How to Get Your Kids to Eat Veggies
So here we are, you have had a long busy day, and now all you want is to have your kids eat their nutritious dinner, filled with veggies.
An incredibly hard job it proves to be, and without the bribe of ‘no dessert’ or ‘no tv’, it proves to be impossible. (Try not to place a punishment for not eating nutritiously; it should be more of a happy place to eat vegetables and not a chore.)
If you are wondering why your kids even need veggies, take a look at my previous post.
Here’s the thing, the constant snacks they are having after school, fill them up too much. Now, there is little chance for them to have any sort of appetite to eat the less appealing veggies on the plate.
Too many snacks, too little veggies
They come home from school to snacks of shapes, biscuits, chips and chocolate bars, LADEN with sugar. By the time dinner comes around they are moody and have a strong found stubbornness that they will not eat the veggies whether you like it or not.
By feeding the kids all afternoon, it is actually setting them up to make YOUR job a whole lot harder. Obviously it is completely ok to feed your kids after school, as they are probably starving. However it is key not to let them eat the house down, so eating a snack with protein and fat, will help tie them over till dinner. Also drinking plenty of water is essential, so they will definitely know if they are hungry or just dehydrated.
Dinner will be a whole lot easier when they are hungry and will eat anything that is on their plate.
Their taste buds prefer sweet over veggies
Taste buds are a funny thing they can be changed constantly as to your dietary intake. So with these kids constantly eating sweet, high sugar foods, their preference is obviously going towards the sweeter foods. When veggies show up on the plate, there is nothing less appetising to these sugar addicted children than bland old veggies.
BUT! In fact it is not the veggies that are bland, it is their taste buds that are constantly given these sugar and salt filled snacks and foods that leave them feeling unsatisfied with any good quality vegetables. You have the power while they are still young, to switch their taste buds and their brains to eat, or even dare I say ENJOY the veggies and nutrient rich foods.
Time to switch their taste buds
SHOP with them
It’s time to get them excited about veggies, go SHOPPING and introduce different veggies. Especially incorporating them in snacks and meals, specifically at breakfast time. This will set them up for a great start to the day, making them also see the importance of them to feel good during the day.
Make veggies FUN
Get creative with vegetables , by cooking and preparing them differently, this gets the kids a) not knowing when they are hidden vegetables in the meal and b) curious to see how this NEW FUN food will taste. Get them helping in the kitchen is critical to get kids interested in food. This will in turn help them get used to different veggies and make them want to eat what they cook. (It may also be a way of helping you in the kitchen too!)
- Spiralise zucchini and mix it through their spaghetti.
- Grate broccoli or cauliflower for a rice substitute.
- Cut carrot into strips, add different spices and grill for an afternoon chip snack with hummus.
- Mash sweet potato to top your pie instead of a pastry.
- Mix spinach through your curry (as it is too hard to pick out, sneaky I know).
- Grate carrot, zucchini, and squash and add to your Bolognese sauce.
- Slice eggplant and roast, top with top with a mix of tomato, basil, olive oil and garlic, with a pinch of cheese.
Try bitter foods
Another idea is to incorporate more BITTER foods into their diet (or earthy tasting). Increasing these bitter foods in people’s diets has been proven to deter them from sugar cravings.
- Add rocket to your salad, with a squeeze of lemon.
- Add cacao powder to their porridge, smoothie or yoghurt.
- If making some bliss balls or healthy muffins add some grated beetroot in for a bitter taste, as well as some colourful interest.
- Choose plenty of dark leafy greens to add to any stir fry.
- Have some dark chocolate on hand for those chocolate cravings, the higher the percentage the better, ideally over 70%.
Lastly, don’t be disheartened if they are not happy with the changes or don’t eat every veggie in the day. KEEP AT IT and eventually they will start to eat more and more. Take small steps and make sure you encourage and praise them when they have taken any initiative to eat a vegetable. And lastly, lastly explain why they are so critical to help them grow up and be super strong.
Most of all BE A GOOD EXAMPLE!
