recipe ideas for KG nutrition lesson

[richella]

The school nurse sent me a letter saying she was going to do a nutrition project and knew we don't give dd the same foods they serve at school. (We do eat some fish and eggs, but only if we know where they came from and how they were produced, so at school, it's pretty much vegan. Also, sugar is a big issue.) She gave me the recipes she plans to use for dd's class, one every week for several weeks. A couple were fine, like bananas wrapped in tortilla with peanut butter, but some I couldn't even figure out how to use expensive, highly processed substitutes for, or what the nutritional intent was supposed to be. When I talked to the nurse, she was very open to my suggesting alternative recipes, and she said the primary goal is to introduce foods the kids might not eat. She seems to "get" natural food concepts, I guess she doesn't have time to research better recipes than the ones from USDA. 

Next week is a gelatin, cottage cheese, and canned pineapple thing. Even the nurse didn't think more than half the kids would like it. Anybody have ideas for recipes? I've done some hunting on veg sites I know, but without a starting point, I'm a bit lost. It seems like they need to be uncooked, though when she did it the first week, dd told me she brought the food into the classroom already prepared.

The other recipe I'm having a hard time with is a pizza using a prebaked crust (not sure if that's do-able or not), with sour cream and ranch dressing for sauce, topped with fresh veggies and cheese. She said she thought they put the ranch dressing on it because kids (apparently) universally eat anything with ranch dressing on it (though mine won't touch creamy sauces/spreads with a ten foot pole). I could suggest ways to substitute, but if I were doing it at home I'd throw out the whole recipe and start from scratch. . . . but where? 

tttttia

[lovbeingamommy]

Hi, one recipe that my son absolutely loves and is very easy is ants on a log.  It uses celery, cream cheese or peanut butter, and raisens.  This is so simple and the kids can make it themselves.  If the nurse is really good she'll integrate a story about ants with it too :) So basically, stuff the c.c. or p.b. in the celery and top with raisens (ants). My five year old loves this one and has being doing it himself for a few years.  There's a lot of excellent, quick recipes on fb from a lot of the companies that are on there.  One I know of is Tru Cuisine.  This woman is a raw, vegan chef and checks her messages daily.  SO if you post with a question she's sure to get back with you in a day or two.  I hope this helps a little...good luck

Kate

[richella]

Ants on a log, that sounds fun and simple. Will check out Tru Cuisine. Thanks for replying.