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Do you "sneak" healthy food into your kids' meals?

GuitaristsGirlGuitaristsGirl
in Success after IF

Another lesson in "never say never" ;)  I always said that I wouldn't do this - I wanted my kids to learn what healthy foods are and enjoy eating them - not eat healthy foods because they thought they were eating nothing more than, i.e., fried chicken! 

But, alas, my wonderful little eater has gone away, and left in his place a child who flat out refuses to eat anything other than fruit!!  He used to love broccoli, for example, but now I've tried steaming, roasting, sauteing, cooking it while standing on my head, etc! - and he won't touch it.

I mean, the good news is that fruit is realatively healthy, but a boy cannot live on fruit alone ;)  (And, for the record, this is not a "he didn't eat a well balanced meal," for all you "worry not what your child eats. . . " people out there!  We're going on a month plus of this.)

I'm starting to feel guilty about his lack of vegetables (except an occasional "sweet" one like roasted carrots) and thinking about finding a way to "sneak" some greens into his diet, at least until this phase passes (and it will pass, right?!).

Anyone do this?  What's your most successful dish?

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Re: Do you "sneak" healthy food into your kids' meals?

  • mrsolsenk12mrsolsenk12
    i have to do this. I have a 2year old who things veggies are evil. One of the recipes that works is really simple. I will take a pasta and red sauce(somtimes i will use the gerber meals if i am lazy) and mix in peas and carrots. He loves the pasta/red sauce so much that he doesn't notice or care that the peas/carrots are there.
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  • ladychicagoladychicago member
    Hell yes I do! I put spinach, butternut squash, and kale puree into her meatballs, and give her these broccoli potato bite things I found at WF. those she will still eat!
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  • marcuejmarcuej member

    Fortunately, we haven't reached this stage with Stella yet.  She'll still eats anything you put in front of her, but the second she starts to refuse her veggies I will for sure hide them in her food! 

    I've heard great things about Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious.  It's all about sneaking in the veggies!  Good luck!

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  • firsttogofirsttogo
    Yes! Yellow purees work well in Mac and Cheese! Also My kiddos LOVE to dip things. So, we use hummus and baked pita chips, or carrot sticks. Even if they just lick the hummus off, they are getting protein and good fats!
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  • kme930kme930 member
    I don't yet, but I fear we are getting to that stage. Will is just starting to reject any food that is not fruit. Sometimes we can convince him to try something, but it's getting to the point where we have to offer something (that isn't fruit) 5x before he will try it.
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  • SeaSoulSeaSoul member
    Yes, we do, but I don't see it as tricking him at all.  It's about packing as much nutrition as possible into every dish - and making it tasty.  We did this even before he was born!  We tell him what's in everything, so we're not trying to pull one over on him.  Fortunately, he does like veggies. 

    Anyway, we love to make pasta sauces with grated carrots and finely chopped kale (in addition to the typical tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.).  Makes a good one-dish, healthy meal.  Try it!
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  • cjsbdlcjsbdl member

    Henry went through thte fruit-only phase, too, and during that time yes I did sneak in veggies. This is one of my favorite ways to do it...I do them with all sorts of veggie/cheese combos.

    The good news is that these phases don't last. Just continue to offer him veggies in their original form as well and eventually he'll start eating them again.

    Good luck!

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  • igh0318igh0318

    I came across a smoothie recipe that looks interesting.  We haven't tried it with the veggies since DS is still eating them but I saved it in case we need it in the future.   

    https://healthy.food.com/recipe/toddler-hidden-veggie-smoothie-263734

     

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  • MouseygailMouseygail member

    imageladychicago:
    Hell yes I do! I put spinach, butternut squash, and kale puree into her meatballs, and give her these broccoli potato bite things I found at WF. those she will still eat!
      LOL!!  love this response :)  he-he! 

    I haven't had to yet, but I absolutely will...I've heard lots of good stories about people sneaking tons of veggies into a morning smoothie for their kids :)

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  • desabeandesabean member
    Happy Tot pouches.  You can get them with veggies in them.  G is a pretty decent veggie eater but when she is feeling picky she will always down a pouch.
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