Vegetables!!!

I have discovered my son really prefers steamed vegetables to other methods (canned, boiled, frozen). We are just firm with him - there is usually something for dinner he really likes and we regulate how much of that he gets by how many vegetables he eats. We don't insist he eat an entire helping - just a few bites.

I hated it when I was a kid, but I am grateful now my parents insisted I give everything a try.

Its tough at that age. Definitely mix baby food veggies into Spagetti Sauce etc... My little guy will eat Brocolli if I smother it in cheese. Carrotts if I cook them in a little butter and brown sugar. Now he will eat the carrotts that come cut up to look like chips and he dips them in applesauce or ranch dressing. He eats celery if I put peanut butter and raisins on top. I mix some corn in his Mac and Cheese and he tolerates that. But basically thats it. Some weeks brocolli (trees as he calls them)is the only veggie I can get him to eat. It doesnt worry me as much as it used to. I just make sure he gets a chewable vitamin twice a day. He also likes the Morningstar Veggie/Soy corn dogs (his Dad loves them too) Morningstar has a great line of food that is vegatarian based. Hope this helps!

Hi K.,
I had a boy who was like that, and I learned to give everything a name, and put cheese on top. For example,
Broccoli was called Trees with cheese, You can even name the cheese something that she likes so that she like anything you put it on, like princess cheese, I called my son's GI Joe cheese. whatever works, now he loves vegtables. Also when she gets a little older it may work better as far as understanding what you're talking about but even when she's old enough to have salad, we called the salad dressing, pizza dressing, or something that you would know she'll eat, sometimes it's mind over matter. Hope this helps if not know maybe when she's a little older.

just keep offering and one day, she might change her mind. Try hiding things, but that hasn't worked well for me. He just gets mad that I ruined a food that he once loved! I buy the Ragu pasta sauce that is the "garden combination". It has chunks of veggies in it and he likes it. Pasta sauce is the best way to mix veggies because it is really hard to taste them. I make a spinach and meat lasagna and he can't even taste the spinach! Try not to force them, that will only push her away from them more. Keep them out at the table and eat them yourself, don't even offer them to her. Eventually, she will want to try what you are having, it may takes months! My son is just now becoming braver with trying things at 19 months old. While in will take time, don't worry too much about it! I never ate veggies as a kid and I survived! Through experimenting, you will find something she likes. Oh, one of the first things my son Loved was corn from publix. In the area where they sell hot food and chicken, they also sell some side dishes. The corn that they sell is really good! I tried cream corn and frozen corn with my son and he wouldn't touch it, but the publix corn, he would eat his weight in it! Good luck.

A friend in Maryland found veggie nuggets in the freezer at the market. It's the only veggies her picky eater will eat. I haven't found them yet in FL, but it's worth looking for.

I puree them and add them to tomato sauce, soups and omlettes. Roasted red peppers, zuchinni, etc. NO way to spit out if they are pureed.
D.

What worked for my daughter was adding her favorite food to it. I would put cheese on top of the broccoli and cut up carrots for the spaghetti sauce. I would give her apples with carmel on them and celery with peanut butter. Once she got use to eating the vegetables or fruit, she would eat them plain. I would try adding whatever your daughter loves to eat to her vegetables and remember it will take time. Some days my daughter wont eat any other days she will eat all of her vegetables, it just depends. Also, the only way to get my daughter to eat salad is if I give her salad first without any other food. If all she has to eat is salad then she will eat it all (of course I put Ranch dressing on it), after she has eat most of her salad then I will give her the main course, this way I know she is eating healthy. Good luck and if you keep trying you will find something she likes.

Hi K.,
My best friends daughter has PKU, and they have some nifty recipes for veggie "chicken" nuggets, veggie burgers and so on. Here is on link that may help you. http://www.pkuil.org/Tips%20For%20Eating%20Veggies.pdf
Best of Luck!!!!
K.

Try putting cheese on them that is what I do for my son and it loves it only if it has cheese

my son was like that for a while.eventually i had to find either other was to serve them,like fresh with dip or something.and i had to hide them.he used to like v8 for a while and that helped some but now he won't drink it but every now and then.i started using V8 in my cooking.like if i needed to thin out spaghetti sauce or chili i would use v8 instead.also you can try grating carrots into tomatoe sauces.you don't even notice them.another thing my son likes is cucumber with some lawrey's seasoning salt on them.i just had to get creative.celery with peanut butter or cream cheese works well too.hope this helps!