Vegetables

[Juliebove]

I used to consider myself lucky. Daughter loved canned green beans and black olives. They were her favorite foods. Now she will no longer eat green or wax beans. Not at all, ever.

For a couple of weeks she switched to canned corn. A grain. I know. But better than nothing. Now she refuses to eat that.

She will eat raw carrots. Lots of those. And ketchup. And spaghetti sauce. She will eat salads in restaurants and from salad bars. But if I make salads at home, she sneaks hers into the trash. She also likes V8 Fusion. I hate that the commercial says it contains a full serving of vegetables because I don't believe that. It's just the juice.

I do know all sorts of sneaky ways to add vegetables to casseroles, soups, sauces, etc. But I would like her to eat more vegetables with her meals. I just feel that she eats far too many carbs. I feel if she would eat low carb vegetables, she would feel more full and would be less likely to fill up on rice, potatoes or pasta.

[David in Seattle]

Julie - How old is your daughter? I don't have children, so this will probably sound terribly naive, but when my brother & I were growing up, we always ate salad with dinner, because that's what was put in front of us, and also never drank pop, or ate junk food, simply because it wasn't in the house. Maybe if she had no other dinner time options, she'd eventually have to give in & eat her veggies. Given the alternative If she's older & not under your control 24 hours a day, at least that way you'd know she was getting one good meal a day. Is there something about the salad bar/restaurant variety that you could replicate at home? The dressing, maybe?

[mushroom]

Hubby and I have different likes and dislikes, tolerances, etc., for salads. How about making a family salad bar and let everyone put together their own salad. That way she would feel in control of what she was eating. And would probably choose healthily. Carrot sticks/grated carrot, chopped celery, red peppers, colorful things, -- ask her what she would like in a salad and then [provide them and let her mix them together however she wants. Give her a choice of dressings. Any leftovers that couldn't be saved would go in a stew. Some kids hate being "told" -- I know, I was one of them My mother always complained I wasn't eating my vegetables (cooked to mush in the British time of old) and yet you could always find me out in the veg. garden eating raw carrots and peas. She always put barley in vegetable soup and I wouldn't eat it--now I know why. Try to give her what she likes It could be just a fad or it could be that she doesn't feel good eating those things.

I am not a believer in forcing kids to eat stuff. I had oatmeal and wheat porridge stuffed down my throat in the mornings and it made me feel dreadful until at least lunchtime. I think I told my mother, but I don't remember. I may have just grizzled and refused to eat.

[luvs2eat]

My kids were good veggie eaters but occasionally I'd serve something they turned up their noses at. In that case, they got a "no thank you" portion... maybe a tablespoon that they were expected to eat. Once my youngest DD stuffed the "no thank you" portion of spaghetti squash in her mouth and was trying to say, "Yum... this is good," inbetween GAGGING. ha ha. They were such good veggie eaters, I didn't make her swallow it!

Don't know how old she is, but I've seen kids go nuts for veggies served raw in muffin tins w/ some sort of dip... hummus? Salad dressing?

When my kids were small... if they absolutely refused to eat supper, which was really rare, and were hungry after supper... I'd let them have a piece of fruit. We weren't junk food eaters anyhow, so it wasn't much of a battle of wills.

[Juliebove]

Julie - How old is your daughter? I don't have children, so this will probably sound terribly naive, but when my brother & I were growing up, we always ate salad with dinner, because that's what was put in front of us, and also never drank pop, or ate junk food, simply because it wasn't in the house. Maybe if she had no other dinner time options, she'd eventually have to give in & eat her veggies. Given the alternative If she's older & not under your control 24 hours a day, at least that way you'd know she was getting one good meal a day. Is there something about the salad bar/restaurant variety that you could replicate at home? The dressing, maybe?

She'll be 12 in July. We have plenty of food in the house so if she doesn't like what I serve, she just tosses it out and gets something else to eat.

As for dressing, we don't usually eat it. I can't stand the stuff myself. But I do like vegetables.

[Juliebove]

My kids were good veggie eaters but occasionally I'd serve something they turned up their noses at. In that case, they got a "no thank you" portion... maybe a tablespoon that they were expected to eat. Once my youngest DD stuffed the "no thank you" portion of spaghetti squash in her mouth and was trying to say, "Yum... this is good," inbetween GAGGING. ha ha. They were such good veggie eaters, I didn't make her swallow it!

Don't know how old she is, but I've seen kids go nuts for veggies served raw in muffin tins w/ some sort of dip... hummus? Salad dressing?

When my kids were small... if they absolutely refused to eat supper, which was really rare, and were hungry after supper... I'd let them have a piece of fruit. We weren't junk food eaters anyhow, so it wasn't much of a battle of wills.

She is good to try things. And up until recently she did eat hummus. The problem with most salad dressings is that they contain something that she either is allergic to or has outgrown. She has outgrown egg and dairy allergies so can have those things only twice a week. She does like Ranch dressing. She just can't have it very often. She has also outgrown soy and that's in most everything.

[tarnalberry]

Ugh, gotta say, I can't stand a plain salad with NO dressing. You don't have to use anything with allergens, though - balsamic vinegar and olive oil are just fine. (Add italian herbs if you want to be fancy. )

I would talk to her about why she won't eat the veggies, really try to understand her side without pressuring. This advice may be useless for your situation, but it comes from dealing with my husband who, as a grown man, for the most part, hates vegetables. Turns out, he's a super taster AND is picky about texture issues. Many, many vegetables taste bitter to him - things like broccoli obviously, but also things like tomatoes. With time, and patience, we have experimented with a wide variety of vegetables and - more importantly - ways to cook those vegetables, and there are a few he'll eat. What I found was that the vegetable itself matters, but so does the texture. So, carrots, for instance, are a sweet vegetable, but they are crunchy and even retain a fair amount of firmness when lightly cooked (like a stir-fry). But sweet potatoes, while also a sweet vegetable, get squishy, with a texture and taste combination that is - to him, anyway - right out. (Oddly enough, waxy potatoes and french fries are fine.)

I realize that this might not be it, since she had been eating vegetables previously, but taste buds do sometimes change (especially if she suffers from allergies, or if she's been recently sick), so I thought I'd mention it.

[Juliebove]

Ugh, gotta say, I can't stand a plain salad with NO dressing. You don't have to use anything with allergens, though - balsamic vinegar and olive oil are just fine. (Add italian herbs if you want to be fancy. )

I would talk to her about why she won't eat the veggies, really try to understand her side without pressuring. This advice may be useless for your situation, but it comes from dealing with my husband who, as a grown man, for the most part, hates vegetables. Turns out, he's a super taster AND is picky about texture issues. Many, many vegetables taste bitter to him - things like broccoli obviously, but also things like tomatoes. With time, and patience, we have experimented with a wide variety of vegetables and - more importantly - ways to cook those vegetables, and there are a few he'll eat. What I found was that the vegetable itself matters, but so does the texture. So, carrots, for instance, are a sweet vegetable, but they are crunchy and even retain a fair amount of firmness when lightly cooked (like a stir-fry). But sweet potatoes, while also a sweet vegetable, get squishy, with a texture and taste combination that is - to him, anyway - right out. (Oddly enough, waxy potatoes and french fries are fine.)

I realize that this might not be it, since she had been eating vegetables previously, but taste buds do sometimes change (especially if she suffers from allergies, or if she's been recently sick), so I thought I'd mention it.

I'm a super taster and I believe she might be as well. I can eat a bite or two of raw broccoli but not even a speck of the cooked stuff. She's the same way. Husband hates vegetables too and mostly won't eat them. He eats meat and fruit. That doesn't help.

She doesn't really like most fruit either. I can't blame her there as I can't stand the stuff. She will eat apples and sometimes pears. That's pretty much how I am too but I will occasionally eat grapefruit or strawberries.

As for salad dressing, I have always found it to be disgusting. I love my veggies but can't stand anything on them. She used to be the same way. But recently we have found a couple of restaurants that have dressing she can eat. Otherwise we just have lemon, salt and pepper. For me, I think it's the oil thing. I don't like oil on my food. Unless it's popcorn popped in oil. Or French fries fried in oil.