breakfast
  6. Banana slices on whole wheat peanut butter bagel
  7. Celery and peanut butter or cream cheese
  8. Pepper strips and hummus
  9. Cucumber slices and dip
  10. Frozen grapes– so refreshing!
  11. A 6-cup muffin tin full of different colors for snack
  12. Clementine slices on our salads
  13. Frozen mango chunks in a bowl
  14. Edamame with sea salt-my kids favorite
  15. Fruit smoothies made green by blending in spinach
  16. Eggplant in place of beef in our spaghetti sauce
  17. Fruit kabobs-so pretty and fun
  18. Fresh berries in pancakes
  19. Homemade,Β no-cook berry jam
  20. Sliced berries on ice cream
  21. Spinach salad with mason jars full of vegetable toppings to add themselves
  22. Make our own fresh vegetable and fruit juices using our juicer.
Frugal/ HOME/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

“Eat From The Pantry” Week

Our mail man keeps delivering medical bills on a daily basis, so in order to cut some corners around here, I am challenging our family to an “Eat From The Pantry” (and freezer) week.

I am not one to stock up on food, so this is a challenge.  But I like a challenge, it forces me to get creative.  I’m going to take it day by day, and see how far in the week we get before our pantry is empty.

Here are a few things I did today to help in this week-long adventure:

~Found some dough in my freezer and made these Pizza Roll-Ups for the kids lunch.  I’m freezing any extras for snacks later in the week.

~I made a big pot of brown rice in my rice cooker.  I love to make a bunch, then put into freezer bags.  Rice reheats beautifully.  For lunch today, I ate Rajma Masala (red kidney beans curry) over the rice.  Yum!

~I boiled a bunch of eggs to make Egg Salad Sandwiches for dinner.

~I don’t want to go buy bread to serve the Egg Salad Sandwiches on, so I threw Homemade Hamburger Buns into my bread maker.  Since I am cutting back on animal products (after reading The China Study) I will enjoy a Vegetarian Nature Burger on my bun. πŸ™‚

~I will serve the sandwiches with Sweet Potato Coins to use up the bag of sweet potatoes I have.

~My youngest and I made a double batch of Chia Oats.  She loves to eat it for breakfast and snack.  We also made a batch of Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Oats.  We are going to blend them up and make Chocolate Chia Oat Popsicles.  If we are successful and they taste good, I will for sure post about them!

~I have a bag of pinto beans.  I am planning on making them in the crockpot using the method in the video above.  They are super filling and nutritious, great on rice or in wraps.

~I know my girls will want some sweets, so I will make a batch of homemade Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups with our frozen berries from the Strawberry Patch.  Yum!

If I can make it through the week with only buying a few grocery items, I can save over $100.00!  
Wish me luck!:)

How-Tos/ RECIPES

Trader Joes=Thumbs Up!

{click on the picture for a larger view}

We finally got a local Trader Joe’s.  I went today and I’m pretty excited about what I found, and I loved their great prices, the amount of organic produce available, and the surprise of some not-so-typical items–like chocolate covered pomegranate seeds!   Mmmm.  Another huge plus for me?  No high fructose corn syrup in their foods!

Here is what I bought today.  I have a pretty full freezer, and meals are still coming for dinner, so I mostly needed produce and some snacks.

1.Bananas
We eat them sliced on cereal, spread with peanut or almond butter, or just plain.  19 cents a pound!

2. Organic Cheese Sticks
Great for getting some protein into my kids.  Good for snacks or in a lunchbox.

3.  Organic Spring Salad Mix
I have a salad every day with my lunch and most evenings with our dinner.  I should have bought 2 bags!

4. Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
This was only 99 cents!  It was in their refrigerator section.  I had a friend bring a bunch of homemade tomato sauce that she froze in muffin tins and then threw the discs in a freezer Ziploc.  I will use a couple of those for the sauce.

5. Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
I will slice this into rounds and use it on our pizza.

6. Asparagus
I love to use these in our breakfast omelets or just sauteed’ in some olive oil, or even as a pizza topping.  Leftovers are great chopped and thrown cold on top of a salad.  I keep reading about how important it is for breast cancer patients to eat asparagus, so I am!

7. Brussel Spouts
Another veggie that is great for cancer.  I am trying to become friends with Brussel Sprouts.  As of now, I only like them when paired with way too much butter!  At Trader Joes, they come in a bag that you can throw into the microwave to steam them.  Easy!

8. Organic Broccoli
I usually buy and cut up myself, but the price was great on the bag of pre-cut broccoli.  We eat it raw as a snack, chop it up over a salad, or I steam as a side dish.

9. Sweet Peppers
I  love these.  They are small, sweet and so colorful.  Love the red, yellow and orange.  Full of antioxidants.  Great chopped over salads or in an omelet, thrown in rice pilaf or a stir fry.

10. Clementines
As I wrote about here, these are the best little snack.  Great for the girls lunch box.  Easy to peel, full of vitamin C.

11. Sweet Potatoes
I have the best recipe for Spiced Sweet Potatoes that I will post soon.  I love to cut into wedges, drizzle in olive oil and roast them at 350 degrees along with a wedged onion and a few whole cloves of garlic.  It makes the house smell great.  The whole family loves them roasted this way.

12. Organic Apples
Gala for snacking.  Granny Smith for juicing.

13. Sunflower Seeds
I use these to give my salads some crunch.

14. Sea Salt

15. Romano and Parmesean Shavings
I love that these are fresh.  Great with crackers or sprinkled on pasta or salads.

16. French Cut Frozen Green Beans
Yum.  A vegetable that all 3 of my girls will eat without grumbling!

17.  Organic Carrots
We eat them cut into sticks, steamed as a side with dinner, grated onto salads.  I uses them for juicing every morning.

18. Organic Whole Milk
We are not big milk drinkers so I only buy 1/2 gallon per week.  We use it over cereal, in recipes or in creamed soups.

19. Multi grain Crackers
We eat them with cheese slices as a snack.  I use them in my girls lunches in place of chips.

20. Olive Oil
This huge bottle of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil was only $7.00.  It comes with a spout, which I love.

21. Organic Whole Wheat Bread
I hope it is good, because the price sure is!

22. Avocado
I’m not a big fan of Avocados, but I know they are really healthy.  I found a recipe for Avocado Salad Dressing that I am going to try.

23. Butter Sticks
I wish they had organic, but they didn’t πŸ™

24. Black Peppercorns
Comes in a pepper mill.  Cool.

25. Organic Beans-black, kidney and pinto
They were only 99 cents a can!  We just open the can, drain and rinse.  I put them out in a bowl cold and the girls will snack on them if they are just sitting there.  I use them in wraps and sprinkled on salad, and in chili, of course!

26. Baking Soda
Needed some, ran out.

I was pretty impressed with the selection of frozen berries, but I didn’t need any as my freezer is full of them right now.  I also really loved their nut selection and the variety of frozen vegetables.

Another thing I noticed– the workers were not in typical uniform black polyester pants-lol!  They were wearing cool Trader Joe’s t-shirts and jeans.  I found myself happy for them…:)

Do you have a Trader Joe’s in your area?  What are your favorite things to buy from there?

Wanna know more about Trader Joe’s?  Here is an interesting article about them from Fortune.

Healthy Eating/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

The Simplicity Of Sprouting

**This is a guest post written by Kelly from The Morris Tribe.  Enjoy~
During the winter months, I truly miss the fresh produce from my garden.  I also resent the high prices of mediocre produce at the store!  Sprouting is an option that has worked very well for our family and may be something you might want to consider.  Not only is it inexpensive and highly nutritious, but it’s fun!
Sprouting is like having your own little garden in your kitchen all winter long.  Your supply of sprouts keep coming every few days, just about the time it takes to eat your last batch.  They require only a sunny window and two rinses a day, how easy is that?
All of the energy that a plant requires to produce a full-sized plant is released when a seed germinates, or sprouts.  This time in the life cycle of a seed is the best time to consume them. 
The nutritional value of sprouts is just short of ridiculous, read here.  They are a wonderful supplement to your winter repertoire.  I count on them to help my family with building immunity during cold/flu season.

 Sprout People is a great source of information about what seeds are best to sprout and gives this nutritional info for sprouts:

Nutritional info:
Vitamins A, B, C, E and K
Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc
Carotene, Chlorophyll
Amino Acids
Trace Elements
Protein: up to 35%
You’ll need a mason jar, a lid ring and some cheesecloth.  You can purchase a sprouting lid for a wide-mouth mason jar here for just a few bucks.  I prefer a plastic lid myself.  The most important thing to remember is that it needs to be clean!  I like to put my jar in the dishwasher to sterilize it.
For high-quality, organic sprouting seeds, check around your town.  I usually purchase my alfalfa seeds at the health food store, but they are available at grocery stores and on-line as well.  A small package of seeds will cost just a few bucks and will last a year or longer as you only need a tablespoon of seeds at a time.
You’ll want to soak your seeds in a few inches of water overnight.  The next morning, rinse them thoroughly.  That’s it!  Just set your jar near a sunny window and watch them grow!  Rinse them again that night.  Be sure to drain the seeds well, you don’t want excess water in the jar.
The next morning, rinse them again and then once more at night. 
By day 3, you’ll be getting pretty excited as your sprouts will have germinated and will be close to ready.  Just rinse your sprouts every morning and evening thoroughly.
You might want to take a taste of your sprouts on day 3 or 4 and see how you like them.  Their taste will change just a bit from day to day, you can establish what day you like them best.
Once they are complete, you’ll want to rinse them well enough to get the hulls off.  Then store them in a sealed container in the frig. 
I like to just munch on them myself, but they also make a great addition to sandwiches.  I have used them them in smoothies, the kids will be none the wiser!  A strong flavored fruit like blueberries or blackberries will insure that.
The Sprouting Book” by Ann Wigmore is an excellent resource on sprouting and fairly inexpensive as well. Being an older book, I’m quite sure you could get it from the library. 
 Kelly Morris is a wife and mother to 9 children, 6 biological and 3 adopted, living in small town Ohio.  She can often be found blogging, writing, reading, cooking, gardening, digital scrapbooking and drinking good coffee.  Kelly authors β€œThe Morristribe: Creating Balance for Busy Moms” and loves helping other moms find balance in their lives.
*** Kelly made this super helpful video on the sprouting process.  Once I saw on this video & how simple it is, I felt way less intimidated by sprouting.  It is EASY!  
Thanks, Kelly, for this great post and for being such a great friend to me!
How-Tos/ RECIPES

How To Eat A Pomegranate

I am still receiving meals from my church due to my diagnosis and fight with breast cancer.  The meals come at least 5 days a week, there are a total of 22 people signed up to bring at least 90 meals!  Isn’t that such a beautiful thing?  I can’t tell you how wonderful it has been.  Yes, there are days I could cook for my family, but there are many days that circumstances would make it hard.  Doctors appointments, chemo treatments that take most of my day, weakness from chemo, weakness from low blood counts, a cold that I just got done fighting, etc.  It has also saved us a ton of grocery money, which has freed money up so that I could to buy healthy groceries for my breakfasts, lunches and snacks.

A couple days ago, my pastor’s wife, Tanya, brought an amazing meal, along with a pomegranate.  I have always wanted to try one, and I knew they were super healthy, so I was excited!  She explained how to get the seeds out in order to eat them, as I was pretty much clueless!  The technique she told me to use is on the video below.

Nutritional Benefits
Pomegranates have very high content of punicalagins, a potent anti-oxidant component found to be responsible for its superior health benefits.
Amazingly, researches indicate that the capacity of anti-oxidant in this fruit is two or three times higher than that of red wine and green tea.
The level of anti-oxidant is even higher than those of other fruits known to have high-levels of anti-oxidant, including blueberries, cranberries and oranges.  This was attributed to the very high polyphenol content in the fruit.
They are also a good source of vitamin B (riboflavin, thiamin and niacin), vitamin C, calcium and phosphorus.  These combination and other minerals in pomegranates cause a powerful synergy that prevents and reverses many diseases.
Pomegranates are very, very good for you and can be used a few different ways.

You pop the seeds in your mouth, which is a super fun, crunchy snack. If the crunch is not your thing, many people just pop them in their mouths, suck the juice out, then spit out the seed.

 Here are a few other ideas from Everyday Cooking with Organic Produce:

Hummus Crown
Sprinkle a generous amount of pomegranate seeds on homemade or store-bought hummus.  Serve with crackers, thinly sliced French bread, or toasted pita bread.
PBP Sandwich
Omit the jelly on a peanut butter sandwich.  Instead, top peanut butter with a layer of pomegranate seeds.
Pomegranate Vinaigrette with Mint
Make a mixed green salad topped with this easy dressing.  In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, combine 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon cider vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Stir to combine.  Add 13 cup pomegranate seeds and 1 Tablespoon minced fresh mint or 1 teaspoon dried mint; stir to combine.  Use just enough dressing to lightly coat leaves.
Chocolate Ruby Slippers
Chocolate and pomegranate seeds make great partners; the chocolate is smooth and the seeds are both crunchy and juicy.  To make this simple “candy”, melt 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips over simmering water in a double boiler.  Stir frequently/ the idea is to melt the chocolate without getting it hot (it will melt when it is just warm).  Remove top part of double boiler and set on counter top.  Stir in 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds.  Using two teaspoons (one to scoop and the other to push mixture off), place 14 small mounds on baking sheet lined with wax paper.  Chill. Serve with in 24 hours for best flavor and texture.

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