Okay, here we go. I've seen debates about this veggie-sneaking concept. Some parents love the idea, others hate it. It's beginning to approach the status of a mommy-war, possibly not as heated as breast vs. bottle but definitely on par with cloth vs. disposable diapers. So I've put some thought into it.
And my thoughts went like this. When I was first exposed to Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, I thought "What a genius!" To quote a blog I adore, EVEN YESSER to hiding veggies in kids foods. So then of course I had to share that thought on facebook.
DOH! Almost immediately I had mixed comments, with some other moms "gently" explaining that kids should repeatedly be exposed to vegetables instead of being fed them by trickery. Actually I think the comments went something more like, "GOOD parents DON'T LIE to their children!" Maybe that's an exaggeration, just a bit, but whatever was said--I felt like that's the tone that came across.
So I thought about it some more and I thought that those judgy moms had a good point. If I sneak all the veggies into my kids meals, they will be getting nutrients but not ever know which vegetables they like or don't like (which seems funny considering Ender--I cannot think of one vegetable he likes, and I've exposed him to plenty in non-sneaky form).
BUT. I've done the traditional present-the-food-abazillion*-times to see whether they truly like it technique. I've presented veggies with no pressure to eat them, I've used the try-it-bite rule (the current fav at our house), I've given them dips, sauces, butter, salt and pepper--heck I've done everything but candy-coat those fracking vegetables. And still, my Ender eats next to none of them. I even ate a variety of veggies in pregnancy with both my kids--I am not a veggie hater, nor is my husband. Have I covered all the judgy reasons other moms assume kids won't eat veggies?
Where does that leave me? My opinion is this: Kids need to learn which vegetables they truly like or dislike. But kids also need nutrients and mine aren't getting any by osmosis--simply seeing them on their plate does not convey nutrition. So I think the best strategy is to admit defeat and do the hardest, most expensive thing of all--use both strategies!
Yep. I keep presenting vegetables, over and over, after which I cry big ol' tears into the disposal as I scrape the veggies down the drain. I will keep doing so until they are old enough to be reasonable and not whine at me about vegetables. This whine-o-meter (pronounced wyNOMiter) is key. Don't TELL them you will stop making them eat veggies if they stop whining about them; just make a secret pact with yourself that after they voluntarily take a try-it-bite of their veggies and the result is either a "yum" or a "no, thank you"...after they do this long enough that it's a pattern (say two weeks at least with no whining) then you can stop putting veggies on their plate if they don't ask for them. This will probably be in their teen years, or maybe after they've left home. Maybe never. I can think of at least two people who are in their late twenties and still would whine about vegetables--these people should still be forced to take try-it-bites, until they can act like an adult.
And yes, even though I present the vegetables in their naked and obviously nutritious form, I have also started sneaking in the veggies. Start with spinach--it's an amazing vegetable that, when combined with other strong flavors, is easily hidden. I first put spinach in brownies--now, that worked REALLY well, but they did notice a texture difference. I don't think it was the spinach, I think it was because I also used black beans in the brownies. They were extremely fudgy but not as brownie-tasting as one would hope. Still, Ender and Atticus accepted them as a new kind of brownie and never questioned the ingredients. My second try at sneaking in spinach was just this week, and this is the "recipe" I will provide today. It was a green smoothie, and it worked like a charm. That green smoothie worked SO well that they even liked it after I told them what was in it.
Therein lies the key--I will offer my kids food that has veggies sneaked into it, BUT...while I refrain from telling them what the ingredients are, I will answer honestly if they ask what is in the food. Don't lie to your kids--you might get away with it for years, but it only takes a few times where they catch you in the lie, and then they'll never trust you with food again.
Sometimes, as in the case of the green smoothie, I BRAG about what is in the food! When I told Ender that spinach was in the smoothie, I asked him if he liked it. He said, "No, mom, I LOVED it! Wow, you got me to eat spinach!" So know thy child--if you think they'd be okay knowing the ingredients, tell them after they've tried it. If not, just don't tell them what's in it at all unless they ask.
Thanks for putting up with my so-very-long rant about sneaking veggies into food. Bottom line is: Get those nutrients in their bodies WHILST offering them veggies as choices, so they get to learn what they like and don't like.
Here is my first attempt at a green smoothie recipe.
The Mish-Mash What-I-Had-Lying-Around Smoothie
Ingredients:
3 frozen pucks of yogurt (I buy bulk yogurt and freeze it in muffin tins, then throw them in a freezer bag and use them for smoothies)
The juice from roughly 10 clementines (yep, I juiced clementines, and I warned you this was barely a recipe)
2 bananas (more bananas would be fine, 2 is all I had)
1 c. fresh spinach leaves (you can totally use more of this, I just didn't have more)
2 tbsps. of white sugar (ok, yeah, REALLY not healthy but I had just run out of brown sugar, sucanat, and grade B maple syrup, AND I could not get the honey lid off my honey. So sweeten it with whatever you like to use--I'm sure stevia would work too, I don't advocate using sucralose or aspartame, especially with kids. I would have used maple syrup, had I a choice)
How-To:
Shove it all in the blender and blend until smooth. There were very wee bits of spinach in it--but they were SO tiny, Ender didn't notice (it may have had something to do with serving it in a covered non-see-through container...I cannot advocate for THIS enough...if they cannot see the food, sometimes they like it!)
Good luck, and if you try the recipe post here and let me know how it worked for you. Ours tasted a lot like a runny Orange Julius which was kind of what I was going for (oh who am I kidding? That was ALL the smoothie ingredients I had in the house, and I just randomly threw things in).
G'day and good eating!
*abazillion may not be a true numerical term, but just equate it to googol--my kids' favorite number. Lest you think googol is not a number, here ya go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googol
No comments:
Post a Comment