What Veggies Do Your Kids Eat?

I have 2 boys ages 10 and 8! My 10 year old will only eat corn and my 8 year old won't eat any veggies at all! I use to be able to play a game with him and say Mommy is going to beat you, but it doesn't work anymore and with fruit, the only fruit either of them will eat is banana's,grapes,and watermelon and that is it. So what I started doing is buying V8 fruit juice in the small cans, it comes in a pack of 6 and comes in all kinds of flavors and my boys like the banana/strawberry flavor. And with V8 juice they get a serving of fruits and veggies so I give them a can a day so I know they are at least getting something in their system. So that is what Iam doing. Good Luck

My daughter (age 4) eats:

- Canned or extremely steamed carrots (if steamed, then they must be super soft). She started eating the canned carrots first. If you want to introduce carrots, I'd start with no salt canned carrots and then slowly introduce steamed carrots instead.
-broccoli (with ketch-up! ugh!)
-Asparagus (but we call it celery... the Wonder Pets cartoon eat "celery").
-Canned grean beans
-Corn (fresh and on the cob)
-Celery (but it has to be de-stringed, with peanut butter and raisins.. aka: ants on a log)
-Cole slaw (we call it "mermaid seaweed")

Unfortunately, she refuses lettuce, fresh tomatoes, squash.

My boys are 3 and 4. The veggies they like and ask for are green beans, corn, carrots, edamame beans, and peas (frozen type, not canned). They like zucchini bread a lot (made with wheat flour and I reduce the amt of sugar). I also sneak eggplant and spinach into spaghetti sauce and I add minced spinach to meatloaf too. Baked sweet potatoes are always a hit. Sometimes when I make pancakes, I add a little canned pumpkin and cinnamon. I have also gotten them to eat cauliflower under the guise of mashed potatoes! You steam the cauliflower and then put it in a food processor with a little milk, a pat of butter, and salt/pepper. It sounds odd, I know, but it's actually quite good. I hope this helps! :)

My children like most veggies. My son (3 yrs) will not eat artichokes, cucumbers or raw tomatoes and my daughter (15 months) will not eat avocados or raw tomatoes. She has not tasted swiss chard, kale and endives yet.
At our home:
Carrots, broccolis, can be raw or steamed. Green beans are usually steamed.
Eggplants usually go diced, mixed with canned mini raviolis and covered by feta cheese (15 minutes in the oven) or cooked in other recipes. My husband makes a wonderful sauteed eggplant as side dish.
Cauliflower are either steamed or steamed + mixed with bechamel and ham (and gratin 15 minutes in the oven)
Mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, carrots, zucchinis, onions, corn, leeks, green beans can go into risottos, pasta sauce or pies.
Squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, onions, leeks make wonderful soups and purees.
Asparagus love mayonnaise (not that good, I know!)
Cabbage, kale, spinach are steamed or included in other recipes (like spinach omelet, lasagna)
Fennel is good grilled, as well as sweet potato, zucchinis, peppers
When not in salad, I cook endives (chicory?) in orange juice to remove bitterness (and remove the core) and add some sauteed mushrooms.
I am not a fan of swiss chard, so the children can taste it only when we eat out. Same for shell fish!
I am not sure of beans go to the veggies category but we have many recipes, soups, side dish, main dish and salads for all kinds of beans (black, red, pinto, kidney, fava...) and chick peas and lentils.
When out of inspiration, I use allrecipes.com

My kids eat all vegetables. They even like cauliflower and artichoke. For the most part I add them to whatever I make like pasta or quesadillas, but some veggies they like just plain like broccoli, carrots and peas. We buy it all frozen or fresh but never canned. My kids like veggies mashed in sweet potato with a sprinkle of brown sugar or in the homemade mac & cheese I make.

Personally I think the fact that your kids eat avocados and tomatoes is awesome! Not many kids like them. My son’s favorite sandwich is avocado, tomato and cheese on flax seed bread!

I was never a fan of broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots, etc. My mom started steaming the broccoli and carrots. Then a little butter, pepper, and garlic powder to season. (I don't add the butter anymore now) This became my new favorite over green beans. (My dad and I would have bean races during dinner so that he would eat green beans. Yet he thought it was I who wouldn't eat them, lol) My husband loves cauliflower, so I added it to the broccoli and carrots and then tried it. Don't know what I was afraid of. I tried zucchini because my mom went on a zucchini kick.
I suggest food races as a fun game. Also keep adding the vegetables to things they like. My friend hinds the vegetables in almost anything, but in the long run I don't see the kids eating it on their own free will (if they find any little pieces of yucky stuff, they pick it out). Try different seasonings and preparations.
Cauliflower mashed potatoes is an idea I've read. Maple syrup glazed sweet potatoes or sweat potato fries.
This idea could be a hit or miss, but when you're buying produce try asking what on the shelf would they like to try. Most likely they don't like the look of the food, so maybe another vegetable looks more edible to them.

Hi R.----I think that most of these suggestions are valid and you will just have to find which method works best with which foods. But kids a quick to learn and you will have to adapt quickly to stay ahead of them.

Hiding veggies in different foods, I really like to put lots of different things in smoothies, I think is a good strategy for the short term. There is a will known process called metabolic programming. By that, every cell in the body recongnizes when it gets good nutrition, and, after time, starts to crave those veggies. So, after sneaking the veggies in other foods, while at the same time offering them to your kids on their plates, your kids will start to eat some veggies.

I too, believe that you should require at least a bite or two of each new food. I tell my kids that cannot tell me they don't like something if they've never tried it. Then, I let it be...for that meal. I recommend spending a little time a www.askDrSears.com. Dr. Bill and his son Dr. Jim (the ABC show The Doctors) have a great section on picky eaters. With loving PERSISTENCE, your babies will soon be great eaters.

Lastly, if you are concerned with their nutrition, I would like to share with you what my family does for fruit and veggie insurance. If you are interested, I highly recommend, as does Dr. Bill, a whole food supplement made of 17 different dehydrated juice powders put into capsules and gummies. Can you imagine how healthy you and your family would be 'eating' parsley, kale, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets and spinach each and every day? You'll have the 'Healthiest Kids in the Neighborhood'. (a Dr. Sears book) Speaking of his books, you should go get Eat Healthy, Feel Great. A cute kids book based on 'traffic light eating'. Also has a great chart showing red/yellow/green light foods. There are actually a whole bunch of kids books about healthy eating. Contact me and I can share some additional titles.

Good luck and keep trying. I look forward to hearing from you. Keep cool. D.

The only veggies my 2 yr old and 4 yr old like are can green beans with seasoning salt, corn on the cob, plain lettuce, breaded green beans cooked in oven. Once in a great while peas with a little butter.

My son is VERY picky about veggies. They are all different. You can puree them in a food processor and add to tomato sauce... or there are cookbooks out there to disguise them. We've had luck w/ Artichokes - dipping in butter sauce and asparagus (dipping too). I always told my kids that broccolli were little trees and it sometimes works. Sweet potato fries are good - or just sweet potatoes! Overall, it sounds like they are doing pretty well!!!

My son is 13 months. He loves all veggies. I'll give them to him straight, or add them to food. Such as:

--I add beans, peas, onions, and/or corn to quesadillas or burritos.
--I make a healthy chicken enchilada, which has lots of veggies, including tomatoes, corn, green peppers (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken...; but I sometimes make my own enchilada sauce. And take out some of the chilis if you want it mild)
--I add chopped veggies and pureed pumpkin to tomato sauce
--I make egg fritattas and and omelets and add peas, broccoli, onions, or any other veggie on hand.
--Add veggies to calzones
--carrot apple slaw. Shred apples and carrots. Mix and add lemon juice to prevent browning.

Keep trying and you'll find something! Kids also go through stages, so they may start to like them.

They all eat what ever vegetable that I cook.

my son loves salad with croutons and ranch dressing. he likes collard greens but won't eat mustard or turnip greens. he likes celery and brocolli ( the brocolli can be raw or cooked). OHH he LOVES corn on the cob he will eat it hot,cold days old it does not matter. no califlower, oh my son is 4.

Funny, there's another question right now about the same thing from a different mom wanting to learn to get her daughter to eat more veggies.

While people swear by "Deliciously Deceptive" by Jessica Seinfeld, it's taken some criticism, and I'm one of the people who isn't such a fan because it doesn't teach the kids to learn to like the taste of the veggies and doesn't retain all the value in the process of blending/cooking.

I think you're doing really well with the start you have with the veggies you do.
Strangely, my kids like all the ones yours don't. Neither does my husband, but I made him promise, when we had kids, that he would find a way to eat them with a smile.

We don't really give our kids an option. They have to try a few bites. I try not to mask the flavor. I want them to learn to like the taste of broccoli/cauliflower by adding a little oil/butter and salt or parmesan cheese.

My only other suggestion is to try to let them help you pick-out recipes they're willing to try (stir fry, couscous, etc) that have new veggies in them.

Good luck!

My kids are 21 months and 4 yo. The only things we have found that they won't eat are mushrooms and shrimp. Onion is not a fave, but they'll eat it. We have always had the rule that you have to try what's on your plate - you don't have to like it, but you have to try some. And I do not cook alternative foods...I don't want to turn in to a short order cook. My son went through a phase around three where one minute he LOVEd something and the next minute you couldn't get him to touch it...thankfully that was pretty shortly lived. I think the biggest reason they are good veggie eaters is because we have had a garden since they were born. Before dinner, daddy takes the kids out to check the garden. They like eating and trying everything they have grown...it's a big deal. We have grown onion, squash and zucchini, broccoli, tomatoes, okra, chard, carrots and many other veggies. We also have blackberry and strawberries along our fence. I think being a part of it has opened them up to enjoying it.

With the age groups you are working with I would stick to what you know they like and try adding new veggies every once in awhile. You can put it with the ones they like already.

My son (8) goes through weird stages, you used to love mushrooms and now I can't get him to eat them. I've gave up on trying to get him to eat them.

He eats just about anything else but sometimes he say he doesn't like one veggie he's had a thousand times. I don't push it and I'll try it later down the road.

He'll eat broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, green beans, peppers.

Hi Rachel,
My girl is very picky eater, she LOVES meat (chicken, meat, fish, etc) but fruits and veggies are a fight. Lucky she loves tomato, broccoli and spinach. Every once in a while I add a new one to check if she likes them now and also every once in a while she gets I don't care you are eating it, lol.
I was a lot more estric with my 12 year old maybe because I was young and in different conditions but one of the good things is that she would eat anything.
Now I am more lay back with my 2 year old and is taking for ever!!
I am still looking for the in between.
Sometimes I trick her with something she likes and in the back of the fork I put a veggie she doesn't like, I can tell she is working on her tongue skills to eat only the "good" stuff, lol.
BTW, I am soo jealous of mom SB!!!

My kids routinely eat broccoli, cauliflour, potatoes, carrots, celery, peas, snap peas, corn, many kinds of beans, whole tomatoes and tomato sauce, spinach, squash when mixed in with other things, onions only in minute amounts and garlic in minute amounts, sweet potatoes

I'm lucky...my son never ate a veggie he didn't like! My hubby is the "picky O." in our house!
(Actually the only food my son will not eat is honey walnut cream cheese for some odd reason....and Big Red Gum!)

My 6 year old will eat anything in front of him. He loves all fruits and veggies, and it has never been an issue. My 8 year old is a different story. I bought a cookbook by Jerry Seinfeld's wife and basically you steam and puree veggies and hide it in their food. Either that or bargain with them. If you eat this green spinach leaf, I'll take you to Edward McCay and buy a movie....I'll fix your favorite dessert.

Veggies that my son will eat are pretty much potatoes, green beans, corn and spinach cooked with pasta and lots of alfredo sauce. (Doesn't that kind of cancel out the veggie). He's 11 years old.

I admire you for getting any vegies down them at all. My son will eat about the same as yours but my daughter will only eat dill pickles. Now the only juice I give my kids is V8 fusion so that gives them a full serving of vegies per glass which makes me feel better about not eating vegies. Try growing a small garden of the vegies they wont eat. Maybe if they grow them they will eat them. Although that didnt work for my daughter, my son goes out and picks the cherry tomatoes right off the vines and eats them LOL