Alright Mamas, Tell Me What’s Going On
By mommy of many™. Filed in children, family life, frustrating, kids, mom, parenting, sharing, veggies |Tags: children, Deceptively Delicious, getting kids to eat veggies, hiding veggies, kids, mom, Mommy of Many, mommyofmany, MommyofMany.com, veggies
Veggies!
Tonight, I saw a post by one of my facebook friends and she was talking about “hiding” veggies in the meals she makes for her kiddos. Quickly, another of her friends chimed in with her own story of how she “hides” veggies in her meals. Here is the chance for all of you mamas who are “hiding” veggies to help me understand this. What’s going on that veggies can’t just be presented at meal time and enjoyed by the kiddos? Are we starting too late? Are we told as new moms that kids naturally don’t like veggies and so the hiding begins without even trying to present them alone? Are we not being diligent about presenting and representing until the kiddos understand that veggies aren’t going away and they better figure out which ones they like and how they like them? Isn’t that the key to many aspects of parenting? If we have a child who likes to be naked (as many toddlers do), do we give up on clothes? Nope! We keep dressing the kiddos until they understand that clothes are part of life. Yes, I know about the book. I just never picked it up because I didn’t find it necessary.
I am NOT scolding any of you who have decided that veggies must be hidden to be eaten and enjoyed by the kiddos. I just truly don’t understand.
When my kiddos start gnawing and chewing and teething, I hand them the fattest part of a carrot or fat chunks of cored and peeled cucumber. They learn from the beginning of trying solid foods that veggies are a huge part of what they will be eating. Green beans-yum! Peas-yes please! Butternut squash-requested. Tomato and cucumber salad-More! Carrots, cooked or raw-Daily. Purple cabbage-Tristan used to have his lips stained by it.
So, here’s your chance to teach me something. If you’re a mama who’s tried and tried and just can’t get the kiddos to eat veggies unless they’re hidden, tell me your story! Help me get it!
Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
Good night~
Thursday, May 28th 2009 at 10:35 pm |
I give Isabella (18 months) vegetables, and she likes most, but not all. So she eats the ones she loves by themselves and she eats the other ones mixed into things. For example, tonight I gave her chicken lasagna with chunks of spinach and mushroom in it. She liked the chunks covered in the lasagna sauce, but she doesn’t like those particular ones by themselves, so I guess that is my way of kind of hiding them. However, she’ll happily eat a bowl of carrots, peas, sweet potato, squash, tomatoes etc, but I want her to get nutrients from all vegetables. Actually, I think she definitely eats more veggies than me! I like getting her acquainted with vegetables at this early age. It makes my life easier that she eats what we eat already and doesn’t need her own special meals anymore.
Thursday, May 28th 2009 at 10:42 pm |
Ummm… I’m with you on this Jenn… when I found out I was having my first baby, I got TONS of books on babies and their development. One of the things that stuck with me: what MY perception of “good” and “bad” is NOT my babies… AND it takes several times for new taste buds to taste somehting and decide whether it’s yummy or not… SO why do people heat things up (ie. baby food and formula)? Why do people hide veggies? I don’t know… I TOSSED everything I felt about food when I had my first… I was sure to introduce them to EVERYTHING. My friends freak when they see them eat vegetables, whole pieces of basil, sushi, squid, thai food… they eat it all!! And when they supposedly don’t like a veggie… I’m OLD SCHOOL… sit there and eat it, or don’t get desert, or don’t get to play, or just don’t bother getting up!
I, like you, didn’t even bother looking at the book… but I DO have girlfriends who swear that their babies and now toddlers are “picky” eaters… so I guess I’m lucky like that… mine are little human garbage disposals!
Thursday, May 28th 2009 at 10:42 pm |
That would be me. I am a BIG on health food, but I do let the boys have some treats here and there. I always offered veggies first when I introduced solids, then fruit & whole grain cereals including Brewer’s Yeast, tofu etc etc… Coby LOVED it all & still to this day, loves red peppers, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers all raw with no dip or anything. Just eats it all up & can be frequently seen toting a Costco size bag of baby carrots around the house with him.
With Tate, I did the exact same thing, but I tell you, that kiddo just plain old refused to eat any veggie or fruit as a baby except bananas. That was it: bananas & cheerios was all he would eat- apart from nursing- until he was a year old. I didn’t do anything differently, I offered all the same stuff. I really believe that just as kids are born with different personalities, different learning styles, likes/ dislikes, that they’re also born with different preferences for food.
Jake seems to enjoy his veggies, as did Coby, but then again, Coby & Jake are a lot alike in many ways. Tate, of the 3, is my “different” kid, but different in a lot of neat ways. So, back to the food…. I turned to the blender & pureéd lots of veggies & put them in his food. Fortunately he loves fruit, but veggies are still a challenge. He won’t even eat tomato sauce. So far he’ll eat carrot sticks & peas, but that’s it. I still offer, but he is just not a fan of the veggie.
We’ve also been “good examples” by eating the veggies ourselves & having salads & trying to show how yummy they are. But, I’m certain that Tate was just born an “anti- veggie” kid. Hopefully that will change one of these days!
Thursday, May 28th 2009 at 10:42 pm |
Oh, and I also want to say that if there are one or two vegetables that Isabella or Lachlan downright refuses to eat, I am ok with that. I know there are a few things that I really can’t stand eating!
Thursday, May 28th 2009 at 10:54 pm |
Me again!
I also don’t give Isabella any salt or sugar and I think that helps children develop a natural taste for natural foods. But I could be wrong….I’m doing more research as we speak!
Friday, May 29th 2009 at 12:39 am |
My rule is that you have to eat at least one bite. If they really don’t like it after a bite, then I let it go (but I do keep offering on future meals). I made Tate eat something once before he could leave the table. The gagging and puking that followed had me give up that approach. Quite frankly, I don’t want anyone to force me to eat anything either- so, it’s a “try a bite & see if you like it” rule around here.
Friday, May 29th 2009 at 3:59 am |
We’re in total agreement Jen. Eat the veg. Eat the fruit. I don’t hide it, I don’t believe I ever have.. unless you count butter. And I’m not even dousing butter on veg. We add it, 50% of the time, to steamed broccoli…mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I always have the kids give a “thank you /no thank you bite” when a new food is introduced. Grace, my picky eater and youngest, always amazes me with what she won’t eat. But she’s a veggie lover through and through.
HA! Check this… Kate and I had a conversation during our 4 hour drive (each way!) today about green things. Kate decided that if it’s a green veg or fruit she likes it. We named soooooo many things and we couldn’t come up with one she didn’t like.
Funny how topics can crop up like that! And you were thinking and writing about a very similar topic. Love it!
Keep up the good work!
P
Saturday, May 30th 2009 at 9:31 am |
Wow Ladies! Thanks! My idea of what “hiding” veggies was, appears to be different from what’s actually going on.
Anissa-I loved that you pointed out that the lasagna has chunks of veggies in it which could also seem like “hiding”. I also appreciated you sharing about keeping foods in the natural form so that kids learn to appreciate the actual taste of them instead of the sugar that coats them or the dip that you put them in.
Alexis-Thank you for pointing out the all-too-true point of each child being different, with their own unique likes and dislikes. It’s easy for me to look at my group of kiddos and say that I do things a certain way, but if I break it all down, there are definitely differences that each of my kids have. But because of the size of our group, I don’t tend to work around each like or dislike. If I’m going to make a salad, I throw into it whatever I choose and then I’ll make the effort to serve Tristan’s portion sans the tomato and avocado and Maddi’s portion without the mushrooms etc. I don’t give it a lot of thought because they know that if they come across something that they’ve tried and don’t like, that they can simply put it on the side of their plate and keep eating the rest.
Thanks for all the great comments!
Tuesday, June 2nd 2009 at 5:07 pm |
Hey Sis! When I first heard about the hiding veggies thing and that there was a book I couldn’t believe it! Like you, I put it on Sophia’s plate w/ no salt or butter or anything. It’s what it is and it’s good for you and you’re going to eat it. So far if I can get her to eat a few bites at least I let her leave the rest. She really likes red apples, baby carrots, mango, bananas, salad with just a little ranch, broccoli, strawberries, grapes and smoothies. I buy the 100% carrot juice blend at Trader Joe’s and use that to make smoothies with plain nonfat yogurt, a banana and frozen berries or mango. I still can’t get her to eat peas, cucumber, squash, tomato (not counting salsa and pasta sauce), bell pepper etc. Oh and she LOVES avocado! If you can give me some tips on getting her to eat more veggies that would be awesome. But I definitely agree with your idea of just putting it out there as is.