I’m always looking for fun and easy fruit dishes that my four-year-olds can make.

I am not a fan of painting, or play doh like I thought I would be when I became a mother. I prefer edible creativity—when they eat their creations there is a lot less mess!

I’m not a fan of commercial ice cream, I think it tastes synthetic.

(An elderly Greek lady I lived with, who made her own cheese and yoghurt in a remote Greek village said if I saw what how commercial ice-cream was made, I would never eat it).

However, I understand the sweet appeal on a scorching hot summer’s day! So I make fruit sorbets or ice-cream lollies at home, but the easiest iced lollie equivalent is something that my kids love: It’s possible to use tinned or fresh pineapple (tinned means this recipe takes seconds).

Take a slice of pineapple ring, remove it from the juice and place a popsicle stick through one side, the hole in the middle, and the other side. Place it on a greaseproof surface, then in the freezer for at least three hours until frozen.

Remove and eat immediately.

Here’s an idea for a lovely chilled chocolate pudding, or frozen ice cream or iced lolly.

You could add (or substitute) other superfoods, such as lucuma powder, maca root powder, hemp protein powder or cacao, but I wanted a quick chocolate-y pudding recipe for kids at the time.

Ingredients :

• 5 (very) ripe bananas
• 2 ripe avocados
• 2 tall glasses of hemp or other vegan milk
• Still water or ice cubes to consistency
• 1 cup of carob powder or cacao

Method:

Blend all together in high-speed blender. Pour into ice lolly moulds and allow 6 or more hours, to freeze, pour into pot to refrigerate or eat as is.

Enjoy!

Chocolate-like Fudge Iced Lollies

These take slightly longer than the previous recipe, but last just like creamy chocolate without the actual chocolate.

Avocados, as opposed to milk, give this recipe it’s creaminess.

A great source of fat, calories, high in protein, dietary fiber, folate, vitamin C and K, Avocados are a superfood for children. My daughter eats them straight, but for my son I blend them with sweet foods such as fruit.

I spent ages trying to perfect a recipe that tasted as good as the “real” chocolate lollies.

I’m sure you will find that this recipe tastes even better than the chemical-laden ones.

You will need:

• A lolly mould for 6 lollies
• Food processor or blender (you could probably mix by hand also)
• A sharp knife
• 3 ripe avocados
• 4 tbsps agave syrup
• 1/2 cup carob powder
• A couple pinches of pink salt or celtic sea salt (increases sweetness)
• 2 teaspoons of organic vanilla essence
• 1/2 to 1 cup water or more to desired (slightly runny) consistency

Other Options:

* For adults, exchange the carob or half the carob for cacao

* For extra protein, add a little spirulina, ground brazil nuts, almonds, maca root powder or hemp protein powder

* Try using a bit of coconut oil to add even more fat for children

* Sometimes I have also used other sweeteners in place of some or all the agave, like lucuma powder but I think agave gives best results

* You could finally drop some cacao nibs pieces or sesame seeds into the top of the lolly moulds, before the lolly mix, for a surprise topping

Method:

Place the pitted and peeled avocados in the food processor. Add the other ingredients, except for the water, and blend.

Add the water slowly, as required.

Pour in to the lolly moulds and put in freezer for at least 6 hours.

To release from the moulds, stand them in warm (but not boiling hot) water in the sink for about 20 seconds.

Give them a little twist, et voilà.

Fruit Easter Eggs (see feature image)

For Easter, we made fruit easter eggs. The kids were were so excited about them, they then asked if they could make them every day!

It is a handy way to get them to eat a bit of every fruit, rather than get them stuck on a few, as they can tend to do.

This one features rose grapes, kiwi, strawberries, passionfruit and mango slices.

Owl Toast

The Easter egg meant buying a whole range of fruit, so is more of a special occasion thing. Then we found these owl pictures.

These only use a handful of fruit and you can use whatever is on hand. They are a very healthy treat. My daughter likes tahini but my son preferred almond butter.

They don’t take long to do, so are good for a weekend breakfast and a lot of fun. They also keep well in the fridge if you wanted to make them the night before and send for school lunch.

Method:

I used rye bread with chia and flaxseeds. Toasted it lightly, cut it in half.

I let the kids spread the butter themselves. Then I gave them the chopped fruit and they arranged it themselves (I showed them a photo that I found online).

The mouths are from pine nuts, but other things would work, like cashews
Similar to the owls, but even more simple are Teddy bear (top) and puppy (bottom) toast.

Relephant:

A Vegan Mom Stands Strong.

~

Author: Hannah-Marie Martin

Editor: Renée Picard

Photos: courtesy of the author