We use Unbleached Baking Cups which are made from premium quality, unbleached, greaseproof paper. These cups are Totally Chlorine-Free (TCF). Since no chlorine or chlorine derivatives are used to produce the cups, no chlorine or its derivatives get dumped into our waterways. From my experience, muffins and candies are much easier to remove from these baking cups than traditional baking cups.

1. Line a mini-muffin pan with paper liners (we didn’t have mini muffin cups, so we just used a regular sized muffin tin).
2. Spoon a tablespoon of melted chocolate into each muffin liner (we use Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips).
3. Toss together nuts and fruit. Place mixture into the melted chocolate and use a spoon to make sure all of the goods are glued down into the melted chocolate.
4. Place the muffin pan in the refrigerator until the chocolate is firm.

Here are the combinations we used:

– Dehydrated Bananas (chopped) & Raw Pecans (chopped)
– Dried Cherries (chopped) & Pistachios (chopped)
– Dried Apricots & Almonds (sliced or chopped)

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“When you know better, you do better.”

I had my girls help assemble the trays, which they thoroughly enjoyed, and this is what we came up with:

Each child got their own tray, we made 18 of them! Here is a list of the contents in each tray:

– Organic whole blueberries.
– Enjoy Life Semi Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks. These chunks are dairy, nut & soy free. They contain evaporated cane juice, natural chocolate liquor (non-alcoholic) and non-dairy cocoa butter.
- Organic diced strawberries.
– Organic grape tomatoes cut into thirds.
- Grapes cut into thirds.We usually purchase organic grapes (and raisins) because they are part of the dirty dozen, but I always have a hard time finding them this time of year. I am expecting them to be available in the next few weeks. My kids have been bugging me for them, so I bought non-organic ones and washed them really well. Unfortunately, washing them does not do the complete trick because the pesticides soak through the skin of the grape.
– Cheddar cheese chunks. We usually purchase Organic Valley cheese, but could not find it at the store we were at.
– Organic carrots. We peeled and diced these ourselves — both my girls love to peel carrots.
– Organic cucumbers. If you cannot purchase organic, it is a good idea to peel your cucumbers to remove as much pesticide residue as possible.
– Annie’s Organic Snack Mix. This box comes with a variety of three snacks: cheddar, buttery rich, and pretzel. I took each cracker and separated them into three cube trays. It was much more cost effective than purchasing three boxes of crackers. We don’t eat these snacks often because they are still processed, but when we need a quick snack to grab, they are a better choice than most. They have no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives and are certified organic. They are also made with real cheese, have no cholesterol and 0g trans fat & 0g saturated fat. They are made with vegetable and canola oils, which are not healthy oils, so they need to be eaten in moderation.
– Organic chopped romaine hearts.
– Organic bananas. Bananas are low in pesticide residue, so these can be purchased non-organic.
– Organic hummus. It is best to make your own hummus if you can to control the oil that goes into it. All of the hummus’ I have found have canola oil in them, which is not a healthy oil, thus it needs to be eaten in moderation. We did not have time to make our own this week, so we purchased Tribe Organic Hummus which contains organic cooked chickpeas, organic canola oil, organ tahini, water, organic lemon juice concentrate, sea salt, organic dried roasted garlic, organic spices. If you eat hummus on a daily basis it would be a good idea to make it yourself. If you eat is as an infrequent snack it would be a good idea to purchase organic to ensure the canola oil does not contain GMOs. Canola is a high risk crop for GMOs (75% of canola crops are genetically modified). Be careful if purchasing non-organic hummus, I have seen a few brands that contain Sodium Benzoate.

The kids were so excited to see all the different options. The teacher was wonderful and briefly talked about each food and the idea came up that this would be a great snack to pair with the Hungry Caterpillar. I was thrilled to see children getting so excited to eat real food! Many times with children it is all about the presentation and in this case it most certainly was.

~ We need to teach our children TO EAT REAL FOOD. No Fast Foods. No Junk Foods. No Processed Foods. Just Honest, Nutritious, Real Food.

I did not purchase organic mango because it is not one of the dirty fruits.  If you are not familiar with the “dirty dozen”, it is a list of the fruits and vegetables that contain the most pesticide residues.  In 2012 a Plus category was added to include green beans and leafy greens (kale, collard greens).  I use this list to guide me in my produce purchases, I don’t want to unnecessarily spend the money on organic fruits and vegetables.  Here is the list:

Dirty Dozen (12 most contaminated —  buy these organic)

• Apples
• Celery
• Sweet Bell Peppers
• Peaches
• Nectarines (imported)
• Strawberries
• Spinach
• Cucumbers
• Grapes
• Lettuce
• Potatoes
• Blueberries
• PLUS: Green Beans & Kale Greens

Clean 15 (lowest in pesticide)

• Onions
• Sweet Corn
• Pineapples
• Avocado
• Cabbage
• Sweet Peas
• Asparagus
• Mangos
• Eggplant
• Kiwi Fruit
• Cantaloupe (domestic)
• Sweet Potatoes
• Grapefruit
• Watermelon
• Mushrooms

~ Don’t do nothing just because you can’t do everything. – Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (Vegan Chef and Founder of Compassionate Cooks)