How to Sneak Veggies Into Your Kids’ Meals

We all know how important vegetables are for us and our kids. All their vitamins, nutrients, and other health benefits are a vital part of a healthy and balanced diet. That said, some kids, despite what we teach them, refuse to eat their veggies. But we can’t give up. If there’s no way your kid will even consider a Brussel’s sprout or celery stalk, there’s only one way to go… Sneak those veggies into food your kids will love! It takes a little planning, but there are lots of recipes where the goodness of veggies will go unnoticed to kids, but you’ll feel satisfied knowing you’ve managed to get ‘em into their little bellies. Read on for a few ideas to sneak vegetables into some tasty recipes.

Muffins

Kids love muffins. They are a great choice for a quick breakfast or a sweet snack. Little will the kiddos know that you’ve added vegetables to their sweet pastries! It’s simple. If your child loves banana nut muffins, you can add finely grated carrots and zucchini right into the batter and follow the normal recipe as is. When the veggies bake into the mix, their taste and even their colors go undetected amongst the nutty and spiced goodness of the muffin! This works well in any chocolate cake based muffins too. You can even grate cooked (not raw) beets into the batter! The veggies actually add extra moistness along with their vitamins and minerals. What a fun way to sneak veggies into something sweet! You can pack a muffin or two for your child to bring to school.

Pasta Sauce

Yes, most pasta sauces are tomato based, but once some kids see any lump or bump within the sauce that even resembles a vegetable, they’d rather slather melted butter on their noodles instead. The trick to getting them to eat a veggie-based tomato sauce is to blend the veggies right into the sauce. It’s really simple to do and your kids will find that the sauce tastes the same as before (or even better). Simply dice cooked zucchini, squash, mushrooms, carrots or any one or combo of these, and place in a blender, blending until completely smooth. Add the mixture to your usual pasta sauce, warm, and serve. The added boost of veggies will pump up the nutritional value of the sauce and your kids will get the added vitamins they need.

Fruit Smoothies

You can slip veggies into sweet fruit smoothies without a trace of the taste of the veggies. Make your child a low-fat yogurt, strawberry and banana smoothie with a few teaspoons of chocolate sauce if you’d like. Add chopped spinach or another leafy green into the blender and whip it all together until frothy and smooth. The added vitamins and iron will give that already healthy smoothie even more body benefits. You can also try adding 100% vegetable juice to a smoothie, such as carrot juice which has a sweet flavor to any smoothie. It tastes especially good with apple-based drinks. Enjoy!

How do you get your kids to eat or drink their vegetables? For more info like this, please visit All My Children.

By: Melissa A. Kay