Do your kids eat veggies? Do they actually like them or just eat them because mom says so? Today we discuss the mixture of kiddos and the usually dreaded vegetables. I am a lucky mama because all 3 of my boys LOVE veggies and always have. I get asked quite often how I get them to eat veggies. Well, that is kind of hard to answer, but 1. they actually like them (even though not all like the same ones) and 2. if they want to eat they don’t have a choice. I cook one meal and if they want that particular meal they eat what I cook or they have to wait until the next meal. I refuse to be the mom that cooks a healthy meal for the Hubs and me then cook another meal of crap for my kids. Not. Happening. In. My. House. That is a whole other post and topic though haha. I have fed my boys veggies from the time they started eating baby food and it never changed. I don’t offer them anything else in place of veggies either. I know a lot of mamas that  have a very different story for many different reasons. Are you trying to find ways to get more veggies down the hatch for the littles and maybe for you and the Mr. as well?

I recently read an article in Pathways to Family Wellness {LOVE that magazine BTW} that covered this topic and I loved some of the ideas plus I have a few of my own tricks, so I thought I would share them with all of our lovely readers 🙂

1. Smoothies full of veggies…I make smoothies almost daily for myself and 2 of my boys. {One doesn’t like smoothies of any flavor, or milkshakes…can’t handle the texture} In the smoothies I put 1 cup of water, 1 banana, 1-2 cups frozen fruit of choice, and a bunch of spinach {probably 2+ cups of packed spinach}. The color of the smoothie takes some getting used to, but you cannot taste the spinach at all! Some additions to the smoothie that are great are: a spoonful of coconut oil, almond butter, hemp seeds, a carrot. Also, in addition to spinach I will also use kale.

2. Mince veggies…then you can add to whatever your heart desires. I do this mainly with soups and eggs. I make chicken/veggies soup frequently and chop up tons of celery, carrots, mushroom, and onions, there is always way more veggies than chicken. I also mince spinach, bell peppers {any color}, mushrooms, and onions that I brown in a pan then add eggs….my kids LOVE eggs and the veggies add so much flavor. I have also steamed cauliflower, then pureed it, then added it to eggs to be scrambled…the kids loved it and never knew they were eating a veggie too 🙂 Another one is adding minced onions and mushrooms to ground beef for tacos.

3. If mincing the veggies doesn’t help because they can still see them floating around in their soup bowls try pureeing them. Sneaky tricks that one day they will thank you for!

4. Bake veggies in breads, muffins, cakes, etc. This is one that I have not experimented with much. Probably because I don’t have to fight my kids on eating veggies, but I do make pumpkin muffins quite often. Zucchini bread is some thing I have wanted to make and just haven’t gotten around to it. There are recipe books on all kinds of sneaky ways to get veggies in everyday foods without getting caught. One book I have is: Deceptively Delicious

5. Most kids like burgers right?! Well how about taking some of those minced veggies and sneaking them into the burger….genius huh.  This is one that I haven’t tried or even given thought, but most definitely will. While I know my kids eat quite a bit of veggies, having more doesn’t hurt a thing. Minced spinach, onions, peppers, and carrots would all be very tasty in a burger.

6. I offer a variety of veggies to my kids, prepared different ways. For example: Kadon despises cooked carrots, they literally make him gag. So when we are all eating cooked carrots, I give him a big handful of raw carrots. Problem solved, that way I don’t have another little one complaining about fairness.

7. Grow a garden. We started our own garden in the backyard a couple years ago and LOVE it. The kids love helping plant and pick the veggies. Every day after school they will go out and “check” on the garden just to see how everything is growing, etc. We grow things we know they love too.

8. Salsa is a great way to get in a serving of veggies….1/2 a cup of salsa counts as one serving of vegetables. I have 2 boys that love salsa. I buy homemade tortilla chips that have 3 ingredients, so I don’t feel bad about them eating chips, plus they will add the salsa to certain foods as well. I add salsa to eggs when scrambling too…that is one of my personal faves.

 

I may have to do a veggie recipe post soon 😉 Mmmmmmm, I am convinced that I could live on veggies and fruit! Oh and a few sweets. Oh and champagne. Enough veggies would counter act the sweets and champagne right?!

 

How do you get your kids to eat their veggies? Tell us your sneaky ways…it may give other mamas some really good ideas! 🙂

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