Favorite Kids Vegetable Recipes
Favorite kids vegetable recipes are sometimes hard to find.
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.
Top 40 Kid Pleasing Veggie Snacks: A healthy recipes guide for parents who want their children eating healthier, and who understand the importance of ... vegetables as healthy snacks for kids.
I highly recommend this kids veggie snack recipe book as a great way to get the entire family to eat healthy!
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 below
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
garden and create favorite kids vegetable recipes once the plants are grown from veggie and herb 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.
Many
parents and educators have great ideas for
instilling the value of nutritional foods.
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.