You parents out there, how do you get your kids to eat vegetables?

Yes, tastebuds change as you get older for sure.

My parents forced me to finish my plate with the threat of a beating by wooden ruler...it was just an intimidation tactic, but if I'm not hungry I resented being forced...so I never abused my children by threating to beat the fuck out of them for not finishing their meal...

If you have to ask now, its already to late.
They shouldn't even have the option of not eating them.

Well, you can use butter to saute the veg instead of oil, but then if you use the right kinds of oil it's not terrible for you.. Let's see, for deep frying, Sunflower oil is pretty decent, and olive oil for light frying.. Canola is popular and cheap, but not so great unless you have to keep to a tight budget lol. Else, you could go with frying with coconut oil, though that does add some coconutty flavor to things, in my opinion!

Thank you, my dad did the same to me and I swore I'd never do it to mine.

Some things are an acquired taste...sometimes you convince yourself because you know it's healthy...I love peapods but hate cooked soft peas...

Precisely!

Reminds me of the political arena...

Kids believe what they've been (sold) given

Last Edited by datadayedetet on 08/11/2020 04:36 PM

Thanks, when I do try its with peanut oil.

Probably not great for you but the taste is awesome.

tartar/american made sauce

Peanut oil is a good choice for deep frying, my cooking guru explained to me, but sunflower is a bit cheaper and also a healthy choice. But I think if you can, peanut oil is better in general, assuming no allergies lol

My two oldest sons ended up being terrific cooks...I have lunch with each of them weekly, when I visit the grandkids...my youngest makes grilled cheese with toast and then microwaves it with cheese...sigh

Years ago but—asked them to try it. If they did not like it, respect their decision and move on. But first tell them they must try it to find out if they like it or not and that they might be surprised that they DO like it. Asked my son to try mushrooms. Kid liked them. I like them. Daughter does not and husband does not. Told them I wanted to like grapefruit but tried it when I was little and did not like it. Daughter likes it.

When I was a kid I could not eat raw tomatoes. My father was obnoxious about me not liking them. He asked why and I told him it was the seeds and stuff. Only later in life did I want to eat them.

Your kids will respect you if you respect their taste in food. The key is to tell them to be open minded. Share the stories of what you tried and why you can’t eat something or why you love something. Everyone can relate.

Hi Newton,
I introduced my son to veggies by showing him wild-grown food that he could pick and eat on the spot. It was a game and he loved it. By the time he was two, he would pick 5-gallon buckets of random veggies, and bring them to me.

Learning your local areas edibles is a great way to start, no matter what the age of your child.
It's a natural innate feeling of accomplishment to pick something and eat it, and kids LOVE IT!

The hunt is fun, and for each wild editable they pick give them a comparison veggie from the grocery store.
Example; Spring greens/ Spinach, Air Potato/Russet Potato, Fern Tuber (my son says they taste like grapes) but you get it.

If you're not sure your local edibles, try to grow a small garden with maybe two of each thing. Have your child help so they see the process. It'll make it fun to taste them when they mature.

Don't feel bad though, my son still won't try a bean... a simple bean. So i chase him around the house with beans in a bag and we laugh so hard, I hide them under his pillows, and place bags in his closet to find. I joke that one day he's going to try one single bean, lol (They're dry so of course if I caught him he couldn’t eat one anyway).

No matter what, have fun and enjoy the moment.
You get to experience the age-old battle of getting your baby to eat their vegetables.
That in itself is nourishment for the soul.

Last Edited by Woman on 08/11/2020 04:46 PM

That's just a hard step for me man, but I get it.

Got a lot of new ideas off this thread, gonna try a better way.

Oh and mine love wraps/roll ups and enjoyed adding their own ingredients or dipping them in ranch. ( Yes when younger they used it to eat mostly ranch but got eaten eventually lol)

Lettuce wraps with cheese meat tomato cucumber
Flour tortilla wraps with meat cheese spinach tomato

And you could try humus, bean dip, salsa, spinach dip, 7 layer dip, etc with chips or pita. Most all kids love chips and dip!

LOL my brother and I got left at the table until approaching bedtime.

Thank you so much for your post, omg cherry tomatoes off the vine are incredible, along with black and raspberries, we are introducing these things slowly.

Great post!

For most kids, just having meals together where they see you enjoying vegetables, they will naturally imitate you...I never had meals with my parents...but as a parent I made sure we ate together, but even then if a child just reuses to eat a certain food, let them hate it...don't force them to eat something they have decided they don't like...it's cruel

Thankfully my two younger ones love hummus and pita chips.

Not bad advice.

make a tasty little curry style dish with veges incorporated, dice 'em up small, herbs, a little extra salt or indian cane sugar, maybe some chunky chat masala mmmmmm

I don't know how good a cook you are so take this at it is. No offence meant.

I hated veg as kid. There was a reason for it. My Mum wasn't a trained cook and only knew how to boil veg. She boiled the veg for a long time. She always massively overcooked the veg. that is why I hated veg as a kid. I just didn't know that is why I hated veg.

As an adult, I want on a few cookery courses. That is where I found out if cooked right veg can be delicious. I also found out there is more to cooking veg than boiling it. For example, roasted Brussel dropouts are way more delicious than boiled. It's the same for cauliflower. Roasted cauliflower is way more delicious than boiled. Stop boiling veg and look for recipes that don't boil the veg. We all have some foods we don't like eating. Keep on trying different veg with your kids and find out what they do and don't like.

You can also try and hide veg. For example, cut veg up really small, fry off veg and fry off some mincemeat, and mix together. Then make a Lasagne or Bolognaise. If you cut the veg small enough kids will not see it or taste it.

This wont be popular but I let my daughter pick out vegetables she wanted to try. I told her all she has to do is give them an honest try and if she didnt like them she didnt have to eat them. Over the years we had some wierd stuff and some I wont even eat (like Okra-blegh) My daughter though, absolutely loves vegetables and prefers them over every other food type. Over the years she would make the effort to try the same vegetables over again even if she didnt like them the first time or if they were cooked a different way.

My Dad was a hardass and I literally used to sit and weep over 7 canned peas on a plate. I had to stay at the table after dinner until bedtime and would not eat those peas, even with threats of those same peas for breakfast. Everything to do with vegetables was hostile and it was a fight before it even started and I was a picky eater anyway. My mother, though, let me prepare food with her and did get me to eat a few vegetables just from the process of handling the food, seeing it wasnt as disgusting as I thought it was and pride in making something for the family.

I only had one child, though, its easier to reason with just one. I have a husband who will not eat vegetable unless the are in a sauce or smothered in cheese....pay back for all the grief I gave my parents! Haha.

I will say, my daughter is 20 now, grows her own and is a very healthy conscientious eater. It did pay off.

I still dont like canned peas by the way but my daughter will eat a whole can and drink the juice.

I disagree. It's wrong to force people to eat something they don't like eating. We all have foods we don't like and can't eat.

Somebody could offer me 10 million dollars to eat a bowl of mash potatoes and I couldn't do it.

One more I remembered, smoothies/veggie drink/juicing. Add a fruit to make it sweeter.

They pick what goes in their own and can try and experiment with different combos each time.

Nice post, thank you.