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Hiding vegetables and other good stuff
The authors of The Art of Hiding Vegetables, Karen Bali and Sally Child, give some great tips on getting your kids to eat fruit and veg with minimum effort
Many parents say that vegetables are often left on their child's plate if served with a family meal. If vegetables are served separately and your child prefers other things on the plate, it is understandable that they might eat what they feel like and leave the vegetables. However, if the vegetables are mixed in with the food they like, it is possible to get everything down at once with minimum effort.
Most vegetables can be disguised to blend in with other food, but follow these five tips for a better chance of success:
Tip One - Choose your colours carefully
Trying to blend broccoli into mashed potato, for example, will not work well. Kids are suspicious of 'bits', especially 'green bits' and try as you might it won't disappear. Half a parsnip or a little cauliflower, boiled and mashed with the potato (perhaps with added cheese to disguise the taste) will look and taste fine.
Similarly, apple can't be easily hidden in chocolate cake, but prunes (dried or tinned) can be blended in perfectly.
Tip Two - Don't leave lumps
Children can be particularly unforgiving when it comes to lumps in their food. If they find one small lump they will probably leave the whole lot, and refuse to eat that dish for a very long time, if ever again. Cook, mash and blend the food properly to avoid this problem. If you don't have a blender or food processor it is worth investing in one to save your arm if nothing else. A case of 'mashing shoulder' or 'whisking wrist' can feel much worse if the food you prepare is left anyway.
Tip Three - Add just a little
Don't go in for overkill when adding vegetables to meals and fruit to puddings or you may spoil the taste and your effort will be wasted. Go for the drip feed effect with added goodness - a little every day will have a cumulative affect and will be beneficial in the long term. As a rough guide, replace one tenth of the usual ingredients with vegetable or fruit to begin with and blend in well. See how this works and if the children eat it without comment you can always add a little more next time.
Tip Four - Introduce changes slowly
Try a home cooked meal with well hidden vegetables around once a week to begin with, working up to several meals a week over a few months. If you suddenly become a home cooking super mum or dad, kids are likely to rebel. Gradually get used to adding a little something to all their meals, even if it is just a sprinkling of herbs, some vegetable water in the gravy or a spoonful of peas with their fish fingers and chips.
Tip Five - Start with food you know they like
If your children rarely eat shepherd's pie, it isn't a good idea to start by hiding vegetables in this. Think about things you know they like - pizza maybe - and work out ways to make it a little healthier, perhaps by adding blended or finely chopped vegetables to the topping.
The Art of Hiding Vegetables - Sneaky ways to feed your children healthy food by Karen Bali and Sally Child is published by White Ladder Press on 15 August at £7.99. It is available online before publication for £6.50 with free p&p. Visit the website to order
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