How To Get Your Kid To Eat Veggies

If you ask a mom, what’s the toughest part of her day, her answer will most likely be planning her kid’s meals. Firstly, it’s a mammoth task to maintain a balanced diet spread out through breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Add to that, children are generally fussy eaters and refuse most food items that are introduced to them. And one of the things they tend to dislike the most is veggies. Yes, offer a kid some ice cream or a milkshake and you’ll see him/her brimming with excitement. The reaction to vegetables is mostly the opposite with kids making a face. So what do you do in such a situation? This article has all the solutions you need.

Tips To Get Kids To Eat Vegetables:

Introduce a lot of color on the plate. Add peas, carrots, and the different bell peppers to make it look vibrant to the child.

Veggies should be a part of every meal. Instead of serving a huge portion in one meal, spread it out. For breakfast, you can simply make stir-fried mushrooms or beans, while roti-sabji can be had for lunch or dinner.

Packaging is everything. Well, we all eat with our eyes and if the food looks good, the chances of it being consumed are higher. Plate the food in a manner that it is attractive to your kid. Try to make different shapes or faces using ingredients.

Never make a fuss when eating in front of your kid. Even you don’t like a particular vegetable, if you are having a meal with your kid, make sure you eat it. Kids tend to ape their parents and if you refuse to eat something, most likely your little one will do the same.

Add vegetables to your child’s favorite dishes. If you are making a rice, noodle or pasta dish, fill it up with veggies.

Why Veggies Are A Must In Your Everyday Diet:

Veggies are filled with fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Broccoli, for example, is known to be a superfood as it fights cancer, is packed with Vitamin C and aids iron absorption. Leafy greens (Spinach, Kale, Cabbage, and Collard Greens) on the other hand, lower the risk of obesity, improve heart health, and maintain blood pressure.

They are low in calories. When you compare the number of calories in most veggies to those in meat or dairy products, it is much lower. So you can go ahead and eat a huge bowl of veg without feeling any guilt.

If you cut down on simple carbs and processed food, vegetables are the best source to keep your energy levels up. That’s why on a keto diet, most people limit their carb intake to veggies only.

How To Make Veggies More Interesting:

If you are tired of making the traditional Indian-style sabji every day, here are a few easy ways to spice up your veggies:

Chop bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, and mushrooms. Saute them in in olive oil and add chili flakes, oregano, and mixed herbs. You can also pick a seasoning of your choice. Mexican and Italian go best with these veggies.

Put finely chopped mix veggies in a bowl. Make a mixture of cheese and fresh cream and pour it over the vegetables. Bake this for around 10 minutes or till the crust is golden brown. If you are a non-vegetarian, you must add eggs to the cheese and fresh cream as this will simply enhance the taste.

If you have an air fryer, you can make French Fries without any guilt. The alternative is to bake the potato strips. Using sweet potato is a great option too.

Noodles are generally made of maida and are not very good for health. Hence, people are now opting for zoodles which is basically noodles made of Zucchini. If you have a spiral cutter, you can make noodles out of carrots too. Post that, you can make it Asian style by adding soy sauce, chili sauce, and crushed peanuts, or Italian style by adding olive oil, crushed garlic, chili flakes, and mixed herbs to it.

Also read – How to Raise Healthy Eaters?

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