Eat Your Vegetables

Getting your children to eat their vegetables can sometimes be a struggle.   I use three key ways to get your kids to eat their vegetables!   I’d love to share these ideas with you. 

1.   Grocery Shop with your Child

·        Take your child to the grocery store and let them pick out a vegetable they want to try.    At first, they will pick the same old vegetable they always have.   Give them an incentive to trying a new one.

·        Spend some time, with your child, chopping and cooking the vegetable.   With little ones, I even give them a coloring page with the vegetable.  (Google “vegetable printables.” )  

·        Let them announce or tell the family what it is.    If you have multiple kids….they take turns with this.

2.  Vegetable Purees

·        I use Jessica Seinfeld’s book, Deceptively Delicious.    I make puree of vegetables every weekend (or when I have time.)   I add these purees to everything from soups, stews, chili’s and even smoothies.  The purees add an amazing flavor to any dish.

·        I never use them to replace vegetables….I just use them to enhance the children’s vegetable intake.  I always serve some other type of veggie with the meal also.  

3.   Cook with your Child

·        Get your child to help cook the meal.  They will almost certainly try anything if they help make it.   This is not the easy choice.   It takes a lot of patience to cook with your kids, at least at first, but the rewards are amazing.   

·        I remember teaching my kids to load the dishwasher was not the easiest way to get the chore done, but I persisted.    It got easier and easier…..I haven’t emptied the dishwasher in years.

·        Give yourself some slack.   Do this one day a week, to start.  Then add another…..etc.   There will be lots of days you just can’t muster the patience to do this.  It’s okay.    

·        If you’re child’s too small to use knives or a grater…. Give them a big bowl with dry pasta or beans and a spoon.   Talk to them while you cook.  They will feel like they are a part of the experience.   

The rewards of teaching your child to enjoy healthy eating are many.   Your child will have a lifetime of good food choices.   Cook with your kids.