Thursday, January 12, 2006

Fondue

Speaking of kids eating vegetables, here's another great way to make veggies fun for kids: Lunch Box Fondue. In fact, this was Little shmoo's special request for today; he saw the fresh Brussels sprouts at the supermarket and begged me to make him fondue. "Weelll...I guess I could make you a giant heap of vegetables for lunch, but only if you're really good!" Hee.
So, fondue in a thermos with apple chunks, new potatoes, steamed green beans, baby carrots, Brussells sprouts, and cauliflower for dipping. A small piece of sweet dark chocolate is alongside for dessert.
Verdict: I sat next to him grading papers while he ate. "This is fondue!" he boasted, and Julia came over and bragged that she could eat a whole bowl of peas. Yes, vegetables are cool! The sprouts were first to go, of course, then the green beans got rave reviews. The cauliflower fell off the fondue fork but was rescued and eaten with his fingers, then he finished off all the carrots, apple chunks, and all but three bites of potato. "Whew, full!" 5 stars.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

yum!! i'm so jealous :)

Anonymous said...

I just came across this site today, and I'm loving it! You have so many great ideas that I'm going to try on my 6 year-old (sadly, we're recent converts so she's not adapting too well). I know you don't often post recipes, but I'd love to have the one for fondue! My daughter has always loved fondue, well...anything that can be dipped really, so it would be much appreciated :)
-Jess

lonna said...

That looks so good. I want some too!

Jennifershmoo said...

Hi, Jess! Actually, if you follow the link in the post it will take you right to the recipe! :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi! I found your blog from a link on a post from a Yahoo Groups list I belong to. Our family is also vegan/vegetarian (depending upon the family member and the day) and DH is also gluten-free. Our 'kids' are both students at CBC and were raised on a plant-based diet --- no meat ever. I was excited to hear that you are from Tri Cities! We are too! So nice to meet you! Thanks for a great blog --- I'll visit again soon.

Anonymous said...

I Great Big Puffy Heart your fondue recipe! I've made it at least twice since its been posted and just love it on everything. I use it to make mac and cheese and a baked cheesy rice dish.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to make the fondue! Thanks SO much. I've been trying to learn how to cook vegetables I've never had before, so this will be my first chance to try Brussels sprouts.

Jennifershmoo said...

Hey, anonymous, welcome! If you're in the Tri-Cities, check out our local veggie group: http://www.tcveg.org. We're having a free potluck and movie night this Saturday ("Maximum Nutrition" by Dr. Michael Greger).

Hey, kli! Try the "Best Brussels Sprouts" recipe, too. They're divine!

Anonymous said...

hi, i'm curious about what sort of school shmoo is in. is it a motessori-type school? i ask because of how much involvement you seem to have in the classroom. it sounds neat!

Anonymous said...

I am curious as to your involvement in the classroom as well. Do you mind sharing?

Jennifershmoo said...

It's a private Catholic school, but not Montessori. Since I'm a stay-at-home and shmoo is my only child, I volunteered to come in once a week if they needed a class helper. I don't do anything much, just walk around and help the students or decorate the bulletin board.

It's been entertaining and eye-opening. I have no idea how teachers manage to do it all, keep everything under control, and not lose their minds!

SDGvegan said...

ha! awesome. I should make that for my kids' lunches.

Kuntal Joisher said...

nifty!! my mom could never make me eat such stuff when i was a kid .. though i eat it now .. vegetables rock!!!

Anonymous said...

Okay, I have no kid, but I am thinking, what about cutting veggies into interesting shapes, like with tiny cookie cutters, think that would interest them? Carrots, cucumbers, radishes, etc. A lot of waste, but you can use the rest for soup. You could make a respectable dinosaur out of carrots sliced lengthwise.

Anonymous said...

Or, an animal made out of veggies, like with slits in the carrot to stick in radish ears.

Harmonia said...

Very descriptive and fun! Looks Yummers!

Anonymous said...

I think Karen Anne may be referring to the Halloween fingers and nails made of carrots and radishes. Thanks for the school info Jennifer.

FilmStocker said...

Now fondue in the lunchbox! Your endless creativity never ceases to astound me...



Film Stock

Christiane said...

Will you adopt me . . . please, please, pretty please?!?

Anonymous said...

I taught second and third graders for ten years at a public school before I became a stay at home mom for my thirteen month old. I love it but I gotta say the sahm gig is MUCH harder.

Anonymous said...

i just made this for lunch! the cheese sauce is pretty amazing. it looks like velveeta and tastes pretty good too! thanks a lot for sharing!

Anonymous said...

It's a good thing it's a "private Catholic school" because I can just imagine the zero tolerance bureaucratic education administration drones in a public school calling the police because the fondue skewer coupld be considered a dangerous weapon under the school system's "zero tolerance for weapons in this post-Columbine world." (Well, they have to do that because "It's policy" and zero tolerance means they have managed to forbid themselves from using common sense and good judgement. Stay with the small Catholic school!

Your recipes appear to be both tasty and healthy.

Jennifershmoo said...

I was there with him at lunch, so he didn't have it unsupervised. If I hadn't been there I would have sent his regular fork. :-)

Anonymous said...

Ok, I know this is really late... being that it is now April, but I just stumbled onto your site. Thank goodness, because this recipe (for the fondue) was so fabulous! All four of my kids, my dh and I loved it. It will now be our Sunday dinner. We dipped homemade bread, apples, slightly steamed carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and steamed potatoes. It was all gone!
This site is so great. We have just recently went Vegan. So many great ideas.
Later this week we will try the "fish" sticks and I am making empanadas tomorrow! : )
Thank you so much!
Heather