Summer grapefruit salad with citrus vinaigrette

Is it already Friday? Really? Where has my week gone?! Not to say I am not thrilled for the weekend1 And  why? Well...I have a date night surprise for the hubby, and my all time favorite babysitter (AKA my best friend) watching our babies for the evening while we have a night out and some romance. If your house has adorable little kiddos running around all the time, you know how precious these date nights can be!! 
So whats on the agenda for today? Well, we have here what I would call a perfect summer salad! Very light, very refreshing, bright citrus summery flavors, a little crunch, some creamy avocado and tart/sweet grapefruits, and fast and easy to make with no heat. Perfect summer love going on! I thoroughly enjoyed every bite, and it left me wanting more! I served this with a simple piece of toast, and it was a wonderful light lunch or snack.
As you all probably noticed, I added a new Veggie Kids recipe earlier this week, and I am going to be incorporating many more of those. Meals that my children love! I have had a ton of requests regarding kids and getting them to eat healthy, so watch for more Veggie Kids from Mrs. Little House of Veggies.  :D
And now on to the deliciousness...

Summer grapefruit salad with citrus vinaigrette

feeds 4-6

printable recipe

Ingredients needed:

3 large grapefruit, peeled ad sectioned

2 tomatoes, cut into small wedges

2 avocados, sliced

Mixed organic greens, or organic spinach

1/2 cup of slivered almonds, toasted (instructions below)

Citrus Vinaigrette (recipe below)

How to toast almonds:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds out onto a baking sheet and bake for about 5-8 minutes, shaking the pan once in that time to move the almonds around. As soon as you can smell them, get them out!!1 They are done and will burn very quickly!

Summer Citrus Dressing;

juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lime

juice of 1 orange

2 Tbsp. agave nectar
2 Tbsp mellow white miso paste
4 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients until blended well.

Assemble your salad:
I prefer this dish plated individually. Then you can make sure each bowl gets a little bit of everything in it. Start by adding about 2 Tbsp. of the dressing into the bottom of the bowl. Add the lettuce on top, then the fruits, and a few Tbsp of almonds. Add a teeny tiny pinch of salt and pepper to the top of the salad.  Toss when ready to eat, to incorporate dressing. Enjoy!

Veggie Kids: Ladybug Pizzas

Hello fiends! How is everyone doing?! I am doing fab. We have been busy busy busy! We are looking for new housing which I have to admit is not my cup of tea. But it must be done. :D  So send me some good house hunting vibes please!
One of the questions I get asked the most is what I feed my kids and also just requests in general for more "kid friendly" foods. I completely understand that kids can be picky, and hard to feed sometimes. But in  all honesty my kids are pretty adventurous eaters and love a wide variety of foods. I have just pretty much fed them exactly what I am eating from day 1. So if it is a  raw food dish, or salads, or sweet potato soups, sandwiches and wraps, etc.  I just give it to them. Sometimes the sandwiches and wraps can be hard for them to eat so I have found that deconstructing the dish a little gets great results with the kiddos. For instance, instead of giving them a falafal pita, I will give them the falafal balls, their pita on the side cut into triangles, some sliced cucumbers, and some tomato wedges with hummus for dipping it all in. So they are eating the exact same foods as I am, just in an easier fashion. Give kids foods that they can dip and they are happy!
One of my kids favorite things to make are these ladybug pizzas. They love them! And they love making them!  My daughter originally saw something similar to this in a Rachel Ray cookbook and wanted to make it. With some quick swaps and some changes, we had a healthier vegan version of the original. We always make them on Ezekiel Sprouted Grain English muffins which makes these even more nutritious. This is a great way to teach your kids how to cook and prepare their own healthy food and  this one is about as easy as it can be!
Stay tuned. I am going to add more frequent veggie kid friendly meals on here. Including great ways to get your kids to eat lots of kale and lots of other good tips on helping them develop good eating habits at a young age! I have some really great ideas for you! Have a wonderful meatless Monday all!!! Give these pizzas a try with your kids and they will think you are the coolest! :D Oh, and in case I forgot to mention it, these are great for us grownups too!

Veggie Kids: Ladybug Pizzas

Serves 4-6

Printable Recipe

What You Will Need:

1 bag of Ezekiel sprouted grain English muffins (these are often in the freezer section)

2 can of Eden Foods organic Pizza/Pasta sauce (or your favorite pizza sauce)

Teese or Daiya vegan cheese (or any other kind you like). We used Teese for this recipe so that we could slice it in rounds easily

tomatoes

black olives chopped fine

Garlic powder

dried oregano

To Make:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice through each English muffin and layer each with sauce, vegan cheese (if using), tomatoes, and olives. Place on the baking sheet and sprinkle the tops with a little additional garlic powder and dried oregano. Bake for 12-17 minutes until muffin is slightly crispy and the toppings are all warmed through.