I recently discovered that you can sneak in cauliflower in certain dishes to make the dish healthier or add in a dose of vegetables.
Parent Hacks has a
great recipe for mac 'n cheese that substitutes milk with cauliflower puree. I recently tried this recipe and also mashed cauliflower at a family gathering and everyone liked it and couldn't tell there was cauliflower in the dish!
Several of the children in my family detest veggies but I think this is more of a rash judgment call based on an older sibling's dislike. We'd really like to get them to try all kinds of vegetables but aren't sure how. The cauliflower sub has been great but does anyone have any other suggestions on how to introduce veggies in a child's diet or other sneaky substitution recipes?
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Comments (27)
I don't really know. My daughter doesn't have this issue. lol. At 19 months, she'd rather eat a salad than meat.
If you dip them in chocolate...
Hmm, really we've been lucky in some aspects: the older kids will eat broccoli and carrots, happily. The 9 year old will try just about anything and usually likes it, the 7 year old takes something working on...if it's not something that he expressly likes? We give him the tiniest portion and only ask that take a bite to see if he still doesn't like it. Tastebuds will and do change over time and it can take a few tries before you develope a taste for certain things.
The main reasons children sometimes don't like veggies are the bitterness, the texture and the color. Some veggies simply aren't that great for them anyway and are certainly not worth fighting over. Like corn, potatoes, iceberg lettuce, celery, white green beans etc. I think only about 10 of the best "bang for the bite" veggies are really worth stressing over when it comes to our children's diets. I'm actually working on a blog about this and all the ideas are too long to put here. Basically choose the important veggies, start when they are babies, don't make it a battle, make it a game, don't have junk food in the house. Set an example by eating a food you hate every time you ask them to eat a food they hate. Nothing like seeing mom gag on liver or meal worms to make their spinach look better to them. Food always tastes better when you are hungry don't allow snacking too close to or right after meals. Allow them to smother what they don't like with something they do like for instance broccoli seems to go down better for my son if he mashes it into a cup of spaghetti sauce. Give them real options maybe they like raw spinach better than boiled? and the list goes on.
cook them and put them on the table. I have never had a problem. It is always a part of the meal so they always eat them.
This probably won't help parents of older kids, but the key (for myself and my brother, at least) is to start early. He and I weren't fed candy and chips or cheesy puffs as children. We were fed vegetables. My parents didn't treat them as something foreign or something that you got a reward for eating. They were always on the table, so we just ate them because to us, they were normal. They tasted normal because we'd always been eating them and weren't introduced to a vegetable overload when we were four, five or six. I'm nineteen and to this day I still enjoy things like brussels sprouts, carrots, spinach...everything, really.
While I'm making dinner, the kids are always hanging around the kitchen. So I've started to cut up carrots and cucumbers and peppers and arrange them on a plate. Then I put some little bowls of salad dressing out. The kids think it's fun to dip the veggies and I don't mind them "snacking" before dinner.
Make tasty vegetable dishes. I grew up eating Chinese-style vegetable dishes, and the only ones I dislike are the really bitter ones, like bitter melon. Ugh... hate that stuff. But everything else is delicious! My parents never had a problem with getting us to eat vegetables, except when we went to summer camp and all they had was boring steamed broccoli or green beans.
My parents never had any problems for me to eat vegetables (more so fruit) and always try to give me as much vegetable as possible.
Try putting the vegetables on their plate.
A good tip even though I have never tried doing this put it in spaghetti bolognese, on pizza etc (note I dont have kids myself)
A) Threaten them...they told me big, bad cops were outside and if i cleaned my plate they'd hold it up to the window and they'd go away
B) Guilt: The starving masses of children all over the world that would love to have that food (like i had any control over that-they couldve just sent it to em)
Neither one worked with me. But they tried.
@alterEGGO@xanga - LOL I like this answer. That's what my mom did for me and I love all veggies. My cousins who did not have to eat any fruit or veggies as children, and who could eat all the pop, candy, and so on that they wanted, have either health or weight problems now, and we're all pretty much in our 20's.
In my experience as a nanny, I saw that if you start kids off as babies, they will enjoy veggies more. Babies love to eat colorful foods. Especially the sweeter ones like green beans, sugar snap peas, carrots, etc. I think its just a matter of introducing the healthy foods as a foundation, then bringing in the not so healthy foods as a treat AFTER the child knows he cant eat a cookie as a substitute for a carrot.
If you have a child who will just not eat veggies, you can grind up all kinds of veggies into pasta sauce. This sauce can also be used as a pizza spread, or as a dip for other things such as chicken kabobs that the kids can help make. Its all about being creative.
I have also found that when you allow kids to help in the kitchen, he/she can tell you what they like to eat. If they dont like green beans, for example, maybe you can just double them up on fruit or on carrots. If you're flexible, you're more likely to get a good result.
When all else fails, put a LITTLE (not a lot of) cheese on it. You can use part skim or low fat cheese, if you desire. Who can resist anything with warm, bubbly cheese on top?
Hello
My niece is also similar like other children.She does not like vegetables at all but I make a vegetable sandwich with colorful veggies and call it rainbow sandwich.She like this a lot.She does not know about veggies.You can go for similar like this idea and make some colorful salad or dish.Kids like colors.Thanks..
1. Be a living example. Since I've been eating raw veggies as snacks (if you want, you can include a yoghurt dip), my son has been eating more raw veg, too. He likes carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, and avocado. Also, we try to vary the veggies we serve (and eat) at dinner, so he'll increase his "range". At the moment, he'll quite happily eat fennel, zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, and peas.
2. Serve veggies as pre-dinner snack (see above) and/or afternoon snack. That way they'll have eaten some veg before they fill up on carbs and meat. He gets to watch tv and snack while we cook dinner.
3. Act like veggies are "normal". Ideally, veg and fruit should be part of every meal/snack, throughout the day.
4. No pressure. We ask our son to try two bites of each veg (he's 2 1/2 years old). If he doesn't like it, he doesn't have to eat the rest. Slowly increase the amount and variety that you serve. Make sure not to pressure them to eat more - if they eat more on their own, that's great, if not - there's always the next meal.
5. Eating should be a social thing. You should eat when your child is eating. Discuss what they did that day, and try not to focus so much on what they are eating. Celebrate your family! My observation is that my child will eat quite happily if we just leave him to his own devices.
P.S. Cauliflower doesn't contain a lot of vitamins - the more colorful a veg is, the more vitamins, or so I'm told.
I haven't tried this personally because I really dont have a problem with my son he eats more vegetables than he does fruits, but I read this in several parenting articles... shred zucchini into everything even chocolate cake batter, it doesnt leave any flavor but you get the nutrients, I did make an apple zucchini loaf and it was great you couldnt tell there was a vegetable in there. Like everyone here said, start early and stay insistent.
Some kids (mostly the youngest ones, under age 5 or 6) can be induced to eat veggies if you serenade them about the benefits. For example, I tell my two little 5-years-olds that I babysit that eating veggies will make them grow strong and healthy and other awesome things. I try to make it sound as fantastic as possible and usually they will bite and at least try to eat some of the veggies because they're good for them and give them all sorts of vitamins, strength, growth, etc, etc, etc.
Have you read the Jessica Seinfeld book Deceptively Delicious (or something like that)?
@alterEGGO@xanga - haha! Love your answer, it's exactly what I was thinking.
I don't have any problems getting my daughter to eat anything. Never have.
I eat a pretty good variety of foods, always have, and continued to do so while pregnant and while nursing.
There are no siblings to influence my daughter's food opinions and we also have a "good food attitude" rule in our house. Adults do not have to eat anything that they don't want to or don't like but they are not allowed to speak badly about a food or give any physical indications that they don't like something, especially of the over-dramatic variety. This applies to all who eat in our home (and really, in front of our daughter anywhere).
I've heard cheese sauce can help because a lot of kids like cheese and it's sort of good for you too (calcium and all). I did once go through a short phase where I covered my nephew's veggies in chocolate.
Use 1 sweet potato for every 3 white potatoes when making mashed potatoes. Add greenbean or celery dices or puree to tomato sauces. puree potato, carrot, celery and onion to thicken soup. Add tiny carrot dices to hamburger or tuna helper or noodle entree. If making hamburgers, add some vegetable puree before forming patties. Offer a veggie at every meal and everyone must try a bite every time, even if they did not like it last time. Get kids involved in preparing or GROWING the veggies, they will be more likely to try it if they made it.
I've fed my son vegetables since he was a baby, and he still doesn't seem to mind them much. Lately he'll only eat the ones he can pick up with his hands, so I usually give him steamed broccoli or bell pepper slices. I also give him the V8 Fusion juice, since it's 100% juice and has a serving of both fruits and vegetables in each glass.
I didn't used to eat certain vegetables like broccoli, but then I tried Chinese food (the American, fried kind, covered in "special" sauce) and started to eat broccoli all the time. Now my tastes have switched, and I dislike American Chinese food because the way it makes me feel, and eat healthier with vegetables.
I also learned to like other vegetables as a kid by first eating them covered melted cheese. Veggie dip also works, dressing, cheese, ect.
A lot of it is in the preparation. There is a cooking show on the Food Network called good eats. The host Alton Brown does a great job of making cooking fun, but realistic. He has done several episodes on how to prepare veggies in a way that makes them more attractive and tasty. I suggest looking it up on You Tube. He did an episode on Broccoli the other day, and I came away with several great ideas on how to cook this green monster to make it tasty, and pretty easy to prepare. he also goes over the science of the veggie to explain how best to prepare it for maximum value. In example, microwaving broccoli (and other veggies) kills 70-90% of the antioxidant value stored.
It starts when they are babies. Get them to try different veggies when they are babies. Mine don't have that problem. A lot of people hide veggies in their children's favorite foods. Hide them in macaroni and cheese, lasagna, soups, meatballs, cakes, cupcakes,.... Try them cooked different ways, like zucchini sticks. Fritter veggies can be made with carrots, yams, eggplants, onions. Celery tastes great with raisins and peanut butter unless alergic to it. There are lots of ways to make them in different ways. Experiment. Change is the spice of life.
My husband and I don't have kids but when we babysit our neice and nephew, they'll eat veggies that they're parents can't get them to eat. I think it has something to do with a lack of familiarity. They've never tested us before so they don't know our limits.... (or maybe we just look scarier than mommy and daddy.) My husband also tells a story about when he was little his parents would just call everything "hotdogs" because he liked hotdogs. I don't know if that could work or not.
Also, I've heard for some kids its a texture issue like raw vs cooked or soft vs hard. Maybe try experimenting with the texture of the veggies and see if that makes a difference.
My toddler and I enjoy kale smoothies mixed with lots of fruit and some vanilla rice milk. Just add about 4 leaves of kale, some milk, and lots of fruits, like bananas, berries, apples, etc. It's delicious!
You can also puree certain vegetables and hide them in meats, sauces, etc. We eat lots of stir fries and soups with vegetables and my son has begun loving them. He loves bell peppers at the moment.