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  • Writer's pictureRadio Nursery

Sneaking in Vegetables to Picky Eaters


Do you have trouble feeding vegetables to your kids? You’re not alone. It’s something many parents struggle with. Most kids will generally outgrow this pickiness. Until then though, you can get sneaky about giving them vegetables that they don’t even know they’re eating.


Use pizza and pasta as a disguise

The great thing about tomato sauce is that you can blend in vegetables and no one will be the wiser. Carrots, spinach and zucchini all tend to blend into tomato sauce without even a hint. So make your sauce and then spread it on homemade pizzas or serve it with pasta. Try not to laugh when your picky eater gobbles it all up.


Look in the freezer

Another way to know you’re not alone is to take a look in the frozen vegetable section at your supermarket. Many brands have come up with easy to make kid-friendly vegetables that they eat without batting an eye. They have Veggie Tots now, as well as rice made from cauliflower and all sorts of sneaky vegetable-filled foods that your kids will eat up without ever knowing they’re eating vegetables.


Go ethnic

It might seem counterintuitive to take a picky eater to an ethnic restaurant but hear us out. Many different cuisines have their own sneaky ways to get kids to eat vegetables. In China, dumplings and wontons have meat and vegetable blends in them. Indian food has naan, that fantastic bread for dunking. Let them dip it into the various sauces. They might not like them all but they’ll try it.


Make it dunkable

Kids love interactive food so give them something they can dip. Try zucchini fries with ranch dressing. Or serve them hummus with pretzel sticks. Hummus is full of antioxidants and tastes great. You can also give them fresh-made salsa and chips. It’s not uncommon for kids to turn up their noses at tomatoes but to devour a bowl of salsa. They’ll hardly notice it’s healthy!


Make it pretty

Kids can be so weird sometimes. You can put broccoli on a plate and they’ll get agitated. However, if you arrange said broccoli artfully with other vegetables to make a face, they’ll snarf it all up. We’re not entirely sure why this happens, but take advantage of the fact that kids love to eat food that looks pretty so jazz up a plain plate with some creative arrangement and you’ll find your kid making short work of those vegetables.


Try out these suggestions and you’ll find your picky eater develops a more robust palate!

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