vegetable Curry

Recently I have heard several news stories on the new trend of hiding vegetable in food so that unsuspecting children will get their daily serving without even knowing it...or at least that is the theory.  I'm going to officially come out against this practice!

If you hide vegetables from your kids you are only perpetuating the stereotype that vegetables are yucky and have to be snuck into children like a dog's heart worm medicine!  Instead of hiding the veggies how about teaching our kids that they can be delicious?  Here are a few things that YOU can do to avoid vegetable subterfuge.

1.  Buy fresh. If you have ever compared canned green beans to fresh green beans you will agree that the canned variety bear little resemblance to fresh.  Canned green beans are gray and mushy and taste like....well I don't know what they taste like, but it's not good.

2.  Don't over cook.  The longer you cook vegetables the more of their nutrients and flavor they lose.  Lots of veggie, like broccoli, carrots and green beans only need a quick steam.  Some, like peppers and jucima, are great raw.

3.  Think outside the box.  Sometimes you need to extol the OTHER virtues of vegetables.   For example, eating beets make you look like you have been drinking blood and asparagus makes your pee smell funny.  While these may  not be selling pints for YOU, little boys will totally fall for them.

4.  Try something new.  About a year ago I made vegetable curry for my family.  I figured I have to hold the kids down and force it into them.  Imagine my surprise when my oldest son LOVED it.  he can't get enough of the stuff.  It is very favorite meal.  Sometimes it pays off to go a little crazy.

5.  Don't give up.  I have heard that it take over 15 exposures to a food for a child to be comfortable with that food.  If your kids turn their noses up at broccoli the first time keep trying. Eventually you will break them...I mean....get them to love their veggies!