Make your child love vegetables!!!!

My son has hated vegetables since day one. He pulled a yuck face every time we fed him vegetables for months when he first began eating baby food. I've since been working to find outside the box ways to feed him a variety of vegetables (and OH too!!)

Now I love vegetables, and I always have. You can do so much with them! I have spent the majority of my life as a vegetarian/vegan. When I was 15 years old, I marched in my kitchen one morning and proclaimed my undying love for animals, and told my mother I would no longer eat meat. Her response? I'd better learn how to cook, then. And I did.

So here are some of my favorite veggie-ful snacks and entrees! These are simple recipes, so don't expect a lot of innovation.  What you can expect is easy to whip up snacks that will have you child asking for more.





Let's get real.  What is one of the most delicious, kid friendly veggie snack?

Ants on a log!
I really feel as though an Ants on a Log tutorial would not be necessary, but I will add one tidbit.
I have recently taken to adding chia sees to nearly everything. Add them to your ants on a log for an omega 3 powerhouse and it adds to the satisfying crunch of the celery.  You may not get a whole lot of green nutrition from this snack, but fiber never hurts and the protein is healthy and clean!

Next up is the all powerful avocado. This fruit is amazing.  Once upon a time, I could slice up an avocado and eat it as is, but I have lost my taste for it in the past few years.  Not wanting to lose the magical benefits of the fruit, I looked for new ways to sneak it in to my own food.  I recently found it that it's just as easy to sneak it into my sons food.

The best way I have found is with sandwiches. Most people pair avocado with some sort of meat,  but it's plenty enough as a main sandwich filler.

The best trick I have found it so chop up the avocado and smash it with a fork.  That way you can use it as a spread and it adds a delicious creamy taste to your sandwich.  As far as my son goes, the smaller and thinner I chop the vegetables, the better.  Here is our staple sandwich.

1/4 smooshed avocado
1 slice cheese
2 leaves romaine lettuce
thinly sliced  onion to taste
and piled on tomatoes
(Don't forget chia seeds!)

We throw this on the George Foreman grill, because I'm too cool (cheap) to buy a sandwich press.  After it cools, the ingredients smoosh perfectly together, and I cut it into little baby sandwich fries.  He LOVES it.  It's a far cry from the gagging that occurred when I gave him a chunk of avocado to try.


Number three on my make-your-child-eat-veggies list is hummus.  We all know about hummus.  We know how delicious it is.  But it's so full of the nutrients our bodies crave that I find it insane that everyone doesn't eat it everyday.  We do!
My son wasn't the hugest fan of hummus right of the bat.  It has a tangy taste and it was easily the most lemony-garlicy thing he has ever experienced.  So we started putting it on his favorite food (aside from bananas.  That kid eats some freaking bananas.)  Waffles.  And it took off.  His hummus waffle is likely his favorite meal of the day.  He now has a real taste for hummus and I can put it on vegetable.

Vegetables he wouldn't normally eat raw that I've hidden under a pile of hummus:

cucumbers
peppers
tomatoes
broccoli
cauliflower

I've started him young with the hummus, and it adds a lot of important vegetables in his diet, and feeding him these vegetables daily is a sure-fire way to start him off on healthy habits.  And this hasn't even touched on the powers of the hummus itself.  Here are the ingredients in hummus.

Chickpeas - no cholesterol or fats, tons of protein!
lemon - antioxidants and immune boosting power
olive oil - a healthy oil to regulate cholesterol
tahini - Another high protein food



And last but not least...

TOFU.  Tofu can be delicious, or it can be utterly horrible. I buy organic tofu only, although I am not as consistent with all other foods.  Use your friend Google to find out why.  Now as far as delicious ways to cook your tofu, there is one that sticks out to me as a kid friendly favorite.

Step one is to drain your firm or extra firm tofu.  Then drain it again.  Then drain it again. And again.  The dryer, the better. Press, press, press!!  Too much moisture can really ruin an otherwise delicious tofu snack.

After it's drained, slice it into little "tofu fingers," about the size and shape of mozzarella sticks.  Marinate or wash in Italian dressing to taste.  After it's marinated, shake in shake N bake.  (The pork variety is actually vegan, I think!)

Bake until it sizzles.  I like to dip mine in tomato puree or marinara sauce for a healthy vegan snack.  YUMMM.

How do you get your children into eating healthy?  Is it a struggle for you?

Share some of your favorite snacks and I'll make them and blog about it!