Every parent would have gone through this – your children throwing a tantrum and making a mess of your spotless kitchen again. And all because they did not want to eat the broccoli or brussel sprouts that you painstakingly prepared. To solve the age-old problem of getting children to eat their vegetables, we have come up with five creative ways to get them to actually enjoy eating their vegetables.
Replace Bitter with Butter
Unlike adults who have grown accustomed to the taste and understand that bitter foods are actually full of nutrients, most children loathe eating vegetables because of the slight bitter taste of vegetables on their young, sensitive tongues. Try masking the bitterness of vegetables with butter, which contains vitamins A, E and D3 that are essential for growing kids.
Go Pickin’ for Veggies
With young children in the family, coming up with family activities on the weekend can be challenging. But what better way to develop their love for vegetables while keeping their hands busy, than to bring them to a local farmers market! By getting them to experience choosing their favourite produce, they will be begging to try their freshly-picked vegetables on the way home.
Serve with Dips
Do your children dislike eating vegetable sticks? Dips are a delicious way to get creative with your vegetables. Try serving a dip that they like on the side to encourage healthy snack eating and change the way they think about vegetables.
Be Part of the Kitchen
Getting your children involved in the kitchen might sound like the last thing you want to do. But involving them in the preparation of meals may be key to their vegetable problem. They will start to develop positive attitudes towards and preferences for certain vegetables, and this also gives them a chance to get creative!
Puree your way
Tried countless number of ways to get your kid to eat their vegetables and none of them have worked? Don’t fret! Pureeing, blending and making smoothies out of different vegetables might be the answer to your problem. By serving up pureed veggies, they’ll be covertly consuming their most-hated vegetables. Also try masking the flavour of vegetables that they don’t like by adding healthy and delicious sides like honey, bananas, and milk.