WHY won't she eat vegetables?!

[tjdee]

Won't touch them.
What to do? Attempts have included "if you eat all your green beans you get ice cream", "just have a few", and "eat them RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! :grr: "

Results include: "I don't want dessert tonight", and gagging on them (I don't know how she does this, but she actually gags "because they're so disgusting"). I have limited success with the "just have a few", but now that's starting not to work.

She does eat fruits and takes vitamins, but ???

[lizzieforkerry]

1. We use lots and lots of cheez whiz

I know it sounds gross, but they eat all of their veggies if I put that on them and ask for more. I figure the nutrition they are getting from the veggies outweighs the harm from the cheez whiz.

[CornField]

2. Is it this way with all vegetables?

My husband will gag on carrots. He tells me there's just something about the combination of taste and texture that makes him sick everytime. ???

I was having a hard time getting the kids to eat broccoli until I switched from serving it steamed to serving it raw. (Same with carrots and cauliflower.)

One other thing we've instituted is a "five bite" rule. That is, the kids have to take at least five bites of everything on their plates before they can be excused from the table. (Not the best, but at least we know they are trying everything and getting some benefit from the goodness.)

Good luck!

[blondeatlast]

6. My mom did that too, and it worked.

I've got a really picky eater--I mean REALLY picky--and so we've made it two bites.

He's actually learned that some veggies are good.

[SoCalDem]

3. Here's what worked for me.

Cut up raw cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers,carrots, etc.. Arrange it on a fancy plate with a dish of ranch dressing or dip in the center.. The kids will ask what it's for.. I would just say.. "that's for later//please don't eat it" Of course the minute my back was turned, they were all foraging..


another tip (wrong time of year NOW, but...).. We planted a garden, and each son had his own "row".. We grew beans,tomatoes, carrots,zucchini, watermelons, and some other stuff.. The tended their garden, and gladly picked, washed and ate "their" vegetables, and would actually squabble if a brother "took some of their veggies"


Sneak veggies into stuff by using a food processor..

Make them a smoothie, but toss a carrot into the mix.. Add beets to your brownies (leave out a bit of the liquid)..

Make zucchini bread and pumpkin bread..

Get the veggies into them by being sneaky :)

[Sabriel]

10. My two are much more likely to eat raw veggies

I guess it's the texture and taste after they're cooked that bugs them. As a former veggie hater who now loves them, I can totally understand where they're coming from. They eat lots of fruit and other fiber, plus a multi-vite, so I'm not too concerned. Like SoCalDem, I sneak them into pancakes, breads, and snack boxes.

[maddezmom]

15. the food processor has become my best weapon

We do alot of yogurt smoothies....and I always add mixed veggies from a can to the mix. Start with 16 oz of Plain or Vanilla yougurt...add veggies, then let the kids add their favorite fruits. We use a lot of bananas, strawberries, mango, pineapple and the kids seem not to notice.

For Pasta or rice...my sauce includes spinach, broccoli, green beans, turnips, beets, carrots, garlic, onions, eggplant, and of course plum tomatoes. It takes a while...so I do a big batch and freeze into plastic bags. Also for a substitute for meat, I do beans...kidney, pinto, etc.

Instead of french fries all the time, we do...fried zuchinni, fried yucca, and fried sweet potatoes. Par boil until soft then lightly fry in canola oil. You can bread if you want, but my kids like them "naked" now.

My kids are both picky eaters, but I just keep offering new things. My husband and I eat appetizers lots of nights the kids hate the new offering. :)

[Name removed]

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[blondeatlast]

7. A troll in the GROUPS?

Especially in this one?

[SoCalDem]

9. a dupe...

that's all.. it was mine :)

we need a new removal "message" for dupes that get removed :)

[Biased Liberal Media]

18. I thought groups were hidden from those w/o stars?

[LeftyMom]

5. if you make it a battle you'll just prolong the agony

Some people just have food aversions. I'm one of them and my parents tried everything from making me sit at the table until I ate a specified number of bites to wrestling around on the floor trying to forcefeed me things I was averse to. Turned out I was allergic to a lot of the things I showed aversions to. Attempting to bribe your child with junky food like ice cream to eat a healthier food like green beans just reinforces that grean beans aren't worth eating, why else would you offer a bribe?

You can model trying new things and offer things she hasn't wanted before from time to time, but don't take it personally if she doesn't eat them. Try different textures and methods of preparation. Cut them into smaller peices (often we make veggie peices too big and they are overwhelming to kids.) Offer them with different dips or seasonings. My sister can't stand green beans, but will eat them with lemon pepper on them, which is wierd as heck because she doesn't like black pepper either. Tastes are strange things and they change over time. Just keep offering the right things and keep non-nutritive foods out of the house so her body can tell her what it needs effectively.

When weather permits a trip to the farmer's market might help. Picking out new foods and meeting the people who grew them might make them seem more inviting.

BTW, in the meantime, Floradix makes a great plant based liquid supplement which tastes like orange juice.

[cally]

8. Both my children seldom ate vegetables

when they were young. As teens, both are mostly vegetarian and will eat most vegetables. I just made sure I always served fruit and vegetables and not much junk. Most kids will balance their diet if they have good choices available.

[mrgorth]

11. I'm 35 years old

and I don't eat vegetables.

[tjdee]

12. Thanks everyone!

There are a lot of good ideas here...I'll let you know what works!

So very much appreciated everyone, as this is such a trying problem for us...

[SoCalDem]

13. Just one more suggestion..

If your kids are very young, don't let them goad you into "food fights".. They will NOT starve to death.,. When they see how important their food intake is to you, it becomes a weapon that they use unconsiously...or deliberately..

Over a period of time, the will get enough nutrition, and you'll be much calmer if you don't have a food fight at every meal..

[Sabriel]

14. Let me recommend a book that changed my thinking about food

It's "The Family Nutrition Book," by Sears & Sears. I grew up in a "You'll sit here until you finish every last scrap on your plate" kind of household, so the Sears' philosophy was a revelation for me. Thank goodness I read it before my first-born started on solid foods.

You don't have to treat it like an eating Bible, but it's certainly food for thought (hardy har).

[SoCalDem]

16. My first born turned 31 a week ago

and the other two are fast-approaching 26 & 27, so the book would be too late for me :)..but hopefully the "newbie parents" pick it up..

Thanks..

We had a rather relaxed approach to food.. If you're hungry..eat

If you're not...don't..

My 3 grew up with real food..no fast food to speak of until they were able to buy it for themselves..

I still remember a startled waitress when our then-5 yr old ordered crab legs at a resaturant :evilgrin:

[davsand]

17. I second the raw veggie suggestion.

I also want to suggest the idea of celery with peanut butter on it. THAT is a big hit and it is not a bad way to sneak in a veggie AND some protein.

I sneak veggies in stuff like spaghetti sauce and in pizza sauce. (Shredded carrots and zucchini are always good ones to try in either of those, BTW.)

Parent magazine had an article one time about making veggies look fun--like (ew!) radish roses and carrot fans and that kind of stuff. (Frankly, my kid would simply DIE if I ever gave her another radish in ANY form, and I can't blame her...) I'd guess the idea of fun veggies is a pretty good one, but I can't vouch for it--my kid was older when I saw the article.

Another suggestion of a veggie dip is honey mustard salad dressing. They make a low fat one that is pretty tasty (you can add some more honey if you need to sweeten it up) and kids seem to like it pretty well.

Stir fry can work with veggies--especially if your kid likes some of the sweeter sauces like orange sauce or even sweet sour sauce. Pea pods are a BIG deal--we like to unzip them an look at the little peas inside...

Some veggies taste funny to kids. I am told that is a matter of age. Some stuff is bitter to kids and will not be as they age a bit. Don't give up if they hate it this week they may like it in a month or two!

Laura

[Biased Liberal Media]

19. I feel your pain

my 4 and a half year old refuses to eat veggies. Sometimes I hide them in her food until she sees them and starts picking at it. Otherwise it's been an uphill battle. The only fruit she'll eat is bananas. That's IT.

However, as a child and even now I hated veggies. I will only eat salad, corn, or raw carrots, cucumbers...but that's it. I attempt to incorporate veggies in our meals daily but as for her eating them?? Daily battle. I think I'm gonna just give up. LOL.

[OnionPatch]

20. Cheese and Ranch dressing!

Worked wonders for me. I let my daughter dip anything she wants into ranch dressing so she eats more veggies this way.

Also, I never force her to eat anything. (I also grew up in one of those houses where you HAD to eat everything.) She loves most foods and surprises people all the time with the amount of veggies she eats.

One more thing that might help....we grow a large percentage of our own food and spend lots of time playing (her) and working (me) in the garden. My daughter has her own little patch where she planted her own seeds that she picked out. She was so proud of her own little tomatoes and carrots and couldn't wait to eat them. If you don't have room for a garden, maybe you could help your daughter plant a few things in pots on the patio or something.

[SmokingJacket]

21. If she eats fruits, I wouldn't worry.

Vegetables have a strong flavor.

Mine will eat a lot of them, but not others.

If the pressure's off, she'll eat them eventually, or not.

My great grandfather lived to be ninety and never ate a vegetable in his entire life.

:shrug:

[umtalal]

22. So funny I served a spinach omelet and my 3 year old son

asked what the green was and declared he did not want the green stuff.

A nutritionist I respect ( hardcore Democrat) said don't worry about it. Kids will eat what their body needs as long as you are not serving them sugar galore.

[gollygee]

23. My daughter eats veggies OK, but I sneak them in too

She loves cupcakes - I take a boxed spice cake mix and add in a small can of pumpkin and an egg to make it fluffy and a little water to make it less dense so I can stir it - it makes 24 mini cupcakes and they have quite a bit of pumpkin in them and not a ton of sugar. Pumpkin is a vegetable, not a fruit, and it has a lot of vitamins and fiber.