I’ve never really struggled with Reuben and eating 5 a day, in fact he’s always been an absolute star, but Toby and Edie are a different matter. Both of them seem to be a touch ambivalent towards fruit and veg, a take it or leave it attitude at best, with flat out repulsion at worst. I don’t know what it is, I did everything the same with Toby’s as I did with Roo, but he seems to gravitate towards junk food and biscuits. Same with Edith, she only has to see a chip or a piece of chocolate and she’s begging, demanding and attacking to get to it. I never even let Roo have chips until he was two and he certainly didn’t have chocolate!
Ahh well, all in moderation. Still, I refuse to have kids that require me to fork out £10 a week on vitamin supplements because they won’t eat their fruit and veg, I’m far too tight fisted. As a result of this I’m now very good at being sneaky with fruit and veg, so I thought I would share a few of my tips with you on how to get the kids to eat more fruit and veg.
- Give them a piece of fruit in the car.
This seems to work wonders for my kids, I don’t know if it’s because they have very little else to occupy their little hands and crazy minds but more or less any fruit will be devoured in the car. I try to stick to apples with Toby because they can’t be smushed up. I use one of Nuby’s feeders if I want to give something to Edith.
2. Hide the veg in a blended sauce
No really. Did you see my pasta sauce recipe yesterday? Tonnes of hidden veg, absolutely tonnes and the kids are none the wiser. Toby and Edie will both eat loads of this, mainly because they like pasta. Told you I was sneaky.
3. Chop chop.
Small pieces can’t be picked out so chopping veg works so well. My mum used to make a chow mein dish for the children at the nursery she used to work at, and it was literally packed with veg, but the kids loved it and were none the wiser. Really tiny cubes of veg can be tedious but well worth it if you are struggling.
4. They like this one? Let them run with it.
Toby can be a real picky little bugger (said with love) so I will often find that he just does not want to try new things. Reuben will try more or less anything and that does sometimes persuade his younger brother, but on the occasions he has one on him, nothing, and I do mean nothing, will get him to open his mouth. I’ve discovered that he like carrots. Rather a lot actually. So, if I think I’m going to have a grumpy boy who is on a green bean protest then I make extra carrots so he can skip the portion of green beans and fill up on carrots instead. I always put at least one or two beans on his plate on those occasions, and I do make him eat them, but I won’t ask him to trough a full plate.
5. After school snacks
One of the first things that comes out of Reuben’s mouth when he gets in the car after a day at school is “Did you bring some food?” Aside from being highly amusing I often think of this as my winning time. Toby is exactly the same, so I know if I smile and say, “absolutely, I brought you some cucumber sticks” he will be most displeased, but will be more likely to try them. I tend to bring him fruit I know he enjoys, grapes or apples, but every now and then I throw a curve ball and see if he’s hungry enough to eat something else. 9/10 the answer is no, but sometimes he will.
6. Try some funky shapes
I bought this sandwich cutter from eBay a few weeks ago and the boys think it is fab. There are thousands of versions to suit every child, but if you want to you can cut up melons and other large fruits and veg.
7. Get them to cook it!
Kids are often much more likely to eat something they have cooked themselves. Maybe they just don’t trust us… Is that really broccoli or has she laced it with something that will make us sleep better and encourage us to go to bed so she can get that bottle of win finished tonight? Either way, my kids (and according to a tonne of studies – we all know how reliable they are – children are more likely to gobble up the fruits of their labour. Get it? Fruits of their labour. Mum jokes are my jam.
So there you have it. A couple of things that I have found super effective for encouraging kids to eat more fruit and veg. Do you have any tips? Share them please!
H X
