*sigh* Vegetables..

[Mynyel]

How do I get more of these back into our diet?

 

We eat baby carrots raw right out of the package, that is pretty much the extent of it.

 

The kids eat a lot of fruit. Apples, bananas, grapes, oranges and strawberries.

 

But vegetables.

 

I need flavorful. Butter just doesn't cut it. I need them in things not just on the side. They don't get eaten on the side. Not really.

 

Suggestions? Recipes (oh I hope!)?

[BMW]

We love asparagus!!

I lay it out over a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and broil or bake a while... we like them to crisp a little bit on the ends... yumm!!!!

 

Instead of just butter... try steaming (or boiling with just some water on medium) with garlic... we do that for broccoli and for brussel sprouts.

 

Chop up cabbage and boil with a jalapeno and sea salt and a bit of boullion in the water (don't serve the jalapeno!). Yumm!!

 

Have to run... can't type any more for now...

[PeterPan]

Serve salad and put the dinner meat on it. Don't eat the salad, starve and die. They might shock you and actually learn to like a salad with time. If not, eat it anyway. Salad has never been optional in our house. My dd didn't have the benefit of me eating those things during pregnancy, so they weren't what she craved. But now, after years of griping, she'll voluntarily eat salads in restaurants. But that's what we every night: a big 3 cup salad (3 cups per person) with the dinner meat on top, no other choice. Draconian, yes, healthy yes.

[LibraryLover]

What about bok choy, red peppers, chopped cabbage, mustard greens, snow peas, or broc in stir fry? I can't get enough of that! I also love kale anywhichway. And it's really yum roasted!

 

Do peas count? :tongue_smilie: I love peas. Because peas in pasta is great. One of my fav things is noodles and peas in curry sauce. Or just some angle hair tossed with salt, pepper, olive oil and peas! Gosh, I have not had this in ages.

 

What about in salads? Or a wrap? Is avocado a veggie? You can chop a lot of avo and tomatoes ( that's a fruit, right? ;)) into quacamole. And I never met a piece of lettuce that did not taste amazing stuffed with quac. :tongue_smilie::auto: (I'm a low carb person...corn tortillia are fab, but a rare treat. Wah!!)

 

I love spinach!!!!!!!! Spinach is awesome in minestrone soup. I also tend to add tons of spinach to tomato sauce. ;) It's a fab combo, I swear.

 

I am so hungry! lol

[Amira]

The way most Americans eat vegetables isn't very interesting IMO. When I started cooking food from around the world, it got a lot easier to organize my meals around vegetables since they're a focal point in many cuisines. Now vegetables make up a huge part of our diet.

[gardening momma]

Serve salad and put the dinner meat on it. Don't eat the salad, starve and die. They might shock you and actually learn to like a salad with time. If not, eat it anyway. Salad has never been optional in our house. My dd didn't have the benefit of me eating those things during pregnancy, so they weren't what she craved. But now, after years of griping, she'll voluntarily eat salads in restaurants.

:iagree: I took dd7 and dd5 to the Air Force museum in Dayton yesterday (we live between Dayton & Cincinnati). We ate lunch at the cafe there (I meant to bring lunch, but it was poor planning on my part). There were all kinds of fried goodies, but both girls emphatically wanted salad. :001_smile:

[chiguirre]

You can add quite a bit of zucchini or summer squash to a tomato based pasta sauce without it being really noticeable. It improves the texture without changing the taste imho.

 

My kids like Teriyaki, Sweet and Sour and General Tso dishes. I make them with 2 lbs of frozen Asian mix and 2 chicken breasts over rice.

 

They also love asparagus chopped up in Vodka sauce over short pasta or ravioli. Dh and I love it too.

 

My kids like canned soup. I buy the varieties that are either bean based or heavy on the veg. Since they've never had the condensed Chicken Noodle with Dora shapes, they eat the Progresso Low Sodium soup happily.

 

I've started getting them the fruit/veg juices. I wouldn't go overboard on this, but it's a nice treat and they're very tasty.

 

ETA: Mac and cheese with broccoli mixed in is a hit. You can also serve pasta with a cream based sauce and broccoli.

 

We're obviously not super healthy eaters and I do use convenience foods, but my kids aren't veggie-phobic.

Edited April 16, 2011 by chiguirre

[dcjlkplus3]

we are salad eaters here.

I put out romain lettuce, cucumbers, carrots and sometimes olives or tomatatos they have to have at least 2 different veggies in order to be officially "done". They do okay with baby spinach mixed in with the romaine, although its been a while.

[Diana B]

Soup! I use all kinds of veggies in soup.

 

Or use kale or spinach in quiche or fritatta (crustless-quiche).

 

A friend of mine used to put a big bowl of salad on the table first. And no one got any dinner until the bowl was gone. She did this for EVERY MEAL. The kids worked together to get that bowl eaten - she had 5 kids, so it worked well - if only one or two children, just serve them salad first.

 

I also agree with the PP about cooking ethnically. Indian food has great flavors and they are (usually) vegetarian.

[Impish]

Stir fry goes over big here. I especially like to use left over chicken, beef or pork into it.

 

As another poster mentioned, experimenting with other cuisines are a good way to find tasty dishes too. It doesn't have to be expensive

[Kebo]

Do you have the option of growing some vegetables of your own? My kids were much more interested in eating what they grew themselves than what came from the grocery store. It might jump start their interest.

[Truscifi]

I make skillet dinners a lot in the summer. Whatever veggies are in season get tossed in the skillet with whatever seasonings I am in the mood for (this week it was garlic, fresh cilantro, cumin, and lime juice) and whatever meat I have thawed (usually chicken or pork, but beef and shellfish work well too). Sometimes dh will make a starch to go with it, if he is motivated enough.

 

It is a lot like a stir fry but without the expectation of asian flavors.

[OrganicAnn]

Also dipping sauce. Ranch dressing or hummus are good. There are certain ages where kids will just eat more if they can dip it into something.

 

We occasionally do fondue and that includes various vegetables that get dipped into the hot cheese sauce.

[jewellsmommy]

Omelets or scrambled eggs with spinach, tomatoes, peppers, black olives, mushrooms, and cheese. yum

 

If the spinach is chopped too fine, you'll end up with green eggs. :D I added ham and we had a Dr Suess night.

[Peela]

When my kids were younger, I would chop up raw vegetables and give them a plate of them to eat while they were watching TV. Find out whether your kids prefer their vegies cooked or raw- mine prefer them raw.

 

Avocado dip or hummous with vegetable crudites works well- also, in front of the TV. They barely notice they are eating vegetables.

 

Some vegies are actually fruits- so you could mix cucumber, tomato, mandarin pieces and apple slices on a plate. Or add grapes to a salad. I like raisins in my waldorf salad.

 

I have always taken my kids fruit and vegetable shopping at markets. Its so colourful and it makes them curious about how things taste. I always buy them something they find interesting- usually an unusual fruit but sometimes it's a vegetable.

 

Our meals are based around vegetables with protein as a side, rather than the other way around. The meat or tofu or whatever it is, is the treat, not the main part of the meal.

 

Baked mixed vegetables- potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, beets, parsnip- all chopped to a similar size, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with seasalt, and a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary from the garden. Baked. Served with gravy and salad. 100% vegetable meal.

 

Experiment with dressings for salads- it can make all the difference.

Experiment with sauces for stir fries. I buy frozen vegetables for quick stir fries when I don't feel like making dinner.

Fried rice with vegetables chopped tiny.

Hide vegetables in bolognaise sauce.

 

Corn on the cob- we eat ours raw.

 

Talk to them about how important vegetables are for their brain, their growing body- engage their self interest. Ask for what they might like to try- try and enlist their cooperation. My kids, after years of having a mum who nags them about their vegetables, now come home from camps and beg me for a healthy meal, and can't stand camp food. They will ask me for a plate of vegetables. But I have worked very hard to get to that with them- and there was plenty of resistance along the way.

 

Keep exposing them to new foods but make it an adventure not a punishment. My son has never liked soup and just wont eat it- and I don't make him- but he loves olives, and tofu. And both my kids love sushi, seaweed, pickled ginger and all.

[Irishmommy]

I just realized that we don't eat enough veggies either, so I started putting giant handfulls of spinach into their smoothies. I haven't told them and they haven't noticed (when mixed with blueberries). They love smoothies, at least the boys anyway. I always thought of putting puree in the sauces, but haven't done that yet.

[Love2Smile]

Green Smoothies!!!

[Natalieclare]

Mmmmmm--veggies!

 

My new favorite thing to do with zucchini is slice it fairly thickly into rounds, layer in a casserole dish, sprinkle with Montreal Steak seasoning and parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers, ending in parmasan. Broil until the top layer is browned and the bottom layer is just hot. Yum.

 

You can always start your kids with broccoli/cauliflower/carrots in a cheese sauce. That's always a hit with my pre-school crowd. It's hard not to like a veggie nicely surrounded by cheese. If you really want to mask it up while they are getting used to veggies, put this in the oven with crumbled ritz or potato chips or bread crumbs on top and crisp up the topping. (My kids don't actually like the crispy topping, but I sure did when I was little.)

[DaffodilDreams]

If you have a yard, grow your own. We began eating more fruits and veggies when we began growing them. Home grown tastes amazing, and my kid, at least, eats better when we put before her what we've all worked for.

 

If you don't have a yard, make a weekly trip to a local farmer's market a habit. Fresh veggies taste better than trucked in veggies, and farmer's markets can be fun. If the kids get to know the local farmers, they may be more apt to enjoy what you purchase.

[Susan C.]

Taco Salad!!!

 

Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions, red pepper, celery, carrots (you can get by w/lettuce, tomatoes, onions).

 

Grated cheddar or jack/colby cheese.

 

Smashed corn chips.

 

Taco meat: I make my own, but you can use taco seasoning. Ground beef, chili powder, cumin, garlic & onion powders, salt, pepper, sm. can tomato sauce. You can use kidney or black beans in place of or with the meat (don't heat the beans, just put in after draining).

 

Salad dressing ideas: Ranch, thousand island, catalina (we like 2/3 catalina, 1/3 Italian), mix salsa and sour cream, Maries has a chipotle ranch we like

 

I made this for dd 16th birthday party, kids that didn't like salad were eating it!

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Is it that your kids don't like them, or do you just not have the habit of preparing them for meals?

 

For dinner last night, I combined- pesto, a chopped onion, chopped sun dried tomatoes, and drained frozen spinach (fresh is fine too) with shrimp, and then tossed it all into pasta. Parmesean sprinkled on top. Yum, and you can't taste the spinach, since pesto and sun-dried tomatoes are pretty flavorful.

 

We love roasted sweet potatoes or sweet potato fries.

 

homemade salsa with anything Mexican

 

Beef stew with veggies

 

quinoa salad and vegetable quiche recipes- http://celebratingasimplelife.blogspot.com/2010/07/you-know-what-cool-about-houseguests.html

 

I make a green salad almost every day for lunch with mixed greens, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, red onion, and vinaigrette. The kids don't eat salad yet, they'd rather have a sliced bellpepper, tomato, cucumber, etc, or cooked veggies. I think salad is tough for littlekids to chew up and takes up a lot of space in their stomachs.

[prairiewindmomma]

salads

veggies chopped (sweet peppers, broccoli, cauliflower) with hummus to dip in

steamed veggies in stir fry

 

Just plan your meals around veggies!