I’ve probably written more stories about getting kids to eat vegetables than in my career as a food writer. By the way, I have two adult daughters, one of whom, as a toddler, ate only one type of vegetable at a time for months, and it was almost always in the form of French fries. You know how the story ends, right? All went well.
But here are some ideas for summer, when meals are often less structured. Instead of focusing on lunch and dinner as your produce consumption time, try focusing on snacks. Here are his three proven strategies:
Make veggie snacks as frictionless as possible First, excuse me for jumping to work, but if you want your child to eat vegetables, those vegetables need to be cut, peeled, and sliced into prêt-à-mange. Peel carrots, slice bell peppers, chop cucumbers, steam and cut green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, and corn (sorry for the big questions!), cut celery stalks into logs, and be ready to greet the ants as soon as you get home from the market or store. No need to get out your cookie cutters or carving tools. The point is that they are transformed into grippable pieces. (How else do you stand a chance against a horde of Oreos?) Place your prepped vegetables in a bowl or clear Tupperware container in the middle and front of your refrigerator. And, most importantly, put the vegetables on a platter on the kitchen counter where the kids can see them all afternoon.
Use store-bought dips, dressings, and sauces We’ve already done the work of preparing the vegetables, so we’ll keep this part simple. Look for different dressings and dips to keep things interesting. Think pesto, guacamole, creamy dressings, bean dips and peanut butter. We used to buy soyaki sauce from Trader Joe’s (known as “fairy dust” in our house) in crates. Get creative and combine things. Eat plain hummus one week and red pepper hummus the next. And he offers 2 or 3 choices of dips per platter. See what strikes you, let it instinctively, don’t ask questions.
go mindless You know how many parents say their older kids would open up when things started to feel more natural and casual in the car? At the farmers market, we grabbed a few bins of sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes, and the kids popped those babies in their mouths like M&Ms as we walked 800m home. Farmer’s Market is perfect for such a move (especially during this time of year when produce is abundant), but you can of course experiment with grocery store veggies as well.
What has worked for you and your children in your life?
PS Tapas in muffin tins and how to feed picky kids.
(Photo credit: Anjali Pinto/Stocksy)
