Kid-Friendly Recipe: Corn Jalapeno Dip With Tortilla Dip Bowls

Cooking for (and with!) kids can be challenging. After all, little people tend to have very clear ideas on what they want to eat and of course, what they think is "icky". When I was little, I wouldn't eat eggs, seafood, onions, peppers, and the list goes on and on and on...Unfortunately, I am only a tiny bit better about my picky eating habits as an adult!

Thankfully, my kids have pretty broad palates and happen to love their vegetables. But have you ever noticed that plain old veggies tend to get a bit ho-hum at times? A bowl full of vegetables on their own come across as pretty uninspiring. While kids may eat and even enjoy them, they generally don't get genuinely excited about them.

There are tons of great ways to jazz up seemingly ordinary vegetables by adding them to creative, kid-friendly recipes. You see, veggies don't have to simply be a side dish...They can easily be transformed into the main attraction!

I recently stumbled upon the Birds Eye Kids website, and there I found a bunch of recipes designed specifically for the pickiest of eaters: Kids!

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I love the fun, creative kids recipes on the Birds Eye website, so I decided to grab some convenient Steamfresh veggie pouches and try some of the recipes out on my own kids. The first one we tried was the Taste Tester Corn Jalapeno Dip. We made a few small changes to the original recipe to suit our tastes, so I will include our modified version below. (If you want the original, simply click the link in the recipe title above!)

The beauty about all of these recipes is that you can feel free to get creative with them and substitute ingredients your family enjoys. For example, our grocery store was sold out of the Steamfresh® Chef's Favorites Lightly Seasoned Southwestern Style Corn, so we substituted with some Birds Eye Steamfresh Mixed Vegetables instead. I also made my own fresh guacamole rather than rely on prepackaged guac.

Anyway, here's our take on Taste Tester Corn Jalapeno Dip:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package (12 oz.) Steamfresh® Broccoli Florets, cooked according to package directions
• 1 package (12 oz.) Steamfresh® Chef's Favorites Lightly Seasoned Southwestern Style Corn, cooked according to package directions (We substituted Steamfresh Mixed Vegetables)
  
• 1 (8 oz.) container sour cream, divided (We used plain Greek Yogurt instead since we don't like sour cream)
  
• 1-1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 tomato, diced (We skipped this altogether, since my kids don't care for them!)
  
• 1 cup prepared guacamole(Or FRESH! Check out my own personal recipe HERE.)
  
• 1 jalapeno pepper (Optional), seeded and finely chopped
• 4 (6-inch) flour tortillas (Optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In medium bowl, blend broccoli with 1/2 cup sour cream. (Or yogurt!)

2. In 4 tortilla bowls or individual dip bowls, evenly layer cooked southwest corn, 1 cup cheese, tomatoes, broccoli mixture, guacamole, remaining sour cream and jalapeno.

3. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Serve with your favorite dippers.

Tortilla Bowls (optional): Arrange 1 (6-inch) flour tortilla in a 2-cup microwave safe bowl, pressing down to make a bowl shape. Microwave on HIGH 60 seconds. Carefully remove from bowl and let stand on wire rack until cooled and hard. Repeat with 3 additional tortillas.

If you're a visual person. I took lots of photos:

Cook veggies according to package directions.

Set aside. Don't they look tasty?!

If you're making fresh guacamole, do it now.

Cover it with saran wrap and refrigerate.

Mix sour cream or yogurt with your broccoli

Place tortillas in a bowl and microwave for 2-3 minutes or until they begin to brown. Carefully take them out of the bowl and cool on a cooling rack.

Layer your ingredients in the tortilla dipping bowls, top with extra cheese and jalapeno. I had leftover guac and veggies so I served them on the side. Serve with tortilla chips.

How cute are these?!

So making this recipe was a lot of fun, and my toddlers supervised me the whole time. I even let my daughter help stir the guacamole and broccoli! Now was the true test...Would my kids like the finished product? Well, a picture says a thousand words in this case. Yes, to avoid clothing catastrophies, we eat certain foods in our diapers. Well, the kids do. Not me. Mommy is potty-trained, and not quite as messy haha.

Sophie and Xander were very eager to dig in to their veggie-packed meals!

Sophie dove right into her guacamole. That's my girl!

Xander really loved this dish, too!

In fact, they ate and ate and then fell asleep right there in their high chairs!

As you can see, this recipe was a HUGE hit with my kiddos! Granted, they already loved their veggies. But now, thanks to the folks at Birds Eye, I have plenty of awesome new ideas about how to jazz up every day meals and make sure my family gets a healthy dose of veggie goodness without becoming bored.

HOW TO CONNECT :

You can check out the awesomeness that is Birds Eye on their website.

You can also connect with them on Facebook and on twitter to stay on top of their latest products and promotions.


***Disclosure:I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Birds Eye. I received product coupons to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.***