my kid’s actin like veg is poison - any easy meals they’ll actually eat?

[2ooTired2Care]

so my little girl’s 3 and already a pro at dodging greens. won’t touch a pea, gives broccoli the side-eye every time. i’ve tried hiding stuff in pasta, mashing it up, even made little broccoli trees once. she still clocked it.

anyone got go-to meals their toddlers actually eat without a fight? not trying to be a chef, just want something half decent with veggies in it. uk stuff ideally, i’m not hunting down fancy kale flakes or anything. cheers, i’m losing this dinner war. Help.

My best advice is to stop obviously caring.

Eat together as a family. Continue to serve veg up in different ways and don't encourage it to be eaten in any way at all. Enjoy your dinner and talk about your day or pepper pig or something that has nothing to do with food.

Division of labour. Your job is to provide a healthy meal. It's not your job to make another person chew and swallow it

In terms of serving the veg, try it raw, boiled, fried, roasted, with butter, or cheese sauce etc

Aye. Thanks for serving advice. To be honest I hate to admit it I think my little girl nearly has me wrapped around her little finger. Different story with her mother though.

Is it just green veg she doesn't like? Does your little girl like mashed potato? If she does then you can sneak into parsnips or cauliflower. They are both a similar colour to regular potatoes and when cooked mashed together don't taste too different. Just cook alongside your potatoes. If she likes sweet potato that's a good source of vegetable nutrition too. Lentils can be added to mince dishes and they count towards your veg intake. Good luck.

My kids are veg dodgers too. I have had good results with hidden veg in pasta sauces, but I blitz them really small in my food processor before cooking so the little bits aren't visible. My bolognese and chilli has more veg in than actual meat at this point, there's usually a whole aubergine in there somewhere.

I make a big batch of bolognaise once a week with lots of diced celery and carrots in it. Also creamy pasta with chicken and peas goes down well. I think the cream compensates for the peas! Have you tried crudites and hummus? My DC will eat almost anything if they can dip it in hummus.

Just don't stress about it. My son weirdly would only eat broccoli for years. He's now a 6ft 3in vegan who can't get enough veg. He never knew he had carrots in his bolognese and shepherd's pie growing up. Parsnips in mash is a great idea as well.

This can be a typical developmental stage for many children, even if they've been given (and eaten) every veg under the sun until this point. At this stage my DD ate little else other than fruit, ham sandwiches and fromage frais. She got over it eventually and now eats everything, and is having similar battles with her own DC 😂. Two of my others were extremely picky with veg at one stage or another too. I fully appreciate the frustration!

I definitely echo the advice to totally take the pressure off mealtimes. As long as she eats, it's fine for a while. Put her favourite food, that you'll know she'll eat on her plate, and let her enjoy it. Put some veg on a separate plate, just leave it beside her but don't push her to eat. Often food on a separate plate is less threatening. Experiment with raw veg, one of mine would eat his veg raw before a roast, then didn't have to have any at dinner time. Are there any sauces or dips she likes? Will she eat carrots, cucumber, raw pepper etc?

Honestly, try not to worry about it, although I know how hard that can be. Is she getting regular, filling meals that she enjoys? Then she is well cared for. She will eat veg in time, I promise, but in the meantime just experiment away from meal times with different veg served in different ways, but don't do anything that is going to raise anxiety levels in either of you. The crux of the matter is how you describe it as a "war". Take the battle away, nobody wants to be made to eat things, and in a conflict situation.

What worked for us was to put out a plate of crudités (cucumber, pepper sticks, carrot sticks, sugar snaps, slices of apple etc) while the dinner was being cooked. The kids were hungry and would eat some before the main dinner arrived. Then I wouldn't need to worry if they didn't eat much veg during the meal.

Try to figure out if your child like particular textures. veg. For example are they fond of cucumber or celery as it’s cool and crunchy or do they prefer sweeter veg like carrots or sweetcorn? You might just give them cold salad type veg on the side to ensure they eat veggies. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Every day offer fruit as snacks as they will get enough fibre and goodness from fruit if they are vegetable resistant.

Roasting veg is always a good option, as it brings out the sweetness of veg.
What about little ramekin dish of dip…like hummus or Greek yoghurt or even some kind of salad dressing.

Our childminder used to make Ants on a Log. It was celery, with peanut butter and raisin sprinkled on top. Children loved it and it was so creative as well as tasty.

Another suggestion is to ALWAYS put a bowl with salad on the table, but add diff veggies, have a rotation. Peppers, cucumber, carrot, apple, tomatoes…just change it up every day.

good luck.

I read on here a while back where someone bought some paw patrol stickers and put them on bags of veg as their dc hated veg but would happily eat Paw Patrol carrots or Paw Patrol broccoli etc - might be worth a try with whatever character your dc likes.