Chocolates and Chips

My daughter loves fried chicken too. I try not to give her the skin. I also give her chicken potpie with veggies,(KFC has a really good one). I hope this helps.

Did you check out the recipe book that Jerry Seinfeld's wife published. Great ideas on how to hide the veggies in foods that the kids will love. It's called Deceptively Delicious. Check it out...

http://family.go.com/entertainment/article-282823-jessica...

Hi C.,
What way to add veggies to his food is to grind them up to use with the flour in coating the chicken. They'll be crispy and crunchy on the chicken and he won't even notice them. Also, my kids loved the baby carrots in ranch dressing and fruits in caramel sauce. Apple sauce went over well with added cinnamon. Good luck!

Dear C.,
You are not alone, so take courage! The average American, child or adult, only eats 1-3 servings a day (of any kind of fruit and vegetable) and that includes, believe it or not, ketchup and french fries!!! Yet, our government declared in 2005 that, if our children are going to have a fighting chance of preventing heart disease, cancer and other degenerative diseases, that they must have between 5 and 13 servings of fruits and vegetables each and every day with the variance having to do with age, gender and activity level.
The most helpful piece of info I can share with you is a product I was introduced to over eight years ago by a doctor for whom I was working at the time. It's called Juice Plus+! Have you heard of it? It's 17 different fruits, vegetables and grains in one's choice of Gummies, Chewables or capsules!
I decided to take it myself because I wasn't eating enough fruits and veggies on my own and because and, even more importantly, Juice Plus+ had/has medical-journal, gold-standard research specifically done on it alone that proved it's quality and worth! That gave me the confidence I needed to take it myself!
I have had so many positive benefits from it that I decided to get all four of my children on it and, later, to share it with others. If you would like to learn more, drop me a line at my email address of ____@____.com.
Blessings to You!
J. F.

If you are eating veggies with your meal and he sees you eat them gradually he'll want them too. EVen though it's difficult to get kids to eat stuff, I have to say that you kinda need to say that this is what you're eating, period. There can be occasional requests, but my belief is that they eat what you eat (even though sometimes I cheat on this a little). You can also hide veggies by purreing(don't know if that's how you spell it) them an putting them into muffins or tomato sauce. But maybe start with sweet things like peas and carrots. But most importantly in my opinion, dinner is not a request time or a restaurant. Give him some healthy choices for breakfast like oatmeal r cereal or even a waffle or an egg. Same thing for lunch. That way he may feel like he has some say in what he eats and save the fried chicken for a more special occasion. If you don't bring it in the house, he can request all he likes, but it ain't there...;)

Good Luck
A.

Get the cookbook by Jessica Seinfield...It is wonderful for adding veggies to the foods we love.
http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/

Good luck!

You need to get the Sneaky Chef cookbook and you will be able to hide all kinds of healthy food into the foods your child already eats!
M.

An hour before dinner, put out some veggies or fruit and dip(sometimes) - just enough for you to enjoy and share one or two pieces. While you prepare dinner, the children will munch. If your picky child does not munch (but the siblings or playmates eat what's out) place another plate of the above on the table in his reach as they sit down to eat(if they are allowed to nibble while dinner gets on the table). Often, if children see other children enjoy a food, they'll try it - sometime that month, if they are hungry. Put out whatever is convenient; a plate out for nibbling that is healthy, before dinner every night. You may be eating it yourself, so you only need one serving - If one sibling overdoes it, at least one serving shouldn't "spoil" dinner. The same can be done for lunch or mid-morning snack (don't overdo it!)
The veggie/ or fruit plate should make munching easy (cut in bites or something) but not time consuming for you (no fruit salad that needs bowls and spoons and whatever that has extra work after they are done.

Hi C.,

I am a vegetarian and am raising my five year old as a vegetarian as well. I can tell you that children respond to eating vegetables and fruit better if they are cut into appealing shapes or slices and if you can provide a ranch/salsa/cream dip for them to dip their veggies/fruit in. Have you tried seasoning the veggies before giving them to son? Although I am not an advocate for sodium, a pinch of salt on some veggies certainly make them taste better. You might also consider putting the veggies on a skewer and tell him that it is pirate food/ make your own taco night incorporating lettuce, tomatos, olives, cheese beans and meat, etc. It is important that food is fun to children and that you assure them that you would NEVER give them food that you would not eat yourself. You can also consider introducing him to ethnic foods -Chinese food/garlic broccoli or Indian Food/ channa marsala (chickpeas) (both are favorites of my five year old!)etc. as the preparations of these foods and other ethnic foods are quite tasty and do not taste the same way steamed broccoli does. Good Luck!

The only vegetable that my son will willingly eat is corn so I have gotten creative sneaking veggies into our food. I bought a book called the sneaky chef that had lots of suggestions but the methods were time consuming so now I use a grater and grate carrots or zuccini (the zuccini hides well in macaroni & cheese)into some of our foods. I also sneak fresh baby spinach into lots of our foods. That one shrinks down alot when you cook so if you take a couple of big handfuls and chop it into little pieces then add it to taco's, chili or spaghetti sauce. It's probrably not a full serving of veggies but it is better than nothing.

Luckily my son eats fruit pretty well now but I learned that it has to be room temerature. He loves to dip so I give him apples cut into wedges that he dipps in natural peanut butter or I'll give him some yogurt to dip strawberries, grapes or pineapple.

go to the farmer's market and get a lovely smorgasbord of fresh veggies, as many colors as you can find and afford. whatever kinds. any and all. take them home and steam them soft. using the lovely vitamin-rich steam water, puree them all together in a food processor or blender. pour into ice cube trays and freeze, then pop them out and put 'em in a freezer bag. then whenever you're making spaghetti, hamburgers, tacos, soup, chili, any kind of sauce, even in mashed potatoes (if you disguise 'em in cheese or a sauce), just pop a few out and add them.
it's sneaky but effective.
my 21 year old still doesn't like veggies, but my 17 year old finally got over the 'nothing green' phase and is now a dedicatedly healthy eater. hang in there!
:) khairete
S.

i agree about the shapes of foods. i find texture also makes a bog difference. if the veggies are cooked too long and are are squishy then my kids don't like them. if pears are too firm, they won't eat them. you just have to find his nuances. i would also suggest just trying and trying again. if they keep seeing it appear on the plate, they may eventually try it. i have 2 boys, 1 3 and 1 17 months. my three year old went through the normal picky stage and the key is to just not give up. he's back to eating just about everything now. my 17 month old is currently going through the same thing. even if your son doesn't eat it he will at least become accustomed to seeing the vegetables as a part of his meal. there are also some recipes out there to incorporate purees in foods like spaghetti, grilled cheese, muffins, etc... i think it's called deceptively delicious. you can find some recipes on-line. you don't even have to buy the book. once yo used a couple recipes, you can generally get the concept and then just add purees to your other recipes. and finally, i keep it colorful. i think it can make it more appealing if they are constantly seeing a variety of foods. i vary the veggies and fruits, by color, daily. so if they have bananas with breakfast, i add red pepper to their snack. cucumbers to their lunch, and broccoli to their dinner. something to that effect. i hope that helps!

C.,
Have you tried cutting the veggies and fruit into cute littel shapes? Like making a bell pepper sail boat with tuna salad inside and a slice of cheese as the sail? I get the FamilyFun newsletter that is full of ideas like that(a disney company). And parents magazine always has "healthy" recipes like homemade chicken tenders and homemade fishsticks. It's not too much extra work, it's fun adn kids love cute shaped things. Also what helps with my daughters is that if they help me make dinenr they are more likely to eat it. Sometimes after I put them to bed is when I do some cooking, then just reheat for the next day. This isn't a veggie or fruit but I do add fibursure to almost everything, to keep everyone regular and when making muffins or pancakes I add a tablespoon of flax seed meal( i even add it to cakes and cookies).
The absolute best thing I have used so far is Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious. I puree carrots, spinach, green beans, cauliflower. I've added carrot puree, gren bean puree to brownies. I've used cauliflower puree in mashed potatoes etc. Plus I think you can find the cookbook at walmart or target for cheap.
Good Luck!
Pammy

My 1.5 yo daughter loves french fries and is attracted to anything that looks like one. I have found that she is more likely to eat a fruit or veggie cut into strips that she can hold in her hand. Also, Sprout Online has a lot of fun recipes that your son can help you with. He might also become more excited about eating fruits & veggies if he can help you prepare them.

Have the same trouble sometimes- I let him(he's 5) have the chocolate, but in granola bars. Mine is a drinker- So I have also been putting that V-8 fruit juice in his school lunches. Because I can't guarentee he's going to eat everything, but I know he will drink all of his drink- so at least he's getting a full days dose of fruit & vege's in the drink to keep him going til school lets out. We also juice at home-he like to put the stuff in-apples cover the taste of almost all veges! The juicer is a great investment if you don't already have one.