Get Your Kids to Eat More Veggies with These Sneaky Suggestions
By Jessa McClure
Yucky. That's often what I hear when I offer my children (especially my picky two-year-old) vegetables. They are green and mushy and unappetizing to these tiny food critics. But, as yucky as they seem, they are loaded with nutrients that are important to a child's growth and development.
In fact, they include potassium that helps maintain healthy blood pressure and fiber that reduces blood cholesterol, among other things.
So, how do you get your children to eat them? You hide them of course. There are websites, cookbooks and blogs dedicated to this underground conspiracy to get our children to eat more veggies. Here are a few ideas to sneak some vegetables into your child's next meal.
1. Start with breakfast
We've all heard that the most important meal of the day is breakfast, but this meal is often skipped or overlooked as a prime time of day to sneak in those all-important vegetables. Don't miss the chance to give your child a good start to their day.
Everyone loves pancakes. Try adding pumpkin puree to a whole-wheat pancake mix and watch your picky eaters gobble them up.
If you don't have time to whip up a batch of pancakes on a busy weekday morning, then try making these
oatmeal carrot muffins.
2. Spice up comfort food
Kids are infamous for loving those greasy, fattening comfort foods (let's face it grownups love them, too) that are not always filled with the healthiest of ingredients. So, why not try mixing things up by adding (sneaking) in some veggies where your child would least suspect it.
What child doesn't love mac and cheese? Try this recipe that uses
roasted cauliflower in her special "cheese" sauce.
And with fall upon us, who wouldn't love a yummy
grilled cheese made with pureed pumpkin (especially if they don't know it's there).
3. Keep it sweet
The trouble begins at our house when the little ones demand sweet treats after barely touching their "good" food. While I would still encourage them to eat what's on their plate, why not try adding some healthy stuff to the treats they're craving?
Try these
chocolate zucchini brownies that will tempt your tot's sweet tooth while giving them a helping of healthy veggies packed with nutrients.
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Yucky. That's often what I hear when I offer my children (especially my picky two-year-old) vegetables. They are green and mushy and unappetizing to these tiny food critics. But, as yucky as they seem, they are loaded with nutrients that are important to a child's growth and development.
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