FRIDAY FARE: Healthy Springtime Recipe Series: Dips

I was thinking about fruit and veggie dips today, while planning the refreshments for our next support meeting, and thought I'd try to find a few healthy recipes. Sometimes that can be hard, because it seems like most fruit dips are high in sugar. One ingredient that I see in a lot of fruit dips is marshmallow cream - not a really healthy choice. I found this yummy looking fruit dip at Allrecipes.com...

Mandarin Orange Fruit Dip

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese, cubed
• 16 ounces fat-free reduced-sugar vanilla yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• Assorted fresh fruit

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until creamy. Add yogurt and vanilla; beat until smooth. Set aside tree orange segments for garnish. In a small bowl, mash remaining oranges with a fork; drain. Stir into cream cheese mixture. Transfer to a serving bowl; garnish with reserved oranges. Refrigerate until serving; serve with fruit.

And here is a scrumptious sounding veggie dip...

Spinach Dip

Ingredients

• 2 (16 ounce) loaves King's Hawaiian® Sweet Bread
• 1 (1 ounce) package leek soup mix
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, but not cooked
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Mix together the leek soup mix, mayonnaise, sour cream, water chestnuts, frozen spinach and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
2. Slice off top of King's Hawaiian Bread. Hollow out the inside - leaving about 1-inch thick shell. Cube removed bread and second loaf into 1-inch chunks. Fill loaf with dip. Surround the loaf with bread cubes when ready to serve.