One of the most difficult battles that I have with my children is getting them to eat vegetables. Many nights we have spent hours at the dining table trying to get them to finish a number of vegetable dishes without much success. After several nights of tears and going to be early without dessert, I decided it was time to come up with covert ways to introduce veggies into my children’s diet. Try out some of these easy ways to get kids to eat their vegetables.
Vegetable Fruit Drinks
The easiest way that I have found to add a serving of vegetables into my children is to give them a glass of V8 Splash with dinner. While this may not be the most healthy option, it’s definitely one that comes without argument. I find the texture and consistency to be rather thick, but the kids enjoy the flavor and even ask for a second glass. The calorie content is a bit high, so I do limit their servings to only two.
Hiding Vegetables in Kids' Food
The next idea is inspired by a popular children’s cookbook called, The Sneaky Chef. This book makes good use out of a blender and cooked vegetables. I have found that pretty much any vegetable, when cooked enough, can be blended into a very smooth consistency and mixed into a variety of foods. Some of the easiest foods to mix blended vegetables in are sauces and ground meat. I frequently make turkey burgers out of ground turkey and a cup of blended spinach and broccoli. This mixture increases the iron content and adds a bit of vegetable nutrients to the burger.
Another easy way to add vegetables to a popular dish is to blend them into a pasta sauce. Especially when carrots or other lighter colored vegetables such as squash are used, vegetables can be easily blended into the sauce without much of a change to the original flavor. I have also found that squash can be added to boxed macaroni and cheese dinners without being detected.
Don’t Fight it
When all else fails, there is always the idea that less is more. Forcing children to eat can be an exercise in futility. Sometimes it is best to pick your battles and succumb to the fact that some children just will not eat vegetables no matter how hard you try. Make sure that you are always offering a vegetable option, but don’t be surprised or upset if they are not taken. It may take some children several years before they develop a taste for them.
Source: Lapine, Missy Chase. Sneaky Chef. Running Press, 2007.
Join the Conversation