Saint Patrick’s Day Recipes and Roundup

Ok, I admit that for the longest time, the only things that would come to mind when I thought about St. Patrick’s Day were day drinking, cabbage and corned beef, wearing green, four leaf clovers and leprechauns. It wasn’t until I married a guy with Irish blood and had kids with him that I took the time to do a little more research in an effort to explain the history of this holiday to said children. I stumbled on some pretty interesting facts! For example…

1. Saint Patrick was not Irish! He was born in Roman Britain, not Ireland and was kidnapped at the age of 16 and sent as a slave to what is now referred to as Northern Ireland.
2. The shamrock (three leaf clover) was considered a sacred plant that symbolized the arrival of spring. According to legend, St. Patrick explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaf clover as a visual.
3. Corned beef and cabbage was invented by Americans. Ham and cabbage, a popular dish in Ireland, was modified into corned beef and cabbage with corned beef offering a cheap substitute for impoverished immigrants.
4. Association of Ireland with the color green most likely began during the Great Irish Rebellion when Ireland used the color in its flag as a sign of rebellion against the British monarchy.
5. Your odds of finding a four-leaf clover are about 1 in 10,000.

One of our top favorite ways to celebrate any holiday, big or small, is through cuisine. It’s one of the easiest ways to make memories, traditions, nostalgia, and bottom line is…food is the way to my family’s heart.

Green Fruit and Veggie Tray

This isn’t a recipe, but it’s a super simple way to St. Patty’s Day flair to your menu for the day! For snack time, go with a green theme. We like to do a combination of 3 or more of the following: cucumber slices, green apple slices, green bell pepper slices, celery sticks, edamame, shelled pistachios, guacamole dip (goes great with the cucumber, green pepper and celery), green grapes and kiwifruit slices.

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

Green is great and all, but you can’t have St. Patrick’s Day without rainbows! You can easily include your kiddos join in and make this healthy snack with you! They can learn about the colors and color order in a rainbow as they skewer each piece of fruit, plus any meal that their hands helped to create are almost always tastier to eat! If you want to go a step further and get a little fancy, you can use the chocolate fondue dip I shared in this previous post as a fruit kabob dip.

Ingredients:

• Strawberries or raspberries
• Mandarin oranges
• Pineapple chunks
• Green grapes or honeydew
• Blueberries
• Purple grapes
• Wooden skewers

Dye-Free Green Eggs

I’ll never forget making green eggs and ham during Dr. Seuss Week as an elementary student. This was a super fun, highly anticipated annual tradition at the small elementary school I attended, when 99% of the picky eaters suddenly had no problem downing a plateful of green eggs and ham slices just like the main character in the book. Green eggs (with or without ham) is another novel and fun way to celebrate St. Patrick’s day in the kitchen! You may be surprised how your kiddos who normally don’t want to touch green food with a ten foot pole, suddenly become excited to eat shamrock eggs! I use the below measurements to serve myself and my 3 kids ages 2-9.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 5 C spinach lightly packed
• 1/2 C almond milk (optional)
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• Oil for frying (I use avocado oil)

Directions:

• Add the eggs and spinach to a blender
• Blend on high until the spinach is fully blended. You will need to stop and scrape down the sides a couple times to blend in any larger pieces of spinach that get stuck on the sides.
• Pre-heat a large frying pan and then add 1-2 Tbsp of your oil.
• Pour in the egg mixture and scramble as it cooks or flip like an omelette.
• Remove from heat and serve immediately

Dye-Free Green Pancakes

If you’re not an egg person (like my middle child), give these green pancakes a try! You can make them from scratch of course, but I usually like to use a shortcut by using this pancake mix. It has super simple ingredients and makes this simple recipe even easier. You can never have to many healthy shortcuts as a mom…#amiright ?!

Ingredients:

• Simple Mills pancake mix
• 2 C of spinach for every egg (as indicated on mix instructions)

Directions:

• Follow directions on the back of the mix box for measurements
• In a blender, add the eggs, water or milk and spinach and blend until spinach is combined
• Pour the spinach mixture into a large bowl and add the oil and bag of pancake mix
• Stir to combine all ingredients
• Pour mixture into a preheated, greased frying pan in 1/4 cup portion sizes
• Serve immediately with optional toppings like fresh fruit or whipped cream

Shamrock Shake Recipe

If you’re here to find a recipe for brewing a healthy Guinness, you might be slightly disappointed. However, if you’re a fan of the Shamrock Shake, you have to try this recipe for a healthier version! It’s sweet, creamy and my 3 little taste testers gave it double thumbs up! Plus my husband who is a Shamrock Shake lover (for both the taste and nostalgia) also gave it his approval!

Ingredients:

• 2 C of milk of choice (I usually use almond, but unsweetened coconut milk is yummy and will give it a richer milkshake consistency)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (This is my favorite protein powder. No added sugar and the cleanest sourcing I’ve seen).
• ¼ tsp pure peppermint extract
• 3-4 pitted Medjool dates or 2 tbsp or honey or maple syrup
• Handful of frozen or fresh spinach
• 1 ripe banana
• ½ avocado
• Handful of ice
• Mini chocolate chips for garnish
• Dairy free whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

• Add milk to blender
• If you have a high speed blender and are using Medjool dates, add these to the milk and blend until pureed. I like to get these thoroughly mixed before adding the other ingredients.
• Add remaining ingredients into a blender and blend until completely smooth. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of chocolate chips just before serving.