a good tip

A friend of mine loaned me a cookbook, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld, that's full of recipes that include lots of pureed veggies (even spinach brownies!) as ingredients...a supremely inoffensive way to serve vegetables that kids might otherwise turn up their nose to. The idea intrigues me, because even though I'm determined to learn to cook veggies the most delicious ways possible, so we all as a family can learn to like them, I really like the idea of learning to add vegetables to as many meals as I can, as many ways as I can.

The cookbook also includes tips from moms for ways they have found to help their kids eat more veggies. One I really liked was from a mom who, like me, found her kids coming to her begging her for food before supper was ready, so she started setting out raw veggies for them to snack on while she made supper. That way if they were truly hungry and not just bored, they would be eating something good for them, and even if they filled up on the veggies and didn't eat much supper, who cares?? They've filled up on vegetables! Last night I set out sliced cucumbers and carrot sticks, and sure enough, most of the cukes were gone and some of the carrots before supper was ready. Then Christopher Robin shocked me by asking for three helpings of salad and being unable to finish his sausage hash brown bake, which is one of his favorite meals. I will be stocking my fridge with fresh raw veggies for pre-supper snacking from now on.