Doesn't this look scrumptious? Lizzie gobbled it up! It is one of her favorite lunches and little does she know she is eating sweet potatoes, carrots, and whole wheat as well as cheese and spaghetti sauce.
I got so frustrated with Lizzie's picky eating habits. At first I was really self-critical, thinking that I was doing a very poor job parenting by not enforcing proper eating habits. See, I chose to avoid this battle. If she refused to eat a type of food I would fix her something she would eat and I would just find foods that were good for her. This limited her consumption drastically - PB & J, chicken nuggets, scrambled eggs and cheese, mac and cheese, spaghetti, and that is about it.
Then I saw this amazing book on Amazon.com called "The Sneaky Chef" by Missy Chase Lapine. In this book Missy explains how to hide nutrient dense ingredients in your child's favorite meals. She hides cauliflower, zucchini, carrots and sweet potatoes in mac and cheese for example. For Christmas I got the book and for my birthday 8 months later I finally got a food processor!
I was well in my way to feeding my family healthy foods!
But there is still a part of me that nags and says "you really need to teach Lizzie how to eat whole veggies - make it a visible part of every meal." I guess I can't just force vitamins down her throat by hiding it in her food, how will she learn to eat and love these foods? I still refuse to make a battle out of what we eat. But at every meal I will offer her a spoonful of veggies prepared in a delicious way. Then I usually encourage her to eat it as best I can. If I make this a habit but don't force her and create an argument maybe someday she will want to reach for the veggies herself.
As she gets a little older I will start to explain the benefits of each veggie and fruit too. Maybe Josh will get his dream of growing a garden - I have heard that if a child grows the veggie and helps cook it they are more likely to try and eat it too.
But for now, in the fall and while she is a picky 2 year old I will hide her veggies while offering whole ones on the side.
