#Chocolate Dipped #Pretzels #Recipe

I’ve become a conscientious consumer and have been teaching my family the importance of being one too. I pay attention to ingredients on everything my family and I eat. Some would say that I am not allowing my child to have a ‘normal’ childhood because I won’t let my 3 year old have candy or a lot of the junk food out there.  I read food labels (primarily list of ingredients).  I am also teaching my son to check labels for any numbers and when he sees them to know that it has yucky stuff in it. I know that many foods we consider staples, I will buy organic. Other ingredients that I avoid at all most other times are: artificial dyes, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and hydrogenated oils.  When we eat out which is infrequent it’s harder to know what’s in the foods so I say that if we are eating well at home then the occasional time out to eat is okay or considered ‘in-moderation’ and I let it slide. Then I go home and double up on my Juice Plus+ Orchard & Garden capsules- which are free of all yucky ingredients! =)

Back to our regular scheduled programming. Tonight we made chocolate dipped pretzels. The chocolate was by Baker’s – the kind that melts in the microwave.  We dipped the pretzels in colored sugar, crushed almonds, mini chocolate chips and toasted coconut. Because we aren’t using artificial dyes the coloring of the sugar was a little weak but it all tasted good plus I didn’t mind when my 3 year old ate the rest of it off the plate when we were done! No CARAZZZY sugar rush either.  There’s a BIG difference between artificial dyes and dyes made from natural sources - at least, with my child!

We placed the pretzels in the fridge for the chocolate to harden.  We’ll keep them stored there until all gone or 5 days whichever comes first.  I think 'all gone' will be first because we’ll be sharing them with friends this week. We made roughly 3 dozen pretzels.

Ingredients:

Pretzel Rods, broken in half

Baker's Dipping Chocolate, melted

Baker's Sweetened Coconut, toasted

Organic Raw Cane Sugar

Maggie's Naturals Food Coloring

Ground Almonds (Use a Vitamix or other food processor)

Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Apples with Chocolate

At the after school program I manage, every Wednesday we do fresh-produce day for snack time. In the past, we've done fruit - pineapples, bananas, peaches, tangerines; vegetables - cucumbers, carrots with hummus, and zucchini. I enjoy exposing the children to more fruits and vegetables. I know their school lunches aren't all that great and all of them are on the free lunch program. I am pretty certain that all but one child eats the school lunches. The one who takes her lunch tells me that her grandma packs one veggie and one piece of fruit most days. (This makes me smile!)

So on a Wednesday in January, I served sliced Honey Crisp apples (my personal fave might I add), with melted, drizzled milk chocolate and sprinkled with chopped Spanish nuts. 

I suggest you get creative with your snack time. It surely makes eating healthy a real treat! Buon Appetito!

Choose, eat, and live well! =)