Its dinner time; the whole family is on the dinning table; food is being served; and all of a sudden you hear “YUCK” from your younger one’s mouth. You feel that all those 2 hours of cooking are gone waste. You miss those days when kids were a baby and you were boiling all kinds of vegetables for them and then mashing those and feeding to your babies. But they grew up and learned to revolt at the sight of spinach and call warfare over cauliflower.

Avoid arm wrestling over vegetables because the moment kids sense eating veggies is a forced thing, it will become a resisted thing. Solution to the problem is “give your vegetables more kid appeal”.

Problem is, when Junior doesn’t dine on dark leafy greens and orange-coloured vegetables, he’s missing out on a powerhouse of nutrients. Iceberg lettuce, celery and cucumbers — while better than nothing — don’t rack up a lot of points in the vitamin-mineral department. So go for colour when choosing veggies

Compliant Consumption

Get them when they’re hungry. When prepping dinner, put out a plate of vegetables those can be eaten raw on dinning table to soothe grumbling tummies. Have some tomatoes, cucumbers, baby carrots and feta on a skewer ready for after school. Serve veggies and a fun dip to preschoolers for a snack.

Freshen up with mint. The gum and candy associated flavours of mint can open the door to other fresh herbs like parsley and basil which are all high in the same nutrients found in dark leafy green vegetables.

Stay cool at snack time. A frozen pea, corn niblet or diced piece of carrot doesn’t have the same strong flavour as cooked, or even raw. In mixed bags of frozen veggies you’ll find snow peas, baby corn, cauliflower — even Brussels sprouts. (To avoid choking, wait until your child is at least three years old.)

Get souped up. Canned and ready-to-serve soups can be nutritious (look for sodium reduced, if possible).

Shake it up. If the same old carrots and peas show up on the table every night, you’ll miss out on a spectacular vegetable safari. Break out of your routine and try something new. You never know — a fresh fan of okra, mushroom or parsnips could be in your midst!

Nutritional Top 10

Number one is sweet potato, then:

2. carrots
3. spinach
4. collard greens
5. raw red pepper
6. kale
7. dandelion greens
8. broccoli
9. Brussels sprouts and, yes,
10. the humble baked potato with skin