I have the world’s pickiest eaters. Especially my three year old who does not like a single fruit or vegetable. I’ve written about this before, but it has only gotten worse with my younger one, not better. My older child, Nathan, has started eating tiny amounts of veggies with ketchup but he eats exactly the same bologna Lunchable for lunch at school every single day. It doesn’t help that I can’t send peanut butter sandwiches to school.
Alex’s only “fruit” are raisins and occasionally a couple bites of apple. Once in awhile I can get him to eat a tiny amount of pasta with spaghetti sauce, but no meatballs. Both kids drink a fair amount of milk but I’ve cut back a bit on Alex’s because his pediatrician suggested it may be the cause of his constipation. Of course, if he simply ate more fiber we likely wouldn’t have a problem. He does eat oatmeal and fiber rich cereal bars. He will sometimes eat deli turkey, but not actually IN a sandwich. Chicken nuggets, fish sticks and pizza are standbys. I try very hard not to do much short order cooking, so he does skip dinner entirely a lot. He usually makes up for it at breakfast.
So my wonderful, brilliant, faithful readers…help! Give me all your great suggestions and recipes for how I can encourage my kids to eat more healthful foods! It happens to be “ask your readers” week on Works For Me Wednesday, and this is my most pressing parenting issue.
What has worked for YOU in getting kids to eat more fruits and veggies?
How about corn muffins with little pieces of broccoli and bacon/ham and cheese in them? Have you tried different preparations for veggies? My older one LOVES roasted veggies, but is not always keen when they are steamed. I don’t have much guidance, our kids eat what we do. Except salmon, they really don’t like salmon!
How about corn muffins with little pieces of broccoli and bacon/ham and cheese in them? Have you tried different preparations for veggies? My older one LOVES roasted veggies, but is not always keen when they are steamed. I don’t have much guidance, our kids eat what we do. Except salmon, they really don’t like salmon!
How about corn muffins with little pieces of broccoli and bacon/ham and cheese in them? Have you tried different preparations for veggies? My older one LOVES roasted veggies, but is not always keen when they are steamed. I don’t have much guidance, our kids eat what we do. Except salmon, they really don’t like salmon!
How about corn muffins with little pieces of broccoli and bacon/ham and cheese in them? Have you tried different preparations for veggies? My older one LOVES roasted veggies, but is not always keen when they are steamed. I don’t have much guidance, our kids eat what we do. Except salmon, they really don’t like salmon!
My first thought, bribe him. If I am cooking something new, I tell the girls if they clear their plates (which consist of one healthy thing the like, and micro-servings of the new thing), they will get dessert. Praise the willingness to try a new thing!
Always have one thing at each meal he likes, and put one bite of something new on his plate.
I make meals that have components that can be broken apart. For instance, Tacos (I leave some beef out unseasoned for my daughter) – I let them pick from tortillas, meat, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, beans. I don’t judge their combinations. Pasta at our house is served in components – pasta, sauce, cheese, sausage are all served separately. Lettuce wraps work similarly.
Meat on a stick worked for my girls. When making shish kabobs, veggies go on one stick, meat on the other.
Keep introducing new foods and note what he likes. If you find he likes a certain veggie raw, serve it to him while the rest of the family has salad. Sliced cucumbers, sliced red peppers, carrot sticks, celery sticks can be found on my table frequently. Serve fresh fruit as a side. I often have a bowl of strawberries or grapes sitting on my dinner table.
Let him pick the meal once a week. If he says chicken and fries. Tell him you need a vegetable or fruit to make the meal healthy. My rule is the girls have to eat what they pick. This empowers him. Let him cook. There are some recipe books for kids that have great ideas.
Sorry this is so much but I live your reality.
My first thought, bribe him. If I am cooking something new, I tell the girls if they clear their plates (which consist of one healthy thing the like, and micro-servings of the new thing), they will get dessert. Praise the willingness to try a new thing!
Always have one thing at each meal he likes, and put one bite of something new on his plate.
I make meals that have components that can be broken apart. For instance, Tacos (I leave some beef out unseasoned for my daughter) – I let them pick from tortillas, meat, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, beans. I don’t judge their combinations. Pasta at our house is served in components – pasta, sauce, cheese, sausage are all served separately. Lettuce wraps work similarly.
Meat on a stick worked for my girls. When making shish kabobs, veggies go on one stick, meat on the other.
Keep introducing new foods and note what he likes. If you find he likes a certain veggie raw, serve it to him while the rest of the family has salad. Sliced cucumbers, sliced red peppers, carrot sticks, celery sticks can be found on my table frequently. Serve fresh fruit as a side. I often have a bowl of strawberries or grapes sitting on my dinner table.
Let him pick the meal once a week. If he says chicken and fries. Tell him you need a vegetable or fruit to make the meal healthy. My rule is the girls have to eat what they pick. This empowers him. Let him cook. There are some recipe books for kids that have great ideas.
Sorry this is so much but I live your reality.
My first thought, bribe him. If I am cooking something new, I tell the girls if they clear their plates (which consist of one healthy thing the like, and micro-servings of the new thing), they will get dessert. Praise the willingness to try a new thing!
Always have one thing at each meal he likes, and put one bite of something new on his plate.
I make meals that have components that can be broken apart. For instance, Tacos (I leave some beef out unseasoned for my daughter) – I let them pick from tortillas, meat, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, beans. I don’t judge their combinations. Pasta at our house is served in components – pasta, sauce, cheese, sausage are all served separately. Lettuce wraps work similarly.
Meat on a stick worked for my girls. When making shish kabobs, veggies go on one stick, meat on the other.
Keep introducing new foods and note what he likes. If you find he likes a certain veggie raw, serve it to him while the rest of the family has salad. Sliced cucumbers, sliced red peppers, carrot sticks, celery sticks can be found on my table frequently. Serve fresh fruit as a side. I often have a bowl of strawberries or grapes sitting on my dinner table.
Let him pick the meal once a week. If he says chicken and fries. Tell him you need a vegetable or fruit to make the meal healthy. My rule is the girls have to eat what they pick. This empowers him. Let him cook. There are some recipe books for kids that have great ideas.
Sorry this is so much but I live your reality.
My first thought, bribe him. If I am cooking something new, I tell the girls if they clear their plates (which consist of one healthy thing the like, and micro-servings of the new thing), they will get dessert. Praise the willingness to try a new thing!
Always have one thing at each meal he likes, and put one bite of something new on his plate.
I make meals that have components that can be broken apart. For instance, Tacos (I leave some beef out unseasoned for my daughter) – I let them pick from tortillas, meat, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, beans. I don’t judge their combinations. Pasta at our house is served in components – pasta, sauce, cheese, sausage are all served separately. Lettuce wraps work similarly.
Meat on a stick worked for my girls. When making shish kabobs, veggies go on one stick, meat on the other.
Keep introducing new foods and note what he likes. If you find he likes a certain veggie raw, serve it to him while the rest of the family has salad. Sliced cucumbers, sliced red peppers, carrot sticks, celery sticks can be found on my table frequently. Serve fresh fruit as a side. I often have a bowl of strawberries or grapes sitting on my dinner table.
Let him pick the meal once a week. If he says chicken and fries. Tell him you need a vegetable or fruit to make the meal healthy. My rule is the girls have to eat what they pick. This empowers him. Let him cook. There are some recipe books for kids that have great ideas.
Sorry this is so much but I live your reality.
No, this is EXACTLY what I need to hear. I do try some of your ideas, which have worked with my older kid, but I LOVE some of these ideas. Like having one night a week where each kid chooses dinner! I could make that work. Bribery has worked occasionally when there is something beloved they want to eat…usually bread! Sometimes ice cream. I just hate to be constantly bribing.
No, this is EXACTLY what I need to hear. I do try some of your ideas, which have worked with my older kid, but I LOVE some of these ideas. Like having one night a week where each kid chooses dinner! I could make that work. Bribery has worked occasionally when there is something beloved they want to eat…usually bread! Sometimes ice cream. I just hate to be constantly bribing.
No, this is EXACTLY what I need to hear. I do try some of your ideas, which have worked with my older kid, but I LOVE some of these ideas. Like having one night a week where each kid chooses dinner! I could make that work. Bribery has worked occasionally when there is something beloved they want to eat…usually bread! Sometimes ice cream. I just hate to be constantly bribing.
No, this is EXACTLY what I need to hear. I do try some of your ideas, which have worked with my older kid, but I LOVE some of these ideas. Like having one night a week where each kid chooses dinner! I could make that work. Bribery has worked occasionally when there is something beloved they want to eat…usually bread! Sometimes ice cream. I just hate to be constantly bribing.
Hm, I like the corn muffin idea, they both LOVE corn muffins…but they might freak out if they see pieces of something in them. LOL
Tell me how you roast your veggies and which ones you roast. My older one seems to just prefer them raw or covered in ketchup, my little won’t even touch them.
Hm, I like the corn muffin idea, they both LOVE corn muffins…but they might freak out if they see pieces of something in them. LOL
Tell me how you roast your veggies and which ones you roast. My older one seems to just prefer them raw or covered in ketchup, my little won’t even touch them.
Hm, I like the corn muffin idea, they both LOVE corn muffins…but they might freak out if they see pieces of something in them. LOL
Tell me how you roast your veggies and which ones you roast. My older one seems to just prefer them raw or covered in ketchup, my little won’t even touch them.
Hm, I like the corn muffin idea, they both LOVE corn muffins…but they might freak out if they see pieces of something in them. LOL
Tell me how you roast your veggies and which ones you roast. My older one seems to just prefer them raw or covered in ketchup, my little won’t even touch them.
We are hiding squash, green beans, zuchini and peas in lots of our kiddos food, I steam them and puree them and then use them in muffin and cookie recipies. Also, squash mixed with egg is great to dip raw chicken in and then roll it in bread crumbs, cook it at 350 util chicken is done for home made chick nuggets… squash (and cauliflower) have little to no taste esp when coated in breadcrumbs (and some parma cheese)….
In the next few weeks I will try to make a chick nugget tutorial (if you will help me with the flip video editing, cause you are so talented at that!) and post it at http://www.babyfoodsteps.com
I will bring you over some of what we make today for your kiddos to try!
We are hiding squash, green beans, zuchini and peas in lots of our kiddos food, I steam them and puree them and then use them in muffin and cookie recipies. Also, squash mixed with egg is great to dip raw chicken in and then roll it in bread crumbs, cook it at 350 util chicken is done for home made chick nuggets… squash (and cauliflower) have little to no taste esp when coated in breadcrumbs (and some parma cheese)….
In the next few weeks I will try to make a chick nugget tutorial (if you will help me with the flip video editing, cause you are so talented at that!) and post it at http://www.babyfoodsteps.com
I will bring you over some of what we make today for your kiddos to try!
We are hiding squash, green beans, zuchini and peas in lots of our kiddos food, I steam them and puree them and then use them in muffin and cookie recipies. Also, squash mixed with egg is great to dip raw chicken in and then roll it in bread crumbs, cook it at 350 util chicken is done for home made chick nuggets… squash (and cauliflower) have little to no taste esp when coated in breadcrumbs (and some parma cheese)….
In the next few weeks I will try to make a chick nugget tutorial (if you will help me with the flip video editing, cause you are so talented at that!) and post it at http://www.babyfoodsteps.com
I will bring you over some of what we make today for your kiddos to try!
We are hiding squash, green beans, zuchini and peas in lots of our kiddos food, I steam them and puree them and then use them in muffin and cookie recipies. Also, squash mixed with egg is great to dip raw chicken in and then roll it in bread crumbs, cook it at 350 util chicken is done for home made chick nuggets… squash (and cauliflower) have little to no taste esp when coated in breadcrumbs (and some parma cheese)….
In the next few weeks I will try to make a chick nugget tutorial (if you will help me with the flip video editing, cause you are so talented at that!) and post it at http://www.babyfoodsteps.com
I will bring you over some of what we make today for your kiddos to try!
This is why you are my bestest friend, Kristi. 🙂 Anyone who reads this comment and is interested in healthy kids, you gotta check out her blog, Baby Food Steps.
This is why you are my bestest friend, Kristi. 🙂 Anyone who reads this comment and is interested in healthy kids, you gotta check out her blog, Baby Food Steps.
This is why you are my bestest friend, Kristi. 🙂 Anyone who reads this comment and is interested in healthy kids, you gotta check out her blog, Baby Food Steps.
This is why you are my bestest friend, Kristi. 🙂 Anyone who reads this comment and is interested in healthy kids, you gotta check out her blog, Baby Food Steps.
I agree with Babyfoodsteps–you probably need to resort to hiding. You can start small and work in bigger portions of healthy add ins over time. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious are good resources. I’d start with the spaghetti sauce, since that’s something he willingly eats. You can puree almost any veggie and mix it with tomato based sauce (if you don’t make your own sauce, many Classico varieties have no sugar, and the Hunt’s Garlic & Herb variety doesn’t have HFCS.) Spinach, garlic, onions, carrot, red pepper (go easy–it changes the flavor), blueberries (weird but it doesn’t change flavor), cauliflower, kale/chard, apples (adds sweetness if he’s used to sweet sauce), fresh basil, fresh parsley, squash/zucchini…whatever you have. I do about 1 cup puree to 4 cups of sauce and even DH cannot detect the difference.
I agree with Babyfoodsteps–you probably need to resort to hiding. You can start small and work in bigger portions of healthy add ins over time. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious are good resources. I’d start with the spaghetti sauce, since that’s something he willingly eats. You can puree almost any veggie and mix it with tomato based sauce (if you don’t make your own sauce, many Classico varieties have no sugar, and the Hunt’s Garlic & Herb variety doesn’t have HFCS.) Spinach, garlic, onions, carrot, red pepper (go easy–it changes the flavor), blueberries (weird but it doesn’t change flavor), cauliflower, kale/chard, apples (adds sweetness if he’s used to sweet sauce), fresh basil, fresh parsley, squash/zucchini…whatever you have. I do about 1 cup puree to 4 cups of sauce and even DH cannot detect the difference.
I agree with Babyfoodsteps–you probably need to resort to hiding. You can start small and work in bigger portions of healthy add ins over time. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious are good resources. I’d start with the spaghetti sauce, since that’s something he willingly eats. You can puree almost any veggie and mix it with tomato based sauce (if you don’t make your own sauce, many Classico varieties have no sugar, and the Hunt’s Garlic & Herb variety doesn’t have HFCS.) Spinach, garlic, onions, carrot, red pepper (go easy–it changes the flavor), blueberries (weird but it doesn’t change flavor), cauliflower, kale/chard, apples (adds sweetness if he’s used to sweet sauce), fresh basil, fresh parsley, squash/zucchini…whatever you have. I do about 1 cup puree to 4 cups of sauce and even DH cannot detect the difference.
This all sounds daunting because I don’t cook much of anything from scratch. I don’t even own a food processor.
This all sounds daunting because I don’t cook much of anything from scratch. I don’t even own a food processor.
This all sounds daunting because I don’t cook much of anything from scratch. I don’t even own a food processor.
This all sounds daunting because I don’t cook much of anything from scratch. I don’t even own a food processor.
What about the occasional fruit smoothie? (You don’t need a food processor but I hope you have a blender!) Even better, make it up and freeze it into pops. What kid can resist a popsicle?
Another idea is muffin tins. I’ve seen this in several places on line. Basically, you get a muffin tin (one with 6 sections is probably best) and put a little something in each section. Some of the moms out there even do themes. For instance, “Cinco de Mayo” (sp?) is this week. You could put half a soft taco in one part, a few pieces of cheese in another, some corn in another. A little cup will fit nicely in one section, and chocolate milk with a little cinnamon is Mexican-ish. If you happen to have some construction paper around (I’m sure you do!) you and the kids could make up some placemats and other Mexican decorations. Dinner isn’t just about eating, it’s about looking at the food, too! On other days, you can do a rainbow theme, or all purple foods or even cut things into shapes.
Yet another idea: as you are cooking, let your kids see you sampling the food. Maybe if they hear: “oooh, this so sooo good” a few times, they won’t be able to resist a sample or two.
Now, a word to the wise from a mom with four adult children: don’t make a huge deal of this! Trust me, there are 3 things you can’t really control with your kids: eating, sleeping and going to the bathroom. Offer the best help you can, then back away. Seriously. If the kids are running around and playing happily, they are probably healthy enough. Just make sure there is always something healthy available to them throughout the day that they can grab when they are hungry. You will survive this. So will your kids. Someday, they’ll even eat things like sushi and calamari, LOL!
Oooh, look what I found! A link for you, after this very long comment!
http://theiowafarmerswife.blogspot.com/search/label/Muffin%20Tin%20Monday
What about the occasional fruit smoothie? (You don’t need a food processor but I hope you have a blender!) Even better, make it up and freeze it into pops. What kid can resist a popsicle?
Another idea is muffin tins. I’ve seen this in several places on line. Basically, you get a muffin tin (one with 6 sections is probably best) and put a little something in each section. Some of the moms out there even do themes. For instance, “Cinco de Mayo” (sp?) is this week. You could put half a soft taco in one part, a few pieces of cheese in another, some corn in another. A little cup will fit nicely in one section, and chocolate milk with a little cinnamon is Mexican-ish. If you happen to have some construction paper around (I’m sure you do!) you and the kids could make up some placemats and other Mexican decorations. Dinner isn’t just about eating, it’s about looking at the food, too! On other days, you can do a rainbow theme, or all purple foods or even cut things into shapes.
Yet another idea: as you are cooking, let your kids see you sampling the food. Maybe if they hear: “oooh, this so sooo good” a few times, they won’t be able to resist a sample or two.
Now, a word to the wise from a mom with four adult children: don’t make a huge deal of this! Trust me, there are 3 things you can’t really control with your kids: eating, sleeping and going to the bathroom. Offer the best help you can, then back away. Seriously. If the kids are running around and playing happily, they are probably healthy enough. Just make sure there is always something healthy available to them throughout the day that they can grab when they are hungry. You will survive this. So will your kids. Someday, they’ll even eat things like sushi and calamari, LOL!
Oooh, look what I found! A link for you, after this very long comment!
http://theiowafarmerswife.blogspot.com/search/label/Muffin%20Tin%20Monday
What about the occasional fruit smoothie? (You don’t need a food processor but I hope you have a blender!) Even better, make it up and freeze it into pops. What kid can resist a popsicle?
Another idea is muffin tins. I’ve seen this in several places on line. Basically, you get a muffin tin (one with 6 sections is probably best) and put a little something in each section. Some of the moms out there even do themes. For instance, “Cinco de Mayo” (sp?) is this week. You could put half a soft taco in one part, a few pieces of cheese in another, some corn in another. A little cup will fit nicely in one section, and chocolate milk with a little cinnamon is Mexican-ish. If you happen to have some construction paper around (I’m sure you do!) you and the kids could make up some placemats and other Mexican decorations. Dinner isn’t just about eating, it’s about looking at the food, too! On other days, you can do a rainbow theme, or all purple foods or even cut things into shapes.
Yet another idea: as you are cooking, let your kids see you sampling the food. Maybe if they hear: “oooh, this so sooo good” a few times, they won’t be able to resist a sample or two.
Now, a word to the wise from a mom with four adult children: don’t make a huge deal of this! Trust me, there are 3 things you can’t really control with your kids: eating, sleeping and going to the bathroom. Offer the best help you can, then back away. Seriously. If the kids are running around and playing happily, they are probably healthy enough. Just make sure there is always something healthy available to them throughout the day that they can grab when they are hungry. You will survive this. So will your kids. Someday, they’ll even eat things like sushi and calamari, LOL!
Oooh, look what I found! A link for you, after this very long comment!
http://theiowafarmerswife.blogspot.com/search/label/Muffin%20Tin%20Monday
If I were you, I’d just buy the health food and tell them that’s what they’re eating. They’ll fuss and fume, and then they’ll get hungry and eat it. Do that for a week or so and eventually they’ll be converted!
If I were you, I’d just buy the health food and tell them that’s what they’re eating. They’ll fuss and fume, and then they’ll get hungry and eat it. Do that for a week or so and eventually they’ll be converted!
If I were you, I’d just buy the health food and tell them that’s what they’re eating. They’ll fuss and fume, and then they’ll get hungry and eat it. Do that for a week or so and eventually they’ll be converted!
hmm….my girls aren’t that picky, but if I would allow them to live on mac&cheese and hotdogs they would {shudder!!}!!
My oldest will not eat veggies but loves all fruit – so I try to pick fruit that give her what she’s missing from veggies. We have a Sesame Street brand “juice” that is like V8 juice – so when she has her juice she is also getting her veggies.
Generally if I throw cheese on something she’ll eat it, so I do a lot of mexican dishes with beans mixed in. We also have a constipation issue, so we switched from Milk to Lactaid, which has helped a bit.
I don’t think I was too much help – just wanted to encourage you that you aren’t the only mom dealing with this!!
hmm….my girls aren’t that picky, but if I would allow them to live on mac&cheese and hotdogs they would {shudder!!}!!
My oldest will not eat veggies but loves all fruit – so I try to pick fruit that give her what she’s missing from veggies. We have a Sesame Street brand “juice” that is like V8 juice – so when she has her juice she is also getting her veggies.
Generally if I throw cheese on something she’ll eat it, so I do a lot of mexican dishes with beans mixed in. We also have a constipation issue, so we switched from Milk to Lactaid, which has helped a bit.
I don’t think I was too much help – just wanted to encourage you that you aren’t the only mom dealing with this!!
hmm….my girls aren’t that picky, but if I would allow them to live on mac&cheese and hotdogs they would {shudder!!}!!
My oldest will not eat veggies but loves all fruit – so I try to pick fruit that give her what she’s missing from veggies. We have a Sesame Street brand “juice” that is like V8 juice – so when she has her juice she is also getting her veggies.
Generally if I throw cheese on something she’ll eat it, so I do a lot of mexican dishes with beans mixed in. We also have a constipation issue, so we switched from Milk to Lactaid, which has helped a bit.
I don’t think I was too much help – just wanted to encourage you that you aren’t the only mom dealing with this!!
I would try fun shapes, or make characters. Ants on a log were a favorite of my kids, or maybe use apple slices to make robots or dinosaurs, etc. Make the food fun and let him play. I think things will get better when he gets a little older. Three is a challenging age! Good luck.
I would try putting cheese on whatever you can. A little bit goes a long way. Also, I’ve found that my picky daughter will eat those fruit buddy things (like baby food in a suckable pouch). They are mixed fruit and veggies. I figured I’d get those veggies in any way that I can. 🙂 Good luck and don’t give up trying because taste buds DO change and “they” say that children need to try something numerous times in order to decide if they truely dislike it. I don’t remember the number off the top of my head but it was something like 15 or 20 times….
My son is more likely to eat anything if he helped make it.
When he was younger (he is 6 now) he was easily swayed by talking animals. For example, one day we were waiting for a bus and I was making his stuffed tiger talk to him, so the tiger began raving on and on about how much he loved spaghetti squash. My son had never eaten it, but in minutes he was very eager to try it! He ate a big portion and later told Grandma on the phone, “We had spaghetti squash for dinner! Tigers like it too!” 🙂
Beans aren’t exactly a vegetable, but they are high in fiber and nutrition. Lots of kids like hummus. My son likes an American Beanwich without onions or pepper, and that’s really easy to make with canned beans–just be sure to rinse them first to prevent gas.
Oh picky eaters can be such a challenge!
You say they eat pizza – have you tried upping the veggie content of the sauce? You could add a jar of pureed carrots (ok, yeah,I’m talking about babyfood) to it, for example.
We make dips for things. Peanut butter + maple syrup is great on apples. (I actually have a whole post on the different easy dips we make – http://www.milehimama.com/2010/07/20/dips-for-dummies/). Let him help you make the food, too. Let him see you eat veggies, and use constant exposure to them.
Have you tried a slaw or salsa? Would he eat a mango salsa or pineapple salsa? Is it a texture issue, do you think?
I also have an awesome recipe for a white sauce made from beans (yes, really) that was so good! It’s in Kitchen Steward’s Everyday Bean Book.
Are you willing to start cooking from scratch, or are you looking for healthier, packaged solutions? You mentioned he’ll eat some bars. A lot of cereal bars have high fructose corn syrup and not a lot of fruit.
But I found a granola type bar that is awesome he might like- Monkey Bars. They’re high fiber, probiotic, and really good.http://monkey-brains.com/ The bigger HEBs carry them. My kids also like the dried papaya from the bulk bins and banana chips. (The dried okra… um, not so much.)
Fruit Roll-Ups make a line called “Simply Fruit” that is actually ALL fruit, not suger/corn syrup. It counts as a serving of fruit.
Odawalla makes some kid-centric bars, too, that aren’t full of fillers. We like the Berries Go-Mega. You can buy them by a box of 6 and it’s cheaper.
I also make our own “jelly”. I just dump a bunch of frozen fruit (usually strawberries) into a pot, add a little sugar, and water, and bring it to a boil. Then I cook it until it’s thickened, stir once in a while to keep from burning. It’ll keep for 2 weeks in the fridge and then I know they’re getting fruit, not sugar, with their toast or sandwiches.
We also like pumpkin waffles. Mix pumpkin puree or applesauce into the batter, then make as usual. Works with pancakes, too. Applesauce is especially easy to hide in baked goods.
What about frozen? Will he eat frozen fruit pops (the all natural ones with real fruit, not Popsicles)? What about smoothies, or frozen strawberries thrown in the blender with lemonade to make pink lemonade?
Find out what he likes and go from there!
I’d agree that it’s easy to begin with hiding. Spaghetti sauce and pizza (under the cheese or in sauce) hide things extremely well. Boiled cauliflower and carrot purees mix perfectly into mac and cheese. Other than this, I’ve read one mom’s success story that she only kept fresh cut veggies on a platter during snacktimes before meals so that her kids could snack to their heart’s content pre-meal with something healthy. Sure, I realize that would take some serious time for them to adjust, but it’s worth a try.
I don’t have a blender, but I can pick one up. I could try the muffin tin thing, but it doesn’t sound that different from what I do now, which is put a variety of foods in small amounts all over their plates. The kids are very healthy and I’m not really worried about it, but I love this great discussion I’ve started here! Tons of awesome ideas.
Hadn’t thought of Lactaid. Not sure I want to do that. We do give them V8 Splash and Fruitables but I wonder about the glycemic index of that stuff. We usually dilute all juice by half too.
I’ve tried the cheese thing but so far they hate mixing foods…so cheese on anything is a big yuck even though cheese alone is fine.
Yes I’ve seen my older child slowly expand his tastes recently so I know this probably won’t last forever.
Never heard of the fruit buddy things…might have to check that out but it sounds kinda weird to me. I have already seen my 6 year old trying more foods so I’m not giving up 🙂
I love hummus but so far my kids don’t. They don’t really go for sauces or dips, it took a ton of encouragement just to get them to eat ketchup.
Talking Tigers, huh? 🙂
Wow, lots of great ideas…thanks! I’m thinking frozen pops or smoothies might be a good thing to try for sure. I could certainly try hiding stuff in pizza sauce, although I would need to get a food processor for that. Or can you just use jar baby food from the store?
Neither of my kids eat jelly yet, or most any dips. I think the salsa would be tough because of textures, though I would love it 🙂
I would probably need to cut back severely on even buying crackers and snack foods before they would touch a raw veggie left out before meals. I’d probably have to hide whatever I bought for myself. I’d get a lot of whining but it might work.
Lactaid worked for us too, to balance out the dairy constipation and the use of cheese.
We ordered EMealz and we just treat each meal like a ‘test’ 🙂 So, it’s not mommy that is pushing fruits and veggies… it’s all part of the “experiment”. The kids play along!
I would love for you to come link up at my new “Encouragement is Contagious!” linky party! You can share your favorite posts from someone else’s blog to encourage them, and share your favorite from your own blog and get lots of visits 🙂
Have a great day!
Melanie 🙂
I’m lazy and hate the food processor, so I’d just use baby food. I love my immersion blender though, and you could use one of those.
In Montessori education, children are taught to prepare their own snacks from a young age. They do things like slicing bananas (a plastic knife works for this), using an apple cutter, etc. Might he be more interested in fruits/veggies if he had an independent snack station that he could do all by himself?
Hey Sarah, Cooking from scratch sounds daunting, but it can really easy and fun! The best part of cooking vs. baking, is that you can experiment a lot more. With baking your really need the exact recipe for things to turn out right… but with cooking, its all about your taste! Find some recipes that look good to you, but they play with them and make them your own. And there are plenty of shortcut items you can buy (frozen, pre-chopped onions, pre-shredded cheese, etc).
Also, we don’t have a food processor either. But we picked up the magic bullet for super cheap and that works just fine for most stuff.
Honestly, the easiest and best way to eat healthy is to make your own stuff. Most pre-packaged or processed foods are super high in sodium and preservatives. Plus, like I said in my comment on your facebook page, getting your boys involved in the cooking process is a great way to interest them in new foods, and set them up for healthy eatting for life.
I’ve been thinking about those EMealz but don’t know enough about them. We just went through FPU and Dave makes them sound so appealing 🙂 So I like this idea, I’d love to hear what you think of them.
You might try hummus on a sandwich instead. You can’t spread it very thickly or it’ll be gloopy, but that might get them liking the flavor so that they’ll try larger amounts.
Throw a handful of spinach in a smoothie, or anything else for that matter, it doesn’t carry a taste. They’ll never know its in there.
Take the kids with you to the store. Have them help you pick out things that are healthy that they think are healthy.
Ever try Morning Star soy corn-dogs or chicken nuggets. My kids love those. Can be found in the freezer section at the grocery.