Sneaky ways to make sure kids eat their veggies

Lately, my once amazing little eater has become more picky in one department, Veggies.

I know that this is certainly not a new problem and a problem that every parents deals with at one point or another. I guess I naively thought I might escape this since my little bundle always ate everything - no questions asked; I've learned my lesson since then.

Things like carrots, once her favorite food to eat, have become the floor's treat and are able to exit her mouth at an amazing speed. Even when covered with delicious gravy or mixed in small chunks with mashed potatoes; that smart little mouth can discern these 'awful' carrots and reject them from the meal.

When I realized that after a meal all the was left, surrounding her highchair, were these veggies, I had to get smarter, sneakier and more crafty in my approach to getting veggies into that tummy. 

Here are a few things I've found that have worked, some quite well, and some that I will continue to use in my cooking because my husband and I have also really like the addition.

So, here we go. Easy way to sneak veggies into ANY dish.

Grating - grating works for almost any veggie. Carrots, zucchini, squash, the list goes on. Grating makes the veggies cook faster, makes them smaller and softer and they seem to almost melt away into the dish. Anna LOVES (and I'm not using LOVES lightly here) chili with grated carrots. I've made it both ways, but she seems to eat it more with the sweeter carrots. A food processor is a great tool here. Put everything into a food processor and pulse away. Works great when adding things to meatloaf or sauces.

Pureeing - don't underestimate the power of the puree - and you thought you were done with purees :)... I use this for things with skins that Anna isn't quite fond of dealing with yet. Things like, peas, corn, some bigger beans, that kind of stuff. We puree peas into rice, pasta sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes - same goes with corn. Pureeing, while also making things look really pretty, adds a subtle veggie flavor. Pureed pea risotto - Major points in our house and really not that bad if you use low-sodium stock and limit the butter.

Small Chopping - I know this seems like the obvious one. We've all done it but for things like Broccoli and cauliflower which tend to be pretty soft when cooked anyway, it works really well. I won't go on too much here since we know small chopping makes it easier to 'miss' in a dish - which is good for some kids.

Those are my top 3 things that I've been doing to make Anna is getting her daily dose of veggies. Keep in mind with kids, one average it take up to 13 exposures to a certain food before you can call it an 'unliked food' so even if you are having great success sneaking in veggies where you can, make sure you are offering the real or whole version of the veggie along side sometimes. We found that after giving broccoli in small chunks to start and moving to little trees, Anna has taken a liking to it. 

Once last final thought - offer everything to your kids. You might find they really enjoy something you may not. My husband disliked mushrooms for basically his whole life; Anna will eat them raw, cooked, chopped, with dip, anyway possible. It surprised us at first but we realized that her taste buds are not ours and she may like things we don't. Some other surprising things she has as favorites; Trout, cucumber, shrimp, curry to name just a few.

Enjoy letting your kids try new foods - you'd be surprised what they like but also sneak those veggies in where ever you can!