Hello there, Moms. I was just realizing the other day that my 22 month old gets plenty of dairy, protein, carbs, and fruit daily, but the part of the pyramid where he's lacking is the veggies. My husband and I eat salads a lot, but my son only gets the occasioal handufll of peas and lima beans and cucumber here and there too. I used to make squash and zuchinni, but now it's expensive. I spoke with husband for suggestions. He said cauliflower is tasteless and he doesn't like tomatoes or lima beans, but otherwise he'll try anything. 22 month old will TRY anything, but I want him to eat it. He likes sweet potato (with brown sugar) and will eat regular potato too. He's eaten carrots when cooked very soft in soup. He did not eat but one when sauteed in butter and spices.
So can you give me some quick easy and healthy ideas for veggies - frozen or fresh? Even if it's a snack.
Anyone have a great spinach recipe that your kids like?
Oh and I'm lookng for recipes that all three of us will like. I will make something special for my son, but it's a lot easier if I can make one dish for all of us (husband won't want plain boring can of veggies).
Thanks a bunch.
Thanks to your suggestions. I went today to the grocery store and got some bacon to go with my green beans. I also 'splurged' and got fresh zuchini. Next week I'll get some fresh spinach. I think my son will eat carrot shredded with italian dressing too. I gave him some skinny strips to bite today. He didn't care too much for the ranch.
I love the taste of Edamame with sea salt, but will probably not do that one. I have read too much conflicting information regarding men/boys eating soy. I googled "boys eating soy" and found a lot of information (like I said. It's all conflicting though). But my belief is, if there's conflict, then there's gotta be some truth in it. Thanks! Any mre recipies or ideas I'll take them.
I agree with trying NOT to disguise it if you can so they learn to love it, but if you must, there is a great book called Deliciously Deceptive. Also, after age 2 I would strongly recommend a good multivitamin for kids... and not the Flinstones or gummies, lol those have ridiculous sugar and color dyes in them and are practically not absorbed into the system.
Dice a few strips of bacon and cook it in a large skillet. When it's all cooked, drain off most of the fat and toss in a large bag of prewashed baby spinach. As soon as it's wilted (about 1 minute) serve. Everyone likes things with bacon! Also, precooked edamame (soybeans) are a big hit around my house with the kids. You can roast pretty much any veggie and it will make it sweeter - broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, brussels sprouts, asparagus, etc. Good luck!
Oh! I just realized too that you can put almost any veggie on a pizza, and that makes it even better!
HI Jessica,
I like to do kale for my family. It is mild tasting and very nice to eat. After washing it, just strip it off the stalk part, and then boil it til soft. Add some butter and a little, or no salt and it is good. Cut it up so it is easy to get on the fork. Dark green veges have more calcium.
If you want to make a smoothie with vegetables add a dark fruit to cover the color of the veges.
Corn is nice too, it is so easy, just boil and butter. Make sure you get organic. Most other corn is genetically moderfied.
Brocoli is good, but boil it, don't eat it raw as it is not good for you like that. I was told by a gastroenterology doctor to try putting chocolate sauce on it for my son. I never did try that one.
Sheppard's pie is nice. Mashed potatoe on top of ground meat. You can add vegetables to the ground meat to make it tastier. I fry some onion chopped small to it and then add some peas, brocoli and the put the potato on the top. Use a fork to pluff up the top a bit, I then put it under the broiler for about 15 minutes. It is great if you use bisson for the meat. Another good meal is store bought spagghetti sauce and then you add vegetable to it. Then make spagghetti and you have a quick meal. I do this on days when I really don't want to cook. Add a teaspoon of sugar to take away the sharp taste of the spag sauce.
Pizza crusts and your own topping is great.
Cheese on toast with sliced up tomato, cheese on crackers with tomato or something else yummy.
I sometimes use icecream cones for putting the snack in, or put sprinkles on the veges if it will look ok. Your husband would not like that probably.
It just takes years of practice to finally come up with things. I try to remember what my mother used to make. It is nice to be creative as your family will remember when they are grown up.
Sincerely,
W.
Disquise the foods! Make them fun, find kitchen tools to make healthy foods in ways that they will eat. Cut carrots to look like french fires and drizzle with honey or maple syrup. Raw carrots dipped in blue cheese kids usually like. Cream spinach or use as salad with their favorite dressing, but make it healthy. Juicer and Blender for making fresh juice drinks and smoothies. You can juice carrots and IF they don't drink it straight, (because good organic carrots are sweet and kids usually like carrot juice if the parents don't turn them off from it) add it into a fruit smoothie. However, use only ORGANIC fruits & veggies, especially when juicing to get taste and non-pesticides produce. Juicing foods with pesticides and chemicals will allow it to go straight into your blood stream. Organic only! Juice spinach, kale and add carrot, beets and apple to it to make it sweet. Because they are still young allow them to help you juice the green veggies so they will have a positive experience with green foods. For older kids I first suggest to do not let them see the greens first, and instead just make the drink and make it taste good first so they won't get mentally turned off. Also let them eat lots of grapes and frozen grapes are good too as long as they chew and do not suck them! Not good for children too young I suggest cutting them so they don't choke.
My writing partner and I write a blog with lots of recipes. Since all of the recipes are vegan quite a few feature multi-vegetables. We have a recipe for kid-friendly zucchini muffins, easy pumpkin butter, soups and more. All of our recipes are allergen-free, gluten-free and vegan, but you can always adjust them to suit your needs (change ingredients, etc.). I hope this helps! www.welcomingkitchen.blogspot.com
In addition to trying to introduce more veggies, also check out juice plus gummies for your child. Here is the website so you can read all about it.
I found a great recipe for sweet potatoe onlines - made with rosemary- cubed and baked (stirred a few times in between) for about 45 minutes-- it was fantastic! My 4 yr old loved it- we ate it all that night (2nds and 3rds!?)
I also mixed up turnips with small red potatoes and mrs dash in a saute- she ate it right up! I could taste the turnip but it wasn't overly "tart" like trunip is sometimes. She likes any and all veggies when they have a sauce.. we like the steamable mixed frozen veggies - peas with mushrooms & blends from green giant too!? Hope that helps!
My daughter and I made a deal - we pick one new fruit and one new veggie ever month and give it a try - we also find one new recipe either with the new fruit or veggie or with out - just to try new things. Sometimes its a quick reipe we can put together during the week - sometimes it takes time on the weekends but - even at 5 yrs old - I find out that - the more my daughter has a hand in putting dinner together - the more she likes to eat it.
As far as soft veggies - corn is not a great one to eat until older because it is not very digestable - try green beans or red potatoes or broccoli with a light cheese sauce - every kids likes cheese if they can tolerate it. Another good thing is a homemade veggie soup with beef tips - its a great cold weather food and has tons of veggies or try a potpie with the veggies - they dont have to be on the side - just as long as they get them in their diet. My daughter has learned to love salads as well - with the different dressings - and she loves RAW sugar snap peas - they has a sweet flavor to them and are easy to eat.
I sure hope this helps.....
Oprah did a show recently about the cost of fresh foods vs. fast food - very eye opening. But, the moral of the story was that even if they're expensive, it's really important to get them because of the nutritional value vs. preservatives, extra fat/sugar/sodium in pre-prepared foods.
I'm personally against hiding them in other foods - it doesn't teach your child to learn to like the flavors.
Maybe I'm lucky because my kids love veggies - particularly love frozen mixed vegetables. I've found the Birdseye brand to be better quality than the store brands, and it's usually on sale at places like WalMart.
Edamame is another great source of nutrients. You can buy shelled Edamame at most stores. My kids will eat lima beans but prefer edamame if given the choice.
We do a lot of green/red peppers. Green is usually less expensive, but you can sometimes find good deals on the other colors. Costco/Sams Club carry miniature sweet peppers that our kids love, too. They also have sugar snap peas (fresh) year round.
Cauliflower can be tasteless, but if you prepare it by lightly sautee-ing it and adding some parmessan/romano cheese, it can really bring out the flavor.
Fresh green beans are great.
Potatoes are not really vegetables (though relatively good for you, they are a starch and thus a source of carbs).
You can also get Broccoli slaw to add to salads or eat by itself. It's thinly chopped, so it should be fine for a 22 month old to eat with supervision.
Good luck. I hope this helps.
Have you tried mashed Cauliflower? You eat it just like and in place of mashed potatoes, and they are a lot better for you!
Mashed Cauliflower
1 head, cut and steamed, drain
2 heaping Tblsp of light sour cream
1/4 stick of butter
1/3 -1/2 cup of instant potato flakes
salt and pepper
garlic powder (opt.)
Whip it all up together and serve hot, reheats well!
My kids thought it was a treat when I gave them the frozen mixed vegetables (small ones) in a little dish and they got to eat them frozen. It was like they were eating little popsicles. Might be better when it gets warmer out...
My kids LOVE spinach on pasta. I cook pasta and while that is cooking I saute onions, garlic, olive oil. Toss in some fresh or frozen spinach and let that cook down. Turn off the heat pour over pasta and stir in some non-fat plain greek yogurt. Yummy! I also put it in salads.
My Kids love salads with all types of dressing. Ranch and oriental sesame are their faves.
I saute some green beans with garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds. You can do the same with asparagus. I am lucky, my kids will eat all kinds of veg.
Broc and cheese sauce, cauliflower and cheese sauce- both over a potato.
Just play with it. Serve him anything.
I just add any veggie I can to mashed potatoes for my 21 month old. I add frozen peas, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli. He loves mashed potatoes so much that he'll eat anything that's mixed into it.
Boring but when you spice them up they are good, green beans and black beans from the can! Black beans are good as a stand alone to me but sometime I spunk them up a bit by adding ciliantro. With green beans I cook 2 pieces of bacon in the pan and then pour the drained can of green beans in and cook them in chicken broth. Cook for over an hour, the longer the better! So yummy!! Also, you can cook carrots and put a very small amount of butter on it for your little one.
I agree with one of the previous posters, everything is better with bacon, and even turkey bacon works well. My 5 year old didn't care for spinach at all, then I finally took my husbands advice and cooked the spinach and then added an egg into it, and he now loves it and will even ask for seconds. Also, he prefers corn on the cob way more than off the cob, and we recently found out that he likes creamed corn. He has always liked broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. I think you can get yellow squash in the frozen section and its a little cheaper that buying fresh and just about as healthy. And we can convince him to eat like brussel sprouts with cheese on them. If we're eating something we know he doesn't like he still has to take at least one bite, if not a very small serving of it. And don't let them get you to where you're making something special for them, really bad habit to get into, the only reason I do the spinach thing (I don't care for it with egg) is because this is also how my husband likes it, I just take mine out before I put the egg in it.
stay away from canned veggies, they have no nutrition left in them. I make guacamole and my kids have always loved that, dipping stuff in it, etc and the avocados are sooooo good for them (use them as soon as they are slightly soft, not mushy, otherwise they are rancid) saute kale as another mom said...kale is another supper dupper veggie and just mix it into something if you're getting used to the taste. I got my kids on lightly steamed broccoli early because it is such a good nutritious veggie for them so they get it almost every other night, since they are not eating salad like me. Just lightly steamed with lots of real butter and they love it! My little one also loves fresh cherry tomatoes (organic) cut up as a good finger good. Enjoy! It's really the most important part of the food pyramid because that's where all the live vitamins and minerals and enzymes are so kuddos to you for wanting the best for your family!
Try shredding the carrots. Neither of my kids like them cooked, but will eat them raw. My kids only eat spinach when it's hidden in a smoothie, which I highly recommend. You can hide all kinds of things in there. I don't blame him on the lima beans, I don't know anyone who REALLY likes them. Have you tried corn? Sweet corn is super delicious and if you want you can get the frozen ears (they are pretty inexpensive). One thing- I wouldn't keep putting brown sugar into the sweet potato's. The potato's themselves are naturally sweet and the extra sugar doesn't really do anything but.....well.....be sugary.
Good luck!
when cooking the carrots let them cook slow with a small amount of butter when almost done add a small amount of brown sugar to just add a small amount of sweetness.
give him peanut butter mixed with small amount of honey as a dip, use apples,celery, etc. for him to eat with.
My son has always loved broccoli and green beans. He likes them just steamed with nothing on top or with a little parmesan cheese. I am very much in the habit of steaming some veggie for him almost every night. Most of the time I don't incorporate it into my husband's and I's meal but save the extra for another night. I bet I could though with a little more forethought. Hope this helps. He also loves strips of red or yellow pepper.
Pizza. We make our own pizzas at home - bell peppers, onions, spinach, all are great on pizza. The bell peppers and onions I usually put on sliced thin and fresh, but the spinach I like to saute in butter with a little bit of garlic first. All together, with or without meat, or just spinach. Plus, pizza is something easy and fun for kids to assemble. Leave the oven light on so he can watch it cook!
