Sneaking Veggies into Food

My daughter had a similar problem. We started giving her smoothies every morning. We were told at her age (18 months) she should have 12 oz of whole milk/whole yogurt and 1 cup of fruit/veggies a day. She wasn't drinking enough water or eating enough fruit/veggies either. So rather then giving her the full 12 oz in milk, we put 8 oz Vit D yogurt in a blender and then a 1/2 cup of frozen and fresh fruit and just started adding frozen veggies too, then a little flax seed oil. Blend it and give it to her in a straw sippy cup. It's more then 1/2 her milk, 1/2 her veggies and the flax seed oil is good for hair, skin, and helps loosen the tummy. Blueberries, zucchini, squash and melons are all great for constipation.
I also shred zucchini into almost everything. Stuffing, spaghetti sauce, lasagna, quesadillas. You could also try either pureeing your own veggies or buying baby food for dipping sauces for his nuggets.
Best of luck,
C.
PS. If you eat healthy that will help too. I'm not the healthiest eater, but we had dinner at my aunts house tonight. She's a vegetarian and all we had were veggies. At first she pushed her plate away, but once she realized that wat it she ate it all.

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Hi, I haven't read all the responses but I feel like if you include him in this, it will be fun and he will learn. My suggestion is to get a juicer cheap or otherwise and have him help you put the fruits and veggies into the machine and see how his own juice is made and how good it tastes. I really feel like he will drink it, cuz he took participation in it. You don't have to make tons, just enough to get him interested and get some good stuff in his body. It's pretty hard ot mess up. There are also books on it which I'm sure your local library would have. He could even help pick those out looking at the pictures to get ideas. You can also start a small garen that is "his" to get him to eat real food, kids love this. I did it with all 6 of mine, if he grows it, he will eat it. You can also plant a dwarf fruit tree just for him, even let him name it, then when it gets fruit he can eat that or juice it, there are so many ways to get kids interested and to eat better. Now is a perfect time while he is young. I agree with one of the other ladies, get him off of that other stuff. I just skimmed through the responses and maybe get that book as well ... costco might have it or again the library. Good Luck

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M., Im right there with you. I have 2 boys. my 3yr is a super picky eater since 2. I gave up. He has been in the 98% tile since birth (8.15lbs 2 weeks early) and the dr isn't concerend that he doesn't wnat to eat 90% of what i give him. I don't let him snack much or eat junk food. We dont even have an ounce of soda in our home. Once in a while i will give him a treat (potty training rewards). I use to drive myself nuts trying to get him to eat from all the food groups. HAHAHA RIGHT! His dr said don't become a short order cook. We have a lock on the pantry door knob and one we use on the fridge if he tries to help himself during dinner to something else then what is on his plate. Its a game at this age and they are trying to be in control. My son just started eating pasta. He is getting better since I let him help me make his meals but again, once they are made he is not inerested. The ony source of fruit he gets is from yogart or a smoothie. He loves corn and peas but that can be a hit or miss. He could live on cereal for the rest of his life. At times I will let him have a bowl for dinner. Cheerios or life. He is 39lbs and 39in and super healthy, If there are no issues with that. He just started eating pizza but mostly the crust. The dr said if he is hungery he will eat whatever is in front of him. I make meals and that is it. I don't let him load up on milk which can be the cause of these eatting issues too.

Good luck
SAHM/zombie 39 with 2 super funny and very busy adorable boys. 3yrs & 7 months.

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Trader Joes has a juice that is green in color, from the veggies it has in it. I would pour it into a sippy cup so the kids could not see what they were drinking. It worked every time I gave it to them. They never saw what was in the cup till they were older.

I would also intergrate veggies into a casserole's or sauce's where ever possible. On those nights when I was sneaking in veggies we would have a candlelight dinner, then they could not see what it was they were eating.

I was also told that we need to offer food to kids 15 times. So even if my kids did not like something the first time, I kept trying over 15 times. We also played games with the food. And sometimes had them take as many bites as their age. Doing this to my kids they are now wonderful eater, they eat almost everything I offer including brussel sprouts and all kinds of sushi, it's crazy.

Oh, another thing that worked great, is before dinner when they are so hungry I would put out a plate of veggies for them to snack on. That is a great time because they are hungry! I would also take them thru the produce section and ask them to pick something new to try. Then get their help in the kitchen fixing it so they created pride in their work. This still works today.

Lastly, if they did not eat the required bites then no dessert. Then they would only get fruit if this happened. Also I did not server a sugary dessert all the time, I did not want the habit of them expecting that.

Hope this helps.

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Hello, I used to do this with my oldest (12 years old next month, then my next 2 ages 9 and 5) so i did this before all the sneaky cook books came out... If he likes sauce on the pasta, mix in any orange/vege baby food to the sauce, if he likes pesto (mine did) i mixed Green vege baby food, if he is a juice drinker ( mine had limited) i gave him V8 splash as it is made with vege juice, but disguised, it is really good. Like i mentioned, there are 2 competing books out there (one is Jerry Seinfeld's wife) and they have many more other ideas, this worked for me a long time ago! hope it helps a little..
on another note (from a mom with all boys) there is a great site www.itsgoodtobethequeen.com, funny for moms of all boys!!

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Try mashing canned grean beans (no salt added) with a little cooked spinnach in a bowl, and then mix with whole-wheat bread crumbs (the kind that come in a cannister at the grocery store) and a little milk, until the mixture starts to clump together. Then form into "nuggets" and fry in a small amount of olive oil. The taste and texture is very similar to chicken nuggets! My daughter loves them, but I admit she's not very picky.

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I'm sure others have mentioned it (I didn't have a chance to read the responses) but try Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious. She sneaks in pureed veggies into lots of kids favorites. I haven't tried any of them yet, but it was recommended to me by a friend who's daughter loved the meals.

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Here are some I do:
-Puree cauliflower and fold into mac & cheese.
-Chopped frozen spinach, chopped carrots/broccoli, or sweet potatos in pasta sauce or under cheese on homemade pizza
-flax seed, spinach, sweet potato, beets or any other vege in fruit smoothies

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I'm not a big fan of sneaking veggies into food -they will never learn to eat them at any point if that is done. That said, there have been plenty of good suggestions on how to do this. If your son will eat prunes or prune babyfood, your problem is solved. Prunes every day will keep your son regular, along with plenty of water. Keep offering veggies at meals anyway, knowing he won't eat them right now. However eventually he will outgrow some of his pickiness and the veggies will be there waiting for him to try. If you stop offering them, he'll never eventually learn to eat at least some of them. Reducing salty, fatty foods in his diet will also help him develop a taste for other foods. Fried foods and pizza tend to be addictive and obliterate learning to like plainer foods. Good luck in whatever you try!

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My daughter likes to have ice cream for dessert. We don't even have to discuss it anymore. She eats her veggies and then she may have her ice cream sandwich. No veggies, no dessert. In with the good to balance the bad. She knows it. It works. Yes, she had to miss a few nights of dessert, while the rest of us had it.

I also puree spinach and add it to spaghetti sauce (doesn't change the flavor at all) and cookie and cake batter. (I use 1 batch of liquid, 2 batches of dry, and 10 oz of raw spinach that I puree. Mix and bake.) We call them Spookies and Spake. She loves them and I know she's getting 1/2 oz of spinach in each cupcake. We also add it to our homemade ice cream (but have to use heavy fat milks or it will be icy, not smooth.)

I've heard about spaghetti squash mixed in with pasta, but I haven't tried it.

My daughter is 7 1/2 and just now being adventurous with food.

Stephanie

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Looks like you got some great ideas about the veggies. Another option if fiber is an issue and he loves chicken you could buy chicken tenders, dip them in a beaten egg and coat them in crushed up cheerios or fiber flakes and bake them in the oven till crispy. There is so much stuff out there with added fiber now that you should be able to get that into his diet without even changing it too much. I'm facing a similar issue with my 1 year old, only I'm trying to incorporate more iron into his diet and have had to explore more options than just meat (because he simply will not eat it!). Another great idea is to make your own pasta sauces by pureeing different types of squash and adding soft creamy cheese like ricotta and using whole grain pastas instead. Anything with beans and also nuts... try an almond spread and use it in place of peanut butter to make a sandwich on whole wheat. Hummus is a good snack for kids that age too and if he won't have it with veggies put it on a spinach tortilla. Just stay away from processed foods because alot of the fiber has been removed. Anyway, good luck to you and have fun creating some fun recipes.

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My daughter is almost 7 and rarely eats veggies. She will eat Ketchup and Spaghetti (tomatoes are good!) Pumpkin pie and watermelon. For constipation our doctor recommended Flax seed waffles. I compensate for the lack of veggies by making sure that all grains,bread and cereals she eats is whole grain - whole wheat bread, whole wheat/grain waffles, whole grain pasta, cereals such as multigrain or whole wheat Chex, Cherrios and instant oatmeal. Another popular food is cous cous but I'm not sure if it's that healthful. Good-luck and try not to worry about this too much.

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Have you tried vegie juice? You might want to try some and then purchase a juicer that leaves some of the fiber, then you can throw a bunch of good things in there with am apple carrot base for flavor. Good things can include: kale, spinach, beets, celery, cabbage, tomatoes, anything.

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I think you'll find that a lot of us face similar situations with our kids. Wanting to feed my two girls healthier foods, I did a little research and read the reviews of some of the cookbooks that are out there. I went with "The Sneaky Chef" by Missy Chase Lapine, as she came out (not necessarily up--and she'll admit it) with the concept before others (like Seinfeld) followed suit. It's helped me to successfully improve some of the basics, like mac and cheese and chicken nuggets, without my kids even knowing it. Of course, there are many folks out there that believe sneaking in veggies isn't the way to go, but if YOU can feel good/better about what you give your kids, then I ask: WHY NOT?

I'm all about combining all sorts of methods to get my kids to eat well. They'll also eat dishes with veggies in their natural forms, including stir-fry, pastas/lasagna, and quiche (this is a great way to give them spinach--they don't seem to care about the green stuff when the food tastes good!). I try to explain why they need to eat veggies, but they ARE just 2 and 4. I'm always reading labels and shopping smarter, even staying on budget! I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's, with their natural ingredients and low prices. I've also started picking up cereals and organic snacks at Target.

All I can say is to try it all. You'll find the methods that work best for you AND your boys. I think you'll get some great results. Good luck!

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Sneaking veggies is easy, you just need to puree them! Change the rice from white to brown for more fiber; change the pasta to either wheat pasta or vegetable pasta. Lay off the chicken nuggets and give him chicken strips coated in crushed cereal (think high-fiber cereals not corn flakes). Also, you can put pureed veggies in just about anything - corn muffins, pasta sauce, soup, stews, etc. Fruit is a great source of fiber if it is eaten raw. Just make sure that the more fiber he eats the more water he should drink because otherwise he'll be constipated from the fiber with no easy way to get it back out! Water and fiber is key. Good luck!

http://www.chefwalton.com

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When my daughter was younger she went through a no veggie stage, so I had to get creative as well. I would steam broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and then mash them into ground turkey. Then season as you like and make them into hamburgers, top with cheese and voila. She loved these and I did too.

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We also have a picky eater but have found that the acceptability of certain veggies depends on the preparation. For example, my daughter loves raw carrots but does not like cooked carrots; I often peel fresh carrots and hand them off to her while I'm preparing dinner so that she's getting some veggies. She loves raw bell pepper but won't eat it cooked; I cut it into long strips and either serve with dinner or as a snack. She likes broccolli but only when it is either steamed and served dressed with seasoned rice vinegar, or boiled/ stir fried with soy sauce. (I do cook the broccoli slightly more that my husband and I prefer, as she doesn't like it to be very crunchy-- I figure it's better for her to eat broc in some form than not at all). We have also had success with sugar snap peas and edamame; she likes the peas raw and the edamame can be cold or hot. Slices of peeled cucumber are popular, sprinkled with a pinch of salt or served with seasoned rice vinegar.

Fruit can also help with constipation. My daughter *loves* prunes (I tell her they're called dried plums to amuse myself) so she gets those from time to time.

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Use the food processor or blender to puree veggies (carrots, zucchini, peas etc) and mix them in to your spaghetti sauce and use for pasta or pizza topping. I also use polenta (in the log form) instead of noodles to make lasagna and I also use it instead of dough to make bite size baby pizzas. Keep serving the veggies - ultimately as they get older they'll eat more of them, if only to get dessert as my son now 8 does.

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If he goes for the smoothies, you can add squash, carrots, or even steamed spinach, kale, or broccoli to them. I had a recipe for very cold pineapple juice with kale and parsley--my son didn't go for that, but he does have peanut butter banana shake (from Cathe Olson) 1 frozen banana (chopped up then frozen), 1 T peanut butter, 1/2 c milk with a veggie added (steamed broccoli, sweet potato, winter squash, carrots) at least once or twice a week and never complains about the veggie. It helps to have a good blender to puree the veggie. If it is in chunks, he won't drink it.

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My 4 year old still HATES veggies. I always put them on his plate but I've gotten really creative in hiding them in his normal foods. Decepitvly Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld was great but I didn't like some of her receipies. But she does teach you the basics on how to HIDE them.

Spaghetti is where I can hide the most veggies!! I steam, then puree and freeze carrots, zucchni, squash and spinich and add them to my sauce. Sometimes bell pepper (but you can really taste bell pepper so start with easier tasting veggies) My hubby cannot even tell when I've hidden veggies.

Tacos: add tomotoes and sweet potato or carrots or butternut squash to the meat!! YUMMY The meat is very moist and full of flavor!!

Chicken Nuggets: dip chicken chunks in pureed broccoli, spinach, sweet potato or beet before you bread them and bake.

Add spinach to the pizza sauce before serving.

Breakfast can have veggies too. Try dipping french toast in pumpkin before cooking and squash or zucchini to muffins, put sweet potato in pancakes.

Jessica Seinfeld puts spinach and carrots in brownies, sweet potato in hot chocolate and beet in chocolate cake.

Veggies can be hidden but you should still always have some on his plate at the meal time. I also started weining them from the pureed foods and started chunking them in the sauces so they get used to seeing the veggies but it still tastes the same (only after they were sucessfully eaten pureed).

Email me if you want exact receipes. I'd gladly give them to you in you are interested.

Blessings,
L.

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Frozen veggie burgers are easy. You might need to put a sauce or ketchup on them to make them more appetizing.

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Constipation is not only a fiber thing. It can be related to other issues as well. Does he have IBS? does he burp, is he gassy,crampy? (fungal or bacterial etyology) An early sign of thiamine deficiency (vit B1) is constipation. Dehydration , consuming vitamins with a high Iron content, antacids for Gerd, parasites and cell wall deficent bacteria causes constipation.

I would get him off the pizza, sausage, and chicken nuggets, because of the SOY and MSG they contain. Rice is included in the BRAT diet, so it is used to firm up stools with kids who have diahhrea.

This should help him :

fulvic acid - 1 T (twice a day) with meals or vitamins
Cod liver oil - 1 T a day
B vitamin complex - twice a day

Also more raw(not canned) fruits. especially apples.
Fulvic acid will help him metabolize the carbs, the protiens, and help him produce enzymes to help break down his food. It also has magnesium and 60 other trace minerals that will support the uptake of your B complex and vit A. Vit B supports the nervous system (including elimination) and get's depleted easily so it's always a good idea to give kids B complex. Cod Liver oil is good for the high vitamin A content, (it also has vit D) and the essential oil it contains (both good for IBS symptoms).

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Have you tried a high fiber bread or tortilla instead of veggies for now? My son love PB & J, I only make it with Milton's Whole Grain bread or I wrap it in a small high fiber tortilla. He loves them both. Also, make sure he drinks plenty of water with the increased fiber.

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My pedi told me to stop stressing - my picky son was pushing my buttons. Give him as much fruit as you can and yogurt that helps with fiber. does he eat cereal? Cheerios always help my son "go". Ease off the sausage - high salt makes you constipated too. You can hide veggies in pizza make you own with Boboli crusts and put very thinly sliced mushrooms or onions under a thick layer of cheese. You can also blend steamed peas and corn into your favorite tomato sauce to put on the pizza - it's good on pasta too - but the color is different so it might not fool him. ( it didn't work for my friend Candee's son)
Try brown rice.
He'll be more interrested in your food as he gets older - my son will try almost anything if it's on Daddy's plate - at least once. ;)

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TURKEY PATTIES:
Ground turkey with fine chopped potatoes, carrots and onions...you could even put some broccoli and or yellow squash!!!
& add eggs, garlic powder,apple cider vinegar, oatmeal, mustard, salt and pepper... and you can add what ever you want too!!

But from a mother of an other costipated child, the only thing that is natural and harmless that can help them is:
Magnesium Citrate (at least 200 mgs), Vitamin C (at least 1,000- 2,000 mgs) and a 1/2 teaspoon of Xylitol(natural sugar)twice a day!!! Trust me works like a charm... also helps with immune functions, and calmness (& better sleep)...

Take away pasteurized milk and products and try Raw Colostum or Milk (www.organicpastures.com)This also help digestion and gets rid of gas!!!

Love, G.. :0)
http://stemcellforautism.blogspot.com/

"I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical. Even God had some Autistic moments, which is why the planets all spin." ~ Jerry Newport

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M.,
My sister just emailed me a suggestion for Macaroni and Cheese. She adds a couple of scoops of pureed carrots to the Whole Grain Macaroni and Cheese she makes and her 1 year old and 4 year old have no idea! Just another idea, and of course the color makes it very doable!
Regards,
D.

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Hi M.,

I had the same problem with my granddaughter.
She hated veggies. I started her on some jadegreenzymes and sprinkled it in her bottle, put it in juice and now she loves it.

One teaspoon of this is like eating 4 veggies.

If you are interested let me know and I will share.

Have a great day.

N. Marie

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Hi M.,
Regarding your childs' needs for veggies, I have had to take care of picky eaters before and I would puree veggies and add them to the sauce in Macaroni and Cheese or potatoes with butter. It changes the flavor slightly, but they usually don't notice.
The best technique I have found though that works with my own 15 month old son is that I eat plenty of vegetables myself. Children really want to learn from us and copy us. My son wants to eat and drink what I eat and drink, therefore if I eat my vegetables, he eats his vegetables.
Your son is getting a lot of fiber with his fruite and rice, it is meat and cheese and bread that constipate. Make sure he is also getting plenty of liquids. that will help with constipation.
Also keep in mind that children's taste buds change and what he may refuse now could be his favorites later.
good luck, hope this helps

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My daughter enjoyed potatoe and macaroni salad so it was easy to sneak raw veggies in by chopping them into very small pieces. Try adding a SMALL amount of wheatgerm into hot oatmeal in the morning. Also add cooked mashed califlower to regular mashed potatoes.

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M.,

Malto-meal or Cream of Wheat are great for kids and it helps them get their bowels going....As for the veggies, whatever you are cooking,put some veggies in a blender and bake with it. Its a great way to sneak in the veggies. Also, experiment with making a pizza together-- get the dough rolled out and cut up a bunch of veggies and make a funny face-- kids love eating something that they made. My son is very picky on food, but I make him at least try something new-- so make it fun! Maybe he will like it?

M.

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Hi- Switch to only whole wheat grain products, they have lots of fiber and some protein too. Whole wheat bread, pasta and tortillas are main staples in our house. As for the veggies you can put little slices of zucinni, red peppers etc. in the pasta. Raw carrot sticks and green beans are fun, maybe with some ranch dressing or humus. If you only serve him what you want him to eat he'll eat it eventually, just don't offer the other foods. Good luck!

My boys were both constipated at some point, so I would give them a small container of prunes (gerber has a small size plastic container), which is naturally sweet, so they thought it was jus the best treat. You would have thought it was chocolate (a lot of people would see me feeding them and thought it was chocolate pudding!). I would give one a day until they became regular.

There is a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious out there. It is written by a mom on how to sneak vegies into food and snacks (even cookies) I have not tried a bad food out of it. It does take a little foreplanning but overall it is easy once you try it.

K.

Check out the Deceptively Delicious cookbook! You can sneak a lot of veggies into the coating on a chicken nugget! Good luck.

Try the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. I just borrowed it from the library and am going to try some of the recipes for my picky eater, but others who have used it have said they are great and the kids don't know the difference.

Try making up hamburger or meatloaf using a lot of veggies. I also use tuna or salmon and mix with finely chopped veggies, fine bread crumbs or cooked rice, and an egg to hold it together. Make this up into patties and fry in a little bit of vegetable oil. This will be a rather loose pattie, so it takes a little patience, but the kids love them, and if they fall apart in the pan, simply scoop them out and serve anyway. These take about 3 minutes per side over a medium heat to cook through.

There are actually 2 books...Deceptively Delicious and The Sneaky Chef. My 4 1/2 year old loves a little something for dessert, but if she doesn't eat her veggies, we tell her, "That's okay, but you don't get a cookie for dessert." It took a while, but she has FINALLY gotten much better about eating veggies.

There is a great cookbook called "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld that is full of recipes like this. The concept is really around using purees in foods so the kids don't really "see" the veggies. My husband is a picky eater and I find I am hiding the veggies as much for him as for my kids. I have made many of the recipes and they are really good. Some examples, mac & cheese with pureed cauliflower, brownies with pureed spinach, meatballs with pureed carrot. The meals are healthy and easy to make. I make a few purees once a week and just keep them on hand in the freezer.

as a recovered picky eater i have a few ideas. if he eats spaghetti sauce, puree some vegetables into that, zucchinni is good for this. actually you can bled almost anything and stick it into spaghetti sauce without it being too noticable... try it.

really, the blender is your friend...try fruit smoothies and add an avacado or carrot to the blend. carrot juice can actually be very sweet!

oh, and my kids really like-fresh from the bag, frozen peas! dont cook them, put them in a bowl for an afternoon snack! very good in summer, but my kids will eat them anytime.

try to figure out what is the root of his pickyness. what i mean is, i HATEED and still dislike, watery crunchy vegetables. everybody tells me that celery has no taste, but it is the texture that i am unable to overcome.

my daughter hates cooked carrots but will eat raw carrots all day long.

often it is a texture/taste combo that is challenging to the young pallet. try things till you find a favorite vegetable, and let him have that...but again. puree into sauces, and cut up in small pieces into quesadillas, and try some tempura or other battered and fried options.(sparingly, but just to see...)

if he can't see green, it will be easier to get him to try it.

ok, good luck!

As mentioned below smoothies are a great way to sneak fiber in. I use to add prune juice to the smoothie along with some orange juice (and whatever fruit you choose) as the o.j. kinda takes away from the prune juice taste.

I go through the samething with my 4 year old he wont eat next to anyone with vegies in there plate he said the smell of food makes him sick.The only thing i can sneak in his food is sqush and i have to peal it befor i boil it so he cant see it.
Good luck

Hi M.,

I shredded carrots really thin and added them to the spaghetti sauce and my kids never knew the difference. Then I started shredding spinach and adding it and again they did not know the difference.

SJW

a couisinart will become your best friend. That's how we initially got our baby to eat veggies and sometimes still meat. You puree them and add them into anything. For the spaghetti, he wont notice squash - it's about the same color. You could get away with coliflower in there too. Be creative.

Get the book "Deceptively Delicious" by Jennifer Seinfeld (yes, Jerry Seinfeld's wife). It's all about making veggie purees to add to food (but you also always keep the actual veggies on the plate as well so they still get the idea that they're supposed to eat veggies - you just won't have to stress about how many of the whole ones they eat off the plate because they'll already be in the main course!)

Seinfeld's wife recently came out with a cookbook specifically for this - sneaking veggies into all sorts of recipes. I am sure if you go to Barnes and Nobles and tell them you want the cookbook that Seinfeld's wife wrote, they will be able to help you out.
Good luck!

Sounds like you have already received lots of great advice about getting your kids to eat veggies. For my picky eater, I also give him Pediasure to drink. My youngest son had trouble gaining weight, and Pediasure was just about the only calories we could reliably get into him on many days. It's not ideal, but it was probably a life saver for us. Anyway, it has lots of vitamins and minerals, and they also make a version with fiber. Also, increasing his intake of any kind of non-sugary beverage, especially water, will help with constipation. Good luck!

Hi M.

Maybe you would like this book " Deceptively Delicious " from Jessica Seinfeld
It has many recipes to " hide" veggies on food.
have a look!!
Good luck!

Have you heard of the cook book by Jessica Seinfeld? It's called Deceptively Delicious, and it's all about sneaking in the good stuff. I haven't used it myself (I'm blessed with a non-picky eater), but I have friends who love it. Good luck!

Duh... now I see all the responses before me! Sounds like you've now heard of the book! :)

I have the perfect cookbook! This book is all about sneaking vegetables into kids foods by pureeing them. The book is called Deceptively Delicious
They have a web-site. Have fun!

Try grating up the veggies and baking them in meatloaf, chili, spaghetti sauce. Beans are also a good source of fiber. Teach him the "beans, beans are a magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot" song. He may think it is so funny that he will enjoy eating beans.

For great veggie dishes, I recommend the enchanted broccoli forest by the moosewood restaurant. The recipe the book is named after is a rice casserole with broccoli baked to look like trees.

BTW, bannanas can be constipating. Not all fruit is created equal. And make sure he is drinking enough water.

Hi M.-
My mother told me that when she first met my father, he refused to eat vegetables- mainly squash and zucchini. So she tricked him until he couldn't say he didn't like them. SHe made zucchini bread, a pureed zucchini soup, a spaghetti squash "pizza", and more. Let me know if you want some recipes. The pizza is the easiest. YOu take a spaghetti squash, cut it in half (like a french bread pizza), bake it till the center gets soft, then take a fork and shred it a little bit. Then, add some tomato sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until cheese is bubbling. YOu can put whatever other toppings you want, but the basics are the best. you can also bake it and then put some butter or Mrs. Dash for healthy flavor. It's really good and it doesn't taste like veggies! The soup is great, too, and I can get you the recipe if you would like.
-E. M.

does he like hard cookies or hard biscuits? metamucil makes a fiber bar (two in each little pack) that has 24% of your daily fiber. they come in cinnamon or apple flavor, not an overpowering flavor, very light and slightly sweet. have a big glass of water with them. you can also buy yogurt now that has fiber in it and of course whole wheat spaghetti, but it does have a different texture to it. my son loves it, but then he's 11 !!! raspberries also have 8 grams of fiber in one cup. good luck!!

I bought a book called Deceptively Delicious - would recommend it!

if he eats spagehetti sauce you can hide pureed broccoli and spinach in the sauce, there are good books out there with recipes for hiding veggies in all kinds of foods Try a dip of plain yogurt which tastes like sour cream and have him dip his veggies in it or a yogurt sauce which is how I get my son to eat veggies I also put a small amount of butter n top of broccoli and cauliflower to entice his taste buds
might be worth a try, at least keep offering veggies, you can also find whole grain pastas whole wheat or brown rice that have more fiber and taste pretty good
good luck

Hi M.,

Putting ground flaxseed in his yogurt or smoothie is an easy great way to get fiber in his diet. I also give my kids Juice Plus+ everyday. It is 17 fruits, veggies and grains minus the water, sugar and salt. It is whole food. You can check out my web ____@____.com
Good Luck!

L.
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Hi M.,

I have a 14 month old, and found that he too likes his carbs over his veggies. So what has worked for us...is I give him his veggies first, like an appetizer. Its usually green beens or asparagus right now. Either steam them or microwave, and then a touch of butter. When he's really hungry, he'll eat it. And I do this while I'm getting his dinner ready, so he doesn't see what he's eating for the main course. This may be harder for an older boy, but you could give it a try. Or offer him some broccoli steamed with a small measure of cheddar melted on it???

Good luck,
A.

We like to eat blueberries. In the summer we eat them fresh and all year we eat frozen (not even thawed). If you start with blueberries and add a little whipped cream, maybe that will work for a special treat? We also like to eat popcorn. Both snacks have lots of fiber. Lastly, we like fiber 1 bars too.
D.

You can mix cauliflower into mashed potatos (broccoli too) and you can mix broccoli into cottage cheese. The smaller the better. We literally pureed it and mixed into foods.

I can sneak ANYTHING into marinara sauce. So when you make pizza use whole wheat crust and add whatever you like to sauce. I have used carrots, brocolli, spinach, even sweet potatoe. My son does not have a clue and eats it up :)

But the book "Deceptively Delicious". It's got great ideas for adding purees to different foods (lots of recipes). My doctor told me that he and his wife use it, but instead of pureeing their own food they use baby food (I thought that was brilliant!). But I know exactly how you feel, my daughter will pick out the tiniest of veggies in foods when I try to hide them (she even picked out basil flakes out of her pasta sauce!).

Good luck!

Hi M.~

Check out the cookbook, "Deceptively Delicious". Has great recipes to sneak veggies into recipes, even muffins and cookies! Good luck!

You can sneak vegetables into the sauce if you make your own pizza. Saute some zucchini, onion, mushrooms, & spinach in a little olive oil, then put it in the blender with the tomato sauce. You can also use this as spaghetti sauce.