How to Get Your Kids to Eat Veggies
I was so excited when I saw regular contributor April’s post this morning. There have been countless reports in the news the past few weeks about getting kids to eat veggies. I loved the study that demonstrated that the number one predictor of whether your kids will try any food is how happy YOU look while eating it! April breathes life and story into those studies with this post! (You can read more about April in the Voices section here.)
For years, my husband and I have wanted to join a CSA (community supported agriculture) or farm share. We would talk about it every year. We would do some research. Then we would make excuses. It’s too much money. The pick up location is not convenient. Eww….what about all those weird veggies? The kids will never eat them.
Okay….so the last one was mostly me.
So after all our excuses, we would take no action. Wishing we had but part of us…I mean me…thankful that we didn’t. After all….it would be horrible to trash all those edible veggies just because I had weird food issues.
Yup. Me. I have just as many food issues as my kids. And truthfully, I have been picky for as long as I can remember. I have always had a list of foods that I didn’t like. Texture. Color. Flavor. Gag inducing psychological aversions. And my first pregnancy brought so many food aversions.
As I have gotten older, a lot of my issues have resolved. And I have learned how I can manage them better. My husband has really helped me to overcome so many of them and become a more adventurous eater. And so have my kids.
Have you ever noticed that your kids quickly adopt whatever fears, worries, likes, dislikes that you carry around? I don’t want my kids to fear bugs just because I do. I don’t want them to think they dislike a food just because I do. I don’t want them to dislike who and how they were created just because I am not accepting of who and how I was created.
But it happens. Despite my intentions. They mimic what they see. They mimic me.
So we have a rule in our house regarding food. You are not allowed to “Eewwww!” a food if you haven’t yet tried it. No blecks. No faces. No negative responses. We do allow affirmations and wariness. (‘I have never tried that before.’ ‘I am nervous about trying this food.’)
We are enacting this rule strongly this summer because…..we finally joined a CSA.
It’s a little pricy. The pick up spot, while not too far away, is out of my normal circle. There are foods that have never been in my kitchen in our boxes. Foods that I am a little afraid of. Foods that I don’t want my kids to be afraid of.
We are well into week three and have successfully used everything so far…….and by use I mean consume. We have wasted nothing. Not the onions, not the Asian salad mix, not the pounds and pounds of sugar snap peas…….not even the rainbow Swiss chard!!!
As always seems to be the case, at least one of us doesn’t like something. One kid despises peas. Always. But discovered she liked them puréed up as a sauce over pasta. One kid likes almost anything. But refused to eat the Swiss chard quiche.
And as for me….well….turns out that breakfast radishes aren’t as bad as I had always imagined them to be. And a good recipe is the secret to any feared vegetable.
Did I mention that I am a vegetarian? What kind of vegetarian has such a fear of veggies? Am I alone in this?
Oh….and does anyone have a good Swiss chard recipe? I have a feeling that they will appear in our box again!!
April, one of my favorite recipe resources is http://www.epicurious.com. You can type the ingredient in the search bar and get a great list of recipes with reviews (I always read the comments, too – cause people have great ideas for modifications). Enjoy!
April, great post! I have a yummy swiss chard recipe that I will have to find — it was some kind of chard/egg/cheese bake that was very good. And good call about it reappearing — when we grew chard, it grew all summer and pretty much until (maybe past?) the first frost ;o)
I had never eaten swiss chard until we joined a CSA a few years ago, and this recipe was one that the CSA emailed us to try…it is SO good and I make it as often as possible now. You can use beet greens if you want instead. And I just tried kale instead the other day, although I prefer the chard. http://peaceliving.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/csa-day/
Jennifer, I just did some searching on epicurious with my oldest and found a couple recipes that will use both the sugar snap peas we have as well as some breakfast radishes. Just like her momma,, who always modifies recipes, she quickly offered up some good modifications to the recipes that she thinks will help her try them. Yay! Thanks.
Jen, that would be a welcome recipe. Eggs and cheese really seems to be great gateway foods for the girls to try new stuff! Thanks for reading and joining in!
Linn, what a great recipe to use up multiple veggies! I suppose beets are bound to turn up in our box. That may be another challenging veggie for me. I’m stock piling recipes for future use! I am determined to find at least one recipe we like for each vegetable. Will add this one to the pile. Thanks for sharing!
We don’t belong to a CSA, but we do have a farmer’s market at works like one – they have a $25.00 box available every week. I like how it makes me try new things, but we haven’t been able to afford it for a while now. My son is also a picky eater. I was as a kid but am not now. I’m hoping he changes. Oh, and one of my college roommates was the WORST vegetarian. She at almost no vegetables and lived on junk. I’ve always wondered what she is like now.
Here’s a recipe for pan-fried swiss chard from All Recipes. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pan-Fried-Swiss-Chard/Detail.aspx?prop24=etaf. Very good, but follow it exactly and rush nothing (says one who tried to rush it with a bad experience).
Also, you might be able to cook the chard the same way the beet greens are done here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Roasted-Beets-and-Sauteed-Beet-Greens/Detail.aspx?prop24=etaf. They were AWESOME.
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