Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

Original Recipe HERE

 

I never ate fruit with dinner as a child, other than my mom's homemade applesauce.  It was her go-to side dish with pork chops and pot roast.  I never make either of those in my house, so eating fruit after 12:00pm never really crossed my mind.  Until I had kids.  Since mine love it, I don't have trouble getting (most) fruits into them every day.  But I understand if they get burned out on eating the same kinds, in the same forms, day after day.  Enter dip.

I always have the ingredients with this on hand, so when I'm stumped for a side dish, I can whip it up (literally) in the stand mixer in minutes.  I also send it with *N* for school lunches.  So far, we can attest that it's great with pears, apples, bananas, pineapples, cantaloupe, and red grapes.  It certainly takes the health benefits of the fruit down a notch, but variety is the spice of life, and I'm OK with it.

 

It works better if you plan more than 5 minutes ahead so (1) the cream cheese has time to soften enough, and (2) the brown sugar has time to dissolve (I recommend making a batch, letting it sit about 10 minutes, and giving it another quick blending to break up any remaining clumps of sugar).

 

Ingredients

1 block (8 oz) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar [more or less, to taste]

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon [more or less, to taste]

 

Directions

(1) With a mixer or by hand, blend cream cheese until easily spreadable.

(2) Add sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Blend until well mixed.

 

Kid Participation:

* Mush up cream cheese

* Add other ingredients & stir

* Neglect other parts of dinner in favor of eating just fruit and dip

Peanut Butter & Yogurt Dip

Original Recipe HERE

 

I served this as part of a "Dip Dinner," which was my inspired meal born out of desperation.  I made two homemade dips to be served with vegetables as well as this one to be served with banana slices, apple wedges, and red grapes.  The kids loved both the concept and its execution.

 

Ingredients

1 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 Tablespoon sweetener, such as brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey [optional]

 

Directions

(1) Soften peanut butter slightly by microwaving in short intervals.

(2) Mix sweetener into peanut butter.

(3) Thoroughly combine yogurt with peanut butter.  Refrigerate until serving. 

 

Kid Participation: Whisk dip and then dig in.

Peanut Butter & Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

Original Recipe HERE

This is based on the recipe linked to above, but I have a similar recipe bookmarked that is peanut butter-based.  I added the yogurt and peanut butter of that one to this guy, and this is the end result.  It's a good fruit dip because the cream cheese and peanut butter ensure it won't be too sweet (unlike popular ones that involve Cool Whip or marshmallow fluff).  I thought it was a success, and my kids ate all of theirs and asked for more.

We dipped apple slices and grapes in it and would've used bananas next.  Also, I served carrots and broccoli with a separate dip alongside this, and my kids both dipped their vegetables in this one instead.  Whatever...as long as they're eating the green stuff, I don't care about the unorthodox fashion.  I think this would be good with graham crackers and Nilla wafers, in which case I might throw in some mini chocolate chips to make it more of a dessert dish.

Ingredients

1 package (8 oz) reduced fat cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup plain or French vanilla yogurt

3 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Fruit for serving

Directions

(1) Cream together cream cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, and vanilla extract until smooth.

(2) Add brown sugar and cinnamon.  Whisk or stir until sugar is dissolved. 

Kid Participation: Combine all ingredients.

Creamy Fruit Freeze

Original Recipe HERE

Summertime, with its abundant fresh fruit, makes me want to take advantage of nature's bounty.  However, my family doesn't always consume mass quantities (of the size that makes a pick-your-own outing worthwhile) quickly enough, and some goes bad.  Except blueberries.  *N* can eat those by the truckload; I should've named her Veruca.  I know I can freeze it, and I sometimes do - but usually in pureed form to add to plain yogurt or smoothies later on.  Those options were getting a little old, so I thought I'd try this recipe.

I didn't have enough fresh fruit varities that seemed like they'd combine well, so I used a frozen bag of mixed berries and cherries from Trader Joe's.  The end result was a lovely treat.  It didn't have the "airy-ness" of good ice cream, but it had a melt-in-your-mouth quality that I really liked (because, obviously, it's frozen, so it's going to melt...but I couldn't think of a better description).  I added a few spoonfuls to some smoothies, and it gave them a richer texture - funny, since I had been feeling burned out on smoothies-made-of-frozen-fruit.  This isn't healthy, but it's super easy.  And at least you know it's not full of scary-sounding additives, artificial flavors, and suspicious colors.

Ingredients

2 cups berries or diced fruit, fresh or frozen (thawed)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1) Combine fruit and sugar in a food processor or blender.  Process until smooth.

2) In mixing bowl, whip heavy whipping cream until soft-medium peaks form.

3) Gently fold whipped cream into puree just until combined.

4) Place in a freezer safe container and freeze until firm (about 2-4 hours). Scoop into bowls for 6 small servings.

Notes: Next time I'll combine the puree and cream more thoroughly.  It had a marbelized look before being frozen, so I'll go for a more uniform appearance.

Kid Participation

* Pour fruit and sugar into food processor

* Mix puree and whipped cream together