hidden veggie recipes?

MissySho
MissySho Posts: 126 Member
in Recipes
I have a small challenge. My sons hate eating veggies, raw or cooked. Does anyone have any good recipes with hidden veggies in them? I have been able to hide carrots and sometimes zucchini in sloppy joes, and i use onions and peppers in just about everything. But I need some other creative ways to hide a more variety of veggies.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Replies

  • MissySho
    MissySho Posts: 126 Member
    We eat alot of ground turkey....so if you have anything with ground turkey it would help too.
  • lepperlauren
    lepperlauren Posts: 1
    Jerry Seinfeld's wife (I forget her name, but if you google it, you'll find it) has a book called "deceptively delicious". The whole book is ideas for hiding food. And once you get started, you will find yourself trying all kids of things!
  • I_love_frogs
    I_love_frogs Posts: 340 Member
    I puree all kinds of veggies and add to my spaghetti sauces. I also shred spinach and add to meatballs/meatloaf. Its not terribly obvious either usually. I have also been known to puree things like beets and add them to blueberry applesauce etc etc. Or carrots with applesauce and so on.
  • michknd
    michknd Posts: 18 Member
    I puree spinach & hide it in all kinds of things, chili is one of our favorites, it looks green at first but once it cooks down with the tomatoes & chili powder, it turns a normal chili color. I agree with the comment on Jessica Seinfeld's book as well. I have the first one & have made several of the things in there. Chocolate chip cookies with chick peas(garbanzo beans) in them, so good & they act like a nut in the cookie.
  • MaggieMystD
    MaggieMystD Posts: 16 Member
    I found veggie flakes and I like to add it to dips, to meatloaf, etc. Its an easy way to find veggies. My boys aren't bothered by the flakes and are somewhat picky about veggies too.
  • weevil66
    weevil66 Posts: 600 Member
    What about the cauliflower crust pizza? Grind up a bit of broc in with that, throw some cheese on top, maybe some pepperoni or something and they may never know........bwahahahahaha..

    The pizza is good too. I ate it three times last week. It was a big cauliflower.
  • fitmum2be
    fitmum2be Posts: 49 Member
    I do vege sauces with tinned tomatoes, vegetables and process them till a sauce consistency then put it with whole grain pasta, meat and more veg then if the kids don't eat their veg they will have already eaten it in the sauce hahahaha.
    I've put puréed pumpkin in mac n cheese before as well and in lite alfredo.
    My partner was shocked as just the other week he learned In the beef meatballs he so loves I add finely diced mushrooms, grated carrot & beets mwahaha shows it can even work on partners not just the kids hahaha.
  • fitmum2be
    fitmum2be Posts: 49 Member
    What about the cauliflower crust pizza? Grind up a bit of broc in with that, throw some cheese on top, maybe some pepperoni or something and they may never know........bwahahahahaha..

    The pizza is good too. I ate it three times last week. It was a big cauliflower.

    ooooh do you have a recipe for this??
  • koalahugs
    koalahugs Posts: 34
    Zucchini tots!

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/07/zucchini-tots.html
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
    I chop and purée a ton of vegetables into sauces. Now that I'm cooking for older kids I dont have to hide the veggies so much but I still add them to just about everything.
  • bethieannie
    bethieannie Posts: 75 Member
    boiled carrots mashed in your tomato soup! I started doing it a couple of months ago and my kids didn't notice until I didn't get them smooth one time, and by then they didn't care!
  • whitejessamine
    whitejessamine Posts: 166
    I puree all kinds of veggies and add to my spaghetti sauces.

    ^^This! Except I don't puree them, I just grate them. My spaghetti sauce usually contains a package of frozen spinach, onion, bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and squash. My teenage daughters, who are very picky, and one of whom refuses to eat squash, mushrooms, or onions, both love it--even knowing what's in it! Plus, between that and the fact that I use ground turkey, and crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce, it's less than 200 calories for two cups of sauce! Win!
  • wendysue1960
    wendysue1960 Posts: 1
    Hi I am a vegetarian, so vegies are my game. U mite try when u make ur fruit smoothies, add some spinach, and kale. Blend them up real good, ul never know their there. : )
  • weevil66
    weevil66 Posts: 600 Member
    What about the cauliflower crust pizza? Grind up a bit of broc in with that, throw some cheese on top, maybe some pepperoni or something and they may never know........bwahahahahaha..

    The pizza is good too. I ate it three times last week. It was a big cauliflower.

    ooooh do you have a recipe for this??

    Here you go!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/291632-cauliflower-pizza-crust?hl=cauliflower+pizza

    btw I snuck veggies like kabucha into things like scrambled eggs and on nachos and my husband never realized it. Heheheheh...
  • jcpmoore
    jcpmoore Posts: 796 Member
    I shred carrots and zucchini and put in my ground turkey meatloaf.
  • MissySho
    MissySho Posts: 126 Member
    wow....thanks for so many ideas....you guys are great. if any other ideas or recipes come to mind please don't hesitate to post.



    Thanks again
  • kaybelmore
    kaybelmore Posts: 124
    Beet cake yummers and full of vitamins...for a cake anyway teehee

    http://joythebaker.com/2012/01/chocolate-beet-cake-with-beet-cream-cheese-frosting/
  • macx2mommy
    macx2mommy Posts: 170 Member
    That beet cake looks awesome. I want to make it, but my 6 yr old thinks that the chocolate will ruin the cake. She doesn't like chocolate :laugh: but likes beets.

    The 'sneaky chef' and 'deceptively delicios' are both good oops for increasing veggies. They generally say to steam you fruits or veggies, and then purée it.
  • kaybelmore
    kaybelmore Posts: 124
    That beet cake looks awesome. I want to make it, but my 6 yr old thinks that the chocolate will ruin the cake. She doesn't like chocolate :laugh: but likes beets.

    The 'sneaky chef' and 'deceptively delicios' are both good oops for increasing veggies. They generally say to steam you fruits or veggies, and then purée it.

    Your 6 year old sounds ADORABLE!! I think you could sup a fruity flavor for the chocolate. Fresh raspberries would work yum yum
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    Deceptively Delicious is a great book by Jerry Seinfelds wife and it shoes you how to get vegetables into just about anything.
  • LilPepr
    LilPepr Posts: 1
    I blend the veggies I want to include in a meal and use that as my liquid in my meatloaf. My son asked me the first time about the confetti, but I just that his piece looked the same as mine and that was that. Normally I would have added water instead of the veggies. However, please note it will be thinner so you have to add more breadcrumbs. Not a lot more, but enough to soak up some of the excess water. You can add veggies to your spaghetti sauce too. Brocolli can be seen, but the others all blended up just seem to get masked by the red sauce. Good luck.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
    Chili? Soup?
  • mynameiscarrie
    mynameiscarrie Posts: 963 Member
    Zucchini brownies.... nuff said...

    http://thefithousewife.com/2012/07/chocolate-zucchini-brownies.html
  • Molly_Maguire
    Molly_Maguire Posts: 1,103 Member
    Pureed cauliflower in scrambled eggs before you cook them

    Pureed carrots in homemade mac n cheese (not only slips in the vegetable serving, but also gives the mac that Kraft "poisonous orange" color that kids seem to love so much!)

    pureed whatever (broccoli, peas, squash) mixed into a fruit smoothie, then frozen into "popsicles"

    pureed whatever mixed into spaghetti sauce

    notice a trend? Puree puree puree! lol If you don't have a food precessor or a "Baby Bullet", I highly recommend investing in one. I use ours more on food for ourselves than for my 6 mo old, it's awesome!
  • DesireeLovesOrganic
    DesireeLovesOrganic Posts: 456 Member
    I hide them in everything for the kids too, my kids are pretty good though, they love broccoli, asparagus, green beans, etc. They say they hate zucchini but they eat it all the time without knowing. I shred it up and put it in lots of stuff, LOL. I do homemade pizza and do shredded zucchini (yellow squash sometimes too) in a layer under the sauce, they don't even notice. I put it in pasta too, shredded.
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
    Hide them in baked goods
  • HotAshMess
    HotAshMess Posts: 382 Member
    You can google this and get suggestions. Pureed veggies in spaghetti sauce (I like Ragu garden variety....you could puree a jar and they wouldn't know the difference....or puree your own veggies and add to sauce). I didn't do a lot of pureeing, but I did "swap"...making koolaid with half splenda, olive oil instead of butter, buying milk in the bag and mixing half 1% and 1%. I also would add extra veggies to certain foods...like chick pot pie, I would add veggies and cut out an equal portion of chicken...but I'd cut the pieces smaller and so it still seemed like a lot (something about gravy makes veggies do down easier at my house).
  • magj0y
    magj0y Posts: 1,911 Member
    pureed vegetables is a good way to go. If you have a light white sauce, cauliflower is good, especially if it's a cheese/cream based sauce.

    for marinara, pretty m uch everything is fair game. you can disguise suke and carrots in muffins.

    My aunt would also add powdered milk to jack up the calcium.
  • shellyray05
    shellyray05 Posts: 6
    I was going to suggest Jerry Seinfeld's wife too! Totally works!
  • Gidzmo
    Gidzmo Posts: 906 Member
    I have a small challenge. My sons hate eating veggies, raw or cooked. Does anyone have any good recipes with hidden veggies in them? I have been able to hide carrots and sometimes zucchini in sloppy joes, and i use onions and peppers in just about everything. But I need some other creative ways to hide a more variety of veggies.

    Thanks in advance for the help.

    Some pastas are made with veggies. I've seen green noodles (spinach, probably)....check the pasta aisle next time you go shopping.

    If you've ever made pumpkin bread, maybe the children would like pumpkin muffins.

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