How do you get your kids to eat dinner - esp. veggies?

[lisafromkraft]

Hi - my name is Lisa and I am a Food Professional with Kraft Foods. I love talking to other parents about what they like to cook and eat.

Like all parents, when the day is long, I have a hard time getting dinner on the table quickly - and then getting my daughter to eat it. I've taken to "doctoring up" her veggies with sauce or shredded cheese - you know, like the old catsup trick.

Does this work for you??

LISA

 

[piratesmate]

I was very fortunate. Neither of mine ever balked at veggies, although there were a couple exceptions. DS wouldn't eat mushrooms or broccoli from about 6 to 19. When he was 2 he'd tell me he was hungry & ask me to nuke some peas for him as a snack.

DD had more of a problem with food "touching" so putting catsup or sause on things wasn't an option. It was weird - casseroles were fine, but don't let the mashed potatoes touch her carrots.

Several of my friends found that they could get their children to eat raw veggies if they gave them a cup of Ranch dressing to dip them in. Sometimes it seemed they were eating far more dressing than veggies though. Another friend found that applesauce worked as a good "cover" for cooked veggies.

 

[MazdaUK]

I just don't stress it - they'll eat them eventually, and they eat lots of fruit. DS(13) likes peas, sweetcorn, swede and carrots, DS(7) will eat a few carrots under sufferance, and all sorts of things hidden in a tomato-based pasta sauce if its well blitzed

 

[lisafromkraft]

I was able to try a new product at work and I loved it - as did my DD.

It is Grate-It-Fresh Parmesan cheese - a nice chunk of Parmesan in a canister with a built in grater (so no worries about her getting cut on the grater!) She really loves to use it and if she tops it, she eats it.

I think the taste is great, and I know this sounds really lazy, but I like that I just put it back in the frig and don't have to clean my grater which I always find is a pain to clean. It is a clever invention - it would be good for other cheeses too I think.

Lisa

 

[piratesmate]

This sounds great Lisa! I love freshly grated Parmesan, but rarely get it anymore. Too many times I ended up with multiple knuckle bandaids on my hands afterwards. I can be a bit of a klutz I'm afraid.

I'll have to keep my eye out for this.

 

[MazdaUK]

Sounds like a good idea! I use a rotary grater generally to spare my knuckles and make sure my fingers don't end up smelling like DS(13)'s feet

And I ONLY buy graters that go in the dishwasher

 

[RLccweems]

Hi - my name is Lisa and I am a Food Professional with Kraft Foods. I love talking to other parents about what they like to cook and eat.

Like all parents, when the day is long, I have a hard time getting dinner on the table quickly - and then getting my daughter to eat it. I've taken to "doctoring up" her veggies with sauce or shredded cheese - you know, like the old catsup trick.

Does this work for you??

LISA

My kids will eat anything as long as it's grilled! Something about the grill taste...they say it's much better that way.


lettie

 

[lisafromkraft]

Hey - great ideas - I appreciate the thoughts.

Any particular cheese that everyone likes to grate over their food? As I mentioned, I love Parmesan since you get such big flavor for a small amount. I think this is true for a lot of the aged Italian cheeses.

I also love Romano cheese, particularly on salads. What are your favorites?

LISA

 

[quiltymom]

I try to "hide" the veggies! One way is this: my kids adore pesto, so I give them artichoke tortellini smothered in pesto & grated parmesean cheese. The green of the pesto "hides" the green of the artichoke (or spinach) inside of the pasta. They don't care what's inside anymore because they cannot get enough of "pesto & pasta!" Or zucchini bread, carrot cake...

Second, we take a little bit of a hard line with them. It comes from two things: a great parenting book called "Parenting with love and logic" that promotes giving children of all ages choices, but needing to choose within the boundaries you give them( i.e., you may choose from options a,b,&c, but d,e,&f are acceptable because it was not one of the choices presented to you). And the second was hearing of how the MiL of a friend of mine cooks FIVE different dinners every Sunday so everyone gets what they like to eat. Yikes!

When we're trying something new I always make sure that the main ingredient is something they love (shrimp, salmon, chicken), and add other stuff to it. And their favorite fruits. They have a choice of eating it or not, but they cannot leave the table without having at least three bites. If they refuse to eat anything, they will get it to eat the next meal. It's been a struggle at times, but they know we mean business and they've also learned that I won't fix something that they think is horrible (no brussel sprouts or liver & onions for them!). DS has some sensory issues, so that can get in the way. But you should see the things that they eat now! They love to help make and eat tilapia fish cakes, shrimp in tomatoes on cheesy grits, chicken satay, and lots of other goodies that I even like to eat!

I've found that Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine is a godsend! The kids can look through it, find something they think looks good, and I'll cook it. The recipes are healthy & very simple to make, and there are many that you can make ahead and freeze.

But to get back to your other question, I've also found that trying to "hide" the veggies under cheese has the opposite effect. They want to know what they're eating. Sometimes they'll add salt & pepper or parmesean cheese (the kind in the green can), but otherwise they like their veggies plain.

Hope my jabbering helps

 

[htmom]

My five year old sons fav way to eat his veggies is in "train man soup"(he loves trains so this name works for us lol) I cook wagon wheel pasta in chicken broth until they are almost cooked then throw in some frozen veggies (he likes, peas, greenbeans, carrots, corn, or lima beans) they cook in the hot broth and even serve to cool it a bit so ds can eat. I also use the "hiding" method with shell shaped pasta and serve it with little veggies, my ds likes to hide them in the shells.

 

[DazzledHeidi]

For mine I give them lots of praise to eat all of their dinner and for veggies I stir fry them. Very good!

 

[jann1033]

interesting concepts...while my kids tried to pull a few fast ones( ie hiding the brussel sprouts behind the garbage can, never understood why they just didn't put them in the can???? but i digress) for the most part they just ate them, they had to try everything, if they didn't like it they didn't have to eat it but they had to try it so that way dinner wasn't a battle and fortunately they liked the basic veggies...kids can just have weird food preferences..i know one little boy who won't eat anything with "pie " in the name be it chicken pot or chocolate cream ....kids! what can you do? i also never gave my opinion on a veggie but made a variety ie oldest has loved beets since she was a tiny kid( was in heaven if they had them on a salad bar and everyone would stare at the tiny girl with the giant plate of beets...)i have never cared for them for i'd make them for her.
i did have a friend though who's children never ate, as in never ever, when they were home but always ate at my house???...we went on vacation with them and i found out why, every single meal they'd start to eat, mom would start to nag them to eat( uh they were eating ) and they'd immediately push their plates away...one of the weirdest things i ever saw but made me figure, i should just put it on the plates and shut my mouth now as adults my kids eat pretty much everything although they still hate brussel sprouts which i love