I need to get my 7-year-old to eat more veggies and fruits. Any ideas of what has worked for other parents in this group?
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I took mine to a Farmers market and allow them to choose. Made it an adventure.
Have them prepare the meal with me.
Nichole765
Level 7
Sep 30, 2018
0
Fruits are overrated but just stop giving him the other options and he'll get hungry. just be inventive
markdevenish
Level 7
Apr 7, 2018
0
You mean that going vrooommm and swerving the spoon like an airplane doesn't work anymore?
A short-term solution I've been doing with my kids lately is to play "which hand is it in." I'll take, say, 12 beans or carrots. I'll close my eyes and they hide it in one of their hands. If I correctly guess the hand, they eat it. If I'm wrong, they set it aside and don't have to eat that one. It can get a little messy with the wrong food, and it's definitely not a long-term solution, but my kids have been having a blast with it (ages 6 and 3).
And sometimes I have to guess wrong on purpose because it's too easy when my 3-year-old squeezes the green bean too hard and juice is dripping from his fingers 
BackToReality
Level 6
Mar 18, 2018
1
I used to have a vegetable garden. When I would find the zucchini that had not been found and picked early enough, and was too big and tough to just eat, I would grate it up into portions of about a cup and freeze them. Add it to spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, whatever you want. You could probably do the same thing with other veggies. Even if you're not growing them.
Livinlife
Level 9
Mar 12, 2018
2
Make finger food fun with flavored dips of her/his choice. ...apples in caramel cubes in ranch dressing ....sliced tomato sandwiches on nut oatmeal bread with favorite spreads ....whole romaine leaves to dip in cheese sauce. ...peel grapefruit and serve sections NOT SQUIRTY HALF SLICES
GreenAtheist
Level 8
Mar 12, 2018
0
I suggest to @Tati and everyone else contributing on this thread to join "Food Glorious Food". @Tati I suggest that you join "Food Glorious Food" and pose the question "Enticing children to eat a diet necessary for good health".
The group members range from beginners on the glorious path to enthusiastic cooks taught by the life of hard knocks through to professional chefs. Healthy eating to all.
FrayedBear
Level 9
Mar 11, 2018
2
I love using fruits with meat either as a sauce prepared separately or as stuffing in roasts, additions to stews and soups. Don't say what the secret ingrediants are - tomato ketchup can be stretched to include / be made of many things.
FrayedBear
Level 9
Mar 11, 2018
1
Tell him some vegetables are named after roman gladiators.... example: sparragus, zucini and broccolli.
GipsyOfNewSpain
Level 9
Mar 11, 2018
2
Celery with cream cheese and raisins? Or peanut butter with raisins. Or just the sticky stuff and no raisins. I like that.
Sarahroo29
Level 8
Mar 11, 2018
3
@Sarahroo29 you have just reminded me how much I enjoy raisin/ sultana dips but never make them. Perhaps you have given me the incentive? Thanks.
@FrayedBear What is sultana?
@Sarahroo29 Different type of grape to a raisin. They are bigger and lighter coloured than raisins.
@FrayedBear Oh, okay.
Some things that work for me:
Salads
Home pressed juices that are mostly fruity
Main dishes that smell or taste "like pizza"
Raw things w or wo dip
Cheese makes lots of ickies edible (brussel sprouts, broccoli, squash).
Brown sugar, cinnamon , nutmeg on certain sweet veggies like yams, acorn squash makes them almost desserty
Zster
Level 8
Mar 11, 2018
2
With an imagination like that @Zster you should be contributing every day to "Food Glorious Food"!
Ironically, the largest reason that my online time is limited is motherhood. That's where I learned those ideas. In the "I hate vegetables!" trenches. (;
I have wondered how much this group embraces traditional or 100% from-scratch cooking vs "winging it" hybrids between traditional and convenience food short cuts. By necessity, I have mastered many of the latter, but could drive a purist chef type to drink with my mismatched methods.
You can also add brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to carrots. My kids always loved it that way. Don't forget the butter! 
I got myself to start eating more raw carrots, cauliflower, and celery by having southwest ranch dip on the side.
jeffy
Level 7
Mar 11, 2018
1
That sounds like dipping them in whisky! Lol
My daughter-in-law, and by extension, my son and two year old granddaughter, will eat ANYthing if it can be dipped or 'enhanced' with ranch dressing! lol
Set an example. Minimize junky sweets in the house. Fresh fruits and vegetables always taste better than old ones. Less salt in foods let my taste buds wake up and allowed me to enjoy the flavors of fresh fruits and vegetables. When I got into lifting and working out I realized eating more fresh fruits and vegetables would keep me healthier and help with the lifting. It may take a while. I didn't really get into eating better 'til I was out on my own but I did have all the good examples of my youth to reference. Good luck and peace.
kmdskit3
Level 8
Mar 11, 2018
3
Good idea, keeping bad stuff out of the house will force some creative healthier habits.
Tati:
Actually, I cook whole, fresh food almost daily. He´s really good about eating healthy proteins like chicken or fish. He´ll eat rice and pasta. We don´t do any sodas or too much-processed foods. My main issues are the greens and protein from beans that I love and cook frequently and he simply will refuse to eat. I think I set an example of good clean eating but he´s not interested in following right now. I always make him at least try. I made a delicious curry sweet potato, lentil soup and he almost spit it out! I was so disappointed!! I guess I´m frustrated. I even have a veggie garden and he won´t eat any of the greens I grow. I´m trying to be patient. But as a parent, I always worry about his health and nutrition.
@Tati I never had kids but I can speak to it from being a kid. I know my parents tried to get me to do a lot of the right things growing up but between my father's bullying and my mother's controlling behavior I resisted more than I would have if they had limited themselves to setting an example, encouraging and then just backing off. It took me years of living on my own and trying to develop some emotional honesty before I was able to understand that not everything my parents tried to teach me was fucked up. Not suggesting that you are like my parents but I know what didn't work on me. Having never been a parent, I decided against that because I was such a mess when I was younger and didn't want to pass that on to any child, I can't truly know what you're going through but I hope I have made it clear you can have a positive effect; even when they are spitting out food you have prepared with love. We do have 'groups' here on this site. Maybe you could try setting up a parenting one?
@Tati Many years ago research was undertaken into the ability of very young children to eat what their bodies needed. It was found that until the ability was lost to adults perverting their abilities little children knew exactly what nutrients their bodies needed.
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