There are many things you can’t control in life: the weather, how quickly the line moves at the grocery store, or how loud your neighbor’s parties become. But, there is one thing you can control: how healthy your kids eat. And, if you’re as passionate about healthy, happy kids as we are, we’re about to make it even easier! This article will give you tips for sneaking more veggies into their diet (and they’ll never be the wiser.)
Get Saucy With It
If your kids like pasta (or even homemade pizza), sauce is the perfect way to sneak in veggies to your kid’s diet. All you have to do is grab a handful of cauliflower (which has a very mild taste, almost tasteless) and/or cauliflower. If your kids detest broccoli, don’t stress about the whether or not they’ll eat it. Just chop it up super fine, and puree it for a few seconds. Stir it into the sauce and they won’t even notice it it’s there. Since cauliflower doesn’t have much of a taste, you should be ok with chopping it up into small pieces—kids will love the crunch! You can also puree winter squash—kids shouldn’t be able to detect the taste. If your kids love spaghetti and meatballs, finely shred carrots and add them to the meatballs, or even use zucchini noodles, instead of traditional wheat or flour noodles.
Mash Their Veggies, Sneak It In Meat
Getting your kids to eat veggies is about fun (and a little sneakiness to the mix). If you force your kids to eat veggies with a strange consistency, they may never try it again. So, in order to get them to be open and willing to try new kinds of vegetables, you’ve got to make it a bit…familiar to them. Try a mashed cauliflower dish for your toddler (so, if they like mashed potatoes with cheese on top, add cheese on top of the cauliflower mash).
Slice and bake sweet potato fries, (or potatoes if they don’t like the sweet taste) instead of buying them fast food fries. They’ll get the flavor they love, plus you can throw together a fun assortment of dipping sauces they’ll love. If your pre-teens love lasagna, start making it at home (to easily add a layer of spinach in between each meat layer.) But, one of the easiest things you can do is whip up a smoothie for your kids—and all their friends! —with blueberries, milk, strawberries (and yep, you guessed it, fresh spinach.)
They won’t be able to taste the veggies and will swarm you with their thanks for this delicious afternoon treat. (The best part of all is, you’ll be able to master the ability to keep your kid’s healthy, without the struggle to eat healthy!)
