Coaxing Kids to Eat Veggies–part 2 and book review (sort of)
There’s been funny press lately over the veggies wars. Did Jessica Seinfeld steal Missy Lapine’s ideas? Or is it just (pardon the pun) “sour grapes” on Ms. Lapine’s part. I thoroughly read Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious and then read some excerpts from Lapine’s The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals. The strategies are similar: cook and puree veggies and then add them to favorite foods. Now, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I usually (or is that used to?) enjoy cooking, but no way would I go to the trouble for the minimal amount of veggie sneaked into the minor-ly healthy recipes in Deceptively Delicious. Sometimes, it’s as little as 2 TABLESPOONS of veggie puree in an entire batch, enough to serve a family of 4 or 6. Usually, it’s slipping it into macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets–not exactly stellar health food from the get-go. I personally prefer the recipes in The Sneaky Chef and if I ever bothered to invest hard-earned bucks in a USED copy of one of those books, it would be with The Sneaky Chef. Whatever happened to helping kids make wise choices? Since when do we have to “sneak” good stuff in and tolerate bad choices?
That said, I’m all for sneaking veggies–pureed or not–into meals. I’m even more for just serving veggies. There are two pieces of info that may make the process a little easier for moms. First, remember that kids supposedly need to be introduced to foods about a dozen times before accepting them. Okay, that’s what the researchers say. Second, younger kids have fresher palates, meaning that strong foods–like broccoli, turnips, garlic and onions–are even stronger to their developing taste buds than to an adult’s declining buds. So relax and give them some time! If they prefer carrots to broccoli, fine! Maybe a little cheese sauce will add to broccoli’s allure. Even more so if served at the beginning of dinner or as an appetizer while the main course finishes cooking.
Sometimes after offering the kids a veggie I love and they don’t, I’ll remind them, “You’ll probably like it when you’ll older.” I don’t know how child-rearing experts would respond to that, but so far none of them have turned into ax-wielding maniacs. Ditto for the rule, “You need to eat as many pieces of (whatever veggie is offered) as you are old.” We enforce that one before seconds can be dished up.
Kids like choices and you can control those choices. Offer a d-i-y salad bar or potato bar. Involve her in the cooking, especially salad making. Let him choose the veggie to go with dinner. Better yet, let him choose two! I also include veggies in entrees as much as possible: pesto chicken with diced tomatoes, any tomato based entree, main dish salads.
Empower your child with knowledge. Teach him about the health benefits of veggies. Help him make a chart to track his daily veggie and fruit intake requiring healthy food before less healthy options. For my boys, we make a simple quarter page on cardstock with one column for veggies, one for fruits. The boys illustrated each column and we laminated it with self-laminating sheets. Now each boy can track his own daily intake using a dry-erase marker. The little charts are prominently displayed in the kitchen to help them to make wise choices.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with slipping a little pureed squash in with all the tomato sauce in your chili or spaghetti sauce. Muffins and cakes with shredded or pureed zucchini, carrots, pumpkin or other veggies are delicious! I never liked chocolate cake as a kid but chocolate zucchini cake was delicious to me. (Yes, I got over that absurd dislike–leading to my waistline’s demise.) If a recipe calls for 1/2 cup see if you can slip in some extra and still get the recipe results you like.
It doesn’t have to be sneaky, but it may require some coaxing. Just persist and keep setting a great example! Now, where were those celery sticks. . .