Favorite Vegetables
Healthy Recipes For Kids

Favorite Vegetables and children don't ever seem to match. There are so many parents today constantly fighting with their children to eat vegetables or other healthy meals.

So many families are on the constant go, and there doesn't seem to be time in the day for children or adults to eat some healthy vegetables or other foods.

A great goal is to try and get creative and include your children in finding dishes that would entice them to eat more veggies.

A vegetable garden is a place to start. Involving children in doing a ground or container vegetable garden is a great way for them not only to learn about the process of plant growth, but also learn the role of nutrition in vegetables and other foods.

My children are grown now but I do remember the hiding of the peas under the knife, or the coughing into a napkin at the dinner table when they didn't think we were looking. Ah, times haven't changed, have they?

Creating some favorite recipes for children using vegetables, herbs and other foods, can be a fun and fulfilling project. The project over time can become a daily ritual for your family. There is a growing awareness today of nutritional eating habits in both two parent and single parent families.

There are a couple of ways to think about how you could take a certain favorite vegetable and create it into a dish or meal that your or child or children will enjoy. Many children are taught the four basic food groups.

So much of what a child decides to eat, can depend on the color and texture of food.

If you watch when your child is eating, so many times they will look at a vegetable like asparagus, and see a long green thing that can have a slimy and gross appearance.

Asparagus can grow in a garden, bought at a farmers market, or a grocery store. This vegetable is rich in vitamins and also low calorie. Now if you are thinking, "how can I get my child to eat asparagus?"

This may look mighty strange to you. Many years ago, before I became a landscaper and designer, I was a lead teacher for an Early Childhood Learning Center. One of the goals was to allow children to create through hands on learning. This is so true today with both adults and children.

Starting out with a garden, maintaining the vegetables, and allowing children to create their own face or other objects can entice your children to experiment with texture and taste. If you can't have a garden, go ahead and buy some vegetables and give children the opportunity to develop their personality in a healthy way.

In the above photo, the asparagus represents hair, two slices of cucumbers for eyes, a half of a tomato for the nose, and three carrots for the face. The outlining of the face is made with four pieces of garlic chives. Notice the eyeballs, two pieces of chocolate. It is fine to add and a small quantity of a sweet, such as chocolate into a healthy dish.

Teaching children through behavior modification does have its benefits. Trying a piece of vegetable before the reward of the chocolate, can motivate a child to experiment with healthy foods. You can create snack dishes or a good portion of a meal using simple vegetables. Start out with any favorites your children or you may have.

A simple dish of cut up tomatoes and cucumbers will work. Add a little ramekin (small dish) of peanut butter and celery as peanut butter not only is a favorite to many children as well as adults, but also a great source of protein.

The half of tomato was broiled and cheese made up the filling. The tomato will take about ten minutes to soften in a broiler. Add the cheese a minute or two before you remove from the oven.

Five little parsley leaves were added to give the vegetable a little more color. There are many different herbs and spices to view in the spices and herb section.

One of your goals in planning a garden to create healthy meals, is to think about different themes you can use throughout the year. The idea of creating unique vegetable dishes can be done in any of the four seasons.

Come up with a weekly or monthly theme in your classroom or home. Allowing children to experiment with textures and taste, is a great hands on learning adventure. You may be surprised after they are allowed to create something, their curiosity will win over and they will begin to taste their creation. You can do an inside Create a small area using your favorite vegetable or herb, and grow them from seeds.

It doesn't matter if you have a small outdoor space or a little table indoors. Incorporating an outside or inside garden with healthy eating, is a great way to teach children the importance of vegetables in their diet. They just may up with their own favorite veggies.

Check out the vegetable Seeds and plan your activity today. I also believe it will help adults become more aware of their own eating habits. If you haven't had a chance, browse through the spices and herb section and get some other ideas for creating dishes using other herbs and spices. Many of these plant specimens can have an added nutritional value to your veggies.

Below is a wonderful way to share any of your vegetable recipes with all of us.Many parents and educators have great ideas for instilling the value of nutritional foods.

If you haven't created a favorite recipe, go ahead and plan it, and come back here and share it with us. This article is a little different from other landscape articles on this web site.

One of my goals is to be able to give you ideas using the outside environment as well as being creative with plant specimens.