Introduction
There’s no denying that kids can be picky eaters. But with a little creativity and effort on your part, you can get them to eat more vegetables than they ever imagined. Here are five simple ways that parents like you have successfully added more veggies into their child’s diet:
Sneak veggies into your child’s meals by making them the star of the show.
- Use vegetables as a replacement for meat in meals.
- Replace cheese with vegetables in recipes.
- Replace butter with vegetables in recipes.
- Replace eggs with vegetables in recipes (like my mom did when she made me omelets).
- Use veggies as flour substitutes, like when making pancakes or breads!
Sneak veggies into your child’s meals by making them part of a fun mealtime activity.
- Make it a game. Don’t just tell your child they are eating vegetables; make them an active participant in the mealtime process. Get them to help you prepare and set the table, or even clean up afterwards!
- Get them involved with making dinner as well. Children love being part of the process and feel good about themselves when they can contribute something useful (and tasty) to the family meal.
Sneak veggies into your child’s meals when you’re making treats.
When you’re making treats, sneak veggies into the mix by using them as a substitute for other ingredients. If your child loves chocolate chip cookies but you want to add some extra nutrition, try replacing half of the flour with grated zucchini or yellow squash. The resulting cookies will be delicious and nutritious!
Another way to sneak veggies into your child’s diet is by using them as decoration on top of their favorite foods. For example: if you are making pizza for dinner tonight (which everyone knows is one of life’s greatest pleasures), why not make fun shapes out of extra vegetables? You could cut up peppers into circles or use red onion slices as eyes on top of each slice before baking them off in an oven set at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until warm and crispy–that way when everyone comes around asking what kind of toppings do we want on our pizzas tonight? Your kids won’t even realize there was anything different about these pizzers than usual until they take a bite!
Sneak veggies into your child’s meals while they’re playing outside.
- The more colorful the snack, the more likely it is to be eaten.
- Serve up some colorful veggies and dip with crackers or breadsticks.
- Try making homemade hummus–you can add carrots, celery and bell peppers to give it extra flavor!
Sneak veggies into your child’s meals when they aren’t around.
When your child isn’t around, sneak the veggies into their meal. Make sure they aren’t around when you’re adding them to the meal and don’t make a big deal out of it. If they see you adding vegetables, they may want some too!
There are lots of ways to get kids to eat more vegetables, and with these tips, you’ll be able to find some that work for you
- Make a list of all the vegetables your child likes–and then figure out how you can sneak them into his/her meals. You can do this in one of two ways: either by making a list or by keeping track on your phone (or computer). Either way is fine as long as it works for you!
- Try different methods until one works! It might take some experimenting before finding something that sticks but don’t give up–you’ll get there eventually!
Conclusion
We hope these tips will help you get started on the road to getting your child to eat more vegetables. If you have any other great ideas, please share them in the comments!