My boys adore what I call ‘yellow food’ – cheese pizza, mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, did I mention cheese? And I’m okay with indulging in those yummy foods, who doesn’t love comfort foods? But I want my kids to eat all fruits and vegetables and get a variety of nutrients and flavors into their diets. So here are my tips for getting kids to try new vegetables:
- Start young: Children don’t have an aversion to food when they are little, just try and try again until something becomes familiar. It could be carrots cooked with a touch of butter and brown sugar or broccoli (dip it in ranch at first, why not?) or something more exotic like Persian cucumbers, just stick with it.
- Practice What You Preach: Want your kids to branch out of their routine? Lead by example!
- Add it Into Familiar Dishes: Add minced cauliflower to your mac n cheese base, grate zucchini into your meatballs, get creative and get those extra veggies in any way you can
- Don’t Hide Them: I don’t ‘sneak’ fruits and vegetables into my kids diets. Instead, I let them try it and while we all eat around the dinner table I tell them what they’re eating and why it’s healthy for them!
