'Hiding' Vegetables for Children

My daughter eats most veggies. We have told her from the get go, they help you grow well, and strong. A healthy body is better than a sick body etc. Her first solid food was veggies. Peas to be exact. Hiding veggies doesn't inspire good lifelong eating habits. If my daughter won't eat a veggie(usually green beans) we serve the ones she does like. Spinach is a hit along with broccoli cauliflower, carrots. The list for what my daughter will eat is longer than those she won't.

I have found that kids that "dislike" veggies often just dislike how they are prepared and/or will change their minds if they are included in the choice and preparation of the veggies. My family has always boiled the heck out of broccoli and only a few kids would eat it. One Easter, I steamed the broccoli and gently tossed it with a little butter and salt. Only my kids ate it initially (they were used to eating steamed veggies), but later, after all the kids had bags of candy, some of the other kids saw my kids going back for more broccoli instead of eating their candy. They decided they would see what the big deal was and all but 1 (of 12) ended up eating the broccoli instead of their candy. I ended up leaving with an empty dish instead of the half-full dish I had started with. To this day, their parents swear none of them like broccoli, but when I steam it, they all eat it. Another way to help kids get used to veggies is to give them a "sauce" (like Ranch dressing) to dip them in or to cover them with a bit of cheese sauce. As time goes on, you can decrease the amount of sauce they get so that they are eventually eating more veggies than dip. I have also found it helpful to let the child grow their own veggies in a small garden or even in a pot (tomatoes grow nicely in pots), or if nothing else, bring them to the store and let them select what veggie they want to try. Then let them help prepare the veggie as they are able. Even the littlest ones can help wash the veggies and older ones can help peel and serve them. This gives them a sense of "ownership" of the dish and they are not only proud to serve it, but to eat it themselves. After saying all this, I still add veggies to much of my cooking in ways that could be considered "hiding" them. I add finely chopped broccoli to many dishes (especially mac and cheese). If a veggie-hater were to ask what it was, I tell them it is "special spices". Finely grated carrots and zucchini can also be added to many sauces (don't forget tomato sauce also contains veggies themself) and you can add well cooked, pureed cauliflower to mashed potatoes or even pureed carrots to make "orange" potatoes. i hope some of this is helpful. The best way to get a child to eat veggies is to set a great example and talk about how yummy the veggies are. We also have a standing rule in our house that everyone must try one bite of everything, including veggies. The rule applies to everyone who eats at our house, guests included. My 5 year old was born a veggie-lover (I even craved fresh veggies during the pregnancy) so she was easy to convince that veggies are good, but my oldest took a bit more coaxing. She now enjoys veggies almost as much as her sister. I have also found that telling her the health benefits of veggies (strong muscles, healthy heart, smarter) help to sway her during those more difficult times.

The problem is that you can't hide those vegetables forever. Soon there'll come a time when the child has to eat outside of the home and those vegetables are going to be staring them right in the face. Is the child going to believe the parent who says "Actually, honey, you've been eating them all the time and didn't even know!" We found with my friend's kid that if you sit with a pile of raw veggies (carrots, tomatoes, etc) in front of the TV (so not at a meal time) and don't offer the kids any, then eat them and make a really big deal of how much you are enjoying them, the kids often show some curiosity and want to try whatever is supposed to be so good.

That really bothers me. I think she needs to put her foot down and be a parent about it. I can understand not liking certain vegetables but to hide them in food and lie to him about what he is eating is wrong. I used to get so mad when I was little and my mom would lie to me about what she was serving me. But I always had to try at least 3 bites of vegetables before I could declare I didnt like something.

I think Love2Cook has some good input. As to your specific question from my point of view, a child should learn to eat fresh fruits and veggies as they are -- because once they leave the house they are unlikely to hide healthy food in their own preparations. Picky kids are normal and I deal with that with my own daughter, too. There are some veggies she will eat well, and I try to work with what works instead of fighting with her to eat them.