Veggie Success

[mamamanda]

So we did a veggie race for 2 weeks. Everyone decorated their own car & I gave out very small portions of veggies to set them up for success. If you ate all your veggies you got to move your car one space. Anyone who made it to the finish line got to help me bake cookies. A few of my kids didn't really care, but I have 3 that literally ate it up! My 2 boys who rarely eat a bite of the veggies were asking for 2 & 3 servings at a meal to catch up with my good veggie eater. Now, they didn't do much variety, but any veggie is better than no veggie so if they wanted carrots & broccoli with each meal they got it. 2 weeks of daily veggies was well worth the cookie I gave them. And the baking was more fun than the eating actually. They want to race again & those that didn't get to make /eat a cookie are eager to try again. I'd call it a success!

[grateday]

That is wonderful. I love it, my kiddos here are doing better at eating veggies from the time they came. I guess it is kind of part of the culture around here. It is grown and picked. I eat it them with them. I sometimes make modifications to them for texture and taste preferences. I give the pickier eaters time to adjust to eating them more often. It is there but I don't force it kind of a thing and eventually they usually do. I have noticed more children on the spectrum with aversions that are hard to work with but pureed works for them or mixing puree's into breads.

[Thriftylady]

I just wish more kiddos got veggies at home. So many parents say "they won't eat..." And you know what the parents don't feed it so they won't eat it. The parents set up this issue.

[Josiegirl]

Originally Posted by Thriftylady

I just wish more kiddos got veggies at home. So many parents say "they won't eat..." And you know what the parents don't feed it so they won't eat it. The parents set up this issue.

Right and because they don't want their children to starve or cry they'll feed them anything they will eat.

My dcks understand if they choose not to eat their veggies, they're telling me they must done with their meal. I have 1 little dcg who is so darn picky. I've had her sit down to a meal, shove the plate away and start crying because she doesn't like anything we're having. Love her to pieces but man, she's a tough one to feed.

I love the idea of a veggie race but can see it backfiring here too. The ones who refuse veggies would cry all day if they weren't allowed to eat the cookie.

[mamamanda]

Originally Posted by Josiegirl

Right and because they don't want their children to starve or cry they'll feed them anything they will eat.

My dcks understand if they choose not to eat their veggies, they're telling me they must done with their meal. I have 1 little dcg who is so darn picky. I've had her sit down to a meal, shove the plate away and start crying because she doesn't like anything we're having. Love her to pieces but man, she's a tough one to feed.

I love the idea of a veggie race but can see it backfiring here too. The ones who refuse veggies would cry all day if they weren't allowed to eat the cookie.

Here they could cry all they wanted...in the calm down spot and away from the attention of the group. The rules were explained and they were reminded of them daily. At that point I felt like it was in their ball court. I could understand the younger ones maybe not understanding, but my younger ones are my best veggie eaters. And they are happy with veggie filled cookies
Mine handled it well. The ones that didn't get to participate just agreed they'd try harder next time so I was pretty blessed.

[spud912]

That's a great idea! I might steal it

[mamamanda]

Originally Posted by spud912

That's a great idea! I might steal it

i sometimes make "black bean brownies" and they are actually pretty good. kids think they're getting dessert when they're really getting some protein.

i also make my own pasta sauces from store-bought sauce that i doctor up with sauteed mushroom, onion, garlic, and 2-3 carrots then puree everything together.

[Thriftylady]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

i sometimes make "black bean brownies" and they are actually pretty good. kids think they're getting dessert when they're really getting some protein.

i also make my own pasta sauces from store-bought sauce that i doctor up with sauteed mushroom, onion, garlic, and 2-3 carrots then puree everything together.

See my issue with "hiding" veggies is that it doesn't solve the issue. I want the kids to realize "hey that isn't so bad, in fact I kind of like it". If you "sneak" it in they still forever say "I don't like that".

[LysesKids]

Originally Posted by Thriftylady

See my issue with "hiding" veggies is that it doesn't solve the issue. I want the kids to realize "hey that isn't so bad, in fact I kind of like it". If you "sneak" it in they still forever say "I don't like that".

This is me... my babes know what the veggies look like, but even better is they actually fight over them a lot. I have one 8 month old that will "steal" soft cubes of sweet potato from whomever is sitting next to him and another (15 months) will actually pick the black beans out of a southwest corn & bean mix just to eat them first lol