Disguised vegetables

bejuled74

Does anyone have any good healthy recipes that disguise vegetables so kids will eat them? For instance, I had a peice of chocolate cake over the holidays made with beets...My kids won't eat anything except green beans.

amnsetie

Cut brocolli up really small and hide in bolognese sauce.
Mash pumpkin or carrot up in potato.
Make soups and blend them so the vegies can't be seen (don't blend the meat if there is meat in the soup) ie make meat stock, remove meat, cook vegies in stock, blend, return meat to soup and reheat. You can't hide strong tasting vegies like capsicum this way.

I think you are lucky they like beans actually. Don't worry that they don't like all vegies. No-one likes them all. Could you try a one new vegetable a week day. They agree to taste a new veg once a week and don't have to eat it again if they don't like it. (except when hidden in soup but don't tell them that) Make sure you cook it nicely.
If they don't like carrots put some herbs or honey on them or even saute them lightly in butter after steaming them. yumbo!
If they don't like steamed pumpkin, roast or mash it or roast AND mash it. Add a touch of nutmeg.
if they don't like eggplant make it into a dip with youghurt and garlic and put it on a lamb shaslik. (called babaganoush)

I find it amazing how many adults I see on mfp who think all vegetables taste bad. There are thousands of vegetables and I'm sure they have only ever tried a couple.

yo_andi

WadeLam

There are so many ways to camouflage shredded vegetables that kids will never suspect they are eating them. Shredded carrots, zucchini, onions and peppers mix nicely in ground meat dishes — from meatloaf and meatballs to burgers and ground beef helpers. Carrots and zucchini take on the flavors of the foods they are in and onions and peppers add savory flavors to make the meal even better. Just be sure you shred or chop the veggies finely enough that they can’t be detected by the suspicious eye of a finicky child.

Cauliflower can easily go unnoticed when mashed in with creamy potatoes. Try a combo of two-thirds spuds to one-third florets. Mash some cooked butternut squash or carrots and disguise it as part of the sauce in your family’s fav mac and cheese.

Puree carrots, cukes and cabbage and stir the mixture into spaghetti or pizza sauce. Cook some spaghetti squash and mix the stringy strands with pasta. Once topped with sauce and sprinkled with cheese, your kiddos will never suspect how healthy their meal is.

When you are dishing up something they really love, you can hide vegetables in meals for kids almost in plain sight. Layers of squash atop the pasta of your famous lasagna will be perfectly concealed. Thin slices of veggies just under the bubbling cheese of a homemade pizza probably won’t be perceived. Slide mushroom bits into a chicken and cheese quesadilla and watch them dig in.

Not many kids will turn up their noses at a creamy after school smoothie. That doesn’t mean you have to tell them it is made with pureed carrots or celery. If you are lucky enough to have a juicer, your options are nearly endless. Mix sweet, juicy fruits with compatibly flavored veggies, pour into glasses and hand them straws.

You can’t go wrong with sweet treats and desserts. Zucchini bread dotted with chocolate chips will be gobbled up, especially when you call it “Mom’s Choco Bread.” Make chocolate cake with tomato soup or pureed beets in the mix. They will devour it with no questions asked. Pumpkin muffins, carrot cake and sweet potato pie are all delicious ways to hide vegetables in meals for kids.

But note that although this is great advice, I can’t guarantee results. LOL – my kids are pretty picky too, and seem to be able to detect “incognito vegetables”. But, give it a shot and let us know how it goes!

WadeLam

Bahahahahahaaaa! Well played, vegetables, well played...

lizsmith1976

I food process bell peppers and mix in ground beef/turkey to make hamburgers.

Google recipes for cauliflower mashed "potatoes".

If you make spaghetti, can also food process lots of pepeprs, mushrooms, onions, carrots and hide in the sauce.

Are they old enough to cook with you or help you prepare? My daughter was always more willing to try foods that she had a hand in making.

Pandorian

Try different prep methods, my parents boiled everything even the cans of veggies, talk about soggy tasteless lumps, but some will benefit from grilling, some steaming, some smoking... tons of different prep methods that will change the taste / texture and may make them palatable.

Blending them into things though can hide them and get them used, pumpkin say I have a great dessert loaf that most folks love, someone tried it, loved it, wanted more and then wanted the recipe... once they SAW the pumpkin on the recipe card as an ingredient the loaf was the most disgusting thing ever... "I knew that was there" etc .

FitbeTMF

My mom used to always make spaghetti riddled with onions, zucchini, and squash. We knew every time

cwolfman13

We make little quiches for our toddler and put various vegetables in them...also brocolli cheese soup...hide them in some mac and cheese. For my toddler, as long as cheese is involved, he'll eat it.

agbaeb

Check out the book Deceptively Delicious!

TubbsMcGee

My favourite is pureeing everything in the crisper and hiding it in chilis.

When I was a kid, my family ate dinner really late (like, 8-9pm) so my mom would put out a massive veggie platter every night with carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, etc. around 5pm when she got home, and we'd end up pigging out on that...often too full to eat dinner by the time 9pm rolled around.

Maybe just try chucking out any sugary junk food in the house and making sure you always have grab-n-go fruits/veggies for them to snack on. Eventually they'll probably crave them more than sweets, and you won't have to hide them in any other foods.

nashsheri33

*MINI CORN MUFFINS*

1 box jiffy cornbread mix
1 jar butternut squash baby food
1 individual-size can corn, drained (if they will eat it), drained

mix, bake at temp according to jiffy box (either 400 or 425) in a sprayed mini muffin pan, til edges are browned.



*CHOCOLATE MUFFINS*

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

mix together in large bowl (it takes a while) and bake at 350 in sprayed muffin tin, following cake mix instructions for baking time.

you can make *spice muffins* using spice cake mix instead of devil's food.

kdiamond

Yes, as another poster said the raw veggie plate works well! My kids love raw carrots, broccoli, etc., and I give them yogurt ranch to dip in and they have no idea it is healthy dressing!

I puree cooked carrots and spinach and put into chicken soup, they can't tell...

I put raw spinach in their salads with romaine, they can't tell...

For them I will do 1/2 real potatoes and 1/2 mashed cauliflower (I'll just eat the cauliflower I love it), they can't tell...

I always use applesauce or pumpkin in cake mixes...always...(and I use chobani yogurt for frosting (there is a recipe on their site)

Eventually they stop caring that it is healthy and just eat it. It took a couple years to really break my kids (and I still have some junk in the house too), but they are fine with eating healthy now. They even like goat cheese in their salads!

ilovelucy711

You need to get them to eat their veggies just as veggies! Are you giving them canned or fresh/frozen veggies? Try fresh veggies! Bake parnips, carrots and other root vegetable and bake them as chips or fries.

Bbwnomore2

Does anyone have any good healthy recipes that disguise vegetables so kids will eat them? For instance, I had a peice of chocolate cake over the holidays made with beets...My kids won't eat anything except green beans.

Try taking them to a farmers market or the produce dept let them look around and see what they may like to try, it may just amaze you

JennyVirginia

I have the cookbook Deceptively Delicious and there's some good recipes in there. Here's a link to the macaroni and cheese that my kids LOVE!!! http://www.food.com/recipe/macaroni-and-cheese-with-butternut-squash-or-cauliflower-258018. When I make chicken noodle soup I add one cup of pureed cauliflower to the broth. I also make mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. When I make hamburgers or meat loaf I put a couple carrots and a green pepper through the food processor and add it to the ground turkey.
I am lucky though; my kids LOVE their veggies. I credit it to the fact that I have a huge garden and I made all their baby food from fresh veggies. Plus now that they are older they help plant & harvest and we can veggies for the winter.

DriaD84

i didn't read all the comments so i'm not sure if anyone already posted it but i remember Jerry Seinfeld's wife coming out with a cookbook where they puree vegetables and "hide" them in other foods

Drop_it_Like_Its_Hawt

My kids are picky 8 and 12 year olds, but still drink the V8 splash drink, when I don't tell them what it is. They also both claim to hate tomatoes but when we mix tomato paste into recipies, they seem to think it's delicious. The rest we don't "disguse" as much as try to make fun. Artfully carved baby carrots, smiley faces made out of snap peas, etc. Most of the time it works.

nashsheri33

i used to have a cookbook called 'the sneaky chef'. i don't know what i did with it. but the writer made fruit and vegetable puree and put it in her regular recipes.
you might be able to find a copy at a used bookstore.

Corjogo

As one MFP member suggested "dress" the veggies up. We made "Longhorns (cattle)" by threading a carrot strip through olives. Pinterest has some excellent pictures of strawberries made up with white chocolate and faces drawn with dark chocolate. Lots of Halloween dress-ups as well. We have made Pizza's (mushrooms, zucchini, peppers) with English muffins for years, pancakes (applesauce, bananas, most any fruit) with animals and faces. Let the kids decide how they will look - and definitely let them "decorate" as well. How about a fruit salad with 1/2 a kiwi slice for eyes, 1/2 grape for nose and watermelon (tomato) for mouth - stack it so it is 3-D or make several so seconds and thirds can be eaten, possibly add shredded carrot for hair. Broccoli was "little trees." Potatoes were easy to decorate, whether mashed or whole baked with toothpicks. HAVE FUN WITH FOOD!

Corjogo

As one MFP member suggested "dress" the veggies up. We made "Longhorns (cattle)" by threading a carrot strip through olives. Pinterest has some excellent pictures of strawberries made up with white chocolate and faces drawn with dark chocolate. Lots of Halloween dress-ups as well. We have made Pizza's (mushrooms, zucchini, peppers) with English muffins for years, pancakes (applesauce, bananas, most any fruit) with animals and faces. Let the kids decide how they will look - and definitely let them "decorate" as well. How about a fruit salad with 1/2 a kiwi slice for eyes, 1/2 grape for nose and watermelon (tomato) for mouth - stack it so it is 3-D or make several so seconds and thirds can be eaten, possibly add shredded carrot for hair. Broccoli was "little trees." Potatoes were easy to decorate, whether mashed or whole baked... with toothpicks, cheese hair, olive eyes, red pepper mouth, mushroom nose. HAVE FUN WITH FOOD!