Lena VS. The Vegetables

Eating healthy has been one of the biggest life-style changes we have made as a family, since Lena has joined us. We made this change for two reasons:

One. Eating healthy is best for Lena. No brainer.

Two. Eating healthy is best for us. Being the best us helps us to care for Lena better. In 2006 I started getting really sick roughly once a month, sometimes more, sometimes less, but always 12-24 hours of in bed sick. Cant think, talk, move; cant do anything but throw up and be sick. But when I eat clean- no grain, dairy, sugar, corn -I don't get sick. I cannot get sick like that and be a mom. Its happened and its the worst feeling in world to be helpless in caring for your child. So eating healthy makes a world of difference for me.

 But back the feeding Lena her vegetables...

 

 Getting the little ones to eat their greens is not always easy.

Here are a dozen tips and tricks that we use to help us win this vegetable battle.

 

1/ Have her help. With the shopping and with the cooking.

She's more willing to try new things when she helps and is part of the process.

 

2/ Mac n' Cheese. Most every kid loves it. Add pureed butternut squash and/or spinach and it makes everything sweet and creamy.

 

3/ Smoothies. Add spinach or kale to any combo of fruit, yogurt, and coconut milk.

 

4/ Rice. You can add any vegetable to steamed rice. We do a lot of carrots, kale, chard, and zucchini. You can also finely chop cauliflower in a food processer until its the same texture as rice, then bake until just turning crispy, and you've got tasty, grain-free rice!

 

5/ Taco meat. Grate or chop in a food processor: carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and/or zucchini. Add your mix of veggies and spices into the meat while it's browning. It doubles your meat and adds so much flavor.

 

6/ Grilled cheese or quesadilla. You can add pretty much add any vegetable in with melted cheese and my girl will eat it.
 (Thank you Ali for this one!)
 

7/ Stuffed food. They are so much fun, Lena cant help but eat them! We do either spinach boats (a single leaf of spinach with food on it that we move around and pretend is a boat). Or little tomato ships (A sm/md sized tomato with the insides scooped out with a grapefruit spoon). Filling either choice with taco meat, beans, chicken salad, or tuna salad.

 

8/ Tuna or chicken salad. Add shredded carrots, finely chopped broccoli, celery, and bell peppers. Add curry and raisins to make it bright and spicy. Or orange slices and cranberries to make its sweet and tangy.

 

9/ Scrambled eggs. Add zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, spinach, kale, squash, the possibilities are endless!

 

10/ Muffins. Its easy to make sweet and healthy muffins. Add pureed squash, pumpkin, sweet potato or spinach. Add shredded carrots or zucchini.

 

11/ Don't snack too much. If Lena is hungry at meal time, low and behold, she will eat what we put in front of her. I do give Lena snacks, but try to only twice a day. Around 10-11am, between breakfast and lunch. And then at about 4-4:30pm when she wakes up from her afternoon nap. We eat dinner at about 6:30pm, so that meals two solid hours of no snacks. By dinner time she's normally pretty ready to try at least a little of everything.

 

12/ Make her plate look fun and let her have fun. One of my favorite tools in Lena's sectioned plate. I feel the need to fill eat section with something! I like to make the colors bright and contrasting. Offer a little bit from each food group. We normally have one section with fruit or yogurt with sprinkles to add a little fun. And then we let her have some messy fun! We don't force her to eat, but we also don't offer something else if she doesn't eat much. We feed her some bites but also leave her plate for her to explore and play with. She makes the biggest mess. Throws food at the dog. But she also, almost always, ends up trying everything on her plate.

 

(They don't always work- but here is a bonus tip -Just keep trying!)