So, recently I heard about Chobani’s project for Chobani Kids Yogurt asking parents to discuss ways to encourage children to eat healthy.
We usually don’t do formal snacks, so they were a little more than extremely thrilled for this event.I’ve gotten emails about products before, but I am not terribly interested in reviewing tons of stuff on here. I am a writer, and I’d kind of like to keep it that way, for the most part. However, there are some things I really, genuinely think are awesome ideas, or sites, or products…and I actually love to do reviews of them if I have the chance.
The thing is, I actually love Chobani yogurt. It is a good company and it makes good yogurt. I actually have a yogurt maker to make my own yogurt (mmmm….geeky), but I still pick up yogurt at the store once in a while when I don’t want to spend the time boiling milk and letting the tiny jars sit in the maker for 12 hours. It’s darn good homemade yogurt…but it does take a while.
The Chobani Kids Yogurt comes in little packets with twist tops, which makes it easy to use for kids. I am certainly more comfortable letting them handle these, rather than my little glass yogurt jars that may or may not be completely off limits to people, since I have dropped and broken a few already, and had to order replacement jars… So these kids packets are fantastic for us, and I was thinking about how the kids could use these yogurt packets for different dishes.
Ultimately, what I want to impart on my kids in the kitchen is to see food as ingredients for anything. I want them to think, “what else can I do with this?” for every item of food. This keeps their culinary creativity fresh, and they will be able to explore the world of food with an open, and exciting, mind when they are older.
It was astonishing how successful this was with everyone. I was actually surprised how much I liked liked it! Yogurt is an extremely healthy food, and packed with protein which is going to help the kiddos grow up big and strong. The thing is, usually I don’t buy tubed yogurt for the kids, but Chobani has good yogurt with non-GMO ingredients and fresh fruit, and I trust it with my kids. I was very impressed with the quality of yogurt, and how it wasn’t loaded with sugar or unpronounceable ingredients.
I just don’t buy into gimmicky stuff with characters on it…but I will submit that the kids loved the yogurt, and the Marvel characters on the packets. And we are all Marvel geeks over here, so I can’t disagree with this 😉
So, this all being said, these are 3 dishes I came up with for the kids!
1) Get A Grip On Your Dip
2) Superhero Fruity Gyro
3) Black and Blueberry Yogurt Shortcake Party
(I didn’t have to name these…but, seriously? I name everything. I named our cars Black Thunder and Red 5. Because it’s awesome)
1) Get A Grip On Your Dip
We are a big family, and we are a busy family! It is important to have healthy snacks to keep us going. Veg and yogurt dips are the perfect solution for snacking on the go.
3 different types of yogurt dips for kids, made from the Chobani Kids Yogurt. The squeezable pouches make it easy for the kids to be hands-on in making their own recipe without making a mess. This is helpful especially with little hands so they have the positive satisfaction of completing it on their own.
The 3 dips with veg:
-Strawberry yogurt dip with slices of bananas
-Vanilla Chocolate Dust yogurt dip with slices of strawberries
-Banana yogurt with Nilla wafers
Review: This went over incredibly well. The kids absolutely loved this snack, and I liked how easily they could use the yogurt themselves without making a mess or wasting yogurt. They actually didn’t like the vanilla-chocolate yogurt very much…but I did!
2) Superhero Fruity Gyro
Creating healthy lunches is vital to healthy kids.
Teaching kids how to eat fun, healthy meals is crucial! With this recipe, the kids will help me mix melons, apples, mangoes and pineapples with mint and feta in a lettuce wrap, and top it off with Chobani Kids Yogurt for the finishing touch to their healthy, protein rich fruity gyro.
Review: I think this was the most fun and the most filling of the dishes. The kids all loved putting together their gyros on their own, and it was a little messy, but totally worth it. I made a dish for myself afterward, and I was surprised how alert and energetic I felt after! Definitely a better afternoon snack than chips and black coffee (*cough*….what?). We will actually be using this as a regular meal item after this, for sure.
3) Black and Blueberry Yogurt Shortcake Party
Yogurt between friends make the best friends with yogurt!
The best way to have fun with friends is to have a party with them! We will have a buffet of blackberry and blueberry sauce (cooked ahead of time), Chobani Kids Yogurts, and shortcakes with a little whipped cream on the side.
Review: This was obviously the most popular dish, since I let the kids have dessert in the middle of the day. I would highly suggest this for desserts, playdates, special occasions, birthdays…really, it was super simple and incredibly tasty.
So, for this one there was a little bit of prep to get it started:
- Homemade jelly
- Homemade whipped cream
- Chobani Kids Yogurt
- Shortcakes
Homemade Jelly: Frozen berries, 1/2 cup lemonade, 1 cup of white sugar. Boil for 15 minutes and let cool.
Homemade Whipped Cream: Take heavy whipping cream, add 1 tsp of vanilla, and use an electric beater until it forms peaks.
Let the kids pour the yogurt into the shortcake, then spoon the jelly on top, and then a dollop of whipped cream!
Dessert!
Fin.
fiveintheforest 
