Getting Your Kids To Eat More Vegetables

I am a very big fan of eating healthy. Getting the right amount of veggies in my kids' meals is important to me and the task can be challenging at times. There are many ways I have hidden vegetables in my kids' foods. Some of my kids are more picky than others. My daughter, Teela, loves eating broccoli, but not all of my children are like her. No parent likes to find out that their child is hiding their veggies in their napkin or trying to feed them to the family pet. I am going to share some secrets I have tried to get her and my others to eat their veggies.

SOME IDEAS:
1. Fruit and veggie juice blends without added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. You can also make them into Popsicles or frozen cubes and throw them into smoothies. Some kids love to just eat veggies frozen...esp. good on a hot day!
2. Bake them into things or add cheese (Broccoli with cheese sauce, so classic and I love chocolate chip zucchini muffins)
3. Make zucchini puffs, poor mans crab cakes, an omelet, or Okonomiyaki (A Japanese style pancake that you can put all sorts of things in.).
4. Have them make their own foods with ingredients you provide. Kids who cook or prepare it themselves (with a little help) usually end up also eating what they have made. Salads or fruit and veggie kabobs are wonderful to do this with!
5. Casseroles and Crock Pot meals loaded with veggies. Have your little one help you with what goes in it.
6. My kids think they are cool because they like "green paper", seaweed wraps for sushi, to eat plain. They think it is funny to eat them in front of someone who might think they were a bit strange for doing so.
7. Rename things in fun ways like the above "green paper"...broccoli could be mini trees, peas could be called "power peas", or spinach leaves could be "dinosaur scales", etc.
8. Use Japanese Bento Boxes or be creative about serving the fruits and veggies. You can make all kids of fun creations from animals to faces the skies the limit!
9. Teach 'em while they are young. Read books to your baby and toddler about veggies and the importance of eating healthy. Start early offering your child lots of different types of foods when they are young and letting them see you eat and enjoy a variety of foods, especially vegetables.
10. Have them help you in the garden...if they have picked it or grown it maybe they'll eat it.

About the book Peas and Thank You:
Peas and Thank You is a collection of recipes and stories from a mainstream family eating a not-so-mainstream diet. It's filled with healthy and delicious versions of foods we’ve all grown up enjoying, but with a Mama Pea twist—no meat, lots of fresh ingredients and plenty of nutrition for growing Peas. From wholesome breakfasts to mouth-watering desserts, there’s plenty here to satisfy the pickiest Peas in your life. It’s easier than ever to whip up crowd-pleasing meals that will have the whole family asking for, “more, Peas.” Sarah Matheny's delicious recipes and entertaining stories draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to her blog, peasandthankyou.com each month, where she makes raising a vegetarian family easy and fun. She is the author of “Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love.” Learn More about the book.

More info: http://peasandthankyou.com, Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love [VIDEO]. Peas and Thank You on Facebook. Follow @Mama_Pea on Twitter. Buy the book: Peas and Thank You.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Peas and Thank You blogging program for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.