Kids and Vegetables…

​I thought I would touch on how to encourage and develop a positive relationship with veggies for your children. This is a topic that I often get asked about. My answer to this is what has worked for my children; I do understand it may not work for everyone. I can honestly say that I don’t have a big issue with my kids and their veggies; I have a two year old that will happily sit their eating a head of broccoli; but I know each child is different...

Something that has always stuck with me, is something that Nigel Latta said, ‘kids will not starve themselves’, so if they don’t eat their dinner, don’t offer them something else. There are many strategies here, for example, an idea would be to give them veggies at lunch, as sometimes kids aren’t actually that hungry at the end of the day. Have a think about yourself, sometimes we are hungrier than others, or sometimes we are not hungry; so this attitude of trying to force food into your kids could actually be the beginning of a negative relationship for them. As much as I love my parents, I was forced to finish my plate, and I think that’s probably where my negative relationship with food started, and why I hate mashed potatoes so much now. We are always told that kids learn so much from watching us, so just keep eating veggies in front of them. If they see you enjoying healthy food, they soon become interested enough to taste that spinach and avocado smoothie as well… And maybe even enjoy it too..  
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A friend recently told me, that she feeds her kids dinner at 4:30pm, and then if they are hungry again before bed, she will give them a little snack as well. I am thinking of adopting a strategy like this when my eldest starts school next year.  
Something that I would encourage, if possible, would be to get your child/children to help you make dinner, so yes, it may take a lot longer, it may require more patience, but teaching them how to use the peeler, or cutting up food with them, actually gets them involved in the process. When they go to eat the food, they feel proud that they helped made this, which makes the eating part more enjoyable for them as well. It also teaches them about food as well, learning what different veggies are, discussing the ingredients as you go. Also, if you meal plan each week, try to include your children in on this as well, “is there something you would like on the menu this week?”; it’s a great way to make them feel included, and excited for dinner.
How many of us do this – we are making dinner, there is a pile of chopped veggies ready to go, our children come up to grab some, and we tell them “no, that’s for dinner”. They want to eat veggies right now, why not let them! Even if they full up on veggies for dinner, nothing is wrong with that. Maybe even have another pile on the chopping board that is for them, that they are allowed to grab. Or if you have a cheeky child like myself; pretend that they are been sneaky when grabbing the veggies – when actually you have left them on the chopping board for them anyways!  

Something that seems to work well for my children is making it fun, so it may be plating up their meals differently, or I was lucky enough to be gifted a spiralizer from my brother for Christmas last year, and it is amazing! The kids love it, their favourites are carrot noodles, zucchini noodles, and apple noodles. So much fun for the little ones! Or a very simple option for kids, is serving up a platter for dinner, and let them pick off the foods they want to enjoy. You might be surprised at what they pick to eat.

When we think ‘snacks’, quite often we automatically think, dried fruit, crackers, muesli bars. Snacks can be a chicken drumstick, chia seed pudding, bliss balls, veggie sticks with hummus, don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with an apple, but again, trying to think how can I get more veggies into their diet too. My 2 year old loves his containers of cherry tomatoes, capsicum, carrot, bean and celery sticks (even little broccoli heads), which he dips into hummus or peanut butter. Sneaking veggies into meals is a great strategy, I do this all the time! I once put broccoli into their dessert… but also try to encourage them to eat them in their original form, as they learn what each tastes like.   
 
One last thing that may help…  Try not to say in front of your kids; “oh no, Leo doesn’t eat broccoli”, or, “Dylan hates meat”, in this situation you are putting this negative mindset into them, and telling them they don’t like something; it’s all about positivity! If your child doesn’t like a vegetable, keep offering it up to them from time to time, sometimes kids go through phases with foods, I know mine do.  

A common occurrence, is that us parents change our diets to be healthier, but we put the kids habits into the “too hard” basket. You know what is good for you right? Let’s say you have cleaned up your diet, so why not your kids? Why are you eating that nutritious smoothie, and they are sitting there with corn flakes for breakfast? You may be thinking, but my kids would never eat that, I promise they will, it will take time, but you now have to change their palette and eating habits as well.  
 
Feel free to contact me on what has worked for you and your child/children. Your feedback on this article is more than welcomed!  
 
Below I have shared my ‘Mini Bacon & Egg Pies’, these work great as a snack, lunch, or easy dinner for the kids (and yourself)!  I have shared two different recipes, one very simple, the other a bit more ‘fancy’, you can really add what you please to this recipe.  If you are dairy free, exclude the milk and cheese, you can use a little almond milk instead if you wish.
 
Simple Mini Bacon & Egg Pies



6 eggs, lightly beaten
3-4 rashers of bacon, roughly chopped
½ cup frozen peas
½ cup grated cheese
¼ cup milk
salt & pepper
olive oil or butter

“Fancy” Mini Bacon & Egg Pies
6 eggs, lightly beaten
3-4 rashers of bacon, roughly chopped
¼ white onion, finely chopped
½ red capsicum, roughly chopped
1 handful of baby spinach, finely chopped
Little feta, cubed (optional)
¼ cup milk
olive oil or butter
1 Preheat oven to 200C. Lightly grease a muffin tray with either olive oil or butter.
2 Fold all the ingredients together in a bowl. Spoon into the greased muffin tins, around ¾ full. This should make around 8 to 10 muffins, depending on the size of your muffin tin.
3 Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.

Enjoy!!

Nicci x