I'm a sneaky dad... :-)

jpbgrad98CHANGED
jpbgrad98CHANGED Posts: 113
in Food and Nutrition
So I have been having issues with my kids eating vegetables. What parent hasn't had that issue? LOL. I saw on the Biggest Loser where they mixed up veggies in their meatloaf. Tonight was burrito night for us. I boiled 1/2 bag of baby carrots, finely diced some onion, even threw in a full can of green beans. I browned my meat, added all the veggies and then put in the taco seasoning. Then I mashed like heck! I ended up with something the consistently of Taco Bell meat. Put a nice helping of it on their tortilla with refried beans, some lettuce and tomato, with a sprinkle of cheese.

They ate it like a champ - never said once anything about the veggies - in fact my oldest wanted another.

And, for the recorded, I did mine without cheese, but wanted sour cream... Used plain Greek yogurt instead. Couldn't taste the veggies... The taco seasoning and onions covered the taste of them. Mine totaled somewhere around 337 calories, including the tortilla.

+1 for dad.
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Replies

  • getfitg33k
    getfitg33k Posts: 4 Member
    I might have to try to trick myself that way sometime. I'm such a kid about veggies. ;)
  • Nessiechickie
    Nessiechickie Posts: 1,392 Member
    Making me want tacos. :grumble:
  • ReachingNEON
    ReachingNEON Posts: 68 Member
    LOL that sounds yummy :)
  • Tryinonemoretime
    Tryinonemoretime Posts: 86 Member
    You're sneaky alright! lol I love it!!! Don't ever tell them!
    Kudos to you !
    :o)
  • tisha_rae
    tisha_rae Posts: 216 Member
    You're sneaky alright! lol I love it!!! Don't ever tell them!
    Kudos to you !
    :o)

    great work!!!

    You can hide them in all kinds of things!!!
  • Maribabewhich
    Maribabewhich Posts: 157 Member
    You should keep doing that!!!
  • darls25
    darls25 Posts: 151 Member
    Win :laugh:
  • Gidzmo
    Gidzmo Posts: 906 Member
    :laugh: Yay, Dad!
  • kristy_n0831
    kristy_n0831 Posts: 108 Member
    There's a whole cookbook dedicated to doing just that.

    http://www.doitdelicious.com/cookbooks/deceptively_delicious
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    Okay, Dad. But now you are between a rock and a hard place. You say nothing, and you have fed them one helping of veggies. But, what good is that? One serving of veggies, amidst a sea of pizza, burgers and fries. Boo-pee-do ! You need to tell them, so they get over their reluctance to eat veggies.
    It is the only way.
    But then you lose their trust.
    So, what do you do?
  • witeowl
    witeowl Posts: 89
    Your version probably has more meat than Taco Bell food!
  • otrlynn
    otrlynn Posts: 273 Member
    You can easily sneak a lot of veggies into spaghetti sauce as well. Either slow cook it for hours so that the veggies break down, or cook it so that the veggies are soft and then put it through a blender. FYI, if you are being sneaky about vegetables, avoid strong flavored ones like broccoli and brussel sprouts.

    I would also suggest that you see if you can get your kids to develop some appreciation of vegetables. When they were young, my kids liked things like carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, snow peas, and blanched green beans if they could dip them in ranch dressing. Don't put the dressing on the vegetables--the act of dipping seems to be crucial for acceptance! LOL!
  • sally_jeffswife
    sally_jeffswife Posts: 766 Member
    Awesome job :)
  • kat3a1
    kat3a1 Posts: 10 Member
    That is a fantastic idea! :)
  • spaingirl2011
    spaingirl2011 Posts: 763 Member
    awesome!
  • lizzardsm
    lizzardsm Posts: 271 Member
    brilliant!
  • CaffeinatedGlitter
    CaffeinatedGlitter Posts: 201 Member
    Whoot
  • FeatherBoBeather
    FeatherBoBeather Posts: 255 Member
    Hah! That's awesome. It actually sounds delicious.. I think I may try it for myself. lol
  • babyangelica2010
    babyangelica2010 Posts: 117 Member
    I've done that before, also with green peppers and spinach. Yum :) I also put cooked and pureed carrots in spaghetti sauce. I've thought about using spinach aswell but havn't tried it yet. Thankfully my daughter likes veggies.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    I am pretty sure Taco Bell meat is not food. Well, it does not contain nutrients anyway.
    You should stick with the tacos at Jack-in-the-Box ! Now, there is culinary achievement !
  • sarahisme18
    sarahisme18 Posts: 574 Member
    I am pretty sure Taco Bell meat is not food. Well, it does not contain nutrients anyway.
    You should stick with the tacos at Jack-in-the-Box ! Now, there is culinary achievement !

    Um.... what? lol
  • susanp57
    susanp57 Posts: 409 Member
    You can hide leafy veggies, like spinach, in all kinds of things.
  • jpbgrad98CHANGED
    jpbgrad98CHANGED Posts: 113
    Okay, Dad. But now you are between a rock and a hard place. You say nothing, and you have fed them one helping of veggies. But, what good is that? One serving of veggies, amidst a sea of pizza, burgers and fries. Boo-pee-do ! You need to tell them, so they get over their reluctance to eat veggies.
    It is the only way.
    But then you lose their trust.
    So, what do you do?

    Very rarely do they do fast food, pizza, etc. generally they eat pretty well. Just not veggies. If I can get them eating veggies albeit sneaky, then so be it. When they get older, they can choose for themselves. But, right now, it is up to me to get them eating, so this is what I did.

    I agree that at some point I should tell them... Maybe after I make a few of their favorite dishes with hidden veggies. Then, I can be like BAM! See... You have been eating these veggies and you didn't even know. They are really tasty! Lets try them now, not hidden.

    As far as trust, I'm not sure this will all of a sudden make my kids lose their trust in me, but I appreciate the concern. :-)
  • BunkyBumBum
    BunkyBumBum Posts: 157 Member
    I once told my 2 year old son his green beans were green french fries and served them with ketchup. He ate them all up, but I only got away with it once.
  • RekindledRose
    RekindledRose Posts: 523 Member
    Okay, Dad. But now you are between a rock and a hard place. You say nothing, and you have fed them one helping of veggies. But, what good is that? One serving of veggies, amidst a sea of pizza, burgers and fries. Boo-pee-do ! You need to tell them, so they get over their reluctance to eat veggies.
    It is the only way.
    But then you lose their trust.
    So, what do you do?

    Tufel's such a fuddy-duddy. I say YAY FOR DAD!

    So many people will easily lie to their kids about Santa Claus, Halloween, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, but when it comes to getting their kids to have healthy food in their diets suddenly they talk about 'trust issues' with kids.

    Sheesh. How about when the kids find out that veggies are in the meatloaf the conversation goes like this? ~

    "There are veggies in there? Gross!"

    "You liked them when you were eating them," says Dad.

    "Yeah..." kid takes another bite. "Guess they're not so bad after all! Can I have more?"

    ~score one for Dad.
  • jpbgrad98CHANGED
    jpbgrad98CHANGED Posts: 113
    One serving of veggies, amidst a sea of pizza, burgers and fries. Boo-pee-do !

    And, yes... I will take one serving over no servings.
  • lauradawson1123
    lauradawson1123 Posts: 30
    That's awesome. Did you tell them what you did afterwards?
  • OmarAF
    OmarAF Posts: 9
    lol good try ;)
  • SoViLicious
    SoViLicious Posts: 2,633 Member
    I do that to my kids all the time. A friend of mine said it was deception and not healthy mentally. I told her who cares. Good nutrition leads to higher test scores, which may yield a good job. A good job with insurance thus enabling them to pay for a therapist.
  • charm_quark
    charm_quark Posts: 315 Member
    Making me want tacos. :grumble:
    me too.... :sad:

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