My Number One Tip for Increasing Kids' Daily Veggie Intake

(so... if you happen to read this blog and Kendra's at Catholic All Year, you may notice a common theme.  She was kind enough to serve as my opening act.  *wink, wink* )

Somehow, blessedly, all of our kids love vegetables.

When the boys were very young I would hide vegetables in meals. Looking back, this was a strange thing for me to do.  They didn't dislike vegetables.  But all the books and magazines that I had read about feeding children healthy food told me that my kids wouldn't like vegetables and that it would be a struggle getting them to eat veggies.  I believed what I read.  The magazines told me that I'd have to get creative if I expected my children to eat healthily.  So, because I was easily influenced by what I read, I fed my children vegetables the way magazine articles told me to - hiding them in otherwise kid-friendly food.  

I don't have to do this anymore.  But amusingly enough, there are some foods that, to this day, if I don't "hide" the veggies in there, the kids grumble about it.  They all know that I pump up some foods with extra veggies, but it's not because the family wouldn't eat them otherwise.  It's because they prefer it that way, and honestly, have you ever met a mom that would not squeeze in extra veggies when she could??  I prefer to think of it as "enhancing" a meal, rather than disguising a food.  (The kids favorite vegetable-enhanced meal is macaroni and white cheddar cheese with steamed, food processed cauliflower.) 

But it's all superfluous. My kids enjoy vegetables. They ask for salads. Don't get the wrong idea. They're not going to ask for brussels sprouts over a candy bar...  They'd rather have the candy bar, but since that's not going to happen, my Number One best tip for getting kids to eat extra vegetables is this...  make it the afternoon snack.  

Pretty much all kids ask for an afternoon snack, right?  Mine do.  Several months ago, I simplified afternoon snack time and added another dose of healthy veggies to our day by making snack time every afternoon a big bowl of veggies.  I've usually pre-cut them.  They're ready to go and I don't have to figure out what to offer for snack every day.  Simple.  Healthy.  The bowl always has cucumbers, carrots, and red peppers.  And it sometimes has green peppers, sugar snap peas, or green beans.  The kids all eat out of the same bowl, and this is part of the "trick" if you need one.  They see everyone else eating a "snack," they want to get in on the action.  And if a child wants any of the afternoon snack, they have to get in there, get dirty, and get what they want from the bowl before it's gone.  (I hope you're not imagining a feeding frenzy where the biggest and strongest get the good stuff... although, that's not far off ;) )  The afternoon bowl of veggies has worked wonderfully for us.  The kids enjoy it, expect it, and don't ask for anything else (like the candy bar.)  I also eat more veggies as a consequence, since they're out and available.  And if I don't serve a side salad or vegetable for dinner, I don't feel so bad.  Everyone's already gorged themselves at afternoon "snack time."  

The only downside to this method is that since I allow the kids to eat the vegetables all afternoon long, doing whatever it is they're doing - Legos, drawing, wandering around the house - I occasionally find an errant cucumber skin lying here or there.  But that hardly offsets the benefits :)

My bonus best tip for encouraging veggie-eating with kiddos is nothing new - grow your own.  Our summer gardens are small, but we're very enthusiastic about them.  The kids eat snap peas and string beans at their leisure, vie for the privilege of picking lettuce for dinner salads, watch the red peppers to gauge when they're ready for snacking, and LOVE when it's time to see what the carrots have been up to under the soil.  (Confession, no one ever eats the tomatoes though.  No matter what I try, the only way anyone around here will eat a raw tomato is if it's on a BLT. But, yum!)  

What a delight it is to have kiddos that defy the popular wisdom of parenting magazines.  And what a blessing as well.  Veggie eating is important for all my children, but I'm so grateful that vegetables are an enjoyable snack for Aaron. Finding convenient, low-carb snacks for someone with diabetes is tricky.  But all I have to do is say the words cucumbers and red peppers and this kid is making his way to the kitchen.  He appreciates the snack, and I appreciate that every afternoon he can snack "for free" - eat as much as he'd like without worrying about insulin dosing. It's one less thing for me to worry about during an already busy time of day, and an easy way for him to enjoy food he likes without carb counting.  Truly a blessing.

Incidentally, Aaron and I are working together on some upcoming material!  Soon I'm hoping to publish a few posts with some of his diabetes story as we approach the first anniversary of his diagnosis.  Stay tuned!