Adding Veggies to a Child's Diet

Hi there,
I learned a great trick from my sister. She boils the veggies in Chicken broth, and that makes then really tasty. Also, Trader Joes has these amazing Sweet Potatoe french fries that are amazing! They are bright orange and are really healthy! The kids don't even know they are eating something good for them. I just pop them into the toaster oven.
Hope this helps!
Good luck!

I get a ton of piece of mind that my boys are getting kale, spinach, beets, broccoli, papaya, tomatoes and many more in their blood protecting them every day by giving them Juice Plus soft chews. I feel so confident because its concentrated food (a nutrition label, not supplement label so I know it's not just concocted in a lab but actually juiced fresh produce), and it's got more independent research proving the fruit and vegetable nutrients get in the blood and improve and protect health than any other supplement. Would I prefer that we all actually eat 28 different fresh fruits and vegetables every day? Yes, but it's just not realistic in today's world. I became a distributor after a couple years of taking Juice Plus because I know so many people need the nutritional benefits. WeThriveonJuicePlus.com.

I know, I do it the "wrong way"... Whenever I introduce a new vegetable, I tell my daughter that she can have one jellibelly if she tries it (which means swallowing it too). In the case of fresh zucchini and green beans, I've offered one jellibelly if she eats one entire bean (she'll eat the canned green beans without issue) or one zucchini circle.

There are some vegetables that she will eat with ketch-up... like broccoli. (i know, cringe!)

I've also minced up fresh carrots and added it to ground meat when making meatloaf and patties.

I'm actually impressed. It sounds like you're doing all the right things to get your daughter to eat veggies. I find that somedays my kids will eat everyone on their plates and other days not at all. Have you ever gone to a u pick or grown something in your garden to pick with her? Gone to the grocery and come up with a fun recipe to make together like a smoothie with veggies? These kale chips are always a hit with my kids and super easy for you! Roasting veggies intensifies the flavor and couldn't be easier! http://weelicious.com/2010/03/31/kale-chips/ Good luck!

My kids get very irritated with bits of veggies mixed in with their food, but they love to just eat veggies. I buy frozen and rather than cooking, I just thaw them under running water or soak them in a big cup of room temp water. Then they're never too hot and all the vitamins are preserved. Their favorite frozen veggies are petite peas (petite are a little sweeter), broccoli, green beans. Corn straight from the can, although I have trouble believing that there's much nutritional value in corn. Green beans straight from the can. And then fresh they love those little carrots and celery sticks. One of my boys eats cherry tomatoes by the ton, if I'd let him.
Maybe you could go to a big, well stocked salad bar one day with her and let her try everything that she will. Even the stuff that you don't like may be good to her. I once gave my friend's daughter turnips (I didn't want them, yuck!) and she gobbled them up!!
Have fun! And good luck!

"Deceptively Delicious" is a great cookbook about sneaking veggies into the diet. I believe kids need to learn to eat their veggies, so I wouldn't ONLY use the cookbook, but it is an excellent resource for making sure those nutrients get in there, and then you can serve raw carrots and such in addition. Go to your local library and check it out

Also, steamed anything has more nutrients in it than a microwaves version of the same. Frozen veggies are packed full of nutrients just like fresh, but try steaming them instead of microwaving them to maintain that goodness.

I don't know how old your daughter is, but mine is 2. Though she typically loves her veggies, fruits and dairy and scorns meat, here are a few fun or sneaky ways I serve her veggies:

Grated and mixed into her meatloaf, hamburgers, turkey burgers or sausage (I make my own sausage)
Pureed into soup with whole grain organic alphabet pasta
Peas of Mind veggie fries
Grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered to prevent choking
She thinks peas are candy for some reason
Edamame, steamed with a dash of sea salt and garlic, she loves popping out the beans
She'll eat anything if it's shaped like a stick or something fun so I cut cucumbers into sticks, etc and serve with lowfat sour cream or greek yogurt mixed with garlic for dipping
She'll also eat anything if it's rolled up in a tortilla with cheese
Most of my sauces I cook with I make from pureed vegetables
Mashed turnips instead of mashed potatoes
Mashed turnips & apples instead of applesauce

My son likes greek spinach pies (you can get them frozen), avocado, edamame, pickles, sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, olives, sauted bean sprouts. Keep trying different things that you like and see if your daughter likes them. You can also try baking sweet potatos or little red potatoes - kids like that too. My son eats a bunch of veggies that I won't eat! As she gets older, your daughter will try new things.

Most of our kids LOVE veggies. One child only likes them cooked. I do microwave-steam, a few for him now and then, but he knows that he has to eat what is served. Dont get me wrong, we have one that only likes junk food and getting veggies and fruit into him has been quite the battle. For a while all I did for him was put extra veggies pureed in EVERYTHING. Soups, meatloaf, sauces, anything that I could disguise. We even had a juicer that I would juice veggies along side of fruits and not tell him. Now we just have the rule that you must eat the veggies on your plate, or you don't get anything else. no seconds on milk, meats, potato, and no dessert. My husband told him that the worse a veggie tastes the better it is for you. "if it doesnt taste like dirt..." yeah, it has been a battle. We do take our 5 kids to the farmers market and let them try new foods. Once you find a few staples that they will eat, you can try serving them along side new ones that they will need to "try". But kids palates will adjust, even my teenager eats veggies and loves to go to places like SoupPlanation, rule there; you must try one new veggie and have one bowl of soup before the fillers like the muffins and pastas. Children will not starve, they will eat if they get hungry enough. If I really want them to try something that I think that they would normally turn their noses up at, I wait until they are really hungry and then they try it willingly because they are starving. I know htat sounds mean, but then the next time I serve it I can say that they have eaten it before and that they ate it all without an issue so they must have liked it. This doesn't always work, my pediatrician says that sometimes they will have to sample the food a few times before they will like it.

My son still loves veggies, but here are some ways I add more vegetables and nutrients into our food, just because it doesn't change the taste or texture too much. So this may work for you:

--Add pureed squash or pumpkin or carrot to tomato sauce. Sometimes I used jarred sauce, but I find it has too much sugar and salt, so I'll often make my own. You can use boxed or canned tomatoes, mash or puree them, then simmer in a pot with chopped garlic, olive oil, and any spices you like. You can also cook your meatballs/sausage in the sauce to give it more flavor. You can add any veggie you like. Like I said, pureed squash, pumpkin, and carrot are great! (you can get frozen or canned squash and pumpkin. Though frozen has more nutrients).

--add frozen (thawed of course!) squash in place of some cheese for mac and cheese. There are some good recipes online, such as on Food Network.com.

--Make a slaw. I shred apples and shred carrots. Mix together and add lemon juice to prevent browning. Naturally sweet, but healthy too!!!

--Add carrot to baked goods. Muffins, cookies, cakes, etc. You can find some healthier recipes, but you can also substitute healthier items in current recipes (e.g. applesauce instead of oil/butter--though can affect flavor browning a little bit)

--adding tomato to grilled cheese sandwiches before grilling or baking

--add spinach, onions, pepeprs, or anything you like! to calzones. Easy recipe: roll out pizza dough onto an oiled baking sheet (homemade, refrigerated, or from a box. Actually, if you use a mix you could use the water from heating frozen veggies in place of regular water, to help retain nutrients). Cut the dough into however many calzones you want--making 4 triangles or 4 long rectangles is easiest. Mix lowfat/part skim ricotta cheese with an egg and a small amount of mozzarella cheese. Place some of this mixture onto one side of each piece of dough. Top with veggies and then fold the other part of the dough over on top of the filling. crimp the edges and bake at the temperature suggested on the dough package until the dough is golden brown. Make a dipping sauce out of tomato sauce.

--this doesn't"hide" the veggies, but I love this dish. Heat a pan on the stove over medium/medium high heat. Add some olive oil and after it's heated add in some frozen green beans (you can add them in frozen). Heat and allow green breans to brown. After green beans start to heat, add some chopped garlic. After hot and browned, add in some toasted almonds and serve. You can also salt it.

--Another side dish we love: Heat olive oil as in the recipe above. Add a couple crushed red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how spicy you like your food). When oil is warmed, add broccoli--frozen or fresh. While Broccoli browns, add some lemon peel and garlic. When heated through to decided temp and texture, take off heat and squeeze a liberal amount of lemon juice. Mix and serve.

Another tip--see if your daughter can help you make dinner. Her participating may help her be more excited about eating it--even if veggies are involved!

buy a zuchini (sp?) and grate it up using your cheese granter on one of the smaller sides. add it to spegetti sauce or anything similar. seriously. you can't tell.

i HIGHLY recommend "the sneaky chef" books. she gives you good, easy ways to sneak fruits/veggies into your family's diet. your husband will never know either!

You have gotten some great tips. I can't wait to try the kale chips idea. I have a 1 and almost 5 year old~ both good eaters. My oldest adores veggies and that is always what he eats first off his plate. I also do the veggies as a snack while I cook~ easy, healthy and I am already slicing it. I use plain yogurt mixed with basil or dillif he wants a dip. We always have tons of plain yogurt~ he loves it mixed with cheerios in the morning instead of milk.

Veggie purees are simple (deceptively delicious cookbook) I always add some to my spag. sauce, alfedo type sauces, casseroles.. pretty much anything saucy. Also add as many veggies as you can to spag. sauce, soups, casseroles (mushrooms, spinach, assorted bell peppers, shredded carrots or zucchini) it is much easier then making a separate salad and harder to pick them out.

We love jicama~ it has a really sweet crunchy taste almost like an apple. they take a while to cut but are so good. We have introduced a few friends to its yummy taste.

Growing your own veggies can also be fun. We have a grape tomato plant and our oldest loved watching it grow and now checks it daily for ripe ones and can't wait to pick them and eat them as fast as he can.

If you are a veggie lover it helps too because you are more likely to prepare them. I don't love zucchini or squash but I cook with them as purees or shredded in things because of all the vitamins. Sweet potato fries are alwys a hit~ I never make "regular white fries". I usually microwave the sweet potato for about 5 min. and let it cool (makes it easier to cut) then slice it and toss with olice oil and Mrs. Dash and bake til fork tender (usually 15 min. or so)

Good luck!

You may want to put some of your veggies in a blender and puree them, then add them to things like spaghetti sauce when you make spaghetti or lasagna. Perhaps add some peas/carrots to her mac & cheese? Have you tried celery w/ peanut butter? My one daughter absolutely loves cucumbers (weird, I know) and I have another who will sit and eat sliced mushrooms dipped in Marzetti's veggie ranch dip like they're potato chips. Good luck!

I know you say your not much of a cook, but could you bake zucchini or pumpkin muffins? (with real steamed or baked veggies) I bet their are recipes on line, I always use allrecipes.com

First, frozen veggies are fine. As someone noted below, however, it might be better to steam them in the microwave (rather than just heat them up with open top). Also, you should check out weelicious.com. I have made a lot of her (Catherine McCord's) recipes from weelicious and they have almost always turned out delicious.

besides all the great suggestions listed already, i tried a baked kale chips recipe that surprisingly worked for my 2 year old. Kale is chock-full of vitamin A, C and calcium. Super simple,
Preheat oven to 300°F. Rinse and dry the kale, then remove the stems and tough center ribs. Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt. Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp.
Keep an eye on the chips, for me, they crisped in 13-15 minutes, if it burns, the chips will be bitter. Also, I sprinkled some sugar on the chips with the salt before baking. It took some of the bitterness out of the kale and had a nice salty/sweet contrast. Play around with the spices...

Frozen vegetable often contain more nutrients than their fresh counterparts because they're flash frozen right after being picked vs. weeks of travel time to the store and your house.

There's been a lot of discussion about this subject, and a lot of people swear by "Deliciously Deceptive" by Jessica Seinfeld. I'm not such a big fan for a few reasons:
1. It doesn't teach your child to learn to appreciate the taste of the vegetables
2. The cooking, blending, etc. process loses many of the nutrients

We're fortunate that our kids LOVE veggies. Cucumbers, peppers, mushrooms, celery, carrots, beans, corn, etc.

Frozen mixed vegetables on the side of a meal with a little butter/olive oil and a dash of salt is a great side dish. Our daughter makes a bee line for the carrots (she's 2), our son avoids the peas (he's 4).

With all the farmer's markets right now, I'd see if you can take her there, let her be part of the picking process and get adventurous.

One of the easiest things to do is to find a stir fry recipe (go to cooks.com and enter "stir fry").
Kabobs are also really easy, healthy, and yummy, though I'd admit my kids don't like them much despite being really good eaters.

I'd recommend letting her get used to the taste on their own first before adding them to things like grilled cheese. Put them on home made pizzas or in soups so they get used to them in different forms.

Not everyone will like everything, but trying is the first part of the process.
Get a good cookbook (Joy of Cooking, etc) and experiment.

Good luck!

I think so many of the moms already gave you great ideas. We put greens (spinach, kale or chard) in the food processor and then blend them with pasta sauce for pasta or pizza. Also, though not for this time of year, my kids will eat so many more vegetables in a soup than they will on the plate. Muffins, like the other moms mentioned, are also a great way to get vegetables into your child's diet. If you need some recipes, we have some on our blog, www.welcoomingkitchen.blogspot.com.

I didn't read through your other responses, but hope I'm not repeating. My son loves veggies, but not really raw (he will tomatoes, although it took about 15 tries for him to like those, and they are technically a fruit). I steam vegetables for us, and he loves them that way (nothing added to them either).

Also, we do spaghetti sauce (for all of us) filled with fresh mushrooms, zucchini and squash, and tomatoes if we have a lot of extras from the garden. It really adds to the flavor, and everyone gets more veggies.

Raw veggies are more nutritious than cooked but cooked vegetables are better than no vegetables. I've found that if I put out a plate of assorted raw veggies on the table around 3:30 or 4, my kids will eat them and I don't have to stress so much about what kind of veggie I should serve with dinner. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snap peas and red bell pepper are some of our favorites but pretty much any veggie can be eaten raw this way.

My children will also eat salads but not if I toss it all together with the dressing. The dressing always has to be on the side for them to use as a dip.

And if you want to have a warm veggie dish, I usually chop up whatever veggie that I have in my fridge and either sautee it on the stove with a bit of olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper or use the same combination to roast them in the oven at 400-degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

Also, I know that you had indicated that you are not much of a cook but, if you start including your daughter in on the meal prep and let her pick out a special fruit and vegetable from the store each time you will go shopping, you will probably find her more willing to eat new foods.

Hope this gives you some inspiration.

You have gotten some good ideas for how to make the foods you are cooking even healthier with the addition of veggies. However, I'm still a big proponent of serving them as they are in addition. Otherwise, they will not learn that veggies are an important food that they need to help keep their bodies healthy and they will not develop the habit of eating them.

Keep offering them even if they don't eat them. One of the best ways I have found to get my kids eating them is to serve a plate of raw veggies while they are waiting for me to finish cooking dinner. They are hungry then and they don't get put off until they are full from the things that they might like better!

I am also fortunate that their school serves healthy snacks which include fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, cheeses, etc. So, this is what they expect a snack to include. If you can make this a habit in your house, they may eat nothing at first, but they will eventually start to like them!

I try to add as much vegetables as I can into any sort of noodle dishes I make. They are usually disguised under sauce and of course I use whole wheat noodles. For instance, I made whole grain rotini pasta with peas, tomatoes, olive oil and some reduced calorie alfredo sauce. My kids didnt really seem to notice the peas.
Also, I KEEP reading that you should keep putting the veggies on their plates even if you know they arent going to eat them, then some day, they will. (I hope so!) Remember too that sauces count sometimes and any sort of tomato pastes. Keep on trying! Good luck!

if your daughter likes macaroni and cheese you might try to cook up veggies ( I like to steam broccoli, cauliflower, etc, in the microwave) and cut them up small enough that she won't care if they are in it. Also you might like to try cooked veggies in the middle of a grilled cheese sandwich. It may sound strange but I love advocado (raw) in a grilled cheese. I just make the grilled cheese as usual and once it's done I open it up and stick in the veggies. Good luck!

My sons are on special diets and I frequently try to hide veges (although it may require a little cooking). The easiest (althoght not hiding) is frozen squash (steamed or nuked) with a little cinammon and honey. Second is chicken tots. I make batches at once and freeze them. A food processor can be be your best friend. Take frozen spinach and/or green beans, cooked onion and garlic (less vege tasting and punguent) then throw in a food procesor with ground chicken and mix. Form into Chicken tots and cook like hamburgers. Have ketchep available for a very tasty dip. I think if you put veges in a food processor she may have less of a chance to pick them out. Even if things look a little green you can follow it up with a little story of green eggs and ham or make up a fun name like Shrek tots or something like that. After the ketchup dip, I find they don't mind the green color.

My main tip is freezing and batches -- once you get going it is easier. Beets could be a very sweet and tasty nutricious treat. If you need to, perhaps add a little honey - - whatever it takes to get it down:)

Best of luck.

Hi,

I have 2 little ones and am in the same boat, trying to sneak in the veggies. Things that have worked so far: frozen chopped up spinach to anything that has red sauce, (lasagna seems to be the favorite at present) I just dump a quarter to half of a bag in the food processer and throw it in. Also can get away with adding yellow squash mashed up to mac and cheese and cauliflower gets put into mashed potatoes. So far they haven't caught on. I have a pretty good recipe for zucchini and sweet potato bread that they both love ( I just put into cupcake pans) I can send your way if you decide to give it a try.. Hope these help.

T.

I have the same issue with my 3 yo daughter. There are only 3 ways that she will eat veggies:

1- if it's chopped small and in her spaghetti sauce or hidden in her food (I.e. Deceptively Delicious)
2- if her big brother gives it to her..he can always get her to try new things...and he's only 5 years old!
3- if I give her a greens drink mixed with a little juice or in a smoothie

I know it's frustrating to keep trying and wasting food. But I think the more you keep putting veggies around her, she will eventually get used to it and hopefully when both of our daughters are older, they will choose to eat veggies on their own.

To supplement both my kids diet I give them daily vitamins, daily probiotics, and daily Omega 3's...all in gummy bear form of course :). Yummi Bears and Animal Parade are the ones my kids like the best.