So I started off at first giving my daughter the gerber jar veggies and then started giving her canned veggies. Right now she is 26 months old and eats a small can twice a day of either green beans, carrots or peas (and she loves them all, even asks for it for snack time). Ive been reading some stuff lately saying that we should never eat canned veggies because of BPA. I bought some frozen and fresh veggies and tried that but she wont eat it. So my thoughts were is no veggies better then canned veggies....
I would love to know what you give your kids for veggies....canned, fresh, frozen or some of each and how you prepare it...your opinions would be great as well!
Thanks
Re: CANNED VEGETABLES...
We primarily buy fresh veggies, though occasionally frozen. DD will gladly eat frozen peas or mixed veggies as a snack. But she will eat pretty much anything except avocado so I'm not sure she's a good gauge for normal toddler vegetable consumption.
Keep trying. A PP is right - your DD is probably refusing them because they aren't salty like canned ones. Make a game out of it? Try some seasonings?
We started off with regular ole veggies- no purees, just a stalk of broccoli, a green bean, a sweet potato spear, etc. so that really helped. But my thought on veggies, for adults or children, is that it all depends on preparation. So play around with how you prepare/serve them.
Frozen - my kid LOVES frozen peas and corn, not defrosted, straight from the bag. Same goes for bell pepper strips.
Raw - dips are great for this. Carrots, snap peas, celery, broccoli, bell pepper are good with some yogurt or hummus to dip into.
Steamed - On their own, not too appetizing, but toss with a little butter/salt/and pepper this is a great way to serve broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and the like.
Sauteed - this is how I got DH to like veggies. Cooked with some olive oil stovetop, add some garlic and basil and then zucchini, spinach, brussels sprouts, or other squash.
Roasted - I love how this carmelized veggies and makes them sweet. Works great for root veggies like carrots, potatoes, turnips, sweet potatoes. But also good for squashes, broccoli, beets and brussels sprouts.
Grilled - Now that summer's coming it's a great and easy way to make things like zucchini, summer squash, bell pepper, and corn on the cob. We had corn on the cob for dinner this week and my son loved it - thought it was so much fun to eat.
We don't buy many canned veggies, mainly because DH and I both think they're gross. We do buy canned beans (not green beans, just regular beans) because they're easier than having to soak dry beans, though. Otherwise, fresh or frozen, and we steam, roast, grill or sautee them. Or boil and mash (fall squash, yummmmm).
OP, maybe start introducing more fresh or frozen veggies along with the canned stuff your LO is used to, to try and ease the transition. Canned veggies are still better than no veggies, especially if you can get the low sodium ones.