I was the world's pickiest eater as a kid. I only really ate two green vegetables, green beans and plain lettuce. I would also eat green peas but in my mother's eyes that didn't count. Nor did green Jello. I tried to get her to bend the rules many times when we were at a cafeteria and her command "Get at least ONE green vegetable!" seemed really harsh and unfair.
I guess I was lucky, though. I had an aunt who helped her kids' plates until they were in high school. At least we had some choice in the matter.
My mother believed kids should eat vegetables, and drink a glass of milk at dinner every night, and we should eat meat. She told us there were four food groups and it was important to cover them all, every day. The four groups were meat, dairy, grains, fruits and vegetables.
Now, if Dad was out of town or there was some special occasion going on, she would bend the rules. If fish were being fried, she was okay with us eating fried fish and hushpuppies. Pizza didn't have to have veggies on it.
My brother would cheerfully eat almost anything. He was the opposite of me.
All this is to say that I am sort of puzzled by moms today who have conniption fits about their kids eating vegetables. It's not really a hard problem to solve. I was lucky because my kids came from countries where the attitude towards fresh fruits and vegetables was: wow, what treats! They didn't have the grocery stores filled with fruits and veggies in the dead of winter.
Adults give signals to their kids all the time and if the unspoken signal is Hey I know they are horrible but you have to eat your vegetables because they are good for you, so do that chore already...
Nope nope nope. Here are 3 ways to get your kids to eat veggies.
1. Parents, act like vegetables are WONDERFUL! They are AWESOME! What a treat!
That's the first step to getting your kids to eat veggies. Treat fresh vegetables as though they are highly prized. Forget about saying things like "eat your veggies or you won't get dessert!" Say IF you are good I will bestow upon you the magic that is fresh broccoli!
2. Quit giving them a bunch of choices. At any meal, tell them they need to eat up or go to bed empty. If they don't want to eat anything say fine. See you at breakfast. Then enforce it. let them go to bed hungry. It won't kill them.
3. Make the food they get delicious. Don't just give them veggies with no seasonings! My mother tried to get me to eat boiled brussells sprouts or boiled broccoli, without any seasonings. YUCK. I wouldn't eat them then and I still won't.
Buy fresh minced garlic in a jar, and garlic salt or powder. Buy onion powder if your kids refuse to eat anything with cooked onions. Find veggie recipes that involve seasonings, butter, and cheese. Remember: almost any veggie will be scrumptious if you add bacon and cheese.
Below are some ideas.
Make dipping sauces of ranch dressing and fresh parmesan and let kids dip veggies.
Spinach -- de-stem the fresh spinach leaves and toss them with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, dried cranberries, walnuts, and blue cheese crumbles.
Cauliflower -- boil until soft then mash it up and add a cup of mayo, a spoonful of mustard, and some cheese.
Brussells Sprouts -- halve them and saute them in olive oil after dousing them liberally with balsamic vinegar, garlic (powder or fresh) and salt and pepper.
Green beans -- cook them in a skillet and add either balsamic vinegar and garlic OR barbeque sauce OR melted cheese
Cabbage -- buy what's called coleslaw cabbage and saute it in oil, then add soy sauce, onion powder, garlic powder
Pumpkin -- when fixing spaghetti or anything with tomato sauce, add a can of pumpkin puree. It will taste like tomato.
Squash -- saute in butter and throw in fresh garlic and/or chopped up bacon.
Broccoli -- see recipe below. I used to hate broccoli. I will eat this all day long.
Golden Broccoli Casserole
[Brenda Gantt recipe]
4 cups broccoli 1 cup mayonnaise
½ an onion, chopped 1 cup grated cheese
½ - ¾ stick butter Ritz cracker crumbs [optional]
1 cup cream of mushroom soup 2 eggs
Steam or boil your broccoli to desired tenderness. Saute the onion in the butter until soft. When broccoli is done, drain it in a colander, then place it in a 9x13 pan or casserole dish. Add the mayo, soup, and cheese to the onion/butter mixture and stir well. I like to add minced garlic, seasoning salt, pepper, etc. Beat up eggs and stir them in carefully so they don’t cook. Mixture should just be warm. Spoon the mixture over the broccoli and cover as well as possible. Top with crushed Ritz crackers, or if you’re watching carbs you can do more grated cheese.
Bake at 350 until top is bubbly, about 30 minutes.
#freshvegetablesforkids, #veggieskidswilleat, #strategiestogetthekidstoeatvegetables, #veggierecipesforkids,
