{"id":24990,"date":"2014-01-21T19:50:59","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T00:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/?p=24990"},"modified":"2014-02-14T21:50:33","modified_gmt":"2014-02-15T02:50:33","slug":"sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Sneaking Veggies into your Kids&#8217; Food"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">Long time readers know that I\u2019ve been on a quest to get my kids to eat more fruits and veggies since they were old enough to hold a spoon.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">I have a few kids who love them and request them and I have a few kids who would rather pick weeds in a rock garden on a hot summer day than eat a vegetable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Thankfully, I\u2019ve figured out ways to get those healthy veggies into their foods without them noticing.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Smoothies<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">My favorite way to get more veggies into their diet is smoothies. I\u2019ve decided that bananas mask the taste of just about everything else so I\u2019m able to throw in <a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/spinach-smoothie\/\" target=\"_blank\">spinach<\/a>, carrots, and even beets into a smoothie and they love it.<\/p>\n<p>The smoothies taste great and my kids are getting a ton of healthy fruits and vegetables and they think they are drinking a milkshake.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Casseroles<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Another great way to get fruits and veggies in your kids food is via casseroles. Casseroles are cheap, easy to make, and can be made in advance. Making meals in advance is a big time saver for busy moms and even a better deal when you can make them healthy.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">You <a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/chicken-and-rice-casserole\/\" target=\"_blank\">can add shredded carrots, zucchini, or peas<\/a> (not shredded) to almost any casserole without changing the taste.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Pasta<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">My kids could eat pasta every day of the week, the love it! Not only can you add puree\u2019d veggies to the sauce you can also toss in almost any type of <a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/chicken-tetrazinni\/\" target=\"_blank\">chopped or shredded \u00a0vegetable<\/a> to the pasta. Our favorite toss ins are spinach, peppers, shredded carrots, and zucchini.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">You can also layer in vegetables in lasagna or mix with the ricotta cheese in stuffed pasta dishes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2012\/04\/vegetable-lasagna.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21152\" alt=\"vegetable lasagna\" src=\"\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2012\/04\/vegetable-lasagna.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2012\/04\/vegetable-lasagna.jpg 500w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2012\/04\/vegetable-lasagna-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Soup<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I have a Blend-tec which does an amazing job of puree\u2019ing just about anything. I frequently steam vegetables, and then puree them and add them to soups.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">You can add just about any puree\u2019d vegetable to <a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/cream-of-potato-soup-healthy-version\/\" target=\"_blank\">potato soup<\/a>, but our favorites are cauliflower and carrots.<\/p>\n<p>You can also dice up vegetables and add them to soups, most vegetables take on the flavor of the broth and the kids don\u2019t even notice them.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Pizza<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We eat a lot of pizza. We eat it at least once a week, sometimes more often. I\u2019ve found that if you shred vegetables you can add them to the topping of pizza without anyone making a fuss.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Another way to sneak in some veggies is to have a <a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/garden-pizza\/\" target=\"_blank\">make your own pizza night<\/a>. Offer several topping options (including some chopped or shredded veggies) and let your kids decorate their pizzas.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019ve also added shredded veggies to our pizza crust. Just mix in spinach, shredded carrots or zucchini to the dough. The spinach turns the dough a light green color which is really fun!<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Muffins<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Muffins are another great make ahead food and can be filled with just about anything. One of my kids\u2019 most requested muffin is <a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/zucchini-muffins\/\" target=\"_blank\">zuchinni muffins<\/a>. These are great to make during the summer when zucchini is cheap, freeze the extra for later.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019ve always tried to figure out creative and fun ways to get my kids to eat more vegetables and sometimes adding them to their meals without making a big deal about it (aka sneaking) works best for us.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2013\/08\/muffins1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24450\" alt=\"muffins\" src=\"\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2013\/08\/muffins1.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2013\/08\/muffins1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2013\/08\/muffins1-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For more ideas and recipe inspiration for sneaking veggies into your kids food check out my pinterest board.<\/p>\n<p><a data-pin-do=\"embedBoard\" href=\"http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/happy1\/sneaking-veggies-into-kids-food\/\">Follow The Happy Housewife&#8217;s board Sneaking Veggies into Kids Food on Pinterest.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><i>This article was sponsored by Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 on Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital. <\/i><i>Get It Early On Digital Today! On Blu-ray Combo Pack Jan 28. All opinions on vegetables are my own.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Long time readers know that I\u2019ve been on a quest to get my kids to eat more fruits and veggies since they were old enough to hold a spoon. I have a few kids who love them and request them and I have a few kids who would rather pick weeds in a rock garden [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2782],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-kitchen-tips-food","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v15.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sneaking Veggies into your Kids&#039; Food - The Happy Housewife\u2122 :: Cooking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sneaking Veggies into your Kids&#039; Food - The Happy Housewife\u2122 :: Cooking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Long time readers know that I\u2019ve been on a quest to get my kids to eat more fruits and veggies since they were old enough to hold a spoon. I have a few kids who love them and request them and I have a few kids who would rather pick weeds in a rock garden [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Happy Housewife\u2122 :: Cooking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheHappyHousewife\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-22T00:50:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-15T02:50:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2012\/04\/vegetable-lasagna.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tonihanderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tonihanderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Toni Herrbach\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/\",\"name\":\"The Happy Housewife\\u2122 :: Cooking\",\"description\":\"Where Martha Meets Real Life\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/files\/2012\/04\/vegetable-lasagna.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food\/\",\"name\":\"Sneaking Veggies into your Kids' Food - The Happy Housewife\\u2122 :: Cooking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-22T00:50:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-15T02:50:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/#\/schema\/person\/4e0cc17af167f72194b9d40ffb066454\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/sneaking-veggies-into-your-kids-food\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/#\/schema\/person\/4e0cc17af167f72194b9d40ffb066454\",\"name\":\"Toni Herrbach\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24990"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25140,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24990\/revisions\/25140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/cooking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}