I'm always looking for fresh food ideas for my family so today I'm sharing some of the dips and spreads that my kids are loving. These are colourful, rich, vibrant and perfect to serve with fruit, vegetables, crackers or perhaps some sourdough! 

1. Hummus - my whole family love hummus. My number one tip is from Smitten Kitchen - remove the skin from each chickpea before putting them into the food processor. This takes time but is worth it, the result is a creamier and smoother texture hummus. If you haven't tried it before, please give it a go, it makes a big difference. 
2. Avocado Cream - this dip/spread is always the most popular, there is never, ever any left over. I love the addition of apple cider vinegar it's tangy but delicious. This is incredibly good, if you like Avocado you must try it! Recipe via Deliciously Ella. 
3. Vegan Tzatziki - to stay plant based this uses coconut yoghurt. We use one that is a greek style coconut yoghurt and it tastes just like greek yoghurt, which is really what you want in Tzatziki. This is lovely with some grilled flat bread but we also enjoy it as a dip, it is really refreshing. Recipe via Minimalist Baker. 
4. Nut Butter - my family don't eat very much peanut or other nut butters and if they do, it's the fresh variety. This is altogether different and better. It's easy to mix it up. Today I've used almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts. This could be used as a spread but it's a good dip for apple or celery. Recipe via Deliciously Ella App. Use ½ cup of each kind of nut that you like, put on baking tray and bake at 180ºc for 10 minutes, allow to cool and put in food processor (I use this mini processor for everything) until a nut butter is formed, this takes a while but keep on going, it's worth it. 
5. Beet Hummus - I use cooked beets from the fresh section in the supermarket and don't forget to remove the skins from the chickpeas. Recipe via Minimalist Baker. 

Also pictured are the Healthy Kiddo Cookies (star shapes) from Oh She Glows App. They are based on almonds and oats. I don't add cinnamon to ours and they turn out half cookie, half cracker. The kids will eat them by themselves but I think they work perfectly with a little Hummus or Avocado Cream! 

Our kids love all of these but the baby only eats the Hummus, Beet Hummus and the Avocado Cream. All of these taste better than the store bought varieties and as you make them they are super fresh and you know exactly what is in them!