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Daycare Menus, Breakfast, Lunch and Snack Ideas>Do You "Hide" Vegetables?
justgettingstarted 10:17 AM 09-25-2012
I have all one and two year olds and most are picky eaters. At lunch I always offer a veggie alone (steamed carrots, broccoli, peas, corn, or green beans) but I also try to hide a more difficult veggie in the main dish. Right now I put finely chopped spinach in the cheese quesadillas, pureed squash in the pasta sauce, and serve sweet potato fries with the grilled cheese. I also bake zucchini bread muffins occassionally. I would love more ideas for ways to get other veggies in their little bodies. Has anyone had any success wwith cauliflower or brussel sprouts?. Some of my kids live on junk when not here Thanks!
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lil angels 10:48 AM 09-25-2012
I purée a lot of different veggies and put them in ice cube containers freeze them then put them in a ziplock and use it whenever I can. Cauliflower is good in Mac and cheese and spinach is good in red sauces. Shredded carrots are good in meatloaf. Those are a couple I think of off hand.
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NeedaVaca 12:35 PM 09-25-2012
You can also put cauliflower in mashed potatoes, kids won't be able to tell!
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daycare 12:40 PM 09-25-2012
yes and no.... I do hide some so that they will get some sort of veggie in them, but I also do offer something that they are aware of and can see that I serve them veggies...

have you tried giving vanilla yogurt to dip with? that seems to work wonders for me.
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sharlan 03:38 PM 09-25-2012
The only thing I hide veggies in is mac & cheese. I add either pureed carrots, squash, or sweet potatoes in it.
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thecrazyisout 11:00 AM 10-25-2012
I do all of the above, and add cauliflower or butternut squash to grill cheese sandwiches.
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MamaBearCanada 07:16 PM 10-26-2012
I offer vegetables so that they see them as whole foods, but I hide a lot.
Some examples:
spinach, dandelion, Swiss chard to smoothies
Mashed cauliflower, minced onion, minced celery, chopped spinach to meatballs, meatloaf, burgers, spaghetti sauce etc
puréed vegetables in soup base
I have even mixed small amounts of puréed vegetables into strong fruit flavored yoghurt

I'm going to try some of the other users ideas too, but I find if I keep offering the vegetables eventually they find some they like. Cheese sauce can help a lot too.
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Childminder 08:23 AM 10-27-2012
Get "Deceptively Delicious," by Jessica Seinfeld. It is a cook book with tons of ideas on how to hide nutrition in recipes, from main dishes to desserts.
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LK5kids 06:04 AM 11-04-2012
Great ideas here.
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MrsSteinel'sHouse 09:04 AM 11-04-2012
I don't know that I would use the term "hide". I cook with a lot of vegies. They are in a lot of my main dishes. I also offer a plain vegie with every meal and I keep my fruits identifiable, except smoothies because lets face it, they just love those. But, in a lot of my main dishes they get onion, celery, carrots, garlic etc. Meatloaf has grains and vegies added.
As always you can see my lunches at www.facebook.com/MrsSteinelsHouse I may have to start posting my "snack" aka dinner. Breakfast is almost always cereal, bananas and milk. Sometimes bagels, oatmeal, waffles make an apperance but my little ones like knowing. If I am changing I have to make it a big deal today we are having______ and half the time for some of them I still have to pour cereal into a bowl. I feed them organic O's no sugar added just milk.
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LK5kids 06:10 AM 11-27-2012
Originally Posted by thinkinboutstarting:
I have all one and two year olds and most are picky eaters. At lunch I always offer a veggie alone (steamed carrots, broccoli, peas, corn, or green beans) but I also try to hide a more difficult veggie in the main dish. Right now I put finely chopped spinach in the cheese quesadillas, pureed squash in the pasta sauce, and serve sweet potato fries with the grilled cheese. I also bake zucchini bread muffins occassionally. I would love more ideas for ways to get other veggies in their little bodies. Has anyone had any success wwith cauliflower or brussel sprouts?. Some of my kids live on junk when not here Thanks!
U R doing a great job!!! Good 4 U offering these great additions to kid's meals!
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SunshineMama 06:50 AM 11-27-2012
Check out the book, "Deceptively Delicious." The whole book is about hiding fruits and veggies, and there are some great recipes in it. You can do cauliflower pizza crust, or mashed cauliflower with some shredded cheese.
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adoreachild 03:53 AM 12-14-2012
Not only yours but each and every kid doesn't like to eat vegetables. Even during your time also you definitely refuse to vegetables because I also. So, this is a common problem when the kids will grow up and learn about the need of these veges and their benefits they will start to eat it.
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CozyHome 02:10 AM 12-15-2012
Pureed cauliflower or sweet potatoes go into my home made mac n cheese. Pureed tomatoes, peppers and onions go into my meatloaf, pasta dishes with tomato sauces and shepherds pie. There's a great book called the 'Sneaky Chef' which I recommend.
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MamaG 05:05 PM 12-15-2012
Cauliflower is great diced and dipped in ranch. I let the kids use tooth picks to eat it. They'll eat almost anything if they can poke it or dip it. I put veggies in everything I cook and offer some on the side with a bit of butter. My kids love veggies and always eat them. I've never had to be sneaky about it.
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clep 10:52 AM 12-20-2012
I don't hide anything. I provide them a tablespoon of each item on their plate, not too much so I am confident they can eat it. They would have to be visibly sick if they weren't able to eat it. If they don't eat it for lunch, they can eat it for snack. I don't coax, remind or mention anything at all. For afternoon snack we always have something the children adore. When they are done their lunch, they are welcome to have some of the other snack.

It usually takes about two weeks for them to be stellar eaters here. They all eat veggies and dip every Wednesday and have salads regularly with their lunches. They need to finish their small portion of salad before they eat their yummy main dish such as lasagna or spaghetti.

I also do lots of praise for the children eating well and don't say anything to the ones that aren't. They catch on real quickly.

Most of children in my day home are still picky at home, but aren't picky at my home in the slightest. All of my children are fantastic eaters.
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