Five Creative Ways to Sneak in Some Veggies

We all know getting kids to eat their veggies is difficult. Trying to get your children to eat all the appropriate servings of veggies is difficult at best. If you are struggling to get your kids to eat their veggies, here are five creative ways to sneak in some veggies:

Make it Saucy

One of the best ways to sneak in some veggies is to start adding sauces to your foods. Your can easily add a bunch of veggies to sauces like spaghetti sauce and kids will never know they are in the sauce. If your kids like gravy, you can make some homemade gravy and grind up carrots and other small bits of veggies to add to the gravy. Look for different sauces to add to your meals to give them flavor and to give you an excuse to use more veggies.

Smoothie Time

Who said smoothies always have to be full of fruits, chocolates, peanut butter, and sugar? You can easily make a tasty smoothie with veggies. The trick to getting your kids to drink them is to neglect to tell them that that orange smoothie is actually sweet potatoes and carrots mixed with some strawberries. You are going to need some fruits to disguise the flavor of the veggies so the kids don't instantly pick them out. Pineapple, strawberries, mangos, bananas, blueberries, and raspberries will easily mask the flavor of carrots. Cucumber mixed with honeydew is another great choice for your smoothie. Flavored yogurt or some fruit juice is another great way to make the smoothie taste better.

Give your kids a rainbow of vegetables every week.

Get your kids involved

To encourage your children to eat veggies, you need to try and get them involved with their veggies. Take them to the grocery store and point out the different veggies and ask your kids to help you pick them out and prepare them when you get home. Consider planting your own vegetable garden and make sure the kids help out so they can enjoy eating the "fruits" of their labor someday. Some veggies are fun for kids to pick like beans. Kids like to see the veggies grow big. You may even consider entering some veggies in a contest if they grow big enough!

As you plan out your meals, get your kids involved in the meal planning. Have them pick the vegetable dish that is going to go with dinner and make sure they help you with the cooking and preparing of the vegetables. It's a fun way to bond with your kids and a great way to get them excited about veggies.

Some veggies can be cut and shaped with cookies cutters. Squash and cucumbers are perfect shape makers. Be sure to look for some smaller cookie cutters to get your kids to help out with the shaping of the veggies so they will get excited about eating them.

Make it Fun

Kids like to have fun. While we often expect our kids to be on their best behavior during dinner, you may need to make dinnertime a little more relaxed by adding more fun to the veggie time. Take some broccoli and make a person out of it. You can add some eyes with corn or peas along with a mouth and nose with carrot and beat shavings. It's a fun way to excite your kids about eating their veggies. You can pretend the broccoli is walking the plank as it head into their mouths. If you make it fun, they will get excited about dinnertime and eating their veggies.

Yummy Snacks

You know your kids are going to be hungry after school. Help them out by providing them with some healthy snacks. Celery and peanut butter is a great way to fill their craving and it provides them with energy until dinnertime.