Today’s post was written by VT Dietetic students Samantha Adas, Sandy Ma, Cassidy Moore, Lauren Iezzi, Patrick O’Brien.
Vegetables usually have a bad rep, especially among children. It can sometimes be difficult to include them in your family’s meals and snacks but they shouldn’t be overlooked. Vegetables provide important nutrients that will help keep kids healthy and growing. It’s best to incorporate a mix of vegetables – a variety of colors are good! This is because different vegetables contain different important vitamins.
It can sometimes be tricky getting our kids to get on board with eating enough vegetables. Honestly, sometimes it can be hard to include them in my own meals! The important thing is to not get discouraged if you are struggling with getting your children to eat more vegetables. Just make sure to keep trying out new vegetables until you find their favorites!
Check out these tips from VT Dietetic students to help make getting in your vegetables easier:
Buy frozen veggies in bulk when there is a good sale to make sure you’ll always have some sort of vegetable on hand! – Cassidy
Make veggies fun. Choose different vegetables and use cookie cutters to create cool shapes that your kids will love! – Lauren
Experiment with new vegetables and different ways to prepare them! Try new vegetables in a variety of colors to help add balance to your diet. This is a good way for your child to experiment with finding what their taste buds enjoy! – Pat
Buy fresh vegetables when they are in season. For out of season vegetables, buy them frozen to save money! – Sandy
Give your child a voice in what they are eating. Let your child choose which vegetable they want to go with your family meals! -Sammie
Want More?
Sweet potatoes are such a versatile vegetable that is easy to include in meals! Check out this post All About Sweet Potatoes for some recipes ideas and to learn more about how nutritious they are for you.
Recently while sharing a CHFFF lesson on eating fruits & vegetables with a 4-H Club, we used the Fruit & Peanut Butter Dip recipe. (We didn’t have anyone with allergies to peanut butter.) We used celery and apple slices for dipping. A mom who was there said her son didn’t eat celery, boy was she wrong. He was asking for more along with all of the others. They like dips with raw veggies. A ranch dip could be an alternative if peanut butter can’t be used.
That’s awesome, Susan. Sometimes parents don’t give kids enough credit for their interest in eating healthy. Thanks for sharing.