Yes, I know that's a picture of a kid about to eat an octopus... or actually about to NOT eat an octopus. But do your kids ever give you the same look when you put vegetables on their plate... and then suggest that they eat them?
Mine do. Well, at least one of mine does. We have a rule at our house that they don't have to like it, but they do have to try it. Even if they've "tried" carrots 100 times, they still have to try it again. Their taste buds are constantly changing and something they didn't care for last week, might suddenly not seem so bad today. But, like most parents, I do get frustrated with the poor quantity of vegetables they eat so I've found a couple sneaky ways to get their goodness into my boys' sweet bods.
1. Make it into muffins.
Steam up some carrots, or squash, or beets, or all of the above. Then in a blender, puree it with some of the water you used to steam it, and add those veggies to a muffin recipe. I have one in the "recipe revamp" section if you need a good one. My boys actually are aware that I have put carrots in the recipe, but the still eat the entire batch before they finish cooling!
2. Juice it.
I have taken to juicing up some kale or spinach, and then I sneak it into my spaghetti sauce. If you are juicing a ton of kale (for example) you may see a darker color of your sauce - it goes from bright red to more maroon. I did this the other night and I think I used about 20 large kale leaves, which definitely affected the sauce color. But my pickiest veggie eater said he loved the sauce. If you fear they will notice the difference and not try it because of the color, maybe you suggest a special candlelit dinner that night. ;)
3. Juice it.
No, I'm not a broken record. Just another way to use those beautiful leafy greens that you juiced up. Try juicing up some kale and/or spinach and add this to your kid's favorite smoothie recipe. It will definitely change the color of it, so I've managed to sneak it under the radar by putting the smoothie in a colored drink container (like an orange bottle) because no matter what you had put into that container it was going to look a weird color. The addition of that green goodness isn't going to impart enough of a flavor for them to notice.
4. Add it to Macaroni & Cheese.
I just did this tonight for dinner, and actually was waiting to see how well it went over before writing this post. I steamed up some yellow squash (after peeling it, scooping out the seeds and slicing it). Then I pureed it with some of the steaming water, and added the puree mixture to my cheese sauce. I make the cheese sauce for our Macaroni & Cheese from scratch. I think this technique might be slightly more difficult if your plan was to add it to Kraft Mac and Cheese, but you could always give it a try. My boys gobbled it up and never noticed a difference.
5. Dip them in Something.
This final option seems to be the easiest way to get them to at least eat the vegetables on their plate. If a kid has enough ranch dressing to dip their broccoli in, they don't seem to notice the flavor of the broccoli at all. Granted, the dressing itself is not the healthiest option, but the goal is to get the vegetables in, and you could always be more conservative with the dressings/sauces on other things at that particular meal.
On a side note, more is caught than taught. That means if your kids see you eating your veggies and trying new vegetables. Or even occasionally opting to try a vegetable you once disliked, they may be more adventurous with food as well.
