How are you serving vegetables?

I need tips and ideas before I pull my hair out. I finally found out what Henry will eat (once we cut out the last bottle, he started eating like a champ). Henry will eat fruit and veggies in any form. Jacob thinks I am poisoning him if I offer him vegetables. He will eat fruit, in the form of a crunchy apple. Yes, I know I can hide fruit and veggies in other foods but I really want to get him eating fruits/veggies without hiding (for now). Jacob will eat meat in any form as well as carbs.

Here is what I offer:

Fruit:

Melon (cantaloupe, watermelon)-- fresh/cut up
Pears--right now from a fruit cup
Apples -- Fresh/sliced or diced
Peaches -- From a fruit cup (they are already diced and it saves me the hassle of peeling)

Strawberries are out because of potential allergy, same with pineapple.

Veggies:

Any and all, steamed (broccoli, cauliflower) or boiled (carrots, peas, green beans--things with rougher skin)

For starch, they get sweet potato and potato (J will eat both)

Any tips/recipes/lectures are welcome.

 

All I can say is keep offering everything you can. My oldest ds loved fruits and veggies. My oldest dd hated them. She'd eat bananas, but that was it, and since she had horrible constipation, bananas were limited. She'll finally eat bananas, watermelon and cantaloupe, and peas on a good day, a little broccoli at the chinese place...but that's it. I keep offering (tonight she tried carrots from the crock pot roast, said she liked them but would only eat them if I put them in her mouth), and most of the time she refuses to try them...but I keep trying! :lol:

The twins are so hit and miss. Liam hates grapes for sure, and picks and chooses on strawberries. Rylee eats most everything pretty good.

 

my girls are great with fruit, but will not eat veggies at all. i just keep offering them whenever i can. i also mix them into other things as well, but like you i would like them to eat them whole. we haven't gotten there yet, but i try not to worry too much about it as they're happy, healthy & growing.

 

A tip I received recently was to roast the veggies in olive oil with salt and pepper. My guys DETEST baby food squash and always have so I was skeptical. But we tried roasting it and they loved it. They also like green beans and potatoes that way. I usually let them feed themselves, too, which helps.

 

My girls are pretty good at eating veggies but they hate broccoli so I put it in stuff but not hiding it. Like there are pretty big pieces of it in their mac and cheese or red pasta sauce. Or I will cube cheese or chicken and mix it all together before they eat. It's harder to pick around the broccoli

 

Keep offering different vegetables in variety but don't push the issue - as long as they are happy and healthy. My little ones will want to eat almost anything off my plate, even things they will not eat when offered on their own plate. Maybe that is worth a try - showing them how you love whatever vegetable you are planning to offer to them and offering them bits from your own plate.
Pumpkin and zucchini are favorites here and you can bake them in the oven with a bit of salt and pepper and brush with butter or oil for a different taste and texture to boiled or steamed. I also use my pressure cooker a lot, just to save time when boiling potatoes or vegetables.
Have you tried offering blueberries and mangos? These are favorite fruits here.

 

I also agree with PP's to keep offering them and not pushing the issue. You can also try some dipping sauce for the veggies (ranch dressing or some other kind of dressing, ketchup) and sometimes I would make pasta with sauce and toss veggies with it.

 

Jack will sometimes try veggies, but Nate won't eat anything green except zucchini. Pretty much the only veggies Nate will eat "unhidden" are zucchini and squash, sauteed in olive oil and sprinkled with soy sauce. ardon: I've tried cooking other veggies using this method, but it's a no-go. Occasionally they'll eat something like breaded eggplant with ketchup. They will both devour Eggplant Parmesan though, and Nate adores hummus and baba ganoush, so I try to get creative.

If it's reassuring at all, fruits and veggies have very similar nutritional profiles, so if they're both eating a lot of fruits you don't have to sweat the veggies.

I will keep offering, and maybe someday they'll scarf down a salad, but I'm not holding my breath. <_<

 

Glad to know I am not the only one. I can definitely tell which cravings came from which baby. Jacob is far from malnourished and when he is older and eats things that I can hide veggies in, I will do that. I will try spicing the veggies also and see if that helps. He loves basil chicken meatballs so maybe I can add something strong to the veggies and see if he will eat it.

 

I agree, just keep offering a variety. As far as vegetables I would say also experiment with different ways of cooking or serve them raw. You can grate things like carrot if you're worried about giving them raw. If they can eat apple fine then they should be able to cope with chewing cucumber/carrot/tomatoes/sweet pepper etc. Dips have always been a big incentive here too. You can use something like houmous or guacamole, which are pretty healthy, rather than mayonnaise or salad dressing. Or make a dip that's 1/2 mayonnaise and 1/2 pureed carrot.
My kids also love corn on the cob-Eleanor and Ethan just devour it-so if I feel like they're lacking in veggie intake one day I just serve that.

Fruit; you could also try mango (nice and sweet), blackberries, blueberries, plum (might be popular with J as it has that same sort of sweet tang as apple. I tend to peel plums as the skin can be a bit too sharp). Also if you try dips and it proves popular with them you can let them dip fruit sticks in yogurt, which you can even add extra pureed fruit to.

Good luck!

 

Tonight I tried roasted carrots with a variety of spices. Jacob was eating the chicken/potatoes I had also made with them (it was all in 1 pot). I hid a piece of carrot in some potato and somehow, he sucked off the potato and spit out the carrot.

I chopped up carrot tonight and am baking it into meatloaf tomorrow.

 

I didn't read all the responses so I apologize if I am repeating....luckily, my kids haven't been too picky with their fruits and veggies. They eat bananas almost every morning because they love them! We do strawberries, blueberries (another fav) and cantaloupe. They eat mango but don't love it.

For veggies they will eat canned carrots or green beans. I have tried peas but they don't love them. It is pretty hit or miss with that. We grilled veggies a few nights ago and they ate red pepper and mushrooms..They loved them! We have also given them grilled zucchini and squash and they ate that too. We just put a little olive oil and salt and pepper and then grill...we make extra to have for lunches and they will eat them cold the next day.

We do still have days where they refuse and decide it is more fun to throw it on the floor but overall we are getting there. I make sure to offer a fruit or veggie at every meal so that they get used to it.

Good luck!

 

:rofl: I'm sorry to laugh, but that sounds just like Nate! :lol: He'll find a speck of pureed spinach in pasta sauce, pick it out with his finger, hold it up and say "Unst Dat?! (what's that). :laughing:

Good for you for at least offering. :good:

 

Oh, I am more stubborn that this child. He will learn that. Sadly, I think he takes after me. I didn't like any vegetable except canned green beans or canned corn until in my teens. Poor kid.

 

He gobbled up meatloaf with carrot in it. Now i need to figure out more recipes that he will eat, where I can hide food.

 

I like to puree things like spinach and put them in pasta and pizza sauce. Those are so tasty you can hide a lot of goodies in them. I've also done this with yogurt, and made my own chicken nuggets, adding veggie purees to the egg mixture used to dredge them.

Meatloaf is a great one for hiding veggies! You can make burgers this way too. My SIL purees cauliflower and puts it in mac-n-cheese.

I'm too lazy to put a lot of effort into hiding veggies, but I do it occasionally. Someday I'd really like them to eat "real" veggies, so I just keep offering....

 

A couple of things that have worked really well for us is mixing small pieces of Veg like diced carrots, green string beans or corn and peas with mashed cauliflower with a bit of cheese mixed in or another winner is mixing them with Sweet Potato. Or put lemon juice on the string green beans as finger food. I also do a lot of soups, but remove most of the liquid so it is easier to eat.

Good luck

 

Have you tried beans? Mine like butter beans - from a can, so a little more salt than I'd like, but I think I'm ok with it.

How about asparagus, yellow squash? Squash/zuc especially is good breaded and baked if you're not above that.