Food for Thought Friday

I'm so lucky that my kids adore fruits and veggies (please don't hate me!). I've never had to resort to hiding the nutritious stuff inside other things so they wouldn't realize what they were eating. But, I know many of you out there don't share my good fortune and meal time can be an agonizing battle of wills.

I recently came across a nifty little blog that aims to take a wide array of decadent desserts and and reinvent them in a healthier manner without sacrificing taste. (For some reason, this reminds me of that old Folgers coffee commercial and I keep replaying it in my head -- "Mr. and Mrs. Johnson don't know it but we've replaced the coffee they usually serve with our own Folgers mountain grown coffee....")

Anyhoo.....

I just tried a "cookie dough" dip that seemed too good to be true and yet, it didn't disappoint. None of my guests had any clue what it was actually made of. I'll give you a hint: You could call it chocolate chip hummus, but that just wouldn't go over quite as well.

So, if you want to coerce your kids into downing some veggies without twisting their arms to do it, try this on for size. Added bonus: It's gluten-free and can be made nut-free as well if you use sunflower seed butter. You can find this and other delicious dessert recipes at Chocolate Covered Katie. Mmmmmmm.......

photo courtesy: Chocolate Covered Katie

Healthy "Cookie Dough" Dip:

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained)
• 1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
• tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup nut butter (You can get away with using only 3 T)
• up to 1/4 cup nondairy milk (Start with 1 T, and add more as needed)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (easily can use slightly less if desired)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 2 to 3 T oats (or flaxmeal) (You can omit, but also omit the milk if you do)

Add all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) to a blender or food processor, and blend until very smooth. Then mix in the chocolate chips.