Ways to make our kids eat fruits and veggies!!!!

Hello Ladies,

For this issue, let’s talk about a way to make our kids eat fruits and veggies!!!!

I’m guessing it is as tough for you as it is for me. Well, with years of practice, I’ve come up with a few tricks that work!!!!

Fruits:

Fresh Fruit compote

Any kind of fruits mixed together is good, for example I do

strawberries, banana  and apple or

apple, orange and banana or

kiwi, banana and orange or

and on and on and on…

My little one loves avocado and banana!


Here are also some fun ideas for fruits....You don't really need recipes, just let your imagination go....

Smoothies

Fresh fruit juices

Fruits kebabs

Milkshakes

Iced lollies (you make fresh fruit juice that you put in the freezer)

Veggies:

Most kids can be reluctant when they see the vegetables…If they don’t know what they’re eating, you can try to trick them. They will come to like veggies one day. In the meantime, it is important that they have them everyday!!!! So instead of fighting for it, I’ve decided to find fun ways for them to eat healthy! At least they get used to the taste, they learn to like it and most important they have their vitamins.

A good thing to do is, instead of giving them chips before dinner. You can put your children in front of a cartoon and let them nibble on some raw vegetables and fruits (carrots, cucumber, radishes, apple, cauliflower, celery, grapes,..

Here are also some recipes that seem to be working for my children

Spaghetti Tomato sauce with hidden mixed veggies in it….My kids love it!

Ingredients :

2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped, 2 carrots, finely chopped, 2  stalks of celery, 1 courgette (or to change, do it with brocoli or sweedes or turnips instead) finely chopped, 1 clove garlic, minced, 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil, 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, including the juice, or 1 3/4 pound of freshtomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, 1 teaspoon tomato paste, Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, 1 cube of Veggie stocks

Method :

Heat olive oil in a large wide skillet on medium heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery and courgettes. Stir to coat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and cooked through.

Remove cover and add the minced garlic. Increase the heat to medium high. Cook for garlic for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, including the juice and shredding them with your fingers if you are using canned whole tomatoes. Add the tomato paste and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the stocks. Bring to a low simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered until thickened, about 15 minutes. When cooked, blend it with an immersion blender, to give it a smooth consistency.

Makes 2 1/2 cups of sauce.

Cottage pie is also always a winner here!!! (I got this one from Annabel Karmel’s book*)

Ingredients

250g swede and 200g carrots, peeled and chopped 
a generous knob of butter 
2 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
450g minced beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
100g leek, finely chopped
100g red pepper, finely chopped
150g button mushrooms, diced
4 medium tomatoes, skinned, de-seeded and chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 beef stock cube dissolved in 350ml boiling water 
salt and freshly ground black pepper

675g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks 
50g unsalted butter
6 tbsp milk
salt and a little white pepper
200g frozen peas, cooked 
1 beaten egg

Method:

Cook the carrots and swede/sweet potato in boiling lightly salted water for 20 minutes or until tender and then mash with the knob of butter until smooth.

Heat half a tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and sauté the minced beef for 7 or 8 minutes or until the liquid has been evaporated. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a fairly large casserole and sauté the onion and leek for 3 minutes. Add the red pepper and sauté for 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and garlic and sauté for 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, herbs and beef stock and simmer for about 30 minutes. Season to taste.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, then drain. Return the cooked potatoes to the empty saucepan and mash together with butter, milk salt and pepper until smooth.

Place the mashed carrots and swede in the base of a glass ovenproof dish (approximately 18cm diameter / 7.5 cm deep) or use mini dishes to make individual portions. Arrange the meat on top, then cover with a layer of cooked peas and top with a layer of potato.

Brush the potato with the beaten egg and cook under a preheated grill for 6 to 7 minutes or until the top is browned.

Another winner is Rhia's chicken and veggie burger                       

Ingredients :

1 finely chopped onion, 1 grated courgette, 1grated apple, 1 large or a few small grated carrots, 2 or 3 grated turnips, 1 breast chicken (minced), breadcrumbs, 1 chicken stock cube, 1 beaten egg

Method :

Grate all the vegetables and fruit, squeeze out the juice so they're not too watery.

add one beaten egg and about 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, also 1 crumbled chicken stock cube.

squish all together, make the burgers and then roll in breadcrumbs.

   

Soup:

Any kind of soup is good. My kids have soup once or twice a week. To make it more fun I add alphabet pasta in it and meatballs….

The base for the soup is mostly always the same thing.

My trick is that I roast the veggies with some olive oil and onion for 5 min so the taste comes out…Then I add the water with veggie stocks and cook it. There are so many possibilities with soup…You can even add little pieces of fish or chicken instead of meatballs. Once in a while you can leave some veggies visible so they get use to it.

Mash potatoes with carrots, or spinach, or leeks, or broccoli (or something else if you want to try).

In Belgium, we call that a “stoemp”…It means that you mash some potatoes with another vegetable!!! You can even do the mash with sweet potatoes.

* I’m getting my inspiration from different kids cookbooks. I have tons of them. If I had to choose just one, I would go for one of Annabel Karmel. She has great and innovative ideas…

I will give out from time to time my favorite recipes from her….In the meantime if you want to check her out www.annabelkarmel.com/

I hope it helps,

Enjoy!!!