Recipes for fruits and veggies?

Question

I am looking for some recipes that will help me get my children to eat more fruits and veggies that are fast and nutritous for them. they are 6 and 4 years old and an 8 month old.

My kids love to eat fruit, but not really any veggies. I just was looking for things to do with them besides eat them with dinner. Thanks everyone for your wonderful ideas!

Answer 1

Kids like to eat foods that look "normal" but interesting! Have you considered fruit or vege kabobs? You can serve the fruit with a sweetened yogurt dressing, and the vege kabobs with ranch dressing. They also have some great cookie cutters for larger veges, such as jicama and carrots, so you can try making great shapes for them to sample. Kids also gravitate toward things they can hold easily in their hands, so celery and carrot stix with ranch dressing are also a good choice. You can also "hide" fruits and veges in smoothies and sauces. For example, a strawberry banana smoothie would incorporate strawberries, bananas, orange juice and yogurt, along with cinnamon, vanilla yogurt and ice to make a great milkshake. If your kids love spaghetti, then puree veges and add to your sauces.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Sometimes children seem to dislike the consistency rather than the taste of vegetables. I like the previous answer for dipping raw vegetables into ranch dressing. I have found that children love the dressing you mix up yourself from a packet by adding fresh milk much better than the already prepared dressing.. They also love cherry tomatoes and broccoli that is partly cooked and left in spears so they can dip it. If you make smoothies, try to limit the amount of sweetener, as when children get used to very sweet drinks, they no longer think that bananas or pineapple taste sweet enough. I also bake sweet potatoes, cool them a little and cut them in chunks for a vegetable that's high in fiber and vitamin A.

I buy frozen fruit and just mix it with yogurt or milk for a slushy, cold drink. A little vanilla, a banana and just a small amount of apple juice makes it taste good to my children. If they will drink a cup or so of yogurt with several kinds of fruit mixed in, I let them have that for breakfast with a blueberry-bran muffin.

Answer 4

Kids love anything that look fun to eat. Here are a few ideas, but use your imagination. And maybe even let your kids do an experiment or two. If you let them do the work, they are more likely to eat it (and turn cleanup into a game so you arent spending the rest of the night scrubbing floors).

Fruit or veggie kabobs are a great way to get your kids to eat. cut the skewers in half to make them more kid-size and prepare a simple yogurt-granola dipping sauce (1 cup yogurt - original or fruit- and 2 cups granola). Your kids can either eat them straight off the stick or take them off with their fingers. And you can just set a few peices of fruit without the skewers for your 8-month-old so he doesnt get hurt with the stick.

Try the cassic Ants-on-a-Log snack. Cut up some celery sticks, spread them with peanutbutter, and add raisons, nuts, or chocolate chips on a special occasion. For even more fun, arrange different toppings in a bowl and have your kids decorate themselves. Its great fun!

You can also try these easy "fruit pops". Dip a banana in yogurt, peanutbutter, or even fruit juice. roll the sticky banana in granola or raisons, pop a stick through it, and freeze. Your kids will think they are eating a dessert instead of a healthy snack.

Fruit Jello's - Get a box of instant jello - whatever flavor will do but make sure it is sugar free! slice up strawberries and peaches and get out your muffin tin. Add a few slices of fruit along with raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries. Fill with prepared jello that hasnt firmed yet, set in the fridge, and ta-da! A perfect and simple dessert sure to please and on the plus side has lots of nutrients from the fruit. For an extra special treat, get lowfat or nofat whipped cream to go on top.

Just rememeber - color and originality count! Dont pressure your kids too much, and encourage them to eat more helathy foods. If you only let them have junk on, lets say, Sundays, they will be drawn more to fruits and yogurts during the week. Keep a simple trail mix consisting of nuts, dried fruit, and granola on the table that they can snack on while drawing or playing or whatever and add more vegetables into whatever dinner you make. If you make meatloaf, add thinly chopped carrots, celery, and onions. Make grilled seasoned potatoes but add things like cucumber(surprise) and carrots so its not all jus starch. Have fun and healthy eating!

~Chaya

Answer 5

CHOOSE-A-FRUIT-OR-VEGETABLE BREAD

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/3 c. quick cooking rolled oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 c. finely shredded zucchini, carrots, or finely chopped peeled peaches
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Combine flours, oats and soda, set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, beat until fluffy, scraping sides of bowl often. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and lemon peel, beat well. Stir in vegetable or fruit. Add flour mixture, a third at a time, beating on low speed until combined. Stir in walnuts. Spread batter in 8x4x2 inch greased loaf pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven 55-60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cover with foil the last 10 minutes of baking. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan, cool on wire rack. Makes 1 loaf.
This is an award winning recipe.
REALLY GOOD!!!!
HOPE THIS HELPS! ;)

Answer 6

Our 6 yr old likes ants on a log (celery, peanut butter and raisins). Grapes, clementines, bananas, raisins, dried apricots, dried cranberries, etc are favourites here. We make up our own trail mix and fruit salads (which are fun to eat with "special forks" like a pickle or escargot fork!)

Answer 7

Do they like dip? Cheese dip. Ranch Dip. Salsa. Ketsup. Sour cream. Cream cheese.

Let 'em dip the fruits and veggies until they learn to appreciate the fruits and veggies.

The nutritonist use to tell me it may take hundreds of times trying a new food before they like it. And if you don't offer it they won't learn to like it.

I try to get my youngest daughter to try new foods and foods she has tried before. At least one bite.

One friend said their child had to aleast try a new food. If they threw a fit before they tried it, if they liked it they could not have any more until next time.

Raggedy Ann Salad

do a search engine like yahoo. lots of varations.