Despite the parents' support AND opposition, my kids have come home really excited about eating healthy. The school really knows what its doing! So since this topic is so hot, I've come up with 13 tips that could increase the amount of veggies consumed by kids. I hope this can help someone out there.
1. WALK THE WALK - Kids are smart. Too smart. Your attitude toward eating healthy is detected and often comes out in the children at a surprisingly young age. Even saying things like, "You HAVE to eat your veggies" is a great way to start a fight and create an obstinate child. Find veggies that you like and are generally liked by all to begin with, such as potatoes and corn, and have it often. Hey, its a start. It is something to work with.
Start here with Maria Good's Cheesy Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes:
image courtesy of www.cookwithcampbells.ca
Melt 1/4 cup of butter. Slice 4 white potatoes and 2 medium sweet potatoes with a mandolin. Layer the potatoes in an oven-safe casserole dish, sprinkling cheese and salt and pepper between each layer. Pour melted butter over layered potatoes and bake at 225 C for 1 hour.
2. CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF - Maybe the problem isn't the kids, it's your lousy cooking. LOL For example: Boiling broccoli for 2 hours on the stove and expecting anyone to eat it is pure lunacy. Cooking is an art, and luckily there are people who know what they're doing and can give tried and true recipes for the culinary-challenged to follow. Properly cooked broccoli should look like this:
Simple Steamed Broccoli - Cut 2 heads of broccoli into bite-sized florets. In a medium pot, bring 2 cups of water to a boil, and place a steamer basket inside. Add broccoli, cover with a lid and let steam for 6-7 minutes. You're aiming for bright, crunchy, but cuts with a butter knife. Remove broccoli from the steamer and add salt, butter, pepper, and cracked red pepper flakes or ground cayenne.
3. INCLUDE KIDS IN THE MEAL PREPARATION - Vegetables are naturally brightly coloured and pretty. Let your little ones have a special outing with you in the shopping cart and let them pick out their own vegetable to hold and take home. See if this gets them excited about trying at home. Below is a family favourite, Japanese BBQ. We cut up eggplant, onion, cabbage, pepper, bean sprouts, zucchini and let the kids cook it themselves on hot skillets on the table. Serve with white sticky rice and Yaki Niku sauce. Vegetable Heaven!
4. OFFER VEGGIES WHEN KIDS ARE VERY HUNGRY - The new thing at our house is having a first course. I try to have a simple appetiser of raw veggie sticks, a salad, a veggie filled soup, etc., at the start of the meal when they're super hungry and more likely to be willing to eat whatever is in front of them. I found this also saves me a lot of money when my main course is more expensive than the veggies. Its a great way to cut costs and create leftovers, that hopefully can create another meal later in the week.
5. GROW YOUR OWN- Nothing gets a kid as excited over vegetables than having grown it in their own family garden plot. I will never forget when our row of green bean plants started exploding with pods. I found Gavin and Simon out there, sitting themselves down as toddlers and eating every bean they could reach. You can't keep them away! Another secret, is that you have never REALLY had a vegetable until you've grown it yourself. Fresh from your yard veggies have a completely different flavor than what you get in the store. Try all veggies again with an open mind. My husband hated peas - all he'd ever had was frozen and canned. BLECK! He fell in love with the sweetness of a home grown pea and pops them in his mouth, savouring it.
This year we've gotten a lot of tomatoes from the garden, and I have made this recipe for me and the little ones for lunch. Roasted Tomato Slices - Slice tomatoes and place on a covered baking sheet. Add a sharp shredded cheese like Tasty, sprinkle with salt and pepper and parsley. Bake in a 225 C oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and browning.
6. ROAST, GRILL, OR SAUTE ..... NEVER BOIL OR MICROWAVE *shudders* - Boiling (unless you are making soup and plan on drinking the broth) removes desired nutrients, and microwaving kills delicate vitamins and enzymes that we all want. It also removes the flavor, the colour, the crunch, and anything else good about your veggies. With the exception of extremely fibrous vegetables, eating raw is the best option for nutrition. Roasting, grilling, and sauteing are the next best thing.
Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots - Cut one head of cauliflower into florets, and cut 4 medium carrots into large coins. Roll the veggies in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, adding salt, pepper, and cayenne seasoning. Bake in a 250 C oven for 40 minutes.
7. ADD THE RIGHT FATS - A salad is only as tasty as the fat you add to it. Start with a base of greens. Then add a few vegetables (or fruit) cut into manageable pieces. Then add a crunch factor, like slivered nuts, crispy Asian noodles, or seeds. Additional healthy fats like avocado slices, shredded cheese, and olives really enhance a salad and make it fantastic. Lastly, add a great dressing that adds a healthy fat (olive, canola, or coconut oils) that add enough flavor to pull the whole thing together.
8. MAKE DINNER A PRIORITY - Set an hour aside each day to enjoy a family meal together. Use this time and setting as a place where kids can count on receiving positive attention. Keep the conversation productive, avoid reprimanding at this time. This will help ensure a healthy relationship with you and with food.
9. DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF - If your kids absolutely refuse to eat any sort of vegetables whatsoever, let it go. You can try supplementing their diet with a multi-vitamin (though studies are unclear how effective they are). Usually this is a temporary problem, a power struggle, or a phase. But do continue to offer veggies regularly, continue experimenting with cooking methods and ingredients, continue to have family meal times together, and never give up.
10. SMOOTHIES - I started making green smoothies and juices for myself while doing a cleanse. The kids would watch me sip my drink and want some, then drink it all! I would get angry that I was spending all my diet food on my kids, so I started making enough for everyone. Even the pickiest eaters have a hard time turning down a great smoothie. Try freezing your smoothies and making Popsicles.
11. KIDS LOVE TO DIP - My kids will eat anything under a generous dose of ranch dressing, and I use that to my advantage. Find a dip the kiddos like (Simon is guilty of dipping his carrot sticks in ketchup, but I never had the heart to tell him that was disgusting) such as hummus, creamy salad dressings, cream cheese, sour cream. There are some amazing yogurts dips out there, too. Dipping is fun and they don't even notice they're eating veggies. This is a fantastic recipe I picked up from www.centercutcook.com that you will find is yummy and easy on the budget:
1 and 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
12. EXPAND YOUR OWN PALATE - A few years ago I belonged to a produce co-op, and we were given a box of collard and beet greens. Because they were free, I thought I might as well cook them up along with dinner and just see how it went. They looked AWEFUL. I sautéed garlic in some olive oil, added the chopped greens and simmered them with some beef broth, a little salt, pepper, bacon bits, and cayenne. I thought there is NO WAY anyone is going to eat this...I had 3 boys wolfing it down and asking for more. Even a month later, they asked me to make it again! Lesson learned, don't assume they're not going to like it just because I didn't like it. And now, after having it a couple times we decided to start growing collards and beets in the garden (they did very well by the way, very easy to grow) and we would just pluck a few young leaves straight from the plant and it was heavenly!
13. UPGRADE FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE - If they'll only eat French fries, upgrade by trying to make homemade fries. If they'll only eat frozen corn, add a few fresh carrot slices before cooking. If they will eat peppers on pizza, try giving them peppers on their sandwiches. If they'll eat baked potatoes, try baked squash or yams. Exposing them to new foods while incorporating the old really works!
Good luck,
The Andersons
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