Hummus Cupcakes

My boys are on a health food kick.  Not because I necessarily planned to put them on a healthier diet, but because I made the shocking discovery that they love vegetables.  

I made this discovery in December when we had lunch at a friend's house.  She steamed some broccoli for the kids, and my boys acted like it was a delicacy from a 5 star restaurant.  It was pretty funny to watch my friends' kiddos tinker around with their broccoli while mine cleaned their plates.  Who knew that my husband could produce offspring that like vegetables?  (He's doesn't eat green things.)

After the discovery that my children actually like vegetables, I decided to stop buying sweet snacks and to start trying to feed my boys healthier snacks.  About the time I made this decision, we discovered that someone in our family has a sensitivity to dairy products--not just lactose, but all dairy!  So now our diets are being turned completely upside down.  And we're trying new things.

Today the boys had hummus cupcakes.

 

I actually copied this idea from a picture I found on the internet of a hummus relish tray at http://www.madebyleah.com.

What possessed me to try hummus snacks?  Well, I'm supposed to be helping create a hummus tray for an event at church in March.  To this point, my only experience with hummus happened about 5 years ago at a Lebanese restaurant during law school.  We attended a party in the Hukkah lounge when I was pregnant, and it's safe to say that hummus didn't settle well on my sensitive and pregnant stomach.  Since then, I've done a pretty good job avoiding hummus.  Until today.

When a friend and I were asked to prepare a hummus tray for a party, I started doing some research. And then I decided to copy the tray pictured above.  To make these "cupcakes," I peeled and sliced cucumbers to make the bases.  Then I swirled artichoke and spinach hummus on the cucumbers and topped them off with pieces of red bell pepper.  I obviously need to purchase a larger tip for my icing bag so that I can perfect my icing skills before my party, but I apparently perfected the flavor already, because my boys loved my cupcakes. 

Who knew vegetables could be so much fun?  (And yes, in addition to eating the cupcakes, he's eating slices of raw bell peppers!!!)