Note from Hint Mama: Like most toddlers, my 2-year-old daughter has decided that she doesn’t like broccoli, peas and certain other vegetables. To help make sure she gets her daily veggie serving, I’m using some of the great tips below from Hint Mama contributor Laura Grice, founder of the site Mamahacks.
It’s no secret that veggies are not a favorite of most toddlers. In fact, studies have found that young children’s aversion to the green stuff is part of a survival instinct, to help them avoid harmful or poisonous plants.
So while I’ll keep trying to fight evolution, what to do in the meantime? After many (and I mean MANY) attempts at convincing my 20-month-old son that a taste of broccoli won’t in fact kill him, I’ve resorted to hiding veggies wherever I can, so I can be sure he’s getting what he needs. Today’s hint is a few of my most successful tactics.
1. Blend them: Smoothies are a great way to pack in extra nutrients. My basic recipe includes milk (any kind will do), frozen greens and a banana, plus whatever add-ins I have on hand. Some of my faves are flax seeds, baby cereal (for extra iron), almond butter and chia seeds.
2. Bake with them: These days, I rarely bake anything that does not contain at least a little bit of grated or pureed veggies. A couple of our faves include these green smoothie muffins from Super Healthy Kids and these incredibly quick and easy cookies, in which I usually include grated zucchini and carrot.
3. Add them to their favorite foods: I never imagined how many ways you could use veggie purees until the Bubs became a toddler. I’ve had the most success with cauliflower, sweet potato and butternut squash, any of which mix well with mac and cheese, one of my son’s current favorites. I also hide cauliflower in grilled cheese, and mix sweet potato into pancake batter and French toast.
4. Get inspired: There are loads of great sources for finding recipes with hidden veggies (and other stuff your little one might not eat willingly), but the best I’ve found so far are Super Healthy Kids, The Sneaky Chef and Jessica Seinfeld’s book Deceptively Delicious.
What are your tricks for getting your little ones to eat their vegetables?
Laura Grice is the founder of Mamahacks and a full-time mom. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband and nearly 2-year old son. Currently taking a break from her previous life as a healthcare communications professional, she spends most of her time tickling tummies, playing with choo-choo trains and singing “The Wheels on the Bus.” Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Hi… I wanted to add something that has worked surprisingly well with my kids. We now start our dinner with crudite and dip. I slice up a bunch of peppers in different colors, cucumber, radishes, cauliflower, anything that can be eaten raw. Sometimes romain lettuce The crunchier the better I think. I put out a big container of that, plus 2-3 dips or dressings on the table and nothing else. I let the kids pick whatever vege they want from the container and they can dip directly into the dip. I don’t make a separate container for the dip, I just let them dive right into the original packaging. A little gross, I know, but they seem to like the control. My husband and I also partake in this activity. It took a few weeks for this to take off, but once it did the kids got really into trying different veges with different dips. Now my daughter even eats plain veges that I pack in her lunch (which was an unexpected bonus). They don’t love all the veges and sometimes I think they eat more dip than veges, but at least we’re making progress… 🙂