Blueberry Vanilla Yogurt Cups

recipe by: Julia Davie, Registered Holistic Nutritionist

Preparing a meal can be a difficult task in any household, let alone one of a busy family. Often, you are tempted to ban your kids from the kitchen so that you can cook in peace. But how about taking a different approach? What about inviting your kids to help with the cooking and the baking? (You could even get their help with the grocery shopping beforehand and the cleanup afterwards!) The learning and bonding opportunities truly are endless!

Here are some of the great benefits of inviting your children to help out in the kitchen:

• spending some quality time together;
• fostering an appreciation for real ingredients and hard work;
• learning about planning and timing skills, safety, and following a procedure;
• practising math skills such as measurement and fractions;
• seeing "real world" chemistry in action;
• developing confidence in the kitchen;
• passing on family traditions and recipes;
• making mealtime fun instead of a chore!

You may be afraid that kids becoming involved in the kitchen will mean more mess and more prep time, and you may be right! These fears may be justified, at least in the beginning, so give it a try by starting small. You can choose an easier meal/snack where a child (or children) can be your "sous chef" and is responsible for simple tasks like stirring the batter or tearing the lettuce. The key is to find age-appropriate tasks to start.

This recipe was designed with parent-child team meal prep in mind! The actions are simple enough that any aged child should be able to do them: measuring, mashing, stirring, spooning, and sprinkling. We recommend wearing aprons to prevent any blueberry stains. :)

Happy meal prepping!

Ingredients

• 2 cups organic full fat plain Greek yogurt or plain coconut yogurt
• 1 cup fresh organic blueberries, mashed
• 1 level tbsp. raw honey (optional)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• sprinkles: shelled hemp seed, ground flax seed or ground cinnamon
• 4 small wide mouth mason jars

Directions

1. Mash blueberries with a fork or potato masher.
2. Spoon ¼ cup of mashed berries into the bottom of each jar.
3. Put yogurt into a medium sized mixing bowl and stir in honey and vanilla.
4. Spoon ½ cup of yogurt mixture into each jar, completely covering the blueberry mash.
5. Top with “sprinkles”.
6. Eat right away or screw on lid and store in the fridge.

Yield: 4 servings

Tried it? Loved it? Let us know in the comments below!