What You Need to Know to Help Your Child Embrace Veggies

Vegetable is a word that can make even a non-picky eater run for cover.
So how do you get your child to eat some of those healthy veggies?

And change your child from this:

To this:

When children associate healthy foods with fun, they become more interested and excited to incorporate them into their daily diet! Cooking time becomes an exploration in personal creativity and health education.
Parents and kids come together to plan 'creative' meals.

Let them use their imagination, be involved and encourage their creativity.

Make Healthy Foods Fun!

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This is what one parent had to share:

Every parent wants their child to eat healthy because it is so important for their growth and development, but not every parent is lucky enough to have a child that loves their veggies.
Here are some tips I have learned raising my 6 children on how to get your children to eat their vegetables either willingly or without them even knowing.

1. Sneak veggie purees into their mash potatoes or pancakes.
2. Make muffins with chopped veggies and a little frosting on top. Call them cupcakes. They will never know.
3. If using tomato sauce in a dish you can add V8 or just a bunch of chopped vegetables.
4. When the kids are starving after sports or heavy playing offer them veggies with dressing or peanut butter rather than other snack foods.
5. Grow a garden in your yard and allow them to help you. They will be more excited to eat what they actually grew.
6. Never tell them what they are eating is healthy or good for them, just act really excited about the veggies and your attitude will transfer to them.


I hope all these tips help you like they did me. If you have any special tips feel free to comment and let us know.
Thanks, Kitty
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The tips on the Veggie Boom Boom site are a little more commercial than personal, but it was low key, not in your face ads and there was also some information on being vegan as well as ideas for items that might help you attain a vegan diet. All of which can be useful even if your goal is to eat more vegetables not become vegan.
It was still an interesting read. 
Veggie Boom Boom 
While searching for information to write this article I found the following sites I thought were quite interesting. (note the pictures, look familiar? )

The following link is to a site I am looking forward to exploring more.
The heading; "Heirloom Vegetables" definitely caught my eye.
 (Bookmark**)
Garden of Eatin
http://frankentrina.com/gardenofeatin/mykidsveggies.htm

Cheryl has created a site with so many good ideas on kids and foods I decided instead of picking, choosing and paraphrasing I would just link to it. She is a young mother who has been blogging for years, writing articles about food and quilts.

I followed links from this blog to her other blogs and found them enough that I bookmarked them all even though some are no longer updated. They had so much reference material I could spend hours reading them.
(Bookmark**)
Simple Bites
http://www.simplebites.net/how-to-help-your-child-embrace-food/

Dr. John came to the point in easy to understand words.
I loved what he had to say as well as his 10 ways to encourage your child to eat their veggies.
(Bookmark**)
Virginia Hopkins
http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/kids_veggies_dr_john_lee.html

This last one, which looked fairly current, was written by a woman who makes a living at helping people stay healthy and has information beneficial to the whole family.
 (Bookmark**)
House of Health
http://houseofhealth.wordpress.com/

Despite your best efforts your children still might not eat their veggies, but they will have fun memories associated with veggies.

Who knows though, they might just pick up a veggies while creating and eat it.

The important thing is to never stop offering veggies and to continue to search for new and interesting ways to encourage your children to eat them.

Remember you too may not have eaten all your veggies when you were young.

Healthy eating is essential for proper growth; mentally, physically spiritually.
You really are what you eat.

The fast food generation is creating too many children who look like this:

Sadly this lack of healthy eating has not only seen a rise in childhood obesity, but a rising tide of health issues that were not so prevalent in years past.

Delicious Nutritious Kid Snacks

Flower Power 

1. Ask mom or dad to buy some Broccoli and Cauliflower.

2. Wash in the kitchen sink.

3. Pull off the leaves from the floret heads.

2. Separate the florets. 

If you need to use a knife make sure mom or dad is with you. 

3. Ask mom or dad to steam them for you. (Steam is very hot! Never try to do it yourself)

(Make sure to set a few of the florets aside so you can compare the taste and texture of raw versus cooked.)

The broccoli should be a beautiful bright green when it is done cooking.

4. Have mom or dad put them on a plate for you.

5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, a little parmasaen cheese, or a delicious dip!

6. Have fun and Eat them all up!!

MMmmm

FANTASTIC !!

What do you think?

a. How do broccoli and cauliflower grow?

b. What part of the plants do we eat?

c. Describe broccoli and cauliflower.

d. How do they look, feel, smell and taste?

e. How are they alike? 

f. How are they different?

g. What does heat do to these vegetables?

h. Do you like them better cooked or raw?

Munchie Monday! G is for Granola

Good Granola

This brings back memories!
It sounds quite similar to a granola I used to bake for my children when they were young.
They love it!

Ingredients:
1 c. oatmeal
1/3 c. wheat germ
1/4 c. coconut
1/4 c. sunflower seeds
1/4 c. powered milk
1 tsp cinnamon

2 TBSP honey
2 TBSP oil
1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix the first 6 ingredients together.
2. Add the next 3 ingredients.
3. Mix well.
4. Spread on a cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. (watch carefully so it does not burn!)
6. Cool on paper towels. ( I actually prefer wax paper, helps to prevent sticking)
7. Eat for a snack or for breakfast.

What do you think?
1. Taste each ingredient.
What happens to each as Good Granola toasts?
2. What makes the Good Granola stick together in little "clumps"?
3. What makes Good Granola good for you?

Try this!
1. Think of some nuts or dried fruit you would like to add.
2. With Good granola form a G g on your napkin.

Have a Radical RED Day!!

F is for Fresh Fruit Salad on Munchie Monday

Red Munchie Monday presents:

Fresh Fruit Salad!

Ingredients:

• 1 Banana
• 1 Tangerine
• 1 Apple
• 3 TBSP Plain Vanilla Yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
  

Instructions:

1. Slice banana
2. Dice apple
3. Peel tangerine, separate segments, cut remove seeds


4. Mix fruit together in a bowl
   
5. Mix yogurt and vanilla together
6. Pour over the fruit
   
   
7. Eat!

What do you think?

1. Compare the seeds of these fruits. Which can we eat?
2. Why is Fresh Fruit Salad good for us?
3. What does fresh fruit mean?
4. What kinds of fruit are not fresh when we eat them?
5. Which kind of fruit has the most vitamins? Dried? Fresh? Canned? Frozen?
6. How are Frozen fresh fruit and fresh fruit different?
7. When might fresh fruits be unavailable and dried or canned fruit good?


Try this!

1. Form the letter F for fruit with the banana peels.
2. Serve the Fresh Fruit Salad in the Coconut Shell you got went you made your "C is for Coconut" recipe.

Have an enthusiastic Red Munchie Monday!

Kathleen

The Rhythm of a Family Meal

Yellow Rhythm Wednesday
A Food Journey

Take your child on a food journey while you partake in your meals together.

• Ask them if they know where the food they eat comes from?
• How is it grown?
• Who grows it?
• How does it get to the store and then to your kitchen?
• Was it grown in your own garden?
• Did you help plant the seeds, cultivate and harvest it?
• If so, talk about what you learned and how it felt to take a seed to a food you can share with the family.

Children develop a new appreciation for food if they can have a little garden patch to tend on their own during the growing season.
They can have a sense of pride knowing they have helped to grace the table with all kinds of vegetables.
This can be an excellant opportunity to teach our children about the importance of being organic and how it affects the world we live in.

The benefits of organic gardening are not only that it is not only a healthier option, but it is cheaper as well. However, for young ones, gardening organically can be frustrating at times. Certain plants can make organic growing less frustrating.

With Spring in mind here are some suggestions of some easy plants for the young organic gardener to get started with.

Rhubarb and Mint
Rhubarb is easy to grow, and can often be found wild. The leaves are poisonous, but the stems tart and tasty.
Under good conditions, mint grows well and will pop up year after year. Gardeners who want to move on to other herbs might have a hard time actually getting rid of their mint.

Garlic and Basil
Like other leafy herbs, basil grows well indoors and out. Forgetting to water does not spell the end of a basil-growing endeavor. The wilted plant is often able to perk up with a healthy dose of water and a few days of sunlight.
Garlic likewise does well in the absence of a gardener’s care. In addition, it is used as a natural pesticide and fungicide, making it a staple for experienced organic gardeners as well.

Pumpkins
Bigger is seldom better in the world of inexperienced growers, but a few simple steps can make pumpkins one of the easier plants to grow organic. They respond well to soil mixed with compost and do not need to be watered often. Tricks like placing straw under maturing pumpkins to keep them off of the dirt go a long way towards a successful season.


Radishes and Carrots
Radishes are forgiving of imperfect weather and inconsistent watering. Pests find them attractive, but lightweight garden row covers keep these bugs at bay.
Carrots perform even better in sunny, mildly dry spots. This vegetable can maintain its vitamin content and sweet taste even if it does not grow to its full potential.

Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes do well in soil that is not fertilized. There is no need to buy seeds, simply cut the slips (sometimes known as eyes) out of an old potato and plant them in the garden.


Peppers
Most species of pepper respond well to sunlight and warm weather and attract relatively few pests.


Rosemary and Fennel
Fennel is considered both a vegetable and a herb. It is not difficult to grow and is a popular addition to organic gardens because it attracts ladybugs, which are natural predators of some of gardens’ most insidious pests.
Rosemary is a delicate herb once it is harvested, but it can also grow quite well in a pot like many herbs do with only basic watering and access to sunshine. It is possible to salvage a neglected rosemary plant by giving it a few intensive watering and sunshine sessions.


(I did not take these pictures, I captured them from an organic site)
We are the caretakers of our planet, and it is our job to teach our children to carry on with this important task.

Have a cheerful, joyful Yellow Rhythm Wednesday!

Kathleen

E is for Egg Boat!

E is for Egg Boats!

This Glorious Red Monday we will be making Egg Boats.

Instructions:

1. Boil 6 eggs in water


2. Peel hard boiled eggs
3. Cut in half


4. Remove yolk
5. Mix with mayonnaise, salt, pepper to desired consistency and taste
   
6. Cut 2 paper triangles
7. Tape them to toothpicks

8. Put yolk mixture into the empty holes in the egg halve. I added a little paprika to one of mine for colour.
9. Put sail at the fat end of the egg


10. Sail egg boat into your mouth
    

What do you think?

1. What happens to the egg when it is boiled?
2. Do brown eggs look different inside than white eggs?
   
3. Can you cut a raw egg in half?
4. What does half mean?
5. What are the 2 parts of the egg?
6. What is the colour of each part?
7. What do eggs have that is good for us?
8. Where do eggs come from?
9. How can you tell the difference between hard boiled eggs and raw eggs when the are still in their shells? (you can spin a hard boiled egg, a raw egg will wobble)
   

Try this!

1. Write Ee for egg of the paper sails before you tape them to the toothpick
2. Enjoy your egg boats
   

You may notice that my eggs are shades of brown.
I gather them throughout the day from my flock.
You may also notice that the yolks of my egg is a different shade of yellow than yours is, if yours is store bought.
That is because my chickens are free range, or in other words they are allowed to eat what chickens naturally would eat; grass, weeds, snails, worms, slugs. (sounds gross, but the last three are excellant sources of protein.)

I hope you had an Energetic Red Monday!
Kathleen

Yellow Rhythm Wednesday Sets the Tone for Mealtime

Yellow Rhythm Wednesday brings peace and rhythm to the week. It’s a gentle reminder that the week is half gone, but not over yet.

Breathe deep and remember that childhood is only a heartbeat long and everything you do counts.

Mealtime is an excellent opportunity to create inspiration and establish traditions that carry into a lifetime of lifetimes. What a delightful time to memorize short poems, recite verses together or to sing songs you learned as a child. Your children will learn them just by hearing you sing them day to day.
When I would visit my sister’s family I would often be treated with their special evening celebration of each family member sharing their success of the day. One would start and all would listen, knowing they each would have their turn. It was a beautiful way for each family member to share with the others and it gave each person the opportunity to acknowledge the other accomplishments.

A few moments of silence around the table can be worth a thousand words. Silence is especially effective at the end of an arduous day. Light a candle, hold hands, observe the silence, and say a prayer. This is a peaceful, calming way to set the rhythm of the meal.
Meal times can also be a lovely time to share favourite scriptures from the Bible, as well as letting others in the family hear why that scripture or scriptures has touched you.

Kathleen

It's a Red Munchie Monday! "D" is for Delicious Dip!

It is another Munchie Monday! Wow!

This week we will be making Delicious Dip!
Your children will have a lot of fun eating their veggies with this dip.
Your biggest problem may be having enough cut up veggies for them to eat!

Delicious Dip

Ingredients:
¼ c cottage cheese
2 Tbsp grated cheddar cheese
¼ tsp dill weed
½ tsp Worcestershire Sauce
¼ tsp salt

Mix cottage cheese with cheddar cheese
Add last three ingredients
Mash with a fork
Dip raw vegetables in and enjoy the flavor!

What do you think?
1. How are the 2 cheeses alike?
2. How are the 2 cheeses different?
3. Cheese belongs to what food group?
4. Smell the dill weed.
5. Where does dill weed come from?
6. Which ingredient adds lots of flavor?

Try this!
1. Which ingredient starts with "D" as in Delicious Dip?
2. Find the "D" on the Dill Weed jar.
3. Add bits of chopped celery, or bacon, parsley or pimento.

If you want to know more about Munchie Monday or the colours of the week click on the Rainbow Burst picture to the right.

A new week is beginning!
It'a a great day to be a Red day!

Munchie Monday! C is for Coconut

C is for Coconut

I love Coconut! I learned how to do this years ago. I usually drain the coconut milk into a glass and drink it later, if some of the "hair "of the coconut gets into the milk I just strain it.
Sometimes after I poke the eyes out I slide a straw in and drink straight from the coconut. Children really enjoy this. It is fun!

1. Position a shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F.
2. A grownup must make holes in the coconuts eyes (use a clean screwdriver or an ice pick, hitting hard on the end of its handle with a hammer.)
3. Pour out the liquid
4. Break the Shell
5. Eat the Meat
6. Place the coconut on the middle rack in the oven and bake it until it cracks, about 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Remove the coconut with hot mitts and let it cool slightly.
8. Remove the shell--it will come off easily.
9. Peel the brown husk from the coconut meat with a vegetable peeler, and chop the coconut meat into uniform pieces.
10. A grownup can use a food processor or a hand grater to shred or grate the coconut to make fresh coconut flakes.


What do you think?
1. How do coconuts grow?
2. Where do they grow?
3. How many eyes does a coconut have?
4. What does the coconut feel like?
5. Shake it. What do you hear?
6. Have you tasted coconut before?
7. Where? What did it look like?
8. What is a liquid?
9. What is a solid?
10. Did you know that 1 medium coconut, weighing a pound or so, yields 3 cups of shredded coconut?

Try This!
1. Taste the coconut liquid.
2. Save the coconut shell to serve the Fresh Fruit Salad in.
(The recipe for this will come later.)
3. Make coconut milk by heating grated coconut in the coconut liquid just to the boiling point.
4. Cool and strain.


Have a GREAT RED Day!!
Kathleen

Munchie Monday - "B" is for Banana Bread

Whew! I cannot believe a whole week has slide by!
All my grandiose ideas of making daily entries is mere dust in the wind for last week, but what a week!
I had a fantastic time having my grandson overnight and for a full day. Talk about a go getter. I was trying to pack and get things ready for my trip to Reno. (This Sat. another grandson was participating in his annual piano recital) I would check on Owen, who was having a blast, and he was always busy with something.
One of the times I went to check up on him I found he had drug "his" ladder, a very small two step ladder, over to the baby chick pen and somehow he had gotten one of the chicks out and was sitting quietly on the ladder. He saw me and said, " I'ma just holding him for a minute gram mama.
Then later I found him in the larger pen, which requires his sliding a bolt lock that is located about five feet high, (he is only four). He was holding another baby chick, saw me and said, " I'ma just a holding him for minute gram mama.
Later still, I found him in a large shallow mud puddle,(remnants of our last rain fall) playing with the goose.
He was trying to get Jay-Jay to chase him. Jay-Jay was ignoring him for the most part, but Owen was loving it all the same.
Before his mother came to get him though, I brought him upstairs and turned the shower on him.
She actually took it well and was happy he had such a good time.
Well, it is another Red Day full of enthusiasm and energy!!
Here is our Monday Munchie Recipe:

B is for Banana Bread

Ingredients:
3 Ripe Bananas
2c. flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
½ c wheat germ
½ c butter
2 eggs
1 c apple juice concentrate

Preparation:
1. Mash: 3 bananas, set aside and save

2. Mix: 2c. flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
½ c wheat germ

3. Melt: ½ c butter in a big pan

4. Add: 2 eggs
1 c apple juice concentrate

5. Fold in: flour mixture and bananas
Bake in greased pan at 350˚

What do you think?
1. Why do we use ripe bananas?
2. How do bananas grow?
3. What does soda do?
4. Why do we “fold in” the last ingredients?

Try this!
1. Put some baking soda in vinegar.
Describe what happens.
2. Have toasted Banana Bread, milk, and fruit for Breakfast

Tomorrow is an Orange Day, Daring Tues!
Till then, Kathleen

Munchie Monday A is for Animal Cracker - Red Day

This blog is slowly evolving. It was originally just a connection between my grandson and I, a way to journal our home school journey together, but the more I read other blogs the more I want to be a part of this community and share what I have learned and am still learning about children. I am not sure how well I will be able to keep up with this, but for now it is exciting and I look forward to each entry. For me it is a reconnection and a validation with who I am and who I would like to be.
To do this I found that I would like to organize my blog a little more efficiently by attributing themes to each day of the week that I blog. Each day will also have its own colour.
Today is a RED day.
I think that is a good choice for a Mon.
Red has more personal associations than any other color. Recognized as a stimulant, red is inherently exciting.
What a great colour to begin the week with!

How the color red affects us mentally and physically
* Increases enthusiasm
* Stimulates energy
* Encourages action and confidence
* A sense of protection from fears and anxiety

Let's start the week off with a Healthy Delicious Snack that is also a great interactive between parent and child.
Let your little one do as much of the work as he or she is capable of. Remember that the more they do for themselves the more they will learn. This includes clean as you go and final clean up. Children are actually much more capable than we give them credit for.
One of my grand children is being raised the Montessori way and has been able to make sandwiches and other small meals on his own since he was 4 or 5. He has his own shelf in the kitchen where his dishes and kitchen tools are as well as his own child size pitcher of milk in the fridge. I have watched him make the meal and clean up the mess in amazement. He actually has turned down my offers of help saying no Ma.me.ma I can do it.
The recipes I will be sharing will be from the "Kinder-Krunchies Healthy Snack Recipes for Children" book that I have had forever. It was written by Karen Jenkins.
There are enough recipes in it to share with this blog for at least a year.
Karen's aim in the book was:
1. to help children learn basic concepts of good nutrition as well as to help them enjoy prepaing the food.
2. to help children develop "readiness skills", such as vocabulary and language development, understanding of numbers and letters as well as small muscle coordination.

When aiding your child in food preparation she emphasizes the need to:
1. always use correct terminology for the food, equipment and processes being used.
2. to be sensitive to your childs needs and interests so as to not overwhelm them with questions.
rather pick up cues from their talk.

For practice you could allow your child to measure and pour both liquids (water in the sink, bath or outside tub) and solids (sand, rice or cornmeal) using nesting measuring cups, graduated measuring spoons, and miscellaneous containers. This will also improve their small muscle control as well as help them in their understanding of volume.
Your can tell your child that Healthy food makes your body and mind healthier, so you have more energy to enjoy learning and playing!

Parents please use caution whenever sharp objects like knives or toothpicks are used. Please advise your child of the inherent danger and that these items should not go near their mouths or their eyes.

To begin:
1. read the recipe together
2. talk about what your are doing, the food, the equipment, the letters, the numbers.
3. encourage lots of counting and let your child do as much of the measuring as possible.

Animal Crackers

Ingredients:

½ c Oatmeal
2 tsp Honey
¼ - 1/8 tsp Salt
¾ c Flour
¼ t Baking soda
¼ c Butter
4 Tbsp Buttermilk

Tools:

1/4 c measuring cup
1/2 c measuring cup
3/4 c measuring cup
1/8 tsp measuring spoon
¼ teaspoon measuring spoon
1 teaspoon measuring spoon
1 Tablespoon measuring spoon

Preparation:
Grind 1/2 c oatmeal in blender until fine, add 2 tsp honey, 1/4 - 1/8 tsp salt, 3/4 c flour,
1/4 t baking soda. Cut in 1/4 c butter, add 4 Tbsp buttermilk.
Roll very thin. Cut with animal cookie cutters.
Bake at 400 degrees until brown. (approximately 10-12 min.)

What do you think?
1. Taste the oatmeal. Taste some oat flour.
2.Describe what happens.
3.Taste the buttermilk.
4.What is buttermilk?
5.Bake the leftover pieces
6.What do these interesting shapes remind you of?

Try this:
1.Make up a story about the animal crackers you made.
2.Make one cracker in the shape of an A a.

Hope you find this interesting, nest week we will have a recipe for Banana Bread!
If you send a picture of you and your child making this recipe I will post it.
Thank you, Kathleen