The most exciting week of summer at the strawberry patch is about to start. All the cousins will soon be here for a whirlwind week of memory making on the lakeshore for the fourth annual Camp Kenai.

The grandparents and parents have been hard at work over the past months in preparation for this very special week. This year, armed with the experience of years past, we have plans and backup plans for every rainy or sunny day to keep the kids entertained, the whole family fed, and the grown-ups sane.

We love to watch our kids play together and develop their friendships through games and squabbles and reconciliation. Every year we add new and exciting activities to the schedule to challenge and thrill them as they grow, and this year, since they are all big kid bike riders now, trail rides and parking lot practices will be heavily featured.

My events include a Lego extravaganza, a movie and popcorn party, cake pop decorating, and a daily free play quiet hour inside to offer a bit of a respite from the action …we could all use a midday brain and body break.

Every year the kids and our activities change, but the one thing that will never change is the kids’ near constant requests for snacks. To make it easier, we have prepared a mini fridge and baskets stocked with healthy snacks and drinks available for them to help themselves to whenever their tummies might rumble in between big family meals.

We have the standard favorites and preferred safe foods, but I also wanted to add a homemade treat that would give their bodies a little more than the store-bought version. These fresh fruit and vegetable gummies are made with minimal sugar and no artificial dyes or preservatives and can be made in any flavor that your little ones might crave.

I made three flavors: blueberry and honey, carrot and nectarine, and spinach and green grape (trust me, they won’t taste the spinach).

Fruit and vegetable gummies

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh fruit and vegetable puree

½ cup water or fresh juice

3 tablespoons gelatine

Sugar or honey to taste (optional)

Directions:

Prepare the fruit and vegetables by washing and pureeing in a food processor. Hard foods like carrots or beets need to be cooked until soft before blending. I chose to do this by boiling my carrots, but you could also roast or steam them.

Pass the puree through a fine mesh sieve to catch any lumps that might ruin the texture.

Stir in the water or juice and transfer to a saucepan.

Sprinkle on the gelatine and whisk in until dissolved.

Set over medium high heat and stir gently until the mix just begins to boil.

Pour into silicone molds or into any wide, flat container. For this amount a 9 x 9 baking dish works well to make generally square gummies. No need to grease the container, they should lift out cleanly when set.

Cool on the counter until they are no longer steaming then transfer to the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

When the gummies are set you should be able to run a knife along the edges and flip out onto a cutting board.

Use a sharp knife (a pizza cutter is a great tool for this) to cut the sheet into little cubes.

If you used candy molds, simply pop the gummies out when set.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. They shouldn’t stick together when fully set, so there’s no need to roll in sugar or starch before storing.