Cooking For Kids: 8 Ways To Get Kids To Eat Vegetables Without An Argument
I think it starts with infant-hood; you know, feeding your kids vegetables as baby food
. Did we feed them baby food we thought we would like, or what was good for them? I'm an advocate of introducing vegetables as early as 2 months old.As finger food came along, we may have fed our kids Cheerios or other sweet dry cereal to keep them quiet instead of carrot sticks. We may have given them cookies and sugary snacks to appease them in public places instead of a slice of celery.
Now they've been influenced by TV commercials geared at kids, fast food that we pick up for our own convenience, and just plain junk food offered at school and beyond. But bad habits began in the high chair.
Somehow, as years slipped away, families stopped serving vegetables for the 3 meals per day?
What do you do with a child who won't eat vegetables?
Try disguising the veggies.
1) A big pot of vegetable soup, with some fun noodle shapes may be an idea you'd like to try. Pasta comes in all shapes and sizes today, so you can undoubtedly find something fun to add to the pot. Play some games with alphabet letters. With a little luck your kids will be too busy spelling words, or identifying the shape to notice all the veggies they are eating in the soup. Also, dice the vegetable pieces into really small sizes.
2) If you can't make them eat it, let them drink it. Blend your vegetables, add some apple juice for sweetener, pour over ice and add a straw. You can make it more fun by adding something that floats on the top or sinks to the bottom. Way back when, Cracker Jack put prizes in the bottom of their boxes. Add something your child really likes to the bottom of the glass so they have something as a reward for drinking it all.
3) Start eating more raw vegetables at dinnertime. A ranch dressing dip makes it more palatable, but keep in mind ranch dressing contains a lot of calories, and calories today add up tomorrow, not just for adults, but for kids, too. Have your child help arrange a vegetable platter.
4) Take it one step further and let them create artwork out of the family vegetables. Offer raw vegetables in different colors and shapes and encourage them to make a vegetable collage on their plate. You can easily make a face using slices of cucumber as eyes, a baby carrot as nose and a slice of red pepper as a mouth. You can use watercress or shredded carrots or even some cheese as hair. Before you know it, you'll find them sampling their "art supplies".
5) To get them to eat more vegetables at dinnertime try a little salad bar. Put out some lettuce, some sliced or chopped tomato, slices of cucumber, shredded carrot, slices of red and yellow peppers, small broccoli flowerets and anything else you can think of. You may also want to offer them some choices when it comes to salad dressing. Favorites in most restaurants are Ranch, Italian, Catalina, and French. To top it all of set out some croutons and shredded cheese.
6) Get the kids together and make a cold vegetable pizza. Start out with a can of crescent rolls. Unroll the dough, but don't pull the triangle shapes apart. Instead push the seams together and bake on a baking sheet according to the package directions. Let the sheet of dough cool completely, then spread with some cream cheese (try a vegetable or herb flavored one) and top with some thinly sliced raw veggies. Cut into squares and serve.
7) Get them involved in the kitchen especially when it comes to cooking. Ask them to wash the vegetables, if they are old enough, let them cut veggies (under your supervision of course), let them help you stir, or anything else you can think of that would be age appropriate. You'll be amazed at how proud they will be of their finished product. If they made it, they'll want you to eat it with them.
8) Try hiding the vegetables in other food. One mother used to make special orange mashed potatoes. The kids thought it was very fancy, but all she did was to cook some carrots with the potatoes and mashed them right in there. You can also cover broccoli with tomato sauce or cheese. Think of a dish your child really enjoys and sneak a little bit of vegetable in there.
Give a few of these ideas a try and see which ones work best for your children. Keep at it; sooner or later they will start to develop a taste for vegetables.
When all the above fail, tell them to eat what you serve, or else...
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