Spinoff: Veggie ideas for toddlers?

[table4three]

The food about eating below made me remember to ask this. My DS does not eat much in the way of veggies and I need ideas. I eat raw veggies and dip all the time, but he can't handle it quite yet. He'll occasionally eat cooked peas or corn, and he does fine with tomato sauces, etc and he likes cooked mushrooms. I've put spinach in smoothies, but I need more ideas for snacking and side dishes for 2 yr old friendly veggies. The easier the better, but I'm willing to do some work too.

I'm open to all ideas! TIA!


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[o_mom]

If he can't handle the raw veggies yet, then try cooked ones. I'm not trying to state the obvious, but the kids get cold cooked carrots and broccoli all the time. You could steam some at dinner and then offer the leftovers the next day when you have your raw ones.

Our vegetable staples are:

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrots
Green Beans
Peas (I keep trying sugar snap peas, but the plain green ones go over better even though they aren't as good for them)
ETA: Zucchini and Yellow squash in season, tossed with EVOO, salt and pepper - 2-3 min on the grill

I buy the frozen ones when they are $1/bag at the grocery and then steam them in the microwave. It has really increased our vegetable consumption since we would rarely have time to fix them fresh. I figure microwaved frozen veges are better than no veges even if they aren't as good as steamed on the stove fresh veges, KWIM?

[miki]

My one great way to get my veggie hating kid to eat them without being sneaky is to make alphabet soup. I buy alphabet noodles made by Eden. They are colored green, pink, and orange from spinach, beets, and carrots--every little bit is good, eh? Then I dice carrots very finely and cut green beans into thin rings. I usually also add some chicken or turkey and cook it with chicken broth until everything is soft. I think it is somehow more appealing because it looks colorful and fun.

[trumansmom]

Peel some zuchini, grate it and steam it. It becomes virtually invisible and is easy to sneak into just about anything. :) It completely disappears in spaghetti sauce, but is also easily hidden in mashed potatos, cottage cheese, macaroni and cheese, etc.

HTH-

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04

[zoestargrove]

You can sneak cauliflower in their macaroni and cheese. ..it's the same color and they've never detected it. I boil it with the pasta- it comes out a little softer than I normally would cook for myself, but that's what makes it so easy to hide.

I add pureed veggies (carrots, celery, onion, garlic, peppers)into my spaghetti sauce.

I cut sweet potatoes into sticks and roast with evoo, salt and pepper and they eat them as enthusiastically as french fries.

[brittone2]

nak-
I linked to the veganlunchbox blog in the other thread, but that's a good jumping off point for creative veggie use :) She's like insanely over the top creative LOL, but it does give me ideas and reminders on other things to try (the archived posts are on the left hand side of the page).

You can definitely sneak things into other things (how's that for specific?). You can add steamed cauliflower and mash it right into mashed potatoes if you cook it soft (or mash it by itself the same way you would mash potatoes). I just mashed sweet potatoes the other night and DS liked them (mashed w/ a little curry powder, butter, and coconut milk). Sweet potato fries are good and that was one of DS's first finger foods when he was really little. IMO quite kid friendly.

If he likes tomato sauce, you can finely dice just about anything and add it to tomato sauce. Cooked and finely chopped spinach, kale, zuchini, squash, etc. or puree it.

Does he like soup? Like the PP said, we have the same alphabet letter things from Eden. They are 60% whole wheat I believe. Anyway, I make a little version of italian wedding soup (not really authentic I'm sure) with them. I cook the alphabet letters and chopped carrots in chicken broth, and I add in my own frozen mini meatballs (when I make meatballs, I freeze a bunch of them already cooked, including some tiny ones as sometimes DS likes th em like this). Toss in some finely chopped kale or spinach at the last minute. I then let DS spoon some grated parm over the top of the whole thing. We also do a lot of wild or brown rice/chicken/corn/kale soup.

Steamed veggies can be dipped in hummus or a small dish of grated parm (or really anything for that matter if he'll eat them!).

DS really likes raw sugar snap peas. Sometimes he eats the whole thing, pod and all, sometimes he likes to pull it apart and just eat the peas (he loves getting these at our co-op's salad bar).

Beets. For whatever reason, DS loves pickled beets and always asks for these from the salad bar too. One of the few veggies I do not like, but he loves them. I like them roasted and put on a salad, and he'll eat them that way. Sometimes they surprise you!


eta: sorry for repeating...I cross posted w/ zoestargrove!

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

Have you tried frozen veggies? DS loves frozen peas and loves veggies from a bag of cut up mixed veggies. I'm not sure exactly what he loves about it. They're easy for him to pick up and defrost on his tray while he's eating them and after they defrost they're soft. So if it's just the hardness of the veggies thing you're worried about and the fact that they have to be cooked and that does take some time this might work for you. hth

[scoop22]

ds loves cucumbers. he loves to dip them in ranch dressing. but only when i have it out and he knows it is there. have you tried tomatoes? ds doesn't have many teeth so raw veggies aren't an option for us but we cook carrots all the time. his favorites are green beans. i am lucky right now ds would rather have veggies over fruit. i'm sure it will change tomorrow.

his favorite snacks are black olives and pickles. go figure,
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[Kungjo]

Beth,

How do you make sweet potato fries? I think that my DDs may like that.

Thanks,

[brittone2]

Just slice a sweet potato into fry shapes (skin on if they can chew/swallow it because there's lots of extra fiber and good stuff in the skin if you do organic). Then I just put them in a bowl, toss with some oil of choice so they are all lightly coated. Sprinkle on some garlic or whatever seasoning they like (or skip it). Put on a cookie sheet and bake at 450ish until done. Easy peasy :)