Hello Mamas! Here is my problem: my 19 months old used to love vegetables and all of a sudden is refusing to eat them. He now wants to eat mainly cheese singles, tator tots, cheeseburgers, pasta with meat sauce. Well, I'd like for his diet to be richer in fibers and I do try to drop few peas in the pasta sauce but he does not get fooled easily..he picks them out! I just baked a lasagna with peas in it (hoping that it'll work this time) but I have a whole dish of green beens and i don't want to throw it away. Any idea?? Maybe a casserole, but what do I put in it??? Thanks!!
Thank you all soo much for your tips! I bought the book and made a casserole out of the beans (my mother in law gave me the recipe). I was really surprise at some of the things you do to hide the veggies..in muffins??? I am going to try that too! Thanks again.
Hey there! I would just simply try a different "form" of them first. My kids and my hubby hate green beans...unless they are french cut! They will eat them all night long if I buy the french cut. So just simply try frech cut or frozen or fresh steamed ones first. Good luck!!
Make chicken nuggets....
Puree green beans, dip chicken pieces in green bean puree, then dip in bread crumbs and then fry. The kids don't know the difference. Good luck! I have two very picky eaters and I have to hide food all of the time! I also bought a VitaMix and make fruit smoothies but also put cabbage and carrots in them and my kids can't taste it. It was expensive but well worth it to get my children to get the nutrition they need but won't eat. Good luck!
puree and put them in chili, sauces, as a tempura coating or in hamburgers. Look on the foodnetwork.com for creative ways to make them a bit on the sweet side which appeals to kids.
I puree veggies and tofu to put in chili and lasagne because hubby won't eat veggies. It's working so far.
Buy the cook book called Deceptively Delisious (sp). You basically puree veggies and put certain ones in certain dishes and the kids have no clue! Great cookbook!!
Your best bet is to look at the sneaky chef online she has a really good cook book and I have done a few sneaky things myself. I sometimes add a jar of the stage 1 baby carrots to mac and cheese, to home made cheeseburgers add a stage 1 blueberries while making the patties to cook. You can add the stage one green beans to the pasta sauce...no one knows the better. Those green beans puree them and add them to things after freezing them in ice cube trays it'll be your secret. I add stuff to cupcakes as well and brownies the stage one blueberries or applesauce makes them really moist and again no one knows a little can help. good luck.
Don't know how to hide veggies but I wouldn't stress about him not eating them much either. They go through fazes with food, some worse than others. My friend has a boy the same age as mine and most of Dec her son at nothing but peanut butter sandwiches for lunch!! While my son will shovel pretty much anything you put in front of him to his mouth! I got lucky and my daughter was never a picky eater either but I do remember her Ped told me that if I ever became concerned to just get her a kids multi vitimun and give her half a day. You can also make up the one bit rule where he has to take one bite of all his food before you let him down from the table. And don't make him a special meal just because you know he won't eat the food you made, it's a bad habit that he'll stick with (I have a 16yr old cousin who's mom is still his short order cook!) and you'll find yourself makeing 2-3 different dinners a night!!
Here's what I do with green beans-2 beef bullion cubs to 1 can of green beans. Warm them on the stove till the bullion is disolved. Gives them a nice flavor.
Good luck!!
S.
You can bake just about any vegetable into a muffin. Shred them when fresh and incorporate them into a yummy muffin recipe. I prefer making whole grain muffins, but you can use what you currently use. Don't let him be in charge at the table. We used to go to Dr.Denmark, who turned 110 on Sat. and still does phone consultations. She would say to make the meal healthy-a small portion of protein, veggies, fruit and starch. Don't allow snacking or juice in between cause he won't be as hungry. Sit down with him, and when you are done eating, clear his food away (unless he is actively still eating). Don't let him eat anything else till morning. He'll soon learn that he needs to eat the food that Mommy caringly makes him. Too many kids that come play at our house live on hot dogs, chicken nuggets and french fries. They have a future of major health issues brewing.
One little trick I did with my kids was that they had to eat their age in bites of something they were not fond of. After a while it no longer became an issue and they are all great eaters now.
T. Moen
For us, even just sauteeing green beans with (turkey) bacon seemed to do wonders for our picky little eater. Broccoli goes well when I make sure I put visible butter on her serving. Green bean casserole and Broccoli Cheese casserole are my go-to recipes for vegees. I've replaced just about every vegetable in those casserole recipes to suit our dinner. Another thing she has really latched on to is vegees w/ranch dressing. Celery disappears in a flash these days!!
Good Luck and I have heard good things about the Deceptively Delicous book mentioned earlier.
I have made "spiders" with one nice meatball (beef or vegetarian substitute) for the spider's middle and a couple of corn niblets for eyes and then add your green beans as his legs.
It has worked for us and now my kiddo loves the legs without the necessity of the spider.
My daughter loves her greens and her friends love my veggies too. My grandparents are Italian, so I make my greens the same way my grandmother does... heat up a little olive oil and garlic in a pan, then add the green beans (already cooked). Saute until they're heated through. Viola! The different flavor might taste good to him! Good luck!
