How To Get Your Kids To Eat More Healthy Foods

Getting your children to eat foods that are healthy for them isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s down right hard.

The other night while having dinner at my inlaws house, my mother-in-law made a comment that Reagan reminds her of the girl on the Pediasure commercial. You know the one where the little girl says, “I don’t think I like waffles!” and “I don’t think I like chicken!”

From the get-go, I’ve tried to instill healthy eating habits into my children. We have a rule in our house that you must try everything AT LEAST once. And then, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it again. *Confession-I sometimes trick them into trying stuff two or three times and usually, they end up liking it.*

My husband is CRAZY picky and I’ve made sure that neither he or myself cause the kids to *think* they don’t like something just because we don’t. For example: My husband used to always talk about how he hated onions. Even tried to get me to not feed them to our kids. I however, made sure that they tried them at least once. And you know what, my son LOVES them.

If your children aren’t as easy as ours, there are some tricks to get them to eat more healthy foods.

• Puree the vegetables or fruits and add them to other foods. Sound gross? Well, it’s not. In fact, there are two great recipe books that feature recipes just for this. (“Deceptively Delicious” by Jessica Seinfeld and “The Sneaky Chef” by Missy Chase Lapine.)
• Bribe them with dessert. While some people may frown upon this, I know that kids go crazy over the promise of a yummy dessert and my two kids have numerous times eaten foods that I have given them just so that they could get that bowl of ice cream or jello.
• Make it a challenge. Have your kids race. See who can eat their broccoli or peas first. And if you only have one child, race them yourself. For a little extra incentive, offer up a small prize like an extra cookie or 30 more minutes of their favorite television show.
• Smother It! If all else fails, smother your veggies with cheese or ranch. And if it’s fruit they won’t eat, give them some cool whip to dip it in.
• Get creative. Recently, I’ve tried to get the kids to eat more wheat bread. I use one slice of whole bread and one of wheat to make their sandwiches. I then cut them into squares and flip them to make a checkboard pattern.

Hopefully, using these tips and tricks, you can get your children to eat a little more healthy. Because if your like me, it’s something that you stress over day in and day out. In fact, I have once again started giving my kids daily vitamins due to my fear that they just aren’t getting enough nutrients in their daily diet.

Wanting to try out tip number one? Here are a few recipes!

Chocolate Cake (with beets!)

Scrambled Eggs (with Cauliflower)

Quesadillas (with Butternut Squash)

Blueberry Oatmeal Bars (with Spinach!)