Kathleen
- I say YES to sneaking them in anyway you can! I have three children, a 5 yr old and twins who are 3. The 5 yr old and one of the twins eat really well and they are both thriving (both average height and weight). But the other twin is making me bonkers, she is a little under average for her height with is an inch shorter than her sis. She will only eat rice milk, yogurt and meat and carbs! The only plant material she eats is baked potatoes, apples, grapes, strawberries and tomatoes. According to the experts I do everything right, we eat all meals as a family , we all eat the same meals, kids help with meal times and food prep, a healthy variety is always offered, I've bribed, had sticker charts, sculpting foods into fairy houses and spaceships, let them choose their own recipes to cook, we have even taken to eating by candlelight so she can't see what she is eating. Nothing has worked for over a year now...so I hide vegies in foods. She gets a little carrot, I get peace of mind!
- —Guest Kathleen
sneak!!
- control? what control? your kids are under the spell of TV commercials and fast food. When they get past the age of easy persuasion, you have to pull out the big guns -- the blender and food processor. Fruit in the smoothies, veg in the burgers and chili, fiber in the breakfast muffins.
- —Guest guestmom
Savvy, not Sneaky
- My 2-year-old actually *does* eat her vegetables, so I'm pretty lucky. I have both Lapine's and Seinfeld's books and I like some of the recipes from the perspective of making a favorite treat, like mac 'n cheese or meatloaf, healthier. Before I even heard of their "sneaky" ideas I was already trying to add vegetables in to certain dishes, just to make them healthier, not in an attempt to up my family's veggie intake via subterfuge. My favorite recipe is Jessica Seinfeld's Pumpkin Oatmeal - I make oatmeal all the time but would never have thought of adding pumpkin puree to it... it makes an already healthy, delicious dish, even better for you!
- —JessicaHarlan
do you live with a picky 2 year old?
- Seems like people who disagree with sneaking the veggies are the ones who either have kids who are great eaters (you're lucky, enjoy it!), or perhaps don't have kids in the house anymore? Not sure... but I know that I have 2 kids under 5. The smaller one mimicks the older one in most situations, except food. The older one eats great. The small one (2) won't touch anything healthy other than peas or frozen blueberries. Sorry, but I'm all about the sneaking in the healthy food until the time when I can explain nutrition to the child and they can understand what it means. With 2 year olds, anything goes...especially if you want a stress-free dinner.
- —Guest Laurie
How Do They Learn?
- How do kids learn the right things to eat when the "good" food is hidden in their food? I'm lucky, I have a kid who loves any and all vegis. Of course, it's all in how you prepare them.
- —Guest CarrollPellegrinelli
It's not really sneaking...
- Do things like eggplant parmesan. Pasta alla Primavera, Spaghetti alla norma. Where vegetables are important but not simply sitting there in a mound by themselves. And don't forget fresh sun ripened tomatoes in summer! My kids could live on them.
- —nacheroo
You're overthinking it
- I hated veggies as a kid. Somewhere in my late teens I realized they were good for me and not so icky. Until my kids come to that conclusion, I have no problem sneaking in some nutrients. It is not going to harm them in the long run and they may eventually come to the same appreciation I did after watching my mom enjoy a good veggie salad.
- —Guest mom of 2
Offer Variety
- There are lots of different ways to prepare vegetables and I think the key is figuring out how your kids like them. My daughter will eat any vegetable if she can dip it in a Vidalia Mustard salad dressing. Rather than sneaking vegetables how about just combining them with other foods. Your kids may at first pick out the veggies but if you keep adding new vegetables to salads, soups, casseroles, etc. eventually they will try some of them and may decide that they like them.
- —Guest Rachel
It's a constant struggle
- I completely agree with the principles outlined in this article, but ... it is SO hard to put into practice. My kids will sit there through the whole meal picking at the entree and then gobble down the brownie. I've tried not having dessert but then isn't that just restricting food and making it more desirable? We don't have a "try it" or "two bite rule" for just this reason. I don't want to make the "healthy" food seem less desirable by making them try it. I want to keep food from becoming a battleground but the end result seems to a carb- and dessert-filled diet... So I struggle.
- —Guest Katherine
I Did My Best
- When I inherited 3 stepkids who were VERY picky eaters it was a nightmare especially as I was desperate to make a good impression. Such a tough call: stick with my principles or give in to the most-popular vote. I hated it. I decided (with the advice of my Mom) to take one step at a time, slowly, slowly catch the monkey approach. I slid the avocado in, added the fresh herbs, removed the the tinned goods and little by little turned the whole thing around. I can say that I have 3 beautiful grown-ups with a reall appreciation for food, seasonality, and a mind to where their food comes from - it took me years. Did I sneak? Mmmm not sure I would call it sneaking just a rehabilitation process?
- —ElaineLemm
Just Food Please
- No to sneaking. I feed my son what my husband and I eat. That is what is for dinner. Full stop. He doesn't like everything, but then neither do I. Sneaking and even pureeing never gives them a chance to develop and taste for the food and appreciate different textures. Food and eating is more about fuel and vitamins, it's about share a meal and experiencing pleasure and fulfillment.
- —localfoods
No Food Fights
- Food fights ruin dinner, which is important family time for us. I try and make sure that there is something that everyone can enjoy at least in part. If it's pasta, one kid likes cheese, the other only red sauce. Both love garlic bread. One will eat lettuce and carrots in a salad, the other only the tomatoes and cucumber. So if there are options on the table, the kids can pick the things they love, and leave the things they're less keen on. That said, we do encourage them to experiment a little and try something they've either never eaten before or tried once in the past. No bribes, no punishments, just the invitation to try. If there's a meal one of the kids really doesn't want to eat, they can leave the table to fix themselves a pbj or bagel with cream cheese, and grab a piece of fruit and yogurt. It's not ideal, but it's better than cooking three different meals. it also means we can still eat together at the family table.
- —Guest FionaH
Taste it
- I don't have kids (and every kid I don't have is a lucky little non-existant booger) but when I was a kid we ate what my parent's ate. If we didn't like something the rule was we had to eat one bite in case our tastes had changed - and you know what? Over the years they did. I can say honestly that I'll eat anything set in front of me as long as I don't know what it is and it smells good.
- —Guest Kevin C42
Puree, yes. Sneak, no.
- My children's father is a picky eater so I would puree certain veggies and add them to sauces. He knew and didn't mind. The kids just got used to it - pureed veggies in spaghetti sauce taste incredible! I don't see the point in sneaking. If my kids don't eat their veggies at dinner, they don't get dessert and there will be no junk food. Simple as that.
- —Elizabeth_Yetter
Don't sneak!
- I agree with you Stephanie. If you constantly sneak veggies into other foods, your kids will never have a chance to develop a taste for the real thing. I also try to provide them with veggies they like. Sliced tomatoes is a favorite. And for other veggies that are mild (green beans, broccoli, carrots) it's one bite for each year of age until they get used to them. Serving veggies right off the bat when they are babies helps. I sometimes make brussels sprouts which they don't like but I encourage them to take a bite anyway. Maybe eventually they will learn to love them, but even if they don't that's okay. As long as they like a few different types of veggies, I'm happy :) Oh, and we also have a veggie list. Each kid gets to pick 3 veggies that they don't have to eat. They can make a change to this list on the first of each month (that way they can't get out of eating veggies by adding it to the list each night at dinnertime.
- —ChelsieKenyon
You feed the eye first
- What I mean by that is to make food so attractive, kids will WANT to eat it. How you disguise liver, is still a mystery. But with all that saturated fat, it's not a good food choice anyway, so that problem's solved! But, perhaps, arranging baby carrot sunflowers on the plate with snow pea leaves, etc.
- —Barb.Rolek
Teach Kids to Balance Their Diets
- I don't think it's fair to force kids to eat what they don't like, but I do think it's reasonable to ask them to periodically try foods they're convinced they don't like. It's more important to teach them how to balance their diets than to sneak spinach into systems.
- —Guest Christine
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