-Cheese sticks and/or string cheese are a great way to get another dairy serving in. They are super fun! You can buy them for a fair price at Save-a-lot and other discount stores. You can get them on sale at the main grocery stores and coupons are often available for $1 online and other places, always check the packaging!
-Raisins, apples, bananas are all cheap and easy to slice up if you have a picky eater or a young child who just doesn't like to have to work too hard to eat! (I still have to slice apples for most of my kids but I don't peel them; the peels are good for you too! That's where the good fiber is!) Raisins were always kept in my diaper bag and are still kept around for a quick fix snack. I especially like to offer fruit when it's almost time to eat but a younger child thinks 20 minutes is an eternity!
-Another way to get fruit and dairy in is to whip up a plain or vanilla yogurt dip. Mix with a little honey or peanut butter and it's the perfect dip for fruit! Add salts, garlic powders, and other seasonings and you have a great veggie dip!
-Carrot and celery is always on the cheap too! They can be cut into 'toothpicks' and most kids can grow to love them, especially if offered with a dip! Some kiddies will even go for bell pepper strips this way as well as zucchini!
-Add dry milk powder to various items. Use if to make homemade hot cocoa, baked goods,
slushies (another fruit place), peanut butter balls, some creamy soups, etc.
-
Slushies and smoothies are the perfect place for IT ALL! I've snuck in spinach, tomatoes, etc. They never knew! And use yogurt or milk as your base. You can even get by with ground flax; if you've got a really good flavor, they are more likely to to tolerate a slightly different texture.
-Slice their oranges in rings and teach them how to tear them open and 'bite out the triangles'!
-Clementines are great for little kiddies! They peel easy and they're bite-sized!
-Lemons and limes can be squeezed into water and other drinks for a nice shot of vitamin C.
-Dried fruits are a great treat for kids! Sweet and sour in the same bite for many of them. And you can chop them and put them in breads, cookies, muffins, granola, oatmeal, cereals, peanut butter sandwiches (I used to love raisins on my peanut butter sandwiches!), puddings, cakes, and even many savory dishes. (Cranberry dressing, stir fry, rice dishes, etc)
-Chop onions, extra fine, and put them in any ground beef recipe! (garlic and bell peppers can be smuggled in this way, as well as carrots and many other veggies)
-Use their favorite soup recipes to finely dice unknown or risky veggies such as turnips. I make a Chicken and Turnip Soup that the kids often think is potatoes! They love hamburger soup so much that
I can often use it as a catch all for anything!
-Homemade pizza is one of the best ways to get them to try a new veggie! I make the dough and dig out anything and everything for them to make their own pan-style pizza in. I set out the sauce, veggies, maybe meats, and cheeses and dived the dough up and let them go! Strange how they'll even pick black olives for this! (The terms are that what they create they eat!;)
-Use leftover veggies as snacks for toddlers. Green beans and corn on a high chair tray will make a toddler pretty happy!
-Use taco meat to make various kinds of salads with different veggies. Layer them in such a way that the veggies are between the meat and cheese. You can smuggle tomatoes, black olives, etc. underneath some melted cheese!
-Offer fruit and veggie trays in between meals. Hungry tummies may not fuss as much about a celery stick if they know their options are limited until supper!
-I heard of a mother who had the rule that "no sweets after your meal until or unless you eat a piece of fruit first"!
-Make tasty bean pastes for dips and spreads. Just blend cooked beans until smooth and add your kid's favorite kind of seasoning (Italian, Mexican, spicy, etc.). Use it for crackers, corn tortilla chips, tortilla roll-ups with veggies, or even as a veggie dip!
-Serve boiled or deviled eggs from time to time as a snack or main course at lunch! (I read somewhere that eggs have everything but
vitaminC!!)
-Pomegranates are super fun! And they are so good! Scoop out the seeds in a bowl and let the kids dip out their own spoonful at a time.
-Baked potatoes! My worst picky-eater-wannabe used to eat these when all else failed! (And I say 'wannabe' because it was not something that I tolerated but something I worked at to gradually conquer! Little rules like; you must try one bite, if you want this you have to eat that, and continually offering strange stuff in strange ways and then making sure he knew what he ate afterwards!)
-Salmon, tuna, and
tilapia can be prepared for reasonable fare. My kids love all 3! They have their favorite ways that they like them prepared but they will eat it any way that I fix it.
-Fruit pies and fruit crisps are usually loved by kiddies! Try mixing the fruits!
-My kids love pumpkin pie so I try to fix around the year, not just at Thanksgiving.
-Let them help you with shopping and menu planning! If they pick it out, they will likely eat it with pride!
-When possible, allow them to go to the fridge, freezer, or pantry and pick the veggies for the meal today!
-Spaghetti! Do you know the possibilities with spaghetti!?!! You can hid all sorts of stuff in there, especially if you have a way (like a mini food processor) of chopping the veggies very fine!
-Sandwich and burger platters and great ways to make veggies look really good to a kid! Let them pick what they want on it or fix their own. My kids love thinly sliced onions on theirs!
-Try to keep them convenient!
-Freeze yogurt! When I have coupons, my kids love
gogurts frozen. Other times, I make my own yogurt and blend in nectar, fruit pureed, and/or juices and freeze them in small cups as their dessert.
-The best tip I could ever give would be, start them out early eating fruits and veggies, but even if you didn't, you can turn their taste buds!
