Hummus and these five veggies

Tuesday is Farmers Market day.

 

We waited for April all winter long and now we have been enjoying 4 weeks of fresh veggies and fruit, cage free eggs, and the best hummus you have ever had.

 The kids and I look forward to our morning adventure every Tuesday. It is the day you run into friends and acquaintances and people you haven’t seen since the start of last years winter months. Those you want to see and those you want to avoid, everyone makes their appearance. Gotta love a small town.

With three small children (relatively so) eating healthy is always on my mind and I am eager to hear and try new ways to get the kids consuming larger quantities of vegetables.

 

 My daughter has always been easy: I say “eat it”  and she says “okay”. My son is a different story altogether. I say eat it and he says “I not so hungry” when minutes earlier he was asking for food. He is easy to feed if I can circumvent his sensitive gag reflex.

I have gotten very creative with this. Visual distraction and a barrage of topics interesting to him are constantly utilized by my ever frenzied brain. It is kind of like a child who isn’t responding to his name being called but as soon as you yell “ice cream” he snaps his head toward you. I can always get Mason’s attention if I call out “Hey Buzz Lightyear”. Same as I can get him to eat avocado and other textury foods if I mix with yogurt or hummus and don’t let him smell it on the way in. The kid smells a banana from across the room and he is over gagging in the sink. It’s my cross to bear.

 

 

Often, because I teach Zumba most Tuesday nights, dinner in the evening looks like an assortment of delicious hummus, fresh tabouli and a heaping platter of cut up veggies. Kids love it (they also get pita). Husband loves it (he and I are not eating bread right now...not really his idea) and I feel really good eating it.

Try these five with hummus:

 

1. Carrots. Of course, you think hummus you think carrots or maybe pita and then carrots, either way , carrots are right up there with “go along with everything” vegetable. No surprise there.
2. Broccoli. I don’t know about you but broccoli has never been an eating raw favorite of mine, however, cut those florets into small, very small, finger morsels and dip in Hummus and you have a very under appreciated taste.
3. Cucumber. This is a veggie easy on the taste buds. If you aren’t eating these by themselves and often I would beg the question, Why? Slice them up and add them to the others as a very delicious dipping implement.
4. Cabbage. This is an unsung vegetable of fantastic qualities, not frequently eaten raw. Cut a crisp organic cabbage in long chunks and dip dip dip, the subtle spice is a wonderful additive to about any hummus blend.
5. Bell Pepper. Red ones, green ones, yellow ones and orange ones. I don’t need to sing the praises of these babies very loud, they are a champion for dipping. What color, what pizzazz, what crunchy yumminess.

My sister at Jolly little life is sending amazing pics from Punta Cana and I am here blogging about vegetables.  Well, I laugh to keep from crying.