Summer Picnic Friendly Ideas From Veggie Patch!

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During the summer months when the heat is blaring down, the afternoons are so humid that you feel like you can eat the air, I really don’t like meat. The idea of something heavy weighing me down in exhausting afternoons just does not appeal to me, or the other members of my family for that matter. In the summer when it is at its peek, we eat a lot of salads and light foods. You could say we are ‘seasonally vegetarian’.

I had an old roommate that used to be a vegetarian that taught me how to cool meals using meatless products. I was a little wary at first using these products on food that I was so used to eating meat and poultry with, but was delightfully surprised at how there was very little difference. In fact, they were much lighter than meat products!

I wanted to share with you a few ideas that were offered from a lovely company, Veggie Patch, that makes fantastic meatless products that come in 2 categories:

Veggie Products: Spinach Nuggets, Broccoli Bites w/ Cheese, Falafel Chickpea Balls, etc.
Meatless Products: Meatless Meatballs, Chick’n Nuggets, Ultimate Meatless Burger, Veggie Dogs, etc.

As you can see, they aren’t hum drum vegetarian products but comfort foods! Products that we cook with everyday with our recipes, but just happen to be meatless. This makes it a great way to get those extra veggies into your kids through the summer and also once school starts!

Here are a few great recipes from Veggie Patch using the Chick’n Cutlets and the Falafel Balls!

Chick?n Caesar Salad

Ingredients:

1 package Veggie Patch Chick?n Cutlets prepared and sliced.

1 large head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped.

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
Preheat oven or toaster oven to 375 degrees and place cutlets on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until crisp.
Slice cutlets into strips and in a large bowl, toss romaine, Parmesan cheese and Chick?n Cutlet strips
Mix in your favorite Caesar dressing to coat all pieces
Garnish with sprinkled salt and pepper.

Falafel Sandwich with Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Veggie Patch Falafel Balls

1 whole wheat pita

? cup low fat yogurt

? cup sliced cucumber

? cup chopped onion

? cup sliced tomato

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon freshly chopped parsley leaves

1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of salt

Directions:
To make the yogurt sauce, combine the ingredients (yogurt through cumin) in a mixing bowl. Cut pita open to make a pocket and stuff the pita with falafel and remaining vegetables. Put yogurt sauce in a small container to add to your sandwich right before eating and to keep your pita from getting soggy!

Both of these recipes are great for the summer. There is nothing more satisfying than a cool salad or crisp pocket on a hot summer day. And if these aren’t to your liking, they have an entire page dedicated to recipes for their products; everything from pizza to Meatless Meatball Subs!

Veggie Patch products contain 0 Trans Fats and include many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folic acid, vitamin A and vitamin C. All of these are important in keeping your body healthy and are important for growing kids.

You can join the Veggie Conversation on their Facebook Page and/or @EatVeggiePatch on Twitter. Make sure to check out Kids Patch for fun coloring printouts, jokes and more!

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Chick?n Caesar Salad

Falafel Sandwich with Yogurt Sauce

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