Is your toddler veggie challenged?
As parents of an almost two year old, we thought we were in the clear, considering the fact that her older sister would eat any vegetable we put in front of her. We had no problems getting cauliflower, beets, sweet potatoes and any other veggie into that hungry little tummy. Well, imagine our surprise when the younger one spits it all out and sends it across her tray and flying halfway across the room.
We have tried several ways to get her to eat her veggies and through hard work and experimentation, we have found some ideas that we are delighted with and some others we are going to try.
Our toddler loves pasta, so mixing pureed veggies in the pasta sauce set aside for her and watching it slip down the hatch makes me relieved that she at least got her vegetables that day. This also works well for lasagna, soups, chili, and even in scrambled eggs, although sometimes the eggs do turn funky colors!
We found that making a large batch of pureed vegetables and freezing them makes it easy to slip them into our food preparation routine. If your little one likes pancakes, try mixing some blended corn or carrots in the batch for him. For a sweet topping on his pancakes, try pureeing strawberries or blueberries or another fruit and mix in some pureed carrots or beets. He will never know the veggies are in there and it will also help your child in getting his fruit for the day. Using these natural toppings also cuts back on his overall processed sugar intake.
Since most kids like a smoothie, try adding some pureed carrots or carrot juice in the fruit mix. The taste of the sweet fruit, such as strawberries and pineapple, will disguise the taste of the veggie you add.
Muffins made from scratch or a mix are a wonderful way to disguise vegetables. They are a great base for all sorts of add-ins that will result in a variety of flavor combinations. Try adding pureed broccoli and grated cheese for a delicious veggie muffin. Personally, I think they'll be great with some sausage gravy on them!
If your child will eat tortillas, try pureeing beans, avocado and tomato and spreading on the tortilla. Finish it off with cheese and pop it into the microwave until the cheese melts. You can even add some crumbled ground beef or shredded chicken and tell your little one it's a special mexican pizza!
French fries are a big hit for toddlers and our daughter loves potatoes so it is easy for me to get her to eat things that simulate french fries. Try slicing sweet potatoes into strips and spray them with butter-flavored cooking spray. Then bake them for 10 minutes on each side in a 400 degree oven. They are much healthier than oil fried and most kids will gobble them up. You can also try mixing some V-8 juice into the kid's ketchup to go with those fries.
I know that eventually we will have to get our toddler to eat her vegetables without having to disguise them, but we rest assured in the fact that at this time we are trying to do our best to get her to eat them without her knowing they even exist. According to the new food pyramid, she needs 1 cup of veggies a day and by making pureed veggies ahead of time and then adding small amounts to her food each time she eats, I know we're taking a big step forward in reaching her daily veggie goals.
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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)
I was in search of ideas on the internet of how to disguise veggies for my picky toddler. I came across this site amongst others. Thanks for your help, I now know that my son will get more veggies into his little body.
ReplyJudy
My sister-in-law purees a bag of mixed vegetables with barbeque sauce and uses it to make sloppy joes.
ReplyAnother trick is to throw a handful of carrots and garlic cloves into the pot when you boil potatoes for mashing. Turns the potatoes a kind of pink color, but it's a really nice flavor.