Tips for encouraging veggies

[mrsmynub]

Just a question - how hot do you make the soups and are you buying store bought or making them?  I just don't seem to have the time to make my own food and I have never given my 14mo son soup, but he loves to eat and I will do anything to encourage vegetables.

[carolyn]

I use boxed soups, sometimes canned, and sometimes make mine.  I usually heat it to boiling (kills any bacteria in it) and then let it cool.  I might add water or milk to help cool it to about lukewarm....jut warm enough not to burn his mouth.

[Richelle]

Once a week I make a pot of soup, it is very easy and tasty - everyone loves it.

Sautee celery, onion, carrots and garlic in a little olive oil until onions are translucent. 
Add Chicken broth, ususally 2 to 3 cans or a one litre carton and bring to a slow boil
add V8 juice usually 1/2 to 1 litre or however tomatoey you want it to taste.
Add whatever other veggies, easiest is a small package of frozen corn/carrots/peas mixture
Add salt and pepper to taste
Seperately cook and then COOL (important so it doesn't get mushy) whole wheat rotini/penne/shells whichever shape your DC prefers.  Add pasta to cooled soup. 

My friend's DS won't eat 'visible' veggies so she leaves out all veggies but uses more V8 juice and he loves it.

We have this throughout the week for lunches.  It is very tasty and I swear it gives me some crazy energy for the afternoon and DD is very picky and loves this soup.

[Grace's Mom]

Thanks for the great idea's everyone. 

Melissa

[Sunshine's Mommy]

My little one is 15 months and to be honest she does not get a lot of veggies (my fault completely  ).  So I'm peeking here to see how you sneak in the veggies in... maybe I'll even borrow a few ideas 

[BabyBsMommy]

I know I've shared a few ideas in the past but here are a few more -

Muffins with veggies!  You can make zucchini or carrot muffins and add extra.  I also have two recipes that are exceptionally sneaky - chocolate zucchini muffins and chocolate eat-your-veggies cupcakes (shredded zucchini and carrot).  I can post them if you'd like.

DS is also a HUGE fan of sugar snap peas (the kind you can eat with the outer shell) - he doesn't always like the shell but loves to eat the little "babies" (baby peas) inside.  He also loves sauteed zucchini - I put a dab of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, add a bit of minced garlic once the oil is heated and then slice about 1/3 of a zucchini quartered.  Sweet potato fries are also a hit.  I peel and slice them in rounds, spread a tiny bit of olive oil on either side, add a teeny sprinkling of cinnamon and brown sugar and bake them until they are soft.  I slice them into strips like fries.  They freeze amazingly well, too so I always make a big batch and freeze some in single servings.  1 min in the microwave and voila!  Instant veggie thats full of vitamins, counts as a starch and has iron, too.

HTH!

[mum101]

i often give rory frozen peas for a snack, so getting more veges into her day.

but one of the best things we've done is have a vege patch.  The peas in particular never make it to the kitchen because they are fantastic raw straight from the garden.

Raspberries are also fantastic.  She thinks it's terribly cheeky to 'steal' the veges from the garden.

[BabyBsMommy]

Someone pm'd me ages ago to post the two veggie muffin/cupcake recipes I mentioned.  Here they are, sorry it took so long!

Eat-Your-Vegetable Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups soft non-hydrogenated margarine (300 mL)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (375 mL)
2 eggs (2)
1 tsp vanilla extract (5 mL)
1/2 cup yogurt (125mL)
3/4 cup cocoa powder (175 mL)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (625 mL)
1 tsp baking powder (5 mL)
1 tsp baking soda (5 mL)
1/2 tsp salt (2 mL)
1 cup grated zucchini (250 mL)
1 cup grated carrots (250 mL)
1 can prepared chocolate icing (1)

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).  Bet together the margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and creamy.  Add the yogurt and cocoa powder and beat until smooth.  Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix just until combined.  Fold in the zucchini and carrots.  Place 20 paper liners into cupcake pans.  Fill to the top of th liners.  Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a centre comes out clean.   Let cool then frost with choolate icing.  Makes 20.

*  The frosting part is up to you - I usually don't add it but it depends on who you want to fool, lol!  Also, I usually use 1% plain yogurt.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup ground flax seed
2/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups unpeeled zucchini, grated
1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, baking soda and flax seed.  Stir until well blended.  In another bowl, cream oil and sugar with electric mixer.  Add eggs and buttermilk.  Mix well.  Add liquid mixture to flour mixture, stirring until just moistened.  Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.  Spoon batter into lightly greased or paper lined muffin cups, filling to the top.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes on wire rack.  Remove from pan and cool.

*  I have substituted skim, 1% and 2% milk for the buttermilk in this recipe.

*  In regard to both recipes, I have adjusted the sugar content by using half of the called for sugar and substituting the other half with Splenda (I have found substituting with all Splenda has not worked well in many recipes).  I also often either use Robin Hood blend nutri-flour which is a combination of white and whole wheat flour or use white and whole wheat flour half and half in most muffin and bread recipes that I use.   Just a little fyi!

Enjoy! 

[Jimbob]

If a child likes mashed potato that is always a great thing to hide other vegetables into. You can also make potato andvegetable patties.

[maggie2]

just posted this on another thread, but realized it fits here as well:

just wanted to share with all of you - great way to get cauliflower in if your lo won't eat it... just steam a head of cauliflower and put it in the blender with 2 Tb butter and enough milk or cream to blend.  my lo will gobble this up (it's like mashed potatoes), but dh proves to be even more difficult to get veggies in - honestly, he's harder to feed than my son, lol!  so what I did for my picky dh was to add 2 small russet potatoes (boiled first, then mashed) and a bit more butter and cream - just told him it was mashed potatoes and he had 2 huge helpings and kept raving about how good they were!   they really are just like mashed potatoes... 
 
 

[Nick's Mum]

I hate to be so Asian but if you make stew, porridge, soup or anything more bland (non-creamy, cheese or tomato based), I have found that adding in chopped shallots and a few drops of sesame oil works wonders. It's not much oil but it makes the dish smell so delicious.

[mum101]

LOL Maggie 2!

Nick's mum, my DD doesn't like the texture of shallots, I wonder do you chop them finely?  Mine are probably too coarse

[Nick's Mum]

yes, very finely chopped shallots and once you boil them for a very long time, they tend to melt away. (btw, hopefully we are referring to the same thing coz in different countries, the terms for veggies are sometimes different - I'm referring to very tiny baby red-skinned onions)

[mum101]

LOL, Yep, it's different. That sounds like a small red onion to me, but shallot for me is a bit like a small leek, green stalk, white at the bottom. 

[maggie2]

Now, I think that sounds like a green onion!!!  lol   I thought a shallot was sort of like a combo between garlic and a red onion - so it looks like a really large clove of garlic, but it's reddish in color and tastes more like an onion...

I don't think I've every really given either to ds - so you're both way ahead of me!