Tricks for Getting Your Little One to Eat Healthy

Any parent knows it can be a struggle to get your child to eat right. My little guy especially will not even come close to eating vegetables, fruits are rare, and if it is a day where he is eating nothing but toast, we are doing okay. He is without a doubt a picky eater and would rather starve than eat the meals I would prefer he eats. The following are some ways I have disguised nutrient-rich foods and tricked him into eating something that he thinks is just decent, but is actually pretty darn healthy.

Scrambled eggs and avocado. This is one of my favorite breakfasts for myself, so I make it often. My son will agree to eat eggs most days, so I just mix in some avocado and he never notices the difference. Avocado is a wonderful super food as well. The strawberries are just a bonus.

Smoothies full of anything healthy under the sun. I often use smoothies as a meal replacement for breakfast or lunch and it always piques the kids interests. I will make K the same one I am having. All the more reason to load up on fruits and veggies. I have figured out certain flavors he favors so I try to make it taste mostly like that by the end.  We are not big fans of berry flavors, so we have to resort to some other fruits, watch the texture as well. As long as it is in their favorite cup and they have a fun straw, they are normally always game to at least try.

Pasta. There are so many homemade sauces you can make that are much healthier than what you buy in the store. We have gone with traditional tomato sauces but have also tried out avocado sauces. Also if you feel like your child gets enough carbs, try using spaghetti squash instead of noodles. Our children never notice the difference and spaghetti squash is a vegetable itself. Same goes for using zucchini to make zoodles.

Spaghetti squash w/ tomato sauce

Zoodles w/avocado sauce & turkey meatballs

Pizza. What kid doesn't love it. We have disguised very tiny shredded piece of chicken as well as very shredded up pieces of spinach. Notice I said very shredded. If not cut up enough to disguise, kids will always find it. We are also big fans of cauliflower pizza. Lower in calories for us and a veggie for my son to eat. If you make it right, it is exactly like normal pizza.

The absolute last resort, the bribe method. Once your child starts talking they will let you know of everything they want to eat, which is always sweets when it is not appropriate. If my son refuses to eat anything because he wants something he cannot have, sometimes I will give in, but only if he eats all of the healthy food I have out for him first. To gain their trust that you are actually going to give them what they want, it may take doing some bites of the healthy and one tiny piece of the unhealthy. Best advice, try to keep the least amount of unhealthy options available in the house. Our worst times are right after we host parties or something of the sort where we have leftovers.