EASY SNACK- CARROT CHIPS!

These carrot chips can be addictive! Thank goodness there are only three ingredients!

One of our main messages to parents with picky eaters is to try a vegetable in different forms, textures, flavors, and cooking styles. If your child isn’t a fan of raw carrots, he may like them steamed, roasted, blended, juiced, or in some other way. So many of a picky eater problem goes beyond taste and is heavily influenced by texture. But if it is about flavor, preparing veggies in different ways actually does change the flavor! So, when you are thinking about dinner ideas, these carrot chips would make a wonderful side dish!

Why carrots are good for you:

Carrots have a reputation of being good for your eyes, but it goes so far beyond that! The deep orange color indicates carrots contain an antioxidant called caratenoids. The reason we want foods containing antioxidants, and the explanation I give my kids, is that oxidation creates free radicals that go around damaging cells. I imagine a crazy person with a hammer, hitting and ruining everything in the room. So an ANTI-OXIDANT‘S job is to stabilize those free radicals- calm them down, or take the hammer away.

When damage is done to your cells, sickness, disease, and degradation can follow. But foods with antioxidants can slow down the damage, and in some cases, reverse it. Carrots specifically can help slow the damage to skin, eyes, and even immune function. The antioxidants in carrots can also help protect against heart disease and some cancers. Different fruits and vegetables contain different antioxidants, so in order to protect against a wide range of disease, a variety of fruits and vegetables is going to be important.

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delicious carrot chips for picky eaters, Easy Carrot Chips

What are some ways to eat carrots?

Carrots, while many of us love to throw raw sticks into a child’s lunch, there are so many other DELICIOUS ways to eat carrots, that your kids will LOVE! To make the most of your healthy meal plans, include carrots in a variety of ways in all the meals (breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner!)

carrot juice Consider including some apple juice to sweeten it up!
carrot french toast, Shredding carrots and including it in your batter, and sprinkled on top!
carrot muffins If your kids like carrot cake, than they’ll love these!
a carrot smoothie We added orange to this extra vitamin C!)
carrot granola bars We added carrots to our granola bars with great results
carrot crackers Mmm. cheesy and delicious!
carrot energy bites These no-bake balls are great on the go
carrot cupcakes An Easter tradition of ours!
carrot cake We included Greek yogurt and apple to make this cake
and carrot cookies! We included apples and oats in these carrot cookies

And finally- the way we are going to make them today….

CARROT CHIPS!!

We’re big fans of this method to eat carrots, even for the pickiest child. Instead of steamed (mushy), or raw (tough for little teeth), these carrot chips are easy to eat and full of flavor. Getting the kids involved with making them is another way to get them excited about eating them. Using a vegetable peeler, the kids can peel long slices of the carrot. The trick is to keep peeling from one side. The deeper your cuts get to the center, the wider the carrot chips will be (which is what you want!)

After your slices have been made, simply coat the bottom of a cookie sheet with some olive oil. Lay the carrots slices on the pan, and sprinkle with salt!

Bake at 350 for 10-25 minutes. Yes, that is a long span of time. But, it will be different for everyone depending on how thick your carrot slices are. You want them thin and crispy!