My boys are usually cool with some veggies, but for some reasons, some days are “I hate vegetables” days. They would pick out green or orange foods from their plates, and this can be frustrating.
With limited ingredients to cook meals with, I’m worried about their nutritional intake since children need adequate nourishment for strong immunity and optimal development. If we’re eating out and scoring free kids meals at restaurants in Singapore, I hope they can enjoy eating vegetables during family bonding time too.
I’ve tried different ways and learned from other parents some useful tips and tricks to get our picky kids to have new foods and eat more vegetables without tears. If you’re tackling the same mealtime battles, here are some smart and creative ways for you to try!
Like so many things on our parenting journey, tackling picking eating involves trial and error.
How do I get my picky eater to eat more vegetables?
#1: Serve vegetables first
When one is hungry, one tends to eat what’s served first. Thus, more likely to eat more of those vegetables.
#2: Sneak vegetables in every meal
This includes breakfast and snacks too, since every meal is an opportunity for your kids to obtain nutrients. Some breakfast ideas include avocado spread on toast with tomatoes and cheese, or a heart-shaped pizza toast with homemade tomato paste.
#3: Get kids involved in meal preps
Some hands-on teamwork in the kitchen lets kids discover how meal preparation can be fun. Let them explore through their senses e.g. touch and smell raw veggies, or get to use the blender. Discovering food can be an adventure especially for young children. As parent and child bond over the activity, you can also share educational facts like how carrots can help them see in the dark, or why cabbage is a calcium powerhouse that’s good for their growing bones to keep them strong.
#4: Lead by example
As adults, it’s easy for us to pick out certain vegetables from our food or avoid ordering them completely. Children are always observing our eating habits – this makes it tricky if we want them to do what we don’t actually do, right? Here’s your cue to learn to appreciate vegetables and amp up your nutritional balance too. Don’t like raw vegetables in salads? Try roasted sweet potatoes, or slurp up an apple, banana and carrot juice.
A rainbow diet keeps us strong and healthy!
Smart and creative ideas to sneak vegetables into your picky eaters’ meals
- Veggie pancakes or waffles
Pancakes and waffles often seem like fun food especially in Asian families. Instead of just using egg, flour and milk, try adding in vegetables like steamed corn kernels, grated carrots, or even blended baby spinach. You might need to test it out depending child’s diet and on your child’s acceptance to different coloured pancakes. Rainbow pancakes made from real vegetables elevates the mealtimes!
- Soup it up
As a Chinese family, we usually have soup during dinner. Some Asian style soups include Corn and Carrot Soup, Lotus Root Soup, Spinach Soup, Watercress Soup and Sinigang (a popular Filipino sour soup with lots of vegetables). Instead of the usual clear soups, we can blend vegetables to make delicious Western style soups too. Try: Pumpkin soup, creamy broccoli soup, creamy mushroom soup and minestrone.
Dish out some pumpkin soup for the whole family!
- Hide in meat
Making meatballs? Chop up aromatics like garlic and onions finely. Grate carrots or mash potatoes. Mix them up with minced pork, beef or chicken to make homemade meatballs. These are versatile as they can be pan-fried or air-fried with breadcrumbs, added to baked pasta, cooked with a spaghetti sauce or over the pan or even in soupy dishes like Bee Hoon Soup. Sneaky tricks to get our kids to eat more veggies!
- Mix with their favourite ingredients
My boys love broccoli and they would ignore the carrots, pumpkin, bell peppers, and onion by picking out what they love. I’ve to unleash some tricks up my sleeves and mix broccoli with tomato sauce and pumpkin puree, diced celery or chopped spinach and minced meat to make their favourite spaghetti. When cooking Fried Bee Hoon, I’ll dice up cabbage, mushroom, long beans, and their favourite broccoli together. Or, buy vegetable noodles from the supermarket so that my kids can still ingest some form of vegetables without being able to pick them out.
- Make snack time count!
Jazz up snack box or recess food for your primary schoolers using cute cookie cutters on firm veggies or toothpicks with their favourite characters. Imagine dinosaur-shaped carrot slices, cucumber stars, flower-shaped radishes and more fun shapes. Mix them up with fruits for an added boost of vitamins too!
Some parents may threaten, bribe, punish or reward picky eaters. To be honest, I do a mix of negotiation/encouragement especially when give vegetables to picky eaters as I want them to try other greens. The “carrot” is usually a promise that we will play their favourite game after eating. Experts advise that punishments and rewards may lead to negative consequences. Looks like I should try other tricks!
For kids who persistently avoid specific vegetables, it might be helpful to get to the root of the problem. Find out why your child dislikes them – is it the texture, taste, smell or appearance of the new vegetable? Try changing their cooking methods too. If your child is continuously tackling food aversions or pickiness, you might wish to talk to his doctor. Look out for nutrient deficiency symptoms and work out how to prevent vitamin deficiency in your growing kids.
Keep trying and don’t give up! I hope these ideas help turn your picky eaters into veggie lovers soon too. From one mum to another, raising healthy eating young children in Singapore, just like you!
