Getting kids to eat their vegetables is one of those battles we all face as parents. It's exasperating and exhausting. So, what do you do?
I recently had a friend visit with her two kids. Wow! I conception I was veggie challenged with my children, but her son would only eat corn. Her daughter wouldn't eat any vegetables. My friend is just plain food-challenged when it comes to her kids. They have to have the powered macaroni and cheese, no homemade stuff for them... Only white bread please and if they find any funky oats in their peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, watch out! Read on and you'll soon find out how her kids were duped into eating butternut squash.
Here are 3 tips for getting your kids to eat their veggies:
Tip 1: Disguise it!
There are lots of great cookbooks out there with recipes that comprise veggies in them. Cook up some of these dishes and you'll be smugly happy, while your child remains pleasantly oblivious. Remember my friend's kids that I mentioned earlier? You know, the ones who can only eat powdered macaroni and cheese? I cooked up a great big batch of the homemade version with pureed butternut squash from one of these disguise-the-veggies cookbooks. They ate it up! My friend was so excited -- she called her mother and husband to tell them of the great news! To make it even healthier, you can substitute whole grain pasta for the enriched, white variety. This mac n' cheese recipe included skim milk and low-fat cream cheese, along with low-fat cheddar cheese. One part of this dish gave them a full serving of calcium, equal to a cup of milk, which is great for those kids who are also milk-challenged.
Tip 2: Enlist Their Help
I've found that if I integrate Tip 1 with Tip 2, I have even great success. We recently made pancakes for dinner. Our batter was made with a whole shredded apple and ricotta cheese. Although I used regular pancake mix, I'll soon try this again using either oat flour or whole grain mix. We threw in pureed beets to the batter and got pink pancakes. My kids helped in making the batter, shredding the apple, pouring the ingredients in, and taking turns with the blender for the pureed beets. We put a light dusting of powdered sugar on each cake. For toppings, we put out a pretty bowl filled with Greek vanilla yogurt, chopped apples, and a cream package with maple syrup. It was a lot of fun for them and we had a feast.
Tip 3: Drink Your Veggies
I tried many different veggie drink recipes, ultimately settling on one that we came up with, using variations of what I found online and lots of trial and error to get the "right" taste. If your kids aren't green-phobic, this may work for you too. I also enlist their help when it comes time to make it. It's a great morning meal pick-me-up or a fun dinner drink. Give them possession and let them come up with a fun name for your veggie drink. Try our recipe for "Popeye Juice." Have some fun with it, experiment, and change it up to the tastes of your family.
Popeye Juice
4 C Spinach
4 C Collard Greens
4 C Kale
2 C Beet Greens (or Dandelion Greens)
Flax oil
2 Bananas
1 C Mango, frozen
2 C Fresh Pineapple Chunks
1 Tsp Stevia (sweeteners...substitute with honey, maybe honey and stevia)
Optional sweetener: 1 Tbs erythritol (or add more fruit, fruit juice)
Makes ~7 Cups
3 servings of veggies and fruit in 1 cup!
Total veggie and fruit breakdown:
14 servings of veggies
8 servings of fruit
I hope some of these tips above will help you win the battle when it comes to getting your kids to eat their veggies. If you're short on time, you might want to think about buying baby food instead of pureeing your own for tips 1 and 2. However, if you're following the disguise-it tip, I advise that you still offer them vegetables on their plate, in hopes that one day, they'll surprise you. Be sure to try tip 2; having them help you make the meal goes a long way. Kids will become more interested in the food and willing to eat it if they've been part of the process. The veggie juice is a quick and easy way to eat all those salutary greens like kale and spinach. These are both superstars when it comes to nutrients; pure powerhouses for the body.
I wish you success and many days free of stress, with fights over veggies at the dining table a thing of the past.
How to Get Kids to Eat Their Veggies - 3 Tips For Success