Everyone knows the benefits of eating enough vegetables, and we know that it’s much healthier if our children eat them too. Most parents have a tough time convincing their children to eat vegetables, much less just one serving a day. Most children need to have a minimum of two servings a day of vegetables and finding that creative way to get them to eat them is what we need to explore.
Fun With VegetablesComing up with some creative ideas of how to make eating vegetables fun can be fairly simple. Making a pizza is always fun for children. Have your children help you make that pizza and allow them to load it with colorful vegetables like green peppers, red tomatoes and black or green olives. They won’t even realize that what they are eating is so good for them! Making your spaghetti sauces with tomatoes and salsa is a great ways to add vegetables to their meal.
Hide Those VegetablesMaking your children’s favorite casserole dish and throwing in some vegetables is a good way to hide them without the children even knowing they are in the dish. Vegetable soups can be made with smaller sized vegetables and children rarely even consider this a vegetable at all! Blending up some vegetables in the blender and adding them secretly into a casserole is another good way to hide veggies from the children.
CookbooksFind some cookbooks that are designed for children. Often times they have great recipes that have ways of hiding vegetables in foods without being noticed by kids. Furthermore, the recipes might have stories or illustrations that your kids will enjoy, and they will likely make the ingredients (read: vegetables) more appealing or cool in their eyes.
Hungry TimeWhen kids are hungry they are going to eat. Choose a time close to meal time that the kids are hungry and serve them a nice colorful plate of veggies such as red and green bell peppers cut into strips, carrots that are sliced thin and some cut up yellow squash. Provide them with their favorite bowl of dips or salad dressing for them to eat with their veggies as an appetizer before meal time.
Be a positive role model for your children when it comes to eating vegetables. If the children see you eating something and enjoying it, they will want more themselves. Good eating habits are introduced at a young age and will stick with them as they grow older!
Veronica Hughes writes about parenting, family finance & saving money on family vacations at www.boatinsurance.org.
