Enjoying Nutritious Eating With Mickey Mouse – inspired recipes from Dole!

Disclosure: I am an official ambassador for Dole Fresh. I received compensation by Dole in exchange for my honest opinion.

Enjoying Nutritious Eating With Mickey Mouse – inspired recipes from Dole!

You may have noticed that this year is quite the big year for Disney’s Mickey Mouse, because it’s his 90th anniversary! To celebrate the “True Original”, Dole has introduced a new line of DOLE® fruits and vegetables featuring Mickey Mouse throughout the decades, along with 19 recipes inspired by Mickey Mouse.

This Dole collaboration with Disney is the latest initiative in Dole’s yearlong “Powering the Hero Within” campaign, which will run until January 2019. This campaign strives to encourage families to eat healthy by creating fun Disney-inspired recipes as well as have fruits and vegetables with Disney character branding. This has definitely been a great thing for my family! When I’m grocery shopping and my 3-year-old sees Mickey on a banana or bag of salad, she’s excited to pick it out when shopping – seeing these familiar characters on fruits and veggies truly helps children discover the joys of nutritious eating!

We particularly love going to Dole’s recipe page to create Disney-inspired recipes as a family. Below are some of my personal favorite Mickey Mouse recipes that you can find at Dole.com!

Mickey Mouse-inspired Dole Recipes

Gosh Golly Gee PB & J Smoothie Remix:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup DOLE® Strawberries
• 1 medium DOLE® banana
• ½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 ½ Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• ⅛ tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup ice
• 2 tsp coarsely chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except peanuts in blender. Cover; blend until smooth.
2. Top smoothies with chopped peanuts, serve.

You can find the Gosh Golly Gee PB & J Smoothie Remix recipe among other Mickey-inspired recipes here.

Dole Grilled “Not” Dog

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons no-added sugar ketchup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 16 medium DOLE® Carrots, peeled
• 8 whole grain hot dog buns
• 1 pkg. (8.6 oz.) DOLE® Sweet Apple Slawesome! Kit

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together ketchup, olive oil, mustard, vinegar, soy sauce, paprika, and pepper in a small bowl.
3. Place carrot onto prepared baking sheet and brush with half ketchup mixture.
4. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until carrots are fork tender, rotating carrots and brushing with the remaining marinade halfway through the roasting process.
5. Serve carrots in hot dog buns, top with Dole Sweet Apple Slawesome Kit or your favorite Slawesome Kit.

You can find the full Dole Grilled “Not” Dog recipe among other Mickey Mouse-inspired Dole recipes here.

True Original Mickey Mouse Banana-Chocolate Split

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 DOLE® Bananas, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/4 cup granola
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds (optional)
• 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup DOLE® Raspberries or DOLE® Blueberries
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Directions:

1. Stir together yogurt and vanilla, in a small bowl.
2. Arrange banana halves on each plate and top with yogurt mixture. Sprinkle granola, chia seeds, chocolate chips, and raspberries over yogurt.
3. Whisk together almond butter, milk, and maple syrup until smooth. Spoon over banana splits.

Coco-Nana Birthday Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 medium ripe DOLE® Bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup dairy free coconut whipped topping
• 24 DOLE® Banana Dippers, slightly thawed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 375°F.  Line large muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Place all the ingredients into food processor or blender.  Cover; blend until smooth. Fill muffin cups one-half full.
3. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Spoon a rounded teaspoon whipped topping on each cupcake, place 2 banana dippers on each side of whipped topping and serve.

You can find the Coco-Nana Birthday Cupcakes and more Mickey Mouse-inspired recipes from Dole here.

My daughter and I loved recreating some of these recipes at home! They had her saying “Hot Dog!” to healthier eating! Which Mickey Mouse + Dole recipe do you want to try the most with your family?