Mom, How do I get my child to eat veggies?

We don't give birth to picky eaters.  We make them picky eaters.  How do we teach them to try new things? 

First, pick some veggies that you would like your child to try.  Check out the list below.  Pick veggies that they may not have sampled before. 

Then, make it a competition.  Kid's love anything with some sort of prize at the end.  Invest in a one- dollar posterboard and divide it into sections (one section for each new vegetable that you want to try). 

Let your child cut out pictures from a grocery add or print out pictures from the internet to glue onto the board.  They can also go shopping with you to pick out the veggie of the week.  

As your child tries each new veggie, let them check it off.  When they have tried all of them on the posterboard, celebrate with some sort of prize (popcorn/movie night). 

You can also encourage better snacking habits if you set out some veggies with dip (carrots/cucumber/celery) instead of making chips available.  

Don't underestimate the power of a salad!  Sure, if you put lettuce in front of me on a plate, I am not going to be that thrilled.  But if I use two different kinds of lettuce and throw in some spinach. Voila!  A whole new world.  Add in some options and let your kiddos make their own salads.  We enjoy adding in carrots, red onions, cherry tomatoes, chopped peppers, hard-boiled eggs, mushroom, crispy onions, salad toppers, croutons and cheese.  Let them try different salad dressings as well.  

1. Carrots:  Eat them raw or enjoy them glazed.  Here's a recipe for glazed carrots from Dinner at the Zoo

2. Corn on the Cob Pops

3. Spinach (not frozen...yuck!).  Toss it in a salad or use it in a soup.

4. Asparagus (steamed with butter....yumm!!)

5. Broccoli.  Kids do not always like raw broccoli.  Try some with dip or some with cheese.  Remember not to overcook or over-steam it.  No one wants mushy veggies!

6. Green beans

7. Brussel Sprouts.  Try these air fryer brussels sprouts

8. Cabbage (also steamed with butter....yumm)

9. Cauliflower.  My kiddos enjoyed raw cauliflower with a dip, but you could also get them involved with making Cauliflower Mac and Cheese.  My Fussy Eater blog has a great recipe for this hidden veggie. 

10. Beets.  The Blog Hello Wonderful has great ideas for using beets....you might just want to try some yourself!

11. Cucumbers

12. Egg Plant

13. Peppers

14. Peas

15. Radish

16. Sweet Potatoes

17. Summer Squash

18. Okra (fried, pickled....in a a soup...Okra 

19. Zucchini

20. Acorn or Butternut squash