Need Ideas to Get 3 1/2 Year Old to Eat Veggies

Pick up Jessica Seinfeld's (Jerry's wife) book "Deceptively Delicious", she has ways of getting veggies into everything, even desserts!

Hello veggie mom, I have a few ideas. My babysitter puts her veggies in pancakes and they are sometimes green pancakes or orange pancakes. She makes it fun for her 3 boys. Also I heard from my doctor that if it is hard to get little ones to eat veggies, then make some homemde french fries. The potato is a veggie and is still good for them. -Washington.

try the Deceptively Delicious cookbook, by Jessica seinfeld. I have tried a few of the recipes and they were very good, my 5 1/2 year old, and 3 year old gobble them up.

Maybe you could allow her to help you make the food or snacks. My daughter lights up whenever I ask her to come in the kitchen to "help mommy make some healthy food for our bodies". We try to be creative with the names of the snacks or meals. She would eat anything I think if she helped make it because she feels so proud to be doing big girl things with mommy. I let her put ingredients in or on that would normally not be exciting to eat, but because she put them there, it is more fun to eat. I also recomend the Deceptively Delicious book. You can hide cauliflower in mashed potatoes, and I love to use zuccini as a filler in soups,casseroles, and what about zucchini bread? Sometimes I let my kids choose the veggie they want to try that week from the grocery store. We talk about the nutrients that diffeent veggies have and what part of our body it's good for, and they actually beg me to cook "their" veggie for dinner.

L.~
You have a lot of good responses on here! HIDE THEM! That is what I have to do for both my child and my husband!!!! :) Grind them up and put them in meatloaf, lasagna, mashed potatos, macaroni and cheese. I even stuff chicken with them and put some cheese in there. Keep your variety so that you can change it up. I also offer a veggie on the side of the "main" dish. Just in case he/she will eat them. Plus, make sure that they see you eating the veggies too. Sometimes my daughter will come get bites off my plate of my veggies when she sees me eating them.
Hope all this advise helps you!!!

I used to microwave veges and puree them (I used to feed pureed food for the younger son) and mixed in the pasta sauce. Whenever grown-ups ate veges, we served veges to kids as well and they ate their veges more often by now (they are 8 and 10 now). Patience, no pressure, paid off in my case. Good luck.

Hi, L.--

I have a three year old and can totally relate. Some days she will love a veggie and then banish forever after! One thing I have learned from reading Deceptively Delicious and also talking with our pediatrician is that it may just be best that the child be exposed to veggies, but that we also sneak them in in other ways. My daughter fell in love with the Odwalla Superfood juice some time ago. Yes, it does have a lot of apple juice in it which is something I try not to overdo. However, she gets some trace veggie benefit through it. I always dilute it with water and in the last several months, I add a splash of carrot juice. Now she really loves it-- go figure. She asks for it all the time. I also make mac and cheese and sneak in some pureed carrots. My daughter does enjoy steamed broccoli (never fresh veggies) so I give her various dips for it like soy sauce or sweet and sour sauce, etc. At times, she has even enjoyed steamed "white broccoli" (cauliflower). Another thing she will eat is homemade vegetable soup. It is amazing what a child will eat when it is all together. I puree veggies and beans into the broth to get it started. Whatever works. If all else fails, an occasional vitamin helps augment things.

I wish you a lot of luck! This too shall pass.

The only thing I've done is to offer my kids a portion of everything I make. They don't have to eat it. (They don't even have to try it. I just put a small portion on their plates and let them decide what they want to do with it.)

Frozen veggies are a never-fail fall back veggie in my house. My 20 month olds and my 4 year old LOVE the peas. They also LOVE corn on the cob. Mixed veggies mixed in multi-grain pasta is always a big hit. (The lima beans and the green beans haven't caught on yet, but maybe one day!)

I get produce delivered every week - and the box sometimes contains veggies (and fruits) that I wouldn't ordinarily buy. Fortunately, the farm also includes recipes - so I'm able to cook everything in different ways. Even if I don't like a fruit or veggie, I still serve it to my kidlets. I found out that at least one of my kids LOVES cauliflower, squash and zucchini, mangos, and avocados. Go figure!

Have you seen the cute cookbook by Jerry Seinfeld's wife? She and a nutritionist have developed ways to get veggies into our children with sneaky recipes that actually sound pretty good. It is not exactly getting them used to "real" veggies but it is getting them into their diet so that the transition as they get used to different textures(whch is often the issue) will be easier. Good luck!

Does she see you eat veggies? We can't expect our kids to eat what we won't eat ourselves! I've learned that! Give her a wide variety to choose from, change it up, don't give her the same carrots with ranch every time. Celery is gross for most people, especially a 3 yr old. Let her see you munching on sugar snap peas, cherry tomatos, broccoli or whatever else suits you, and let her see that you're really enjoying it. Maybe she'll change her tune. Most toddlers just go through phases of being picky about what they eat. For several months, my son as a toddler would only eat plain noodles, cheese, ham, toast and bananas. That's it. They grow out of it.

L.,
I saw a study about this subject on the BBC. Basically the finicky vegie eaters were sat at a table with older kids. When the younger kids saw them eating broccoli and other vegies telling them how good it was, the younger ones ate. After that day, there was no longer a problem with the vegies.
I saw a book by Jerry Seinfelds wife about hiding vegies in baked and cooked foods. A nutritionist said that the amount of vegies an the overcooking of them in these type of recipes gives you very little nutrients if any at all.
What I do at home is take the broccoli, cauliflower, carrott mix and steam them. I don't add any seasonings. I put them on my kids plates and let them eat the ones they like. When both our boys were 3, it was difficult to get them to eat good, especially our oldest. They are able to tell you what they like and don't like. Ask her to try one big bite of everything at least once and if she doesn't like it then she doesn't have to eat anymore of that vegetable.
I always steam versus giving my kids raw vegetables because that was my mom's answer to snacks. I liked vegies, but they weren't filling and I always felt hungry. I didn't like her for that. Later on, she drowned everything in butter. She still does and I think it's gross. I like the natural flavor of vegies and so do our boys. We do ranch once in a while but not often because they will lick the dressing off and skip the vegies. sometimes I buy the snack size packages of carrots at Winco and our boys love them. They are sweet, and the boys like the idea of having a kid size package all to themselves.
Keep trying, but don't force. If you think about it, anything your parents forced you to do or eat made you dislike that food, or resent them. I know from experience.
Things will work out.
Oh, does she like spaghetti? When our boys won't eat vegies, I use plain V-8 juice, nothing added as spaghetti sauce. I know it is high in sodium, but it works.
Good luck

My 2 year old east lots of veggies. She loves broccoli, spring mix salad, cucumbers, spinach, corn, peas, eggplant, carrots, and lots of others. I am not sure why. I have never made a big deal about eating. We eat at the table together everyday at least twice. I serve veggies all the time and never make a big deal about her not eating them. I do make a big deal when she does. I even have a few pictures of her with greens poking out of her very full mouth. I eat a lot of veggies. The only food in her toy kitchen is veggies and fruit. Most of the things she did not eat right away. She had to be served them a few times and watch everyone around her eat them. I think it was just exposure and positive reinforcement. Hope this was helpful and good luck!

I have a very hard time too, mostly I just hide cooked veggies in anything i can. I puree them into meatloaf, spegetti sauce etc. I also found that by eating veggies and talking about how much I loved them w/o offering it got their interest. Especially my picky 3 yr old. He now will eat a few carrots here and there but he really doesnt like how hard raw veggies are to chew. Your daughter doest seem to either (spitting out after a few chews) and really their teeth are pretty new and not all in so can you blame them?
I also put carrot juice in our smoothies and ketchup (it counts) for dipping any chance I get. dont worry, it will come

try putting a bunch of veggies (greens, beet, carrots, etc) in a smoothie. the fruit covers up the taste and gets around the texture thing. however, as long as you keep offering her veggies and healthy food, she will eat it one day. if you decide to make her special food, you're in for trouble. you are responsible for what and when she eats. she is responsible for how much. trust her. my 3 1/2 yr old has always been a great eater. has shocked people with her raw beet love. but now that older children have introduced her to the term "yucky," she now has a problem with most foods. but i don't make her special meals. i cook healthy wholesome food, and she eats what she eats. she is never starving, believe me. i hope that when she is older, she will have a good relationship with food and will eat well. also, maybe grow some veggies in your backyard. that might excite her and get her to eat some. much luck to you~ sb

This is becoming my new favorite cook book. It's called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld's wife). She takes fruit and veggie purees and puts it in breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and even two or so drinks. I just made Blueberry Oatmeal Bars that has spinach in it. I wouldn't have known it had spinach if I hadn't made it myself.

Hi L.,

Have you thought about growing your own veggies? I did that with my kids when they were small in just a little spot in the back yard. My mother also did this when I was little. I had so much fun watching them grow and hunting for carrots. It's very easy and you can even do it in a pot. My kids along with most all of the neighborhood kids really like the sugar snap peas. They would ask for them instead of money for candy! It's very easy and something you can do together with your daughter outside and I can guarantee she will want to eat what she grows right out of the garden.

Hope this helps.
J.

Hello, there is a great cookbook that you can purchase at Costco called Deceptively Delicious - Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. It shows you how to puree all sorts of vegetables, freeze them, use them instead of oils etc and recipes that aren't too bad for you and the entire family, all without your children knowing that the vegies are in the food. That way you can know they are getting their vegies. My 7 year old hasn't caught on, my 14 year old has been a bit suspicious, but he is much easier about his vegies anyway.

Enjoy

My kids liked frozen peas and corn. They love frozen blueberries. My 4th son likes vaw veggies better than he likes cooked ones. My 3rd son was very picky (still is at 15!) and I couldn'y get him to eat any vegtables. He ate a lot of different fruits and I was pretty deligent about giving him vitamins. He is now 6'1'', so I don't think not eating veggies harmed him. My first 2 kids trained me well, when I gave them something they didn't like, even only one bite, they threw up! This happened a dozen or so times with #1, 3-4 times with #2 and by the time #3 came along, I had given up. This started when they were about 6-8 months old, so it wasn't intentional. My oldest now eats everything except seafood and is thinking about becomming a chef (he is 6'4"), #2 is a girl (5'9") and also eats anything. My point is, I have never forced my kids to eat anything including vegtables and they are all healthy, very tall kids. Why worry about it. Most likely, they will grow out of their dislikes. Give them vitamins and plenty of fruit and keep offering the veggies, but don't make it a battle.
One more thought, they would always want to try whatever daddy was eating, They didn't care about what I had, but if dad had it, they wanted some. Perhaps you could enlist dad's help.
B.

Hi L.
Do you remember what Veggies you do not like or any food for that matter?
Some things just tast bad to children and if forced to eat them it will cause a life long dislike for that food.
A child's taste buds taste things different than an older child or adult. Some times it is the texture that can not be swollowed.
I suggest that you do not push it. What I did with my kids was to have them taste every type of food at least 2 times. That means one pea or carrot or what ever the rest of the familly is eating. If the child does that and still disliks it than they do not have to eat it. A while later like 2 months try it again. I did not ever cook different food for the children they allways were given the same as mom and dad.
After a time they will eat what is put in front of them.
If it is really an isue that you have about the kids getting the vitamans and minerals they need, there are other ways like liquid vitimans or pills. If you fight it, it will turn into a battle of wills and guess what in the end you loose.
Eating becomes like potty training when the child is not ready . If you are into the trama and drama than go for it but the child is the one that suffers.
As a Nurse I am surprised that you are giving the 3 1/2 year old Ranch dressing, it is usually loaded with M.S.G.. MSG is not a good thing. The function of MSG is to hyper stimulate the taste buds to the point they do not taste and every thing tastes better becouse one can not disurn the other tastes. KFC is known to have the most MSG in its foods and they have been known to serve chicken that is on the edge or even smells bad and the MSG covers it up. I have known people that have worked there and have said that is what they are told to do. MSG can swell the brain and or creaight a MIgrain headake. Food additives do all sorts of things to us and our children are no different.
Good luck

i have an 8 yr old son who doesnt like very many veggies as well as other foods.... i have what i call a "1 bite rule" meaning you must have at least 1 bite and then if you dont like it you dont have to eat the rest that is on your plate.... and he seems to abide by that rule with no hassle now.... good luck....!!!!

In my daycare, we have a "horse themed day." We do lots of crafts and activities involving horses and for snacks we have "horse treats": carrot sticks with ranch; apples with peanut butter and/or honey; dry Cheerios (made from oats). A lot of the kids who normally wouldn't eat carrots or apples would eat them if presented this way. You could also have "bunny day", "deer day", etc. Use your imagineation. Hope this helps.

Oftentimes I have to eat the food with my daughter, as well as introduce food items more than once for her to eat it. My littlest one is the pickiest one. Also, have her create snacks with you. Make little people or animals (use your imagination) or get a book on the subject.

with 4 little ones I feel your pain.... Seinfelds book is OK - I didnt like it.... the whole concept of pureed veggis hidden in food is ok..... Carrots are good.... I follow the color rule - deep rich colored veggies and lots of different colors. I offer them all the time... Our rule for snacks is they can eat all the fruit and veggis they want.... I keep carrots and cucumbers available all the time. All the kids have to try everything once. Fortunately, after 3 years of working on him, my oldest loves Broccoli.

So that I feel better about it, I did get a gummi veggie vitamin supplement from Fred MEyer and the two middle kids who struggle the most with veggies take that daily.

Hi L.,

I suggest a product called veggie berries. It is great and you can put it in drinks or food. The company that sells it is global health trax. The company website is as follows...

http://www.ghthealth.com/index.aspx?RepID=27691&RepNa...

It is an all natural product which gives i believe 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. We really like it!

Blessings,

Katherine

I saw quite a few posts about the book "Deceptively Delicious", but I've heard an even better one is "The Sneaky Chef". One of my friends has tried both and likes the second one much better.

I had a problem with this, too. Does she like spaghetti? I have found that if you puree veggies and add them to the sauce, they never know and like it even better than the regular sauce. You can also puree veggies and add it to soups, or use it as a spread on crackers with melted cheese on top. You can also buy the crackers with veggies baked in. Or make your own salsa with green beans and other veggies. You can also make pickled green beans or any other kind of veggie pickle. They are really good! I hope this helps! H., mom to Ethan(4) and Emma(3).

Have you tried to puree the veggies? Mix them in with different kinds of food. There was a lady on Oprah one day who did this and the kids didnt even know it was "healthy"

My children loved frozen peas as a snack (just pour them out of the bag and serve them frozen). Try soups loaded with vegetables and casseroles, since the vegetables are soft when prepared this way it is easier for children to eat them. If you want to sneak veggies into her food, steam them, pure them, and mix them into foods like macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, meat loaf, etc. Pick veggies that match the food in color. There are a couple of cookbooks out there with this principle, one of them by Jerry Seinfeld’s wife.

I totally agree with Shelby a few posts below, YOU ARE THE BOSS. You are not running a cafe, she is playing you and unless you decide enough is enough she wins.
Again, read the womens below she is right on with everything.
I raised 3 and they never complained about anything they ate because they knew.....
I had my nephews here a year ago, ages 6-7 and the seven year old loves to eat junk food. I would make dinner and he would tell me I don't like salad and tomatoes, I don't like carrots, beans, or peas, to which his brother would say, if you don't eat what is put in front of you you can't go in the hot tub! (They got to do that every night they stayed here for a little swim party.) I was shocked, it worked but as you can see he is 7 almost 8 and when his mom is at our dinner table she will eat stuff off his plate so that he doesn't have to, he still climbs on her lap and whines about what he doesn't want to eat, yet his brother sucks it up and eats it because he wants to play, and he tells his brother how good it is and that he should try it. Funny thing though when the older one is with me for the week he knows the rules and he eats everything in front of him, and by golly he is still alive to talk about it, and much healtier as well, in my humble opinion. He now will eat many things that his mother couldn't get him to eat, why because he tried them at my house and I didn't play games.
So just remember who is the boss and you will be fine, and don't let her play dad or anyone else.......

Good luck with all of it, she will come around, and she won't starve.

:)

great responses! My 2 yr old loves frozen peas too. She used to love almost all veggies, but since she turned two she has become picky. I just keep trying different ways of cutting things can make a difference. She eats the veggies in my mom's homemade soups, but not in mine. I think I don't have the right texture yet - too hard one time then too soft. Shape and texture make a big difference. Just keep trying and don't make a big deal about it. I have been getting her to eat 2 or 3 bites/pieces of something before she gets something she likes and that seems to be working. She used to eat eggs and now I have to get her to eat 3 bites before she gets fruit and after she takes a bite she eats more. But she will only put a piece of avacado in her mouth and spit it back out. But at least she trys it.

Try velveta cheese over the veggies ... not the healthiest but maybe it will work. I also have a friend that grinds up veggies & hides them in foods like when she makes a meatloaf or casserole.
Good luck!

you could make a shake with veggie juice.

I love the "Sneaky Chef" book (better than Deceptively Delicious). Also, if you would like a ranch dressing without MSG, get Newman's Ranch. It is the best!

hi i have a baby boy 12 months old and I have the same problem , and one day I saw oprah show it was great they were talking about it how we can learn to cook with veggies for kids the book was wrote by jerry Seinfeld wife her name is jessica s.
http://www.amazon.com/Deceptively-Delicious-Simple-Secret...
well that might help
good luck

Hi L.,
I have a 3 and 4 year old and we're dealing with the same thing. Here is what (sometimes) works for me:
*letting the kids help with the meal preparation - today my 3 year old cut tomatoes with a butter knife - they don't look great but she feels competent and is willing to eat them
*growing food in the garden - my girls run to the kale plants every day after daycare for their snack! Now they won't eat it if it comes out of the fridge but if they pick it themselves they eat it right up
*when they are really hungry I make a veggie plate w/o dressing and put it out until dinner is ready - sometimes they are hungry enough to eat much of what is there
*when the girls are willing to try something new at the dinner table they get a cheer "Yahoo for You! You tried something new!" along with clapping and carrying on -often they find they like what they tried
Also I have a friend who is an early childhood specialist and she says it takes a child an average of 10 exposures of a new food before achieving acceptance
Good Luck!

I know this is not a politically correct answer, but you are the boss. I have 3 children (one is currently 15 months old) who would not eat healthy food. When I put him in the high chair, he would refuse everything but jam and crackers.
To fix this I would put him in the chair, and when he refused the good food, I would tell him, "this is food. You are not getting anything else." He would fidget and fuss. I personally do not let the whining of a baby control me, that is why I'm the parent. But when he continued to refuse I would take him out of the chair without feeding him and say "come back when you can eat good food." I have never seen a kid that will starve to death with food in front of it. I have done this with not only my children, but other moms have come to me so I can show them how to do this as well. let me know if you have anymore questions.
The short answer to your question is, "give her nothing else to eat until she eats what you want her to."
S.

P.S. Celery may not be a good choice as it is very stringy and hard to chew.

CHEESE in every shape and form... to offset the unfavorite tastes of vegies!

Also, it could be a texture thing too. Like, we all want our kids to eat brocolli, but it isn't usual to get that wish! But, when I tried cooking it halfway and adding plenty of cheese... it was GONE. Hide vegies in little pieces inside cheesey burritos, like chicken, rice, and cheese (with tiny broccolli flowers hidden) or breakfast burritos, eggs, potatoes, and cheese (with your choice of vegies sneaking in)

DIP is the name of the game if cheese gewts old... but the trick is to have a special treat waiting in eye's view, for AFTER she finishes a small amount. My rule was 3 good bites. It was enough to make me happy... I never forced my kids to eat things they didn't like, but with vegies, all I asked for was 3 bites. It works.

Hi there. I have a couple of ideas you might like to try. Cauliflower is very bland and easy to hide in other foods, like macaroni and cheese and scalloped potatoes. My son likes it when I mix peas in his mac n cheese. I use the frozen ones and thaw them in the microwave, then stir them into his food. I have heard of other moms pureeing veggies and then mixing them into pasta sauce as well, which makes them pretty undetectable to kids. I hope some of these ideas are useful to you. Good luck!

There is a book by Jerry Seinfeld's wife called Deceptively Delicious with tons of recipes designed to hide veggies in foods they love.

spray cheese with celery is good. to get her to eat peas well you can make mac n cheese then put in a can of tuna (drained) and some peas in it. salt to taste.. Celery you can hide in stuffings. Dont have time to make a regular stuffing? Use stove top stuffing and put celery, mushroom and olives in it. Top it with lots of gravy!
Only way to get them to eat things they dont like is to hide it. Sometimes unhealthy.. So its actually up to you.

Question: Have you tried steaming up an artichoke and teaching her how to eat it by dipping it into butter? Have you tried Yogurts?

I hide my stuff with my kids for example with my mushrooms, red,yellow and orange bell peppers and onion i saute those with butter and put it ontop of the steak.

I steam my califlower, brocolli and carrots assortments together and top that with shredded cheese. Cant get them to eat a baked potato? Try red potatos and top that with either ranch dressing or cheese (some like both) Its all about the disguise. i also chop all the carrots,onions, mushrooms etc... real tiny and put it in there salads

P.S. fyi if you put a plate out for her to walk by with a bit of ranch, carrots, celery, and whatever else fruit, veggies she likes on the coffee tble you will find she will come by eventually and snag a few by herself

You being a nurse should know if ya cant get them down vitamins is always an option so dont worry

I sometimes have my 3 and 4 y/o girls help me wash and prepare veggies for whatever I am making. They use a plastic knife to cut veggies up. I start sampling and they will start to sample as well. I ask them questions about how they think the veggie will taste or how will the veggie taste when dipped in ranch dressing or ketchup. Curiousity gets the better of them and they will want to try a carrot dipped in catchup or a red pepper dipped in hummus or ranch. Sometimes they like it and sometimes they don't. Over time, I have seen them start to enjoy veggies they didn't like before. Good luck!