Do you have small kids that do not like to eat a lot of veggies. What do you do to make sure they eat? I know many friends that have this same problem every day! I am very lucky, my kids love to eat everything, including vegetables. Some nights that is all they want to eat! Below I will share some tips and recipes about what I do with my kids to help them eat their veggies.
- Create silly names – I learned this from a friend from some classes I took before we had kids. She had 3 little girls and she created cute names for her vegtables. When they would eat spinach, they thought they were eating panda bear lettuce. When they were eating broccoli, they said they were eating trees. They actually ate their vegetables! Try it – let me know what other names you would use for your veggies.
- Cut it up – My kids love to eat bell peppers. I cut them into sticks and they think they are eating french fries. They only like the red, yellow, and orange bell peppers but that’s enough for me.
- Cheese – When I sprinkle a little bit of cheese on top of my kids vegetables, it changes the flavor. We have used mostly cheddar cheese, but I think any cheese would work!
- Dip it – I love cooked broccoli, but I am not a fan of raw broccoli. I love to dip it in ranch dressing. My kids would eat just about anything dipped in ranch dressing. I usually get the lower fat version.
- Make it part of your meal – My kids really enjoy stir-fry. I make beef & broccoli or beef and vegetables. Beef and vegetables is great because it has peppers and tomatoes. Eat it with some brown rice and they are eating a very healthy meal!
- If they want a snack in between meals I only offer vegetables of fruit. If they are really hungry, they will eat the snacks I give them.
- Make a salad – I can usually get them to try some new stuff when they add it to a salad. I add crunchy stuff because they think they are silly when they can hear themselves chewing.
- Shred it – I do this mostly with carrots. They don’t notice it when I add it to other parts of the meal.
- Have them help you grow the vegetables – We really want to start a garden. I think my kids will love just picking stuff in our back yard and then eating it.
- Take them shopping – I try to get my kids to see all the vegetable available at the store. If they see something they want to try, I am more than happy to buy it for them! They are excited to try something they picked.
You should check out Sarah Matheny, author of “Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love,” she has a great cook book available that will help your kids eat more veggies!
Peas and Thank You is a collection of recipes and stories from a mainstream family eating a not-so-mainstream diet. It’s filled with healthy and delicious versions of foods we’ve all grown up enjoying, but with a Mama Pea twist—no meat, lots of fresh ingredients and plenty of nutrition for growing Peas. From wholesome breakfasts to mouth-watering desserts, there’s plenty here to satisfy the pickiest Peas in your life. It’s easier than ever to whip up crowd-pleasing meals that will have the whole family asking for, “more, Peas.” Sarah Matheny‘s delicious recipes and entertaining stories draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to her blog, peasandthankyou.com each month, where she makes raising a vegetarian family easy and fun. She is the author of “Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love.”
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Peas and Thank You blogging program for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”