As a parent, it can be so frustrating to have a picky eater on your hands. No matter what persuasive techniques you use, you just can’t get them to eat their veggies.
While it is so easy to stress out about whether or not they are getting the proper nutrition, try not to beat yourself up over it. Eventually their tastebuds will grow. Daily Mom has come up with three recipes for picky eaters to sneak their veggies in without them knowing!
Until then, keep offering them vegetables and a variety of new foods and in the mean time, try our techniques for sneaking in some healthy veggies into recipes they may already enjoy eating.
Smoothies & Popsicles
If you haven’t already tried offering your picky eater a smoothie, now is the time. Smoothies are a great way to provide nutrition in something your child sees as a sweet treat. Afterall, it is kind of like a milkshake! And, any smoothie can be put in a popsicle mold and frozen for an icy cold treat.
You can pretty much blend any combination of fruits together with a little bit of liquid and get a tasty smoothie. Add in a few mild vegetables like spinach, kale, and carrots and you have a powerhouse drink.
One of Our favorite smoothie combos:
- Vanilla Greek yogurt
- Frozen mixed berries
- Banana
- Kale
- Carrots
- Flax seed
- A splash of apple juice
No need to measure! Just put in handfuls of each and add more liquid as needed to get a smooth consistency. You won’t need to add any ice if you are using frozen fruit, too!
Breads & Muffins
If your child tends to favor carbs (who can blame them?), consider cooking up a batch of homemade zucchini bread, carrot cake, or pumpkin muffins. In fact, you can easily find hundreds of low-sugar vegetable muffin recipes online. Turn any of them into a dessert for your little one by adding a smear of cream cheese frosting on top. You can feel good knowing that at least they are getting some additional nutrients at the same time.
Sauces
Does your child favor plain tomato sauce and noodles or are they more of the macaroni and cheese type? Either way, veggies can easily be hidden in any of their favorite sauces.
Tomato Sauce
Before heating your child’s favorite tomato sauce up on the stove, blend in some carrots, spinach, kale, zucchini, and/or mushrooms – whatever you have on hand! The sauce will maintain its smooth consistency while packing a hidden veggie punch. As long as you don’t add in too much green veggie, it will also maintain its red color.
Cheese Sauce
Consider adding in some cooked and pureed sweet potato, butternut squash, or pumpkin right into your regular cheese sauce recipe. Or, if boxed macaroni and cheese is more your style, add it into that! If your kiddo likes it just as much as the plain cheese version, you won’t have to feel as guilty about serving mac n’ cheese all the time.
Photo Credit: Dreams To Do
