St. Patrick’s Day is known more as a day of drinking beer and wearing green, and it’s not really considered much of a child’s holiday. However, it’s one of the biggest holidays of the year in my house; our middle child turns 4 on St. Patrick’s Day this year and our twins turn 1 two days before that. It’s a big holiday. And since Miss Ava is the ‘middle’ child now, we like to make sure her birthday is as special as possible, especially as it’s on a holiday and two days after her twins (and only brother) were born. But since the day is not all about my sweet Ava, other kids might enjoy celebrating the holiday as well. We like the idea of dying all the food we eat green that day – especially since dye in something unhealthy is the only way we can get our oldest daughter to even consider eating anything green. It’s a fun way to incorporate the kids into the holiday, and it’s pretty much the only way our household celebrates the day aside from the fact that it’s Ava’s birthday. We have a list of foods you can add some green food coloring to if you want to celebrate with your little ones on St. Patty’s Day.
Pancakes
Who doesn’t love pancakes on any occasion? We all love them, and they are a special breakfast treat for all kids. You can add a few drops of green food coloring to yours to make them more desirable and more enjoyable and the kids will just eat that right up. Literally; they will literally eat the pancakes right up. Pun absolutely intended.
Cookies
When the dough is done, just add a few drops of green food coloring and you have yourself a masterpiece that the kids will adore. We love this idea because it means that we get to have some cookies with green food coloring in them and then pretend we just ate something like broccoli or another healthy item. We know deep down it’s a lie, but on the shallow end of things we feel pretty good after this.
Vanilla Ice Cream
You could just buy some green mint chocolate chip ice cream and call it a day, but why bother when you can also go to the store, buy vanilla ice cream, dye and green and actually watch your kids enjoy the food? My k ids will only eat vanilla ice cream, because they are apparently strange and interesting creatures. And this is how we get the green in for them.
Mashed Potatoes
It’s simple to add a few drops of green food coloring into some of your dinner plans, and it’s good. You can’t taste it, so it just looks pretty. A few drops into a dish of mashed potatoes and you have a green dinner. Of course, you could also just add a salad and some broccoli to dinner to make it an actually healthy green dinner, but whatever.
Eggs
When making scrambled eggs, just add some food coloring to the mixture and you will see them turn green. Its’ a bit Dr. Suess-like, but there’s no harm or shame in that kind of deal. Kids like it; it gets them to eat something relatively healthy for breakfast and all in all that makes it a good day. We like that kind of creativity and thinking.
Cake
It’s a great excuse to eat cake and have fun and be a little bit indulgent on a holiday. And it’s much better for you than drinking, and the kids can join you. Just add a bit of food coloring to your batter and then bake the cake. You can make the outside green, too, or just let the kids be surprised when you cut into what they think is your everyday white cake and see that it’s fun and green and very exciting.
Any White Sauce
When you’re cooking dinner (or breakfast) and making any sauce or gravy that’s white, add green food coloring. This is going to make it even more fun to have since it’s green and green is always fun on a green holiday. You can really spice up your pasta or other dishes using this method, and you might even find that your kids will actually eat your sauce if you make it colorful and fun for them.
Icing
It’s simple, and it’s a great way to make cookies look cooler or to make your cakes look cooler. You can add some green food coloring to white icing and let the entire family get busy decorating cookies and other things so that they can celebrate the holiday together doing something enjoyable, fun and a little bit messy if that’s what they want.
Deviled Eggs
When you remove the center of the egg to mash it and mix it, turn it green. Then make it pretty by putting it back in the egg and working on it that way. You will find that it’s a lot of fun and a big bit of excitement. Your kids might be more inclined to eat these if you make them this way, which might serve as a bit of inspiration for future meals as well. We aren’t saying you have to bribe your kids with pretty food to make them eat it, but we’re saying it could work out in your favor and in their good health favor.
Water
Kids will drink anything if you tell them it’s green and it’s magic, even water. This is going to allow you to serve them something healthy and fun, and it’s going to give you the opportunity to give them something they need. Some might call it tricking your kids, but we prefer to call it good parenting with a twist of green water. What the kids don’t know is not going to hurt them. It’s actually going to hydrate them and make them feel really good about having something ‘special’ on this holiday.
Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images
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