Getting Kids To Eat Their Veggies Peasandthankyou

I am sure you have heard it again and again at the dinner table. The sounds of children refusing to eat their vegetables! We have actually started to face this challenge in our home. My little independent 2 1/2 year old picks away at his plate and leaves the veggies behind every meal.

Here’s ten great ways to get you started on getting your kids to eat their vegetables:

1-Make them look fun. Who doesn’t want to eat fun food? Mix up the colors of veggies on the plate to make a fun bold look. Try mixing in food coloring to change how they look. Just use your imagination and it will surely make them look better and better to the kids!

2-Lead by example. I truly believe that if you eat your vegetables your kids won’t think that they are all that bad. If you always eat them, they won’t know anything different growing up. Now we struggle with this one in our home since my hubby is not a big veggie person, but we are working on it.

4-Let them help do the shopping. Such a fun way to get them interested in their veggies would be to take them with you to the product section at the grocery store. They can touch and hold, and smell the veggies, put them in the bags, and help buy them. Such a hands on way to teach them about all the different kinds of vegetable out their too. We sometimes only buy certain vegetables over and over, so this is a fun way to add a twist to what you pick out and prepare…

3-Let them help cook them. Such a fun way to get your kids involved is to let them work in the kitchen hands on. Let them put them away in the fridge when you bring them home, have them be in charge of washing them, and if they are old enough even let them cut them up. They will love it.

4-Dress them up on the plate. Such a fun way to make vegetables fun is to make their appearance stand out. Maybe stack up the asparagus in a fort like fashion, or make a yummy cheese sauce to spread over their brocolli.

5-Once they take a bite they are sure to eat them all.

6-I am sure you probably heard your mom say “eat your vegetables” as a kid. I am sure we all have. A simple reminder will get them to eat them, because they know you are always going to tell them to eat them. LOL

7-Steam them. I am not a big fan of carrots until I had steamed carrots recently. Now I love them. Try steaming veggies to give them a different taste and texture.

8-Make yummy dips. There are so many yummy recipes out on the web that you can find for a veggie tray. Simply add them to their dinner plate and watch them dip and eat their veggies one by one.

9-Remember you can hide their veggies in their food too! Look at spaghetti sauce. Chuck full of yummy tomatoes. My hubby hates tomatoes, but he never complains about how good it tastes on his spaghetti. Mix veggies in your stew, soup, or even casserole for a surprise veggie ingredient they are sure to not even know is there.

10-Make sure you introduce the vegetables to your kids at an early age. The early you put them on their plate, the more likely they are to eat them as they get older because they are familiar with them. All in all make veggies a fun ingredient to every meal in your home. Whether it’s peanut butter on celery, carrots dipped in ranch they are sure to gobble them up! Moms…how do you get your kiddos to eat their veggies? Share your fun ideas with us. We can all benefit from eating our greens and sharing how we get our kids to eat them is certainly great!

About Peas and Thank You

Peas and Thank You is a collection of recipes and stories from a mainstream family eating a not-so-mainstream diet. It’s filled with healthy and delicious versions of foods we’ve all grown up enjoying, but with a Mama Pea twist—no meat, lots of fresh ingredients and plenty of nutrition for growing Peas. From wholesome breakfasts to mouth-watering desserts, there’s plenty here to satisfy the pickiest Peas in your life. It’s easier than ever to whip up crowd-pleasing meals that will have the whole family asking for, “more, Peas.” Sarah Matheny‘s delicious recipes and entertaining stories draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to her blog, peasandthankyou.com each month, where she makes raising a vegetarian family easy and fun. She is the author of  “Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love.”

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