Mom friends, I know everyone has their own way to make their kids eat fruit and vegetables. Ben is still at the age where you can just put something in front of him he’ll pretty much eat it. Jack is borderline OCD when it comes to food. Too hot, he doesn’t like the texture, carrots are icky, he’ll only eat it if it’s sliced a certain way, if it is the right amount – four mini muffins or nothing, ugh!

So over time I’ve developed ways for him to eat stuff he normally wouldn’t. By the way girls, this works for husbands as well.

1. Cooked in ground meat. I stick spinach in my turkey meatballs Baked Meatballs, my meatloaf will have red peppers or mushrooms chopped in . I absolutely love Trump’s Mar-a-Lago burger, with added celery and apples. Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger.

2. Mixed in with carbs. The trick is to use very small carbs so they can’t avoid the veg. With a big corkscrew or bow pasta they can eat right around vegetables. Brown rice becomes fried rice with corn, peas, bits of carrot, mushroom, really anything you have leftover in your fridge you need to purge. I try to make it colorful. Edamame too! Fried Rice. Or whole wheat Orzo gets spinach and a tin of diced tomatoes in it and some feta on top.

3. Quiche. Another purge your fridge favorite. Broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, mushroom, asparagus, whatever is in there that needs a home. Adam needs to watch cholesterol and I need less calories so we use egg substitute or mostly egg whites, maybe with one yolk thrown in for color. I don’t have a standing recipe, just crust with veggies in it topped with some cheese then whisked eggs with some milk. Baked at 350.

4. Baked in bread. Carrot Apple Muffins, Zucchini Bread. There are load of recipes on the net that you can download. I try hard to keep white carbs out of the house. My favorite two muffin recipes I’ve been using lately are Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins Oatmeal Muffins & Morning Glory Muffins Morning Glory Muffins.

5. In a Blender. If I make a smoothie in the morning Ben will gulp the entire thing down. I always start with a yogurt or kefir base and banana. After that I toss in any kind of frozen fruit or fruit on it’s last legs in the fridge with some ice. Any kind of berry. They sell great Acai packs at whole foods that I love. Acai Frozen Fruit Packs. Sometimes frozen mango and pineapple for a tropical treat.

Another trick I like – when I seem them winding down dinner I will pull out a fruit I need chopped up like cantalope, watermelon or pineapple. When they see it they ask for it and sometimes fill up on it and completely forget about dessert.

If you have any tips let me know!

Nikki