What's For Dinner? Week 3

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special segment on:

How To Get Your Kids To Eat Vegetables! :)

Obviously, I didn't write the book on this because my kids are picky too and I am certainly not the model of perfection with creative vegetable side dishes on the table every night, but we at least eat them daily and the kids do a reasonably good job of appreciating them. Someone recently asked me how I get my kids to eat veggies (Hi Casey N.! :) Thank you for your comments - hope this helps!) and I thought I'd share a few tips.

So here's what I recommend based on my experience with my day job as a dietitian and my off-the-clock job as a mom:

1) Introduce everything... over and over and over. It takes kids at least 10-15 tries before a food is no longer "new" and has now become "familiar".

2) Consider making at least some of your own "baby food". Providing the youngest members of your family with foods prepared from fresh gives them a much more authentic experience and varied palate. Then you can open up your options for baby to things like apricots, mango, broccoli, asparagus, etc.

3) Set a good example. Peer pressure works! And YOU are their first peers. Children want to be like their parents and eating and enjoying vegetables in front of your children just as you would your dessert helps them to look at vegetables as delicious pieces of the dinner puzzle instead of just a stepping stone to get to dessert. You don't have to be fake about it, but make the buying and preparing and eating of vegetables seem exciting.

4) On that note, get kids involved in that process! Take them to the farmer's market (or the grocery store) and challenge them to pick out veggies (and fruits) from all colors of the rainbow. Make a pact to try one new vegetable per week (or every other) and talk to them about how each vegetable grows and how to tell what looks good. When you get home, sort your vegetables by color, prep them in advance so they're at the ready and let your kids help prepare side dishes for meals.

5) Serve vegetables with lunch AND dinner and make them the go-to snack option along with something else you know your kid loves, i.e. grape tomatoes and cheese sticks, or carrot sticks and pretzel sticks. Consider serving more than one vegetable side with a meal on occasion. Remember that tip I posted a little while back about leaving a plate of raw veggies on the table while you are preparing dinner so kids have something to tide them over while they are extra hungry and having trouble waiting!

6) Do not force feed and do not bribe kids to get them to eat vegetables. {Side note: we have definitely been guilty of the second one in our house... especially Craig. He is forever bribing Will.} If a child refuses, tell them "Okay! Then there's more for us to enjoy!" Make a rule that they don't have to eat it but it is not okay to be insulting or rude at the table about something they don't care for. A polite "No, thank you" will do. If you choose to make a rule about tasting at least one bite (a "no-thank-you-bite")... that is up to you.

7) Providing a meal with multiple options (a main dish, a fruit, a veggie, a grain, a dairy) is a healthy way for kids to feel like they have choices and it usually guarantees that they will eat at least something from their plate. However, when they refuse to eat and then you get up to fix them something different... OR you serve a different meal to kids than you do grown ups right from the beginning... that gives kids the message that they are exempt from showing respect at the dinner table and that they will be catered to if they wish. They will begin to complain immediately with every meal making the whole experience unpleasant for everyone involved, especially the parent who is acting as the short order cook.
One of the biggest lessons I focus on with our kids is to understand that the dinner table is a pleasant place to be and that we are all privileged to sit there as a family. If we are not respectful to one another at the table, we will not be allowed to sit there. When Sophie has knowingly been loud (screaming) or destructive (dumping food/milk), I have simply pushed her high chair into the living room a bit (the wheels help ;)) and face her away from us. That usually upsets her enough to get her to stop doing the negative behavior and I repeat to her that whatever it is is not okay. Baby steps. She's still a tad young to reason with, but so far that form of discipline has helped.

8) I am not a big fan of all the cookbooks that encourage parents to "hide" vegetables in other foods. I don't believe being sneaky with kids is the best way to set them up for a lifetime of good eating habits. And realistically that 1/4-1/2 cup of pureed whatever added to a main dish is not giving your kid more than a tablespoon or so of actual veggies so don't consider your job done once you've accomplished that. HOWEVER! That does not mean it is not a good idea to enhance the nutrient value of other foods with that addition of veggies. Just don't make it a big secret. Know what I mean? And you should still offer a vegetable side dish as an obviously visual component of your meal. I love to add veggies to favorite foods such as popsicles, pancakes, smoothies/milkshakes, sauces, casseroles, soups, pizzas, etc. Remember those sloppy joes I posted last week? There were so many veggies in that recipe and they loved it! Also, don't forget the visual appeal of how you serve food - most kids will eat just about anything that comes in the form of a kabob. :)

Hmm... am I forgetting anything? I think those are the basics. Just offer, offer, offer and try to make it as casual and non-debatable as possible. They either eat it or they don't... your job is just to present healthy foods at regular meal and snack times. That's it. And don't beat yourself up about the many fails you will experience or the lack of creativity you can muster on your average weeknight. Frozen, bagged veggies are cheap and easy (especially in winter) and we use them multiple times a week. In the summer when everything is fresh and prime, I do a much better job of getting creative. But I always have options in the house and I usually always have things prepped and easy so they get eaten and not forgotten.

Okay then! Moving on to the weekly menu. Last week was very basic and easy considering I did not do any usual prep over the weekend following my wisdom teeth. I kid you not, we ate chicken noodle soup until Tuesday. We also had brunch at my in laws on Saturday and that made me crave omelets again later in the week. So we had:

1) Chicken noodle soup with grilled cheese or fresh baked whole wheat bread

2) Italian stuffed shells pulled from my deep freeze

3) Omelets with avocado and salsa

4) Corned beef sammies for St. Patty's Day... Try this! Spread a light smear each of cream cheese, mayo and Dijon mustard on bread of choice (could use Rye, I just used whole wheat). Then top with thin sliced deli corned beef and slivers of red onion. Toast like grilled cheese or grill in a panini grill as I did. Oh. My. Gosh. Soooo good. Last year we tried making Rubens and they were terrible, in my opinion. So this year I went back to this old recipe that I'd made years ago and it was fab.

I have only two pictures for you this week and they're both of us lovin' on our strawberry popsicles. Cheers!

Happy eating!