Have you ever met a kid who thinks that vegetables taste like fried chicken and fries? Aren’t we all envious of parents who can introduce vegetables to their kids’ diets. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends one to three cups of vegetables a day, depending on your age and gender. Kids two to three years old should have at least one cup of vegetables a day, while men who are 19 and above need three cups of veggies to be healthy.
Sure, you can give your kids treats such as cheddar cheese curds in Wisconsin or other states, but the point is to incorporate healthy products into their diets. Sometimes, you need to trick your kids into taking their greens.
Bake Them
There’s no need for your kids to eat carrot sticks if they don’t like the flavor and texture. Don’t torture them, or they’ll end up hating the vegetables more. You can bake carrot cakes and carrot muffins. Put some cream cheese on top, and your kids won’t even know that these are healthy treats. You can bake zucchini cookies, too.
Turn It into Smoothies
If your kids love strawberries and bananas, why not turn them into smoothies or milkshakes? But make sure to incorporate a bunch of kale. Your kids wouldn’t know the difference. For their lemonade, you can even mix it with cucumber or other herbs such as basil, tarragon, and parsley. These are healthy smoothies that your kids might learn to love.
Cut Them into Cute Pieces
Your carrot sticks don’t have to be that way. Using a cookie-cutter, you can turn the veggies into fun shapes such as hearts, stars, circles, diamonds, dogs, and many other items. Your kids will love how they are presented, and they might be enticed to try them out.
You might also want to change how they are presented. Instead of boiling them or steaming them, you can oven-fry or air-fry them. They have the same crunch as if they were deep-fried but without the fat from oil.
Put Cheese on Everything
Very few kids will say no to broccoli and cheese. If your kids don’t want vegetables, try to put cheese on them. Cheese solves everything, you know?
Hide the Veggies
Who says that you can’t hide the veggies in their favorite food? Mush and mix them with spaghetti sauce. Make a cauliflower-based carbonara sauce. You can mince the carrots and incorporate them with grounded chicken meat to make chicken nuggets. You need to be creative if you want your kids to take their vegetables.
Let Them Have Fun
Sometimes, you need to talk with your kids and let them decide how they want to eat their veggies. You need to put your feet down and make eating vegetables non-negotiable. Then, allow your kids to have fun with them—whether it’s cutting the vegetables into cute designs or baking them.
Teaching your kids how to eat vegetables is not a race. You can be as slow as you and your kids need to be. Start with the worst vegetables such as bitter gourd. Once your kids’ taste buds become used to bitter-tasting vegetables, you can add the better-tasting ones such as sweet potatoes and squash.