How do you get your kids to eat more fruits/vegetables?

[npmommie]

I need help!
my kids will eat strawberries, applesauce, bananas, corn, and a little salad.
but really not enough, they should have more.
how can I get them to eat more fruits and veggies?

 

[DawnM]

We eat a green salad each night. I have various things they can add to it....croutons, bacon bits, sometimes boiled eggs......but they have to eat that before they get their main course. Two of my kids love salad, the other tolerates it.

We have found that they may not like something the first or second time it is served, but they generally start to like it after several times.

My kids LOVE cucumbers and carrots and two just tolerate tomatoes and celery.

We eat a lot of fruit and have started substituting that for dessert in our house several times a week. This is the perfect time to start this as it is coming up to summer and so many options.

Dawn

 

[PiperPizzaz]

Green smoothies! Don't let the color fool you they are delicious.

 

[npmommie]

Green smoothies! Don't let the color fool you they are delicious.

thanks for the link, I am heading out now, but will be looking at all the clips later, looks like a great site

 

[npmommie]

We eat a green salad each night. I have various things they can add to it....croutons, bacon bits, sometimes boiled eggs......but they have to eat that before they get their main course. Two of my kids love salad, the other tolerates it.

We have found that they may not like something the first or second time it is served, but they generally start to like it after several times.

My kids LOVE cucumbers and carrots and two just tolerate tomatoes and celery.

We eat a lot of fruit and have started substituting that for dessert in our house several times a week. This is the perfect time to start this as it is coming up to summer and so many options.

Dawn

I should keep at it, i give up if they say they don't like something, and I should keep offering if they would just try.
so glad farm stand season is almost here!!!

 

[candielips]

There are a lot recipes out there that show you how to disguise veggies into your meals. I know of one book called Deceptively Delicious written by Jessica Seinfeld, although I can't personally vouch for the recipes.
My girlfriend does banana bread muffins w/ pureed cauliflower in it & you can't tell the difference.

 

[left210]

What are the ingredients for the green smoothie? I watched the video but she doesnt say how much of any item.

 

[JeMarie6]

Patience mostly. Just give them at least one fruit and one vegetable at every lunch and dinner meal. At first I just made them leave a little on their plate even if they didn't want to try it. Now I ask them to try it even if they don't think they'll like it. I tell them their taste buds change every week, so they may like it this week even if they didn't last week. We are starting to really expand what they will and won't eat, but it takes a while.

Try to incorporate new foods along with the foods they like. Make a fruit salad with strawberries and bananas but throw in a few blue berries or kiwi, or make fruit kabobs again with strawberries or bananas and add grapes or pear chunks.

Buy peach or berry flavored applesauce to introduce new flavors.

Make fruit smoothies with strawberries and bananas and add mangos or cherries.

Add slices or shredded carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatos to the salad.

Let them make homemade pizza and pick out some veggies to add (Mushrooms, peppers, onions or even pineapple) Remember tomato sauce is a vegetable too, just watch labels and be sure you're buying a healthy variety.

Make a fruit pizza with kiwis or starfuit in addition to the strawberries/bananas.

My kids love blackberries or raspberries dipped in sweetend condensed milk.

Make a 'veggie pizza' bagels with cream cheese and very finely chopped broccoli and carrots.

Plant a small garden with lettuce and corn and a few other vegetables.

Make funny faces, cucumber or melon boats, or other designs with their vegetables.

Serve them with yogurt, ranch or other dipping options.

 

[39CINDERELLA]

I hide the things my DS will not eat raw. I put shredded carrots in Spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, chili and in his soups,

I add other veggies too.

 

[RMulieri]

I use the "Deceptively Delicious " cookbook to disguise it sometimes. I also will not put things she loves on her plate ( potatoes,Rice, pasta) until she eats some of the veggies.It does work.I give the option of dipping them in low fat/low calorie ranch or ketchup too.

 

[Bektasmic]

"Dipits" -term came from when DS 6 was two and obsessed with dipping things and would ask for "Dip It!!" If you make it about the dip and make a big deal out of having choices, you might have better sucess. My son focuses on the dip choice to the point of not really noticing what he dips in it. His faves include ranch, yogurt, french onion, ketchup (yes, for veggies and fruits, but he loves it), spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, the fruit juice leftover from a jar of fruit cocktail (yes I save this just for this purpose), jelly, cheese whiz, and melted butter. With dinner, we tend to limit how much dip he can have, but when I ask him what he wants for a snack, half the time he asks for a "dipit," so I try to keep a variety of dippable things on hand (green pepper spears, grapes, apples slices, oranges, broccoli, cauliflauer, baby carrots, (and now big, huge carrots b/c "they make a better crunch"), celery sticks, etc... He will eat salad this way, too, dippin each individual leaf into salad dressing like dip...hoping this transitions into eating salad like "a normal person." His favorite thing lately, is to eat apple slices dipped in apple sauce! Cracks me up.

He will also eat almost any green vegetable if he can "put snow on it" (parmesan cheese). He can control the amount now, but I used to put an amount in the cap and let him shake it himself onto the veggies. We would make a big deal over it being a special treat, and he totally bought into it. Again distracted from the "will he or will he not eat the veggies" and made it about "will he or will he not get the parmesan cheese" and just assumed that of course he would eat the veggies.

One more tip-in health class, his kindergarten class made "ice cream sundaes" using yogurt and different things to sprinkle on them like granola, raisins, dried cranberries, nuts, and fresh fruit. He loved the idea of getting to pick what went onto his "sundae." Could maybe do this as a dessert some night and make a big deal over getting to choose which fruits go on the "sundae."

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

I am not a big fan of "disguising" food. If you do that is OK, but I think that kids need to know what each food tastes like and learn to eat it. I have ran an in-home daycare for over 6 years and after the first 2 or 3 times of serving a food children WILL start eating it and generally like it. Now, if their is a texture issue and it is only one or two veggies/ fruits, I do not find that to be a huge deal and don't make a big deal of it. I do add alot of veggies to my spaghetti sauce, lasagna, stir-fry's, scrambled eggs, curries, etc. But my children also eat the raw and cooked singularly. I think the more exposure that a child has to a variety of foods the better it is for them in the long run. Now, if someone can give me tips on how to get my kids to eat hotdogs that would be cool! In my whole life I had never met a child that DIDN"T like hotdogs until my 4 came along....they don't even like corndogs. That's OK, more for me!

 

[Poohs#1fan]

My dd is 21 months, but still working on her molars (she is a little behind in her teeth). I have a hard time working veggies into her lunch unless she's eating leftovers. She really can't to raw veggies b/c she can't chew them yet. I don't want to disguise them b/c she is a fabulous eater and will eat almost any vegetable cooked.
Anyone else have suggestions

 

[mamagoose]

How can I get my HUSBAND to eat more fruits and veggies???

 

[bumbershoot]

OP, that doesn't sound bad at all! Sure was more than my brother was eating...actually, he still doesn't eat fruit or veggies unless the veggies are on a pizza.

I'm not a fan of hiding food...multiple food allergies abound, and I have a deep belief that children's bodies protect themselves (all 4 of my sibs were VERY picky about what they ate, and none of them have food allergies...I was the peacekeeper who would eat everything given to me even if I hated it, and even remember eating my full brother's potatoes just to end that night's Food Wars, and I am the one with allergies! I ignored my body's signs to keep the peace, and I pay for it), so I really don't like those two *trick your kids* books that are out right now.

Just keep offering! Farmer's markets are good for kids, though not foolproof. DS can be totally involved in choosing veggies, paying for them, carrying them home, and helping or watching the preparation...then at the end he says that he wanted them "for you and papa!" Little goof.

And yet he loooooves brussels sprouts ("little lettuce") and broccoli, oranges (even blood oranges which look freaky), bananas, and all apples (yay, he'll eat the skin of 'em now!), and I'm cool with that!

 

[Chereya]

I also have to agree that I personally don't feel like "disguising" the veggies I feed my kids. I'm not against the idea of sneaking some EXTRA veg into foods but I do want them to appreciate the taste of the veg on its own and know what it is. Otherwise, how will they learn to like that food and be conscious of that?

My kids love chinese food and stir fried veggies are a great introduction to a different variety of veg. Texture can play a big part of liking or not liking a certain veg as well as picking up food habits from watching you. My kids love pickles but don't care for cucumbers (DH also!) which is silly but they have learned DH's food aversion to straight cucumbers. They also love cabbage but they like it the way *I* like it which is soft and well simmered in a liquid.

Now that my kids are older and can help themselves in the fridge, I've found it helps to have pre-cut fruit or baby carrots placed where they can reach them. They also help themselves to bananas on the counter. If they're hungry and it's easy to get to, they will eat it. Especially if, like me and DH, we're busy or procrastinating and "In a minute" stretches into 10-15 minutes!

My kids are not natural veggie lovers. Repetition helps a LOT as does seeing me and DH eat veg. DH and I regularly order veg only pizza. Sometimes the kids will complain but if they want to, they're allowed to pick off the stuff they don't like. I figure they are getting some of the flavor that soaks into the cheese and are still getting introduced to one day liking more and more new veggies. I also put new veggies into common stuff I've made before, like soups, stews, pasta sauce, fried rice, etc... sometimes they notice and sometimes they don't. On future occassions, I can tell them, you've already eaten this before and you liked it. It usually gets them thinking and they are more willing to try it before refusing. We have also done the, eat one real bite before you tell us that you don't like it. Often times, they end up liking it and then we have a little chuckle over their stubbornness.

 

[abcboys]

I would like an answer to this, too. My kids eat fruit but hardly eat any veggies. Even my DH doesn't like veggies unless they are raw so I can rarely make anything like a casserole or something that has mixed veggies or stirfry because nobody will eat it but me. It drives me crazy.I can put it on their plate 1 time or 20 times and they still won't eat it. None of my kids will touch salad. The couple of times they've tried it they spit it right back out. I like all that stuff but their dad doesn't eat it either so it's not like I can say anything. Sometimes I make them just try a bite but they never end up liking it and eating anymore than that. I guess I'm not much help. I'm always envious of kids that eat anything.

 

[Chereya]

I would like an answer to this, too. My kids eat fruit but hardly eat any veggies. Even my DH doesn't like veggies unless they are raw so I can rarely make anything like a casserole or something that has mixed veggies or stirfry because nobody will eat it but me. It drives me crazy.I can put it on their plate 1 time or 20 times and they still won't eat it. None of my kids will touch salad. The couple of times they've tried it they spit it right back out. I like all that stuff but their dad doesn't eat it either so it's not like I can say anything. Sometimes I make them just try a bite but they never end up liking it and eating anymore than that. I guess I'm not much help. I'm always envious of kids that eat anything.

There are lots of things in life that you have to lead by example. "Do as I say, not as I do" doesn't really work... unfortunately, your DH is not on the same page as you are with healthy nutrition and veggies. I don't know what's the best way to get through to your kids when your DH isn't on board. He will always be the excuse for them that they don't have to do it if Daddy doesn't have to.

Your family might be a good candidate for the hiding veggies recipes. It may be the only way to actually get veggies into their stomachs.

I'm so sorry - you have my sympathies and support.

 

[JeMarie6]

Now, if someone can give me tips on how to get my kids to eat hotdogs that would be cool! In my whole life I had never met a child that DIDN"T like hotdogs until my 4 came along....they don't even like corndogs. That's OK, more for me!

Won't work for everyone, but if you slice up the bottom half of a hot-dog into 4-8 strips, without slicing them off, you can make it look like an octopus. Makes them sooo much more appealing to my little guys!

 

[all4fun]

I would like an answer to this, too. My kids eat fruit but hardly eat any veggies. Even my DH doesn't like veggies unless they are raw so I can rarely make anything like a casserole or something that has mixed veggies or stirfry because nobody will eat it but me. It drives me crazy.I can put it on their plate 1 time or 20 times and they still won't eat it. None of my kids will touch salad. The couple of times they've tried it they spit it right back out. I like all that stuff but their dad doesn't eat it either so it's not like I can say anything. Sometimes I make them just try a bite but they never end up liking it and eating anymore than that. I guess I'm not much help. I'm always envious of kids that eat anything.

How can I get my HUSBAND to eat more fruits and veggies???

I am in the same exact boat, so you have my deepest sympathies. Not only is dh extremely texture sensitive, which rules out a lot of veggies, so is ds. DS at least has a good excuse. He was a preemie who had terrible infant reflux that ended up giving him oral aversion issues. The reflux is gone, the terrible effect of the oral aversions (gagging, throwing up at the sight of food) is long gone, but how do you get a kid to at least try something if daddy turns his nose up to it (and I am not speaking figuratively, lol)? I have one of the "sneaky" books (not the Sienfeld one) and I found making all the purees was pretty time consuming, then ds wasn't interested in what I made anyway. Frustrating!