How do I encourage a child to eat vegetables??

I'm 14 and used to hate eating veggies but i love being in the

kitchen so i made up some recipes and now i eat them alot.

Recipe 1 -Veggie Puffs

INGREDIENTS

Puff Pastry Sheets ( 1 sheet makes 4)

Cooked corn and peas (i also used carrots once - experiment)

Cheese (optional - i only use it half of the time)

METHOD

1. Defrost the puff pastry and cut into 1/4's.

2. Mix together your veggies and cheese

3. Put some of the mixture on half of the square.

4. Fold it over to make a triangle.

5. Press the sides down with a fork to help it stay together.

6. Cook in the oven until it is golden brown.

I made veggies puffs one day i was bored and now my whole family loves them.

Recipe 2 - Mini Pizza's

INGREDIENTS

Wholemeal pizza bases or puff pastery cut into 1/2's

Favorite Veggies ( eg - pineapple, mushrooms, spring onion, capsicum, olives, tomato - anything really)

Grated Cheese - lighter options

Tomato Paste or BBQ sauce

METHOD

1. Cut up all your veggies.

2. Put your sauce on the base of the pizza

3. Add some cheese - make sure there is enough left to put on top.

4. Put on all the veggies - let the child choose the ones they want - tell them they have to choose at least 3 maybe.

5. Add some cheese on top.

6. Cook until the cheese is melted - YUM

Recipe 3 - Vegetable Bake

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable Bake Packet - Maggi is the one i use. (Don't feel you always have to make things from scratch)

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Carrot

You can use any vegetables

METHOD

Follow the instructions on the packet mainly - just don;t follow them completely. Use the vegetables you want to.

Recipe 4 - Potato Bake

Same as the vege bake - use the maggi packet of potato bake. It turns out sooo nice.

Other ways you cold do it is like make apples and cheese into 'boats'. Cut the apples into normal sized pieces then use chesse as the sail - just cut it into triangles and put it on toothpicks.

Just try to make them interesting like make salads into happy faces and add stuff they like to the face but tell them they have to eat a least a bite of everything. Don't always make them eat veg try fruits as well. Some taste so different and so nice.

Good Luck.

Just remember one thing, children have a natural way of eating only what they need. So, if they eat only a couple bites of a vegetable, that should be enough. I would just serve a very small amount in the first place, but be happy with just one bite, if thats all they want. Encourage them with how smart and pretty they will be if they eat their vegetables each day.

Well, you could always bribe him/her, but that would only work for so long. When I was little I always liked vegetables, but there were certain kinds I did not eat. This is something you can do: if you fix mashed potatoes, you can add gravy or let him/her put a little ketchup on them. You can even make fun faces out of the food to encourage him/her to eat. Most kids like sweet things, so you can fix sweet corn or yams for him/her. Just remember that kids like and dislike things just like adults. If nothing else works, buy some Flintstones vitamins and give him/her one each morning to make sure he/she is getting all the nutrients they need. Good luck!

Let the child see you eat them and say oh so good. Start off with vegetables that she will like first and then tell her other vegetables are healthy for her. You should not have a problem with younger babies.

Make eatting vegetables fun. like ants on a log(celery stick w/ peanut butter on it and rasins on top like ants!!)

encorage everyone in the house to eat vegetables and show the kid how much fun veggies are. make soup with veggies in it.

have a chart on the wall or fridge with the kids name in one row and every time they finish their veggies tell them to put a sticker by their name and when they reach 14 sticker (2per day for 7 days) they get a treat or prize. if they eat all their veggies all month then say they get to go get a toy or go out to ice cream. pretty soon they will love veggies

Depending on the age of your child, one thing that worked for a friend of mine was when it came time to eat veggies, she told her child that eating them would do different things. I.E eating carrots would make her eyes sparkle. After eating them, go and look in the mirror and tell them it worked and they're eyes were sparkling.

let them add salad dressing to their veggies. Here are some fun recipes that I use for my family:

Yummy salad:

1 bag of green lettuce

1/2 container fresh strawberries (cut into bite size pieces)

1/4 bag of grapes (cut in 1/2)

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup grandma's seasoned salad dressing (if you cannot find then substitute with a strawberry vinaigrette or poppy seed dressing)

Dinosaur Dip

1 package of ranch dressing seasoning

1 container of sour cream

Mix together and serve with carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower

Sweet Carrots

1 small package of baby carrots (about 30 carrots)

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

cook with lid on medium heat for 10 minutes. remove lid and cook for another 10 minutes stirring often. carrots will look wrinkled when done.

Cheese and veggie casserole

1 package Velveeta cheese

1 bag frozen broccoli and cauliflower

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tbsp garlic seasoning

Mix together and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour. top with crushed plain chips.

Macaroni and cheese with peas

prepare mac and cheese according to box; however, while boiling the noodles add a can of peas or a 1/2 bag of frozen peas.

Rice casserole with avocado and squash

2 medium yellow spaghetti squash

1 avocado

1 package of cream cheese

1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese

2 tbsp Melting Pot Garlic Seasoning (if you do not have please use 1/2 tbsp garlic powder, 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tbsp Lawry's seasoned salt, 1/2 tbsp cavedars seasoning or lemon pepper)

2 cups instant rice

peel squash and boil in chicken bouillon until tender. while cooking mix all ingredients (EXCEPT RICE) in a bowl. When squash is done add to bowl and beat for 2 minutes. It will be runny. Take 2 cups of your boiling broth and cook rice in it until done (approximately 7 minutes). when done add to bowl. Put in baking dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly. It is yummy and the kids don't even know there is veggies in it.

keep putting a spoon of the veggies you're serving on his plate- don't make him eat it, eventually, hopfully, he'll try it. Until he eats them on his own, you can "hide" them in foods by offering carrot or zucchini bread/muffins, pureeing mixed veggies into soups, etc. One of the kids I nanny for doesn't eat veggies- at all!- and his Dr. told us that as long as he was eating a wide variety of different colored fruits, he was doing ok.

commence with the help of substituting the "white" products on your place with finished grains. an consumer-friendly one to get in is pasta. the full wheat variations many times get soaking wet in sauce, so the babies won't observe it as plenty. Bread is yet in a diverse thank you to get finished grains into your nutrition. in terms of vegetables, I grate vegetables and positioned it into spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, soups and muffins.i don't think of sneaking greens into ingredients is a foul element. gradually lead them to chunkier products and that they are going to ultimately get used to the style of the vegetables.

You need to make food fun and creative. Instead of serving steamed zucchini or carrot for dinner, why not make a carrot cake or a zucchini and apple slice for morning tea? Also, why not make pumpkin scones?

Baked potatoes with cheese and ham/bacon is still a healthy option, and most kids like them. Why not a vegetarian pizza? Or a vegetarian lasagne?

My son loves his special pies that I make him. I simply fry some mince with herbs and tomato paste. I mix that up with some cooked vegies like carrot, broccoli, corn, peas and beans and place it into several pastry lined ramekins. I then top it with mashed potato and sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake it for approx 10 mins. One ramekin does my son, and for myself and other adults we just add extra vegies.

Or bubble and squeak? Simply use any vegies you like, such as corn kernels, beans, peas, carrot etc. Once they are cooked, mash them in a bowl, or roughly chop them. Then mix with mashed potato and shape into hashbrowns and fry quickly in a pan, until they are golden brown. My son loves them with tomato sauce.

Feel free to contact me for more recipes! wrgmama@yahoo.com.au