My kids love to shout this silly title.
(Thai rhymes with I, if you hadn’t said it out loud yet =))
Honestly, we read an article that was reporting research on school lunch menus. Kids actually ate more of the same foods if they had a fun name on the menu. So we have been having fun naming our veggie foods and eating more of them ever since.

This recipe is so quick and easy, our 4 year old can make it herself, and what kid doesn’t love to try their own cooking?

1 bag broccoli slaw
1 handful shredded carrots
4 green onions (fun for kids to cut with kitchen scissors)
1 cup shelled peanuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup Sugar Snap Peas
1/3 cup of Thai peanut dressing (adjust to taste)

Just mix and serve. Yummy!

TO GO TIP: This is easy to take on the go: just mix the dressing, slaw, carrots, onions ahead of time, set the peas on top, and then bring the peanuts and raisins in a separate bag so they won’t get soggy. Sprinkle on top when you serve up!

As far as health goes, broccoli, carrots, and peas are A+ veggies, the peanuts are a great protein, and the raisins pack iron. I serve some rice crackers on the side for a gluten-free lunch.

- posted by Elizabeth and Joy – age 4

Do you like butterflies?  I bet you do.  My favorite part of making the butterfly salad is decorating my own butterfly.  It is really fun because everybody can design their own and they all turn out different.  I love butterflies.  I hope you will enjoy making this butterfly salad.  Here is the recipe:

For each person:

4 spinach leaves or 2 larger leaves of lettuce

1 long carrot or celery stick

various other chopped up vegetables, fruits, nuts, or beans

First you take the spinach leaves or if you have big lettuce leaves cut them in half and put the little ones on the bottom.  This will make the butterfly’s wings.

Next you take the long carrot or celery stick and lay it in the middle between the two halves of the butterfly to make the body.

Use pea pods, shredded carrots, or thin strips of red bell pepper to add antennae to the top, coming out of the top of the body.  Then decorate the wings with other veggies.  Note:  remember to make both sides of the butterfly’s wings the same, like on a real butterfly. Don’t forget to drizzle some salad dressing on your butterfly when you eat it!  It’s fun to pick up the wings and eat them like burritos.

Here is a picture of a butterfly salad I made yesterday for lunch.

If you like, you can pick a few of these ideas for your butterfly salad bar:

Striped Butterflies:  cut toppings in strips to make a striped design on your butterfly wings

Circle Butterflies:  cut all the toppings into circles (best are tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet onions, beets, bell pepper rings, carrot circles, sliced olives)

Rainbow Butterflies:  choose one topping of each color:  purple cabbage, dried blueberries, green pea pods, yellow bell peppers, orange carrots, red tomatoes

And whatever veggies you have left in the fridge Butterflies (like we made yesterday) =)

Posted by Anne – age 9

Have you ever heard someone say fish and chips?  Or have you ordered it from a restaurant?  What it is, is fried fish and French fries. They say fish and chips because people who live in England call French fries chips.  Then of course celery and carrots are sticks and tuna is fish, so this recipe is called “Fish and Sticks”. If you take your lettuce and stuff your tuna, celery, and carrot mixture into it and roll it up, it looks like a fat stick.  “Fish Sticks”.  This recipe is very healthy for you. In one serving there is one celery stick, one baby carrot, and one lettuce leaf.  Of course you could add more shredded carrots, but it you follow the recipe this is what you’ll get.

4 small cans tuna

4 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp mustard

2 Tbsp relish

5 celery sticks

2/3 c shredded carrots or 5 baby carrots

5 lettuce leafs

Open cans of tuna and dump them in a bowl. Add mayonnaise, mustard, and relish. Chop up celery and carrots and add them in.  Mix really well. Stuff the mix in the lettuce and roll like a burrito and serve.  Serves 5.

Here is a picture of “fish and sticks” before I rolled it into a big “fish stick”. =)

-posted by Kaylynn, age 12