Toddler Veggie Recipes

Rylan loves both the spinach bites and carrots that Tracy mentioned!  He also loves the baked sweet potato fries from her site: http://52weekbabyfood.com/2010/03/25/week-12-baked-sweet-potato-fries/ (he actually loves sweet potatoes pretty much any way).

He also loves these recipes from Maryea's site: broccoli biteshttp://happyhealthymama.com/2010/07/toddler-tuesday-broccoli-bites.html, vegetable croquetteshttp://happyhealthymama.com/2010/07/vegetable-croquettes-and-quinoa-watermelon-salad-with-citrus-basil-vinaigrette.html, and spinach cheese biteshttp://happyhealthymama.com/2010/09/a-birthday-picnic-for-my-baby-girl.html

[from Robin]

Veggie Smoothies

Have you tried smoothies?  You can put spinach, kale, or avocado in smoothies mixed with fruit and it's delicious.  (I know avocado is really a fruit not a vegetable but it is more nutritious than many vegetables!) Here are a couple blog posts w/ smoothie recipes:

http://happyhealthymama.com/2010/03/behold-the-avocado.html

http://happyhealthymama.com/2010/07/toddler-tuesday-thank-goodness-for-smoothies.html

http://happyhealthymama.com/2010/08/toddler-tuesday-dont-give-up.html

http://happyhealthymama.com/2010/09/im-in-pumpkin-heaven.html

[from Maryea]

Toddler Veggies

Spices, spices, spices. Introduce slowly if you haven't done them, but it's funny how I think my boys don't like something, then they try it actually prepared with spices and they do! A few other ideas that I haven't blogged about yet are pasta with zucchini, veggies in smoothies, and zucchini fries. You can always make pizza with good veggies on top, too.


Oh, and you can put good veggies in quesadillas andmeatloaf. Or, melt or sprinkle some cheese on top.


[from Tracy]


I slip the frozen spinach into my daughter's scrambled eggs.  Works every time!  She also loves the spinach bars too!


[from Mollie]


I put spinach and carrots into smoothies and he loves those.  I try to serve vegetables both "disguised" in things, as well as by themselves so he gets used to it all.  I agree with not making it a battle though, and it sounds like you're handling it well.  Rylan's definitely more of a "fruit man" =), but we just try to get in as many veggies as we can.


[from Robin]

Kaitlyn will eat just about anything if it has Parmesan cheese sprinkled over it. 

And spices are a great way to make veggies more interesting.

[from Valerie]

My DD is pretty picky about veggies, but if I boil them/cook them in chicken broth, she LOVES them. She doesn't like cheese either, so that nixes a lot of recipes for me :-(

I buy organic Better Than Bouillon to make the broth. It is healthy, fairly low sodium depending on how much you use, and no MSG. It comes in a glass jar and needs to be refridgerated after opening.  You can find it in the gravy section at the grocery store.

[from Amy]

Crock Pot Veggies

http://52weekbabyfood.com/2010/03/09/crock-pot-basic-recipes/



[from Tracy]

Spinach Bites

http://52weekbabyfood.com/2010/03/19/week-11-leftovers-spinach-bites/


[from Tracy]

Roasted Vegetables

I used to steam all of my veggies and then my (at the time) 18 month old would only eat the green beans.  Which by the way, I found steaming the veggies in chicken broth (like just from the can) gave them much more flavor.  So, I decided to see if he would eat roasted vegetables.  His dad and I eat almost all of our veggies that way, because they're yummy!  


Anyway, you can roast anything.  Our favorites are broccoli (425 degrees for about 25 minutes) and carrots (400 degrees for about 20 minutes).  You can also do cauliflower and asparagus.  For all of these, I toss the raw veggies in a little extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  For the broccoli, I also sprinkle with a little bit of the McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning (may sound weird but it goes well with everything).  My 2 year old loves eating these now.  The carrots almost come out like chips, that's what he calls them.  Everything gets nice and crispy on the outside.  With the carrots, try and find some nice thick ones and cut them into thin slices on a diagonal. 


[from Jaime]

Veggies ad Hummus

We used to do veggies with hummus a lot. I would make Costco's harvet medley (peas, carrots, green beans, and corn). I used to steam it and them mix in a teaspoon or so of hummus. It would definitely be one of our messiest meals, but I gradually added less and less hummus and now he will eat veggies alone.

Colleen

Toddler Dips

My kids will eat just about anything if they can dip it in something.  :)  Try offering different dips like ketchup, ranch, yogurt, hummus, or any sauce that goes well with the rest of the meal.


[from Kristi]

Toddle Veggies

During the phases where my son was more picky, I remember introducing the dip concept, the sprinkle concept, cutting into shapes, fun names (broccoli trees, bird eggs,...), fun containers to present them in.  I didn't do those all at the same time.  The dip was tried and successful to get us through/past the first phase, sprinkles at the 2nd phase, shapes at the 3rd,... fun names ....  i don't remember the order, just something like that. That's basically how we've made it through so far. 


[from Becca]

Cinnamon Carrots

My LOs have both loved and continue to love cinnamon carrots. I buy fresh baby carrots, cut into disks and cook in the microwave. Add cinnamon after cooking. Healthy and delicious!


[from Nicole]