Sneaking in the veggies

Vegetables are a very important part of our diet. Low in carbohydrates and high in fibre, they contain many vitamins and minerals such as Calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Iron, etc. The list goes on and on.

MyPyramid.gov has a plethora of vegetable-related information.

Both of my children, at one time or another, have refused to eat vegetables. Our evening meal usually contains the balance of their daily vegetables, so I work hard to get in as many as possible. Sometimes they will eat a little salad, and they are required to eat the miso soup (in which I put just about everything-from bean sprouts and onions to asparagus and green beans). Even if they just drink the soup and leave the vegetables, I figure some of the vitamins must have cooked into the broth.

Sometimes I make steamed vegetables but they largely remain uneaten, so I try to sneak in as many as I can. Grated carrots can be put in anything from meatloaf to spaghetti. Asparagus can be cut up very small and put in stir-frys, soup or pasta salad and I just figured out a new one: When making stir-frys, I add in chopped up spinach at the end. It gets smaller and soft and blends in so well with the food that it's not very noticeable and difficult to pick out.

I know one mom who keeps jars of baby vegetables handy to secretly mix into food.

I looked around on the web to see what some other moms are doing and most of them seem to be doing more or less what I am. I did come up with this partial list of alternative ideas:

• In a US News article last December, biopsychologist Julie Mennella is quoted as saying, "You can't mask the flavor if the goal is to get kids to eat fruits and vegetables." "Plus, by not being shown the pleasures of eating produce," the article continues, "children miss out on one of life's delights. Who wouldn't want to swoon over artichoke hearts or savor a sun-ripened fig?"

• Safer Child, Inc. introduces "The No Thank You Bite." Make it a rule for your child to eat at least one bite of everything on the plate and gradually he will discover that some of them aren't so bad. They wrote that it might take some hysterics and timeouts, but if you stick to it, your child will stop fighting it and it will become a rule. They also suggest introducing new foods every few days so your child gets used to trying new things.

• Barbara Clark at Associated Content suggests homemade soup with lots of vegetables before the evening meal.

A neat website for parents and kids is The Kid Zone by the Arizona Food Network. There is information for parents and activities and games for children.