Can we talk vegetables?

pb_bride

How are your LOs doing lately with regards to vegetables?  Gobbling up? Picking every green thing out?

DS hasn't been too bad (he had his picky phases).  He would go through a phase of liking X but disliking Y, then liking Y/disliking X.  Now he seems to dislike everything from A-Z.  I keep trying though, offering a variety of veggies from day to day.  He still likes frozen peas, frozen corn, roasted sweet potatoes, oven-baked fries. However, lately, everything else is a no-go.  So I find myself "hiding" the veggies.  Not so much he can't see it, but I just slice/shred the veggies into such small pieces that makes it very difficult for him to pick them out. 

For example, if I make a stir-fry Chinese noodle dish, I'll add shredded napa cabbage to it.  Or I make this baked broccoli/cheddar/rice "pie" using steamed broccoli that I chop up finely in the food processor.  Or I add frozen spinach to pasta with pesto.

I have always tried food-chaining (is that the right word?) when I offer veggies I know he doesn't necessarily like, but that hasn't bee very successful.  eg, he likes hummus so I give him cukes and raw red bell peppers to dip.  But he ends up licking the hummus off the veggies but not actually eating them.

Just wondering if others are facing similar challenges or do you still have a good eater on your hands?  Any other tips?  Luckily, DS eat almost all kinds of fruit so I'm not too worried yet.

StefanieM522

Veggies are hit or miss at home, he has no problems at daycare and will eat whatever is placed in front of him at daycare (i think its because all the toddlers eat together at a table so he is just doing what all the other kids are doing). Home veggies are sometimes killer aliens or something and he freaks out if they are on his plate. When this happens I usually will give him a pouch with veggies in it. He loves the spinach green bean pear one, there is also a pumpkin one that he likes and the sweet potato one as well, so I will give him that if he is boycotting his veggies.

CnAnA

Depends on her mood and the veggie. She will not touch green beans, but likes carrots. Peppers cannot be cooked, mushrooms must be. I make stuffed peppers for Husband, and save some of the stuffing for her. Since there's meat and cheese mixed with the onion, portabella, tomatoes, and sometimes zucchini, she inhales it. But if I don't add the meat and cheese to the same mixture, she turns up her nose at it.

If I hide it in sauce she will usually eat it.

scrumpfy

C hates almost all veggies lately. Which is weird, she used to eat everything. She'll eat most things if she can dip them in hummus or ranch, but we're talking only a bite or 2. Same if I'm eating something and offer her a bite. She'll take it, but only a bite. Except raw tomato. She loves them. She'd eat a whole pint of cherry tomatoes of allowed to. We also do a lot of pouches. I figure this veg hating stuff is just a phase.

nealbl

dd1 will only eat green beans frozen peas and just recently liked cooked carrots that were soaked in gravy!
dd2 will eat green beans frozen peas, corn on the cob, but not off the cob

louisevoltaire

DS is pretty good with his veggies.  He likes broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, corn, carrots, peas, green beans, and sweet potatoes.  Sometimes peppers, potatoes, and of course onion which we cook with a lot. 

 

He certainly shows preferences at times and sometimes tries to give back his tray with the veggies on it (trying to get more of something else).  Usually he'll eat them if I hand it back and tell him to finish his veggies. 

 

 

Rachelilly23

Ummm yeah... about that...

We're mostly miss. I can sneak diced peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and corn into most stuff. But honestly, I'm not cooking much these days. Makes me feel pretty guilty, and I definitely need to make an effort to push veggies with both boys.

CnAnA

Do black olives count as veggies? I cracked open a can tonight and child ate damn near half the can!

CnAnA

Excellent! I am buying ALLLLL the black olives.

She also likes one slice of raw onion usually. But it has to be while I am cutting it, and only in the kitchen. Weirdo.

TheBatPrincess

One day he will like something then the next turn up his nose. Except for fresh peas right out of the pod, the kid LOVES those!!!! 

hilsy85

It's really hit or miss...I try to offer veggies just in their own form (i.e.not hidden in anything) at every meal, and then I'll give him something with hidden veggies (a muffin or a pouch or eggs with spinach) for a snack or part of a meal. But two days ago he GOBBLED up a ton of grilled zucchini, and last night he ate a huge pile of peas. Then today he completely ignored his broccoli. So it really varies day by day! 

ac1259

Most food is a miss lately...she doesn't want to eat anything but like cheerios! I'm losing my mind!

pmduggan01

(It has been a while since I've posted on this board. Hi again!)

This is a timely question since DS goes thru phases where he'll eat lots of veggies (or fruit or meat), but then a week later he won't touch them. Then something else is his favorite. This week he won't hardly eat meat, so we've been trying other types of protein.

One veggie he'll almost always eat are green beans.

Britt1406

He loves them. About a month or so ago he was protesting against them for some reason, so I gave him ranch to dip and he gobbled them up. I will try plain first and if that doesn't work, he'll get cheese or ranch added and that always does the trick.