Yummy Ways to Get Your Kiddos Eating Fruits and Vegetables

Getting children to eat healthy can be a struggle.  Not quite grasping the concept of nutrition and how food fuels the body, they often times reach for food that simply tastes best to them.  Check out these yummy, easy, and healthy recipes to help get more fruits and vegetables into your child’s diet!

1. Guacamole

• Ingredients – 2 avocados, ½ cup chopped tomato, 3 tbsp chopped onion
• Optional ingredients – a small squeeze of lime, ¼ tsp salt, 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
• Directions – Cut avocados in half lengthwise and remove seed, mash with a fork until smooth, mix in other ingredients

2. Berry Pudding

• Ingredients – 1 pound of berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or a mixture of), 1 tbsp sugar, 2 cups cold water, 2 tbsp cornstarch
• Conversions
  • 1lb of sliced strawberries = 3 cups
  • 1lb of blueberries = 2 cups
  • 1lb of raspberries = 3.5 cups
• Directions
  • Put the fruit, sugar, and water in a pan and cook over low heat for five minutes (until fruit is soft), then let the fruit cool
  • Use the back of a spoon to push the berries through a sieve into a bowl, discard the bits left in the sieve
  • Put the cornstarch in a cup and mix it with a tablespoon of juices from the cooked berries, until it is smooth
  • Stir the cornstarch mixture into the fruit – pour into a pan and bring to a boil
  • Turn heat down to low, cook for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently
  • Pour into glasses or bowls and chill in the refrigerator

3. Fruit or Veggie Skewers

• These are fun and getting the kids involved in making the skewers might encourage them to eat their handy-work!

4. Smoothies

• Ingredients – ¾ cup of light Greek vanilla yogurt, ¾ cup berries of your choice, 1 banana, a handful of spinach and/or kale (both have almost no taste in the smoothie), ½ cup of milk, 2 ice cubes
• Optional ingredients – Orange juice can be substituted for milk
• Directions
  • Blend ingredients in blender (mixes best if ice cubes go in first, then yogurt, fruit, and greens)
  • Add more milk or orange juice to alter the thickness of the smoothie

5. Plant a Garden

• Studies show that children eat more fruits and vegetables when the produce is homegrown
• Being involved in the process of growing produce helps kids not only better understand how nutrition works, but also creates a sense of pride and connection to the food grown
• This connection and interest in the fruits and vegetables grown in their garden has been shown to increase kids’ interest in eating the produce they grow!

Most importantly, keep offering healthy foods, even if your kiddos won’t touch it, yet!