how best to hide those darn veggies...

[Ryan&HollysMom]

my ds is somewhat picky as of late. i know he's a toddler and it's normal. but i think he has to eat some veggies. he eats lots of fruit, meat here and there, noodles, rice, and peas and carrots and sometimes corn.
both my dh and i eat lots of veggies, but we can't really give him salad (a family favorite in the summer) or raw veggies (again, a family favorite). how do i get broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, spinach, etc into the kid? so far he just ignores it when i put it on his plate and works around it. he's not tempted in the least by the fact that we like it. i tried to hide veggies in things like omelets, but he won't eat it. plain omelet he does eat. he also doesn't dip or like sauce so there goes that idea. i've heard of making banana bread and putting veggies in instead of bananas. do you leave the rest of the recipe the same (i.e. sugar?)?
or can a kid live with the only veggies being peas and carrots?

[samijoe]

i make lots of muffins or loafs here....

you can add banana, grated carrot, grated zucchini!  endless combos!

im sure there will be many more fab ideas added....


sami

[lisi's mum]

get out your food processor, chop what ever mix you want up (my fav. is carrot, zucchini and peppers). You can then freeze this mixture raw in ice cube trays so they're always to hand. Stick some in the omlette, stick some in any sauce you make, Oh doesn't like sauce  I've known somebody stick some in with a grilled cheese sandwich - they're so small you don't really notice.

Home made pizza is good to. At a push you could do it with a slice of toast, a tomato veggie sauce, ham, cheese on top and under the grill.

Maybe some ideas?

[jennyh]

my oldest will not eat veg at all so i mix it in pasta sauce and she never knows ...jenny

[mari]

I mix it in with pasta sauce for my children and the ones that I care for to ensur that they are having enough, but TBH Alex is choosy about what she eats and I don't stress over it.  i still put it on the plate and let her pick around it.  Last week she wouldn't eat brocolli, but she will eat it this week, she has always refused cauliflower and potatoes so I am hopeful that she will get out of that one, especially the potatoes.  Nathan was exactly the same at that age and he eats everything now. 
Keep putting it all on the plate, even salad. (he still won't eat lettuce!) they will be used to seeing it on the plate and eventually eat it.  In the meantime you can hide it as PP's say.

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

Will he eat meatballs? I've got a fantastic recipe for meatballs packed with veggies if you're interested. Even dp likes them, and I make loads at a time, they freeze really well in batches. Let me know

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

Cause you can Stacy. I actually got it from somewhere on this site, but can't find it #

Minced beef/lamb or pork (I use pork)
Egg
Breadcrumbs
Seasoning
Garlic
Good lot of grated carrot / parsnip / sweet potato / courgette / any hard grateable veg

Mix all meatball ingredients together, make into small balls shapes. Brown in a frying pan, then cook very slowly in a good quality tomato-based sauce (cooked slowly, I usually leave them for about 1 hour). Serve with pasta, rice or cous cous.

They freeze well - get them frozen on a baking tray, then transfer to freezer bags.

I've not tried them in a slow-cooker, but I would have thought they'd do well.

(Sorry there's no quantities - I usually do a huge batch, and just try to make the ingredients balance. Depending on the amount, you'll need 2 or 3 eggs)

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

Lately hes living on bread! Just wants sandwiches and toast.  Could be worse!

If it's any consolation to you all, today, ds ate toast for breakfast, half a pancake for lunch, and half a piece of bread and butter for dinner . Not for want of trying on my part!

[Ryan&HollysMom]

thanks guys. i'll try the meatballs, definitely. so far i haven't had much luck with meatballs, but you never know. for when he sees reason (yeah right), they'll be in the freezer, and well, probably dh and i will like them. as far as putting stuff on his plate anyway, we do that around here. he picks around it, sometimes he'll sample, but most doesn't make it past his tongue. he just licks it. yesterday he ate broccoli!!!!! today i mixed grated broccoli and red pepper into his creamcheese, but no luck, he refused it totally. too bad, so sad. i ate it instead.... but thanks for all the advice! thank god for bw, especially in times of frustration....

[waffler]

I can't say this worked for Mira yet (she's going thru her fussy stage too) but it worked with my nephew. Take your veggie of choice and use "tempura flour" or perhaps any sort of batter, and fry? I use absolute minimal oil/butter so it's not deep fried at all.

Oh, I also juiced a carrot with apple and gave her diluted juice which she loved. I"m sure you can disguise some other veg in a juice as long as you sweeten it with fruit too!

[Grace's Mom]

We give Grace V8 Fusion which is fruit and veggie juice (no sugar added).  I, of course, dilute it with water but it gives her one serving of veggies a day!

We also give her garden veggie burgers and veggie bites from Morning Star Farms.  They are actually yummy and what she doesn't finish I eat 

-Melissa

[Ryan&HollysMom]

does anyone know if v8 fusion is sold in canada? i haven't seen it locally, but haven't been to a bigger store lately.

[Ryan&HollysMom]

thanks stacy. i saw v8 splash and there aren't veggies in there... so no thanks. i'll look for sunrype.

[Grace's Mom]

Yeah, V8 Splash is pretty icky when it come to the amount of sugar that's added.  That's why we stick to V8 fusion and Juicy Juice. 

[maggie2]

I've just made the best darn smoothie, and it's even better because I decided to try and put spinach in, and it WORKED!!!  I'm so excited because ds won't eat much in the world of veggies, except broccoli, but he has a smoothie just about every day and loves them.  The one I made actually tastes better than any previous smoothie, and again, it's go spinach in it!!!

I don't have exact measurements as I just sort of toss stuff in, but here's a guess at the ingredients:

this made about 3-4 smoothie servings (I save one in the fridge for dh):

about a cup of plain yogurt  (we use whole milk yogurt - no flavorings or anything, just plain)
about a cup and a half - 2 cups of frozen mango
cup of frozen strawberries
probably about 8-10 leaves of raw spinach (not the baby spinach - "grown up" spinach ), stems removed.
a bit of orange juice (just enough to make the blender work - otherwise it will be too thick), probably about 1/2 cup?
a bit of honey - like 2 tsp?

I probably could have added more spinach as I can't even taste it - it's a really yummy mango smoothie   But I've also heard that raw spinach isn't too good if you eat too much of it, either.  You know how they say some veggies are better cooked...

Anyway, just thought I'd share - it's really good