Tuesday, September 2, 2008

I've Got To Post Before I Sleep ...

Not really ... I don't really have to. But you know, there's just way too much stuff in my head that I need to unload some... Problem is this will all be random, as random as can be, because I am already sleepy.... actually, I changed my mind. I'll just do a WFMW post...

Rocks In My Dryer is doing the reverse edition of Works For Me Wednesday today. You know the drill, if not, go there. Now what I need help is "how to get my kids to eat vegetables". Any tip?.

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11 comments:

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

Pureeing veggies is a sneaky way to add them to things. You can add pureed cauliflour to mashed potatoes. Or you can puree green beans or broccoli to a soup. They are easier to eat if they aren't seen lol. I hope this gets the wheels turning.
Blessings to you!
Kim

amy@flexibledreams said...

Are you opposed to hiding veggies in other foods?

There are two schools of thought out there. The first is that children should be given veggies at every meal and learn to eat them even if they don't love them.

The second is that veggies are an important source of nutrition and it's more important to get them into the kid than have the kid volunteer to eat them.

I belong to both schools. I serve veggies at meal time but I also try to hide them in other meals. Try adding a veggie puree to things like turkey burgers and pasta sauce. Also, did you know you can puree spinach, strawberries and yogurt and freeze them into smoothie pops? I tried one, you can't even taste the spinach!

Mrs. Sprinkles said...

I have an answer, but it involves hard work on your part, so it's probably going to be an unpopular answer!

I post on this a couple weeks ago: http://countingsprinkles.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-get-kids-to-eat-anything.html

Above all, make sure the veggies are well-seasoned and flavorful. There's nothing wrong with putting a little cheese on the broccoli.

Awesome Mom said...

My kids love stir fry and will gobble up all the veggies.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm loving the advice from Mrs. Sprinkles! The only thing I have to add is that, when our son was a toddler, I had fallen into the habit of fixing him separate meals that involved fruit but only hidden veg. I finally wised up that he was running the show--unacceptable to me and hubs. We served a small portion of the veg of the day to him first, and nothing else until the veg was eaten. After that, he was welcome to whatever else was on the table. Worked wonders in little time. Eight years later, he is a happy and healthy veg eater.

Nate's Mom

Anonymous said...

Jessica Seinfeld's book "Deceptively Delicious" has tons of great recipes for puree-ing veggies and "sneaking" them into commom foods that kids like. she also has wonderful desserts. It's worked for my kids and the recipes are great for the whole family.

Anonymous said...

My mom was always a fan of turning veggies into animal shapes, or allowing us to cut them into animal shapes. It usually prompted us to eat what we had so beautifully created.

Steph at Problem Solvin' Mom said...

Great suggestions! I add veggies to a lot of the foods I make too, which if you have picky eaters can help (what they don't know won't hurt them in this case) and the idea of making animal shapes is so cute!

I simmer a lot of my veggies (carrots, brussel sprouts, green beans, etc) in beef broth for extra flavor, and sometimes I add cheese too.

One other suggestion-do you kids like cooking? Involving them in the process might help them be more willing to try new things...

AmyK said...

My sister gave me a great idea; I wish I knew who the original author of the idea was, though, 'cause I can't remember! She said to make a food passport. You could do a vegetable passport, and every time the kids eat their veggies without fuss, they get a sticker in their passport; and then with a certain amount of stickers it earns them something. I have some trouble with the idea of rewarding them for something they should be doing anyway, but I've personally never had ANY luck with the pureeing and hiding vegetables! Nothing else has worked, so the passport idea is next!

Suz said...

I've been reading The Sneaky chef which is an easy read so far with lots of ideas and recipes. I like her outlook on nutrition and how important it is in the early years. You might check it out.

Tami@ourhouse said...

Great tips so far. I echo serving veggies by themselves- just one taste required for kids who hate them. I heard somewhere it takes kids 16 tries before they like a new food.

The best way I have found to add veggies to other foods is to saute some onion/carrot/garlic/whatever until soft and then use that a base for pasta sauce (you can just add a jar of marinar).