What veggies will your kids eat?

Yes, there's hope. Since I don't have kids, I don't have a dog in this fight.

My children always ate a large variety of vegetable. Luckily my grandsons have followed the same pattern. One of their favorites is broccoli. Try different veggies with ranch dip. Sometimes that encourages them to try new things.

My son prefers fresh tomatoes and cucumbers over sweets. All my kids love vegetables. They eat broccoli, carrots, peas, beets, brussel sprouts (with lots of butter, though), lima beans (I put a little bit of milk and some butter in mine). Did I leave something out? We are definitely a veggie family.

I also heard if you let them help prepare the food, they are more likely to eat it.

Oh, mashed sweet potatoesare good. Try it with melted marshmallows on top. Kids seem to like it, cause it tastes like a desert.

corn

Try corn on the cob instead of off the cob. Try various veggies steamed with melted cheese, or with a dip. My kids used to HATE broccoli. Now I steam it and add a little Lawry's Seasoning and they will eat it. I also just got one of my kids eating regular fresh green beans raw. I just wash them, snip the stringy end and keep them in the fridge for a handy snack. We're really working on helathier snacks!

How a green bean casserole?

I've been experimenting with a lot of squashes this winter and haven't found a bad one yet. I cube them, add a little butter, cinnamon, and some brown sugar or chunk pineapple when I'm making pork or chicken. I just had a golden nugget one tonight with turkey thighs.

Cauliflower patties are good, too. Cook the cauliflower until it's really soft then mash it add a little milk, chopped onions, and cheese * Form patties and bake for about 20 minutes or until they get brown.

yeah, mashed sweet potatoes and yams are almost like dessert

mine eat everything! You could sneak steamed cauliflower into home made mac and cheese..Just after you make the roux, add in some mashed cauli. then add your moo and cheese....
If you are able to grow a garden I could send you seeds for blue spuds, red corn, purple beans and carrots..I find kids eat more veg if they grow it themselves or choose it themselves at the market...If ya want some seeds just let me know, all of my seed is from orgaincaly grown veg.

When I was a kid my mom would put cheese on my broccoli and I would always eat it like that. Plus on the fruit side. She always made me bananna boats. Its really easy, you just cut like a v in the center of the bananna from end to end and fill it with peanut butter

I agree with the post children will eat more of what they grow. My daughter loves corn on the cob.

we dont eat alot,, I try to incorpurate our veggies more now,, Used to hind it in like meat loaf and cassorols

My kids all loved to eat steamed broccoli and dipping it with mayo.

My best advice is to start them eating vegetables when they are young, but to late for that. Try disguising them with cheese sauce or salad dressing. Make your veggies as kid friendly as possible at first.

Thank heavens, I'm the only child of my parents! :-)

Ok I'm going to be mean again!In this time of economical woes,they know that things are bad all over and they should eat what you put on their plates.The time of junk food needs to go out the window.You can but frozen veggies cheaper than canned and you just have to cook them a little longer.
My daughter was the only one that did not like beef liver when they were little I was mean and made her eat it.(she was anemia)One son did not like yams.he eat them.Things were bad in the 70's and now they are bad again.
If the schools would toss the junk food kids would eat veggies.At the ages you listed I think you need to tell them that this is how its going to be.
No hotdogs no cheeseburgers What I put on the table you will eat.If they get hungry enough they will eat it.
If push comes to shove blend it down and put it in meat loaf.

Mine eats cauliflower

You're right Debra, thanks everyone else for all your advice as well.

Congratulations. You are one of five members of the day in our sharing the wealth group.

my youngest is very picky, she is 10. she only eats corn, and some potato products, and tomato products. not may fresh veggies. thought she did eat raw carrots for a little while. you could try making candies carrots.

My kids are kind of picky, but not in the veggie area. They love veggies. I have to work to get them to eat meat. lol

There are lots of tricks to get them to eat veggies. One thing is to do fresh veggies with their favorite salad dressing as a dip. Cut up some cucumbers, bell peppers and some baby carrots with some ranch dressing and let them have at it.

Try using cheese on broccoli to make it more appetizing for the more picky palate.

Serve up unusual veggies. Even if you don't like them, they might. Try ones like eggplant, squash, or zucchini. You never know what they might like.

Try cooking the veggies in a different manner than usual. Different seasonings can make the veggies taste better.

Add veggies in with different casseroles.

Try cooking the veggies until they are very tender.

Oh another hint is cook carrots until tender (canned carrots will do) and mix in an equal portion of butter and brown sugar for a nice glaze. Kids eat them up.

And if all else fails, blend them up and mix them in when the kids don't know. For example. You can blend up some carrots till they are mush and mix them in with meatloaf when you make it -- or even in hamburgers.

Thanks very much Amanda!

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they all have certain veggies they don't like much, but most of the time, as long as it is not squash they will eat it. Except my 2 yr old, she is EXTREMELY PICKY.

my dd age 10 LOVES all veggies excepy Spinach, Greens and celery.


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I agree with the other poster about letting your children help with cooking, it works great!

I'm not a parent, so I've not had to deal with this issue. I ate most veggies, so I imagine that my kids would be similar. --Joe

Mine are not picky, I am fortunate, but I am not either. I noticed that when all kids are little, they go through stages where it is a challenge to get them to eat. But I always was consistent, and they always had to finnish what was on their plate, so I guess I would not let them be picky. My oldest son just turned 20, and I stll have this battle sometimes with the youger ones (the youngest will be 3 in April)....but once they learn my rules regarding meal time (when little) and there are no exceptions, and no way around them, everything goes a lot smoother. My rule is that if they don't like something in particular, they still have to finnish what is one their plate, but don't have to have seconds on that item, they can have seconds on what they do like, but everything must be finnished on their plate the first time first. If they decide after the first plate they are nearly full, and just want their dessert, then they get their dessert. If they don't eat what is on their plate, that is fine, they know they forego dessert, and will have that same plate for the next meal. They soon learned to just eat it so that next meal when everyone else was eating something they would have much rather had, if they had eaten it in the first place they would be enjoying the new food too. It can be difficult when they are young, and try their manipulation tactics (crying, gagging, I even had one child to try to vomit intentionally), but these are just manipulation tactics and not really about the food. Like the potty with some kids, or bedtimes with others, it is a battle and the child is trying to test the waters at what the authority will let them get away with. Kids are like that, but I would never let them be picky and it does start from the highchair, because I felt I was doing them a disservice. I don't know what the future holds for any of them, but if there ever came a time when they were in dire straights, being able to eat and enjoy a variety of food was to their advantage, both for variety and nutritionally. I have known some parents that were so lax when their kids were little, that the kids would only eat junk and ice cream. I don't know what to tell you know that yours are past that early formative stage, maybe pray for guidance and wisdom, I am sure God knows what they will eat. If mine truly over the years for something in particular (one son hated spinach with a passion) I would be creative, and keep trying it in different recipes until I found one he really liked, I eventually found a recipe that he did indeed like the spinach in, and it seems with some kids, when they find they like it in one way, they are more receptive to trying it in new ways. The recipe for him with spinach that was the breakthrough for him was one with rice and cheese, then it Florentine lasagna, now he eats it with no problem. Don't give up there is always hope. It took 10 years for me trying different stuff with spinach before he started to like it. I notice some things are also psychological, like my husband absolutely hated yogurt, and I was trying to intergrate it more into our diets because of its health benefits, so I found a recipe with yogurt in a chilled pie recipe, and he liked it so much he would request it. Points nation

This is wonderful Stacy, thanks so much for these great tips!

I have 4 kids and they all eat different things, but when doing a nice roast dinner, I put the veg into seperate dishes so they all get exactly the ones they like. Most vegetables are eaten, just not by all. Casseroles are great for hiding things in. pif