Sneaky Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy



Most children don’t like to eat fruit and vegetables. Mine happen to be the odd exceptions. I can put a salad or spinach on my kids’ plate and it’s gone almost instantly. But like I said, my kids are the exception so how can single moms get their kids to eat the food that is so 
good for them? Here are some ways:

1. Healthy breakfast. Fill your kids up on their fruit for the day at breakfast. Put some banana on toast, maybe with peanut butter; serve cereal with fresh or dried fruit; slather pancakes or waffles with fruit toppings; make fresh fruit smoothies and a yogurt and sliced fruit combo.

2. Hide vegetables in a sauce. Grate and chop zucchini, carrots and spinach into 
pasta and cheese sauces; puree mushrooms before putting them into spaghetti 
sauce to avoid kids seeing them and picking them out.

3. Add to dessert by putting fresh fruit pieces to Jello, yogurt or ice cream 
for a healthy treat;  puree fruit to use as homemade topping in place of 
chocolate or caramel syrup; let your kids make their own fruit parfaits.

4. Put vegetables into the meat; grate vegetables in meat dishes; 
hide grated vegetables in meatball, casseroles, meatloaf, shepherd’s pie and lasagna; try all-vegetable lasagna; make all-vegetable “hamburger” patties using soy protein as the base. It has a meaty texture and can be flavored to taste great.

5. One pot, many vegetables. Making homemade soups stews and chili are all easy ways to increase your family’s intake of vegetables and fruit (yes, fruit!) Everything and anything healthy should go into the pot. Puree vegetables that the kids don’t like and add them to the stock to use as a thickener. Make gazpacho, a fruit soup using mangos, yellow pepper, yellow tomatoes, carrot, cantaloupe, cucumbers, papayas, raspberry vinegar, honey and vanilla extract.

6. Mystery foods. Use the kids’ favorite cookies, cakes and breads as a cover for fruits and vegetables. Make sweet breads and desserts with vegetables – zucchini bread, sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie. Slip fruits and vegetables in all kinds of things: applesauce in cookies, zucchini in chocolate cake, and 
grated carrots in pasta sauce.

7. Fast and healthy food. Let your kids make homemade pizza. Give them tons of healthy toppings to choose from such as tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, spinach and pineapple. Tacos or fajitas can be a great way to get kids to add vegetables in various forms – diced tomatoes, salsa, etc. Stir fries – sugar peas, snow peas, spinach and carrots. For omelets, top with salsa, stuff with copped tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and bell peppers.

8. Keep fruit and vegetables handy. Keep washed fruit in a bowl nearby; Have ready-to-serve individual fruit cups in the fridge; make up vegetable-and-dip packs for snacks; serve fruit and vegetables as a side dish at meals.

If at least some of the items on this list don’t work, try making their food more interesting – like shapes out of vegetables – trees, animals, and houses and let your 
kids pretend to be King Kong eating his surroundings.