“Veggie Faces” No-Bake Vegetable Pizzas and Wraps
~ Your kids will love this project – it’s so much fun to create edible art! No-bake veggie pizzas are a fresh, exciting lunch or snack! You can even pack all the ingredients in their lunch boxes, bento-box-style – a much healthier take on Lunchables! (Psssst … and a great way to get kids to eat more vegetables!) ~
This Recipe Is: • Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Vegetarian •
When you were little, did your mommy always sternly tell you not to “play with your food”?
Hmmmmm. Well, we’re totally throwing that out the window today! (Sorry!)
Getting gloriously messy-goopy-sloppy with food might not be gold-star manners at a schwanky restaurant or Aunt Mabel’s spiffy Sunday supper … but it’s one of the very, very best ways to get kiddos excited about trying new eating adventures (aka veggies)!
We can vouch for this firsthand.
Remember our posts about how to help picky little eaters grow up to be less, well … picky? And remember in our second post in that series, about getting the kids involved, when we suggested ways to let your kiddos (even the littlest guys!) help in the kitchen? Uh-huh.
Well, here’s a prime example of how to do just that!
Make veggie pizzas (or wraps … depending on how you fold and slice ’em) designed as people or monsters or pirates or unicorns … or whatever!
Kids think this is super fun! They love the freedom to make hilarious veggie faces in the most creative, ridiculous ways they can imagine! Lunch just met up with the best messy art project ever – what kid can resist that?!?
It’s the perfect way to introduce them to the shapes, textures and flavors of new vegetables in a totally non-stressful, no-pressure way.
(It’s also a brilliant way to clean out the veggie crisper or use up some of the bounty from a wildly successful trip to the farmers’ market. Yay!)
We realize that we for sure weren’t the first people to come up with this clever, oh-so-fun hook to sweep kids into the thrill of eating veggies. (Who knows what enterprising mom originally dreamt this up? But we really want to meet her!!)
So here’s why we’re publishing this for you today. (Besides the fact that it’s mid-summer, and the kiddos might be getting a tad b-o-r-e-d, totally ready for some exciting, new project ideas!) Actually, this is the post we needed and couldn’t find.
And since we couldn’t find it, we decided to write it ourselves!
You see, back in the spring, we were invited to work with a wonderful group of little third-grade Girl Scouts, to help them earn their “Snacks” badge.
We had a lot of learning, creating and snacking to jam into one quick after-school meeting. So we knew we’d need a couple handy visual aids to jump-start the girls’ creative thinking quickly … and convince them that a few sprigs of broccoli and some carrot shreds could be magically transformed into an awesome – and delicious! – snackable work of art!
We figured it’d be no problem to find some great example photos. We’d just bookmark a couple of pics on the Internet, or find a few samples among the shelves (shelves!) of Shelley’s kids’ cookbooks. So obvious. Easy-peasy.
But we were totally dismayed to find almost no good examples at all! Huh. Unexpected.
So, today we have all the inspiration you and your little foodie-Picassos need.
From a snowman … to a vampire … to (ummmmmm????) some stuff we don’t really have a name for …
These are the ideas that our own little artists created for us (and you!) one super-fun day last week. We all had a blast together … and a great lunch!
It’s the perfect project for a mommy-and-me afternoon, a playgroup gathering, or a (healthy!) preschool party snack.
You can even package up some ingredients into a way-cool lunchbox kit so your little artist can enjoy the best “Lunchable” ever (while their school buds drool in envy).
There are no rules here … only suggestions! Use whatever veggies you have on hand!
Two must-haves, though: alfalfa sprouts and jumbo olives. Really!
Alfalfa sprouts were the surprise-hit ingredient at our Girl Scout meeting. Most of the girls had never even heard of alfalfa sprouts, but they were by far the most popular of all the veggies (since they make perfect hair … for pretty red-pepper hair bows!).
And huge black olives? Well, that’s obvious! You’re just never too old for olive finger puppets!
So don’t be afraid to get a little messy, friends! Have fun with your food, and your kiddos will, too!
Looking for More Fun Recipe Ideas for Kids? Check Out Our:
- Ants on a Log 2.0
- Mini Deep Dish Pizzas + Dessert
- No-Bake Fruit “Pizzas”
- Strawberry-Peanut Butter Quesadillas
- Mmmmmm … and all of our super-popular Snack Bites
"Veggie Faces" No-Bake Vegetable Pizzas and Wraps
Your kids will love this edible art project! And, these No-Bake Veggie Pizzas are a fun way to get them eating more veggies!
• Vegetarian •
Ingredients
CRUST OPTIONS:
- whole-grain tortilla
- whole-wheat pita
- whole-wheat flat bread
"SAUCE" OPTIONS:
- reduced-fat cream cheese (your favorite flavor)
- nonfat Greek yogurt dip (such as French Onion or Jalapeño and Salsa)
- hummus
- cottage cheese
TOPPING OPTIONS:
- fresh veggies such as: colorful peppers (diced, slivered or cut into shapes), halved grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, carrot sticks or shreds, small broccoli florets, celery sticks, peas, sliced mushrooms, pitted black olives, and alfalfa sprouts
- shredded, reduced-fat cheese
Instructions
- To assemble, start by spreading the “crust” with one or more types of “sauce.”
- Add desired toppings to make a fun face.
- To serve, cut into wedges like a pizza, roll up like a burrito or wrap, or fold like a quesadilla.
I love these, they are such a great way to get kids to eat healthy veggies and it makes dinner a lot more fun.
I’m so happy you liked this idea, Lily – and I totally agree – these are fun for everyone! And honestly, as an adult at the table, I enjoy eating them, too – they LOOK like kid food, but parents can craft really yummy “grown-up” versions! I always love a great veggie wrap! 😉 ~Shelley
I am trying to increase my kids’ servings of vegetables, I love these creative ideas!!
This really is a great way to get kids more comfy with veggies. Even if they don’t try all the vegetable options the first time around, just being exposed to veggies again and again is an important step. I’ve even used this recipe as an activity for Girl Scout troops – and been sooooo surprised that some of the “weirdest” veggie options I offered were by far the most popular (probably because they did have that allure of “weirdness” lol). If you’re interested, we actually have a 5-part series about parenting picky eaters (and things like helping kiddos eat more veggies). We’ve got lots more ideas for you there, that I hope might help you, too! Good luck – and enjoy! ~Shelley
My kids are going to like this recipe! Can’t wait to give this a try! Looks so yummy!
This really is so much fun, Beth! Definitely for the kids, as they get all creative with the options … but also for the parents who watch their kiddos eat more veggies (and even try new ones) in the process. Plus, I love that it’s both a meal AND an activity – keeping the kiddos busy for a while and simultaneously getting them fed. Double win! 😉 Enjoy! ~Shelley