Eat your fruits and veggies
Regina Murphy - The Emporia Gazette
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Five a day; that’s what they say. Five servings of vegetables and fruits — each. So, what do you do if your child will not eat anything green, or round or that was made fun off on their favorite cartoon show?
There are a lot of good ideas out there for helping your youngsters become accustomed to foods that don’t come in a shiny plastic wrapper. Even while breast feeding in infancy, children start to recognize flavors. Broccoli, carrots and spinach all pass into the breast milk, and this helps those kiddies adapt to solids when the time comes.
Once they get to solid food stage, serving home-prepared pureed vegetables and fruits will provide a more authentic taste experience, so that children who adored strained peas probably won’t turn their nose up at real peas when the time comes.
According to Dr. Vincent Ianelle, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, it helps to start the children off early, and to be aware of a few things:
• What you eat will influence what your children will eat.
• Children often need to see a new food five or 10 times before they are ready to try it.
• Children’s taste buds are very sensitive, and the initial preference is for things that are not bitter.
If Dad won’t eat brussel sprouts, Junior probably won’t either. But if Dad eats his sprouts and doesn’t make a face, then after a few opportunities, Junior probably will, too, and not be too shocked by the flavor.
Moms, don’t give up after two tries. Just keep serving a little dab of corn or blueberries, don’t make a big fuss about it and after a while — when you’re not looking — little Missy will taste it. Ianelle says not to hide the food and then gloat when your kid admits he likes it: “Honesty is the best policy.”
Most of the people I read say it helps to start by incorporating the vegetable or fruit into something the child already likes. In some cases, it may be subterfuge, like applesauce in cakes, but it doesn’t hurt to let the child eat whatever it is a time or two and then casually mention that the pale lump in that muffin is actually a chunk of banana, or that chocolate cake is made even better with grated zucchini. A-ha. Gotcha.
One writer suggested offering multiple healthy choices. That way children can choose without being forced into eating something they object to and you avoid the “eat it or go hungry” fight. Another help is food that fits into small hands, food that gets dipped into something else and food that resembles a less-healthy treat. Some examples:
• Parker House rolls as sandwich buns
• Small slices of fruit that dip into a yogurt
• Homemade fruitsicles that look like ice cream
A last suggestion from “those who know” that is apropros to this season, is to let your children grow their own vegetables, I remember growing my own radishes, carrots, melons and squash. It was so thrilling to run out each morning, see the blossoms, pull the weeds, collect the nifty bugs that showed up and then finally pull that radish from the ground or find the squash that got away and was now two feet long. Even a milk jug with the top cut off can grow some radishes in a sunny window.
A fruit smoothie looks like an ice cream shake, a tablespoon of Reese’s Pieces sprinkled on top won’t hurt and will help with the “illusion.” If you just call it a smoothie instead of ice cream, you’re not fibbing.
Let your kids make their own snack mixes with whole grain cereal, dried fruits and nuts (again, they feel like they have a choice and some control).
Fruit isn’t often a problem, unless the skin on a kiwi or the seeds on a strawberry shock some sensitivities. It’s the vegetables that are often portrayed as the villain. Combat this by cutting the vegetables into small pieces or even mashing them.
Matchsticks or cubes can take some of the “weirdness” away. A broccoli floret is completely different from the mashed broccoli in a casserole. Mix several vegetables together in a stir fry or soup, and, although the children may pick out all the green beans, they just might eat the carrots, onions and potatoes.
Here is a sandwich spread recipe that can go on bread or with crackers or even apple slices.
CRUNCHY SALMON SANDWICH SPREAD
1 (5-ounce) cooked salmon filet, flaked
1/3 cup mayonnaise, regular or low-fat
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 bell pepper, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram leaves
Flake salmon and set aside (you could use any meat — RM). Combine mayonnaise and cheese in small bowl and mix well. Stir in salmon along with remaining ingredients. Use immediately or cover and chill up to three days. Makes about four sandwiches.
Use spinach leaves for lettuce and throw a tomato slice on there and just rejoice in all the veggies your kids are eating.
This recipe doesn’t necessarily hide the vegetables so much as it surrounds them with meat. The veggies also stretch the recipe, and the whole grain bread provides more fiber than the usual white bread or crackers.
MEAT ANDVEGETABLE LOAF
1 can green beans
1 can diced Italian-seasoned tomatoes
3–4 slices whole grain wheat bread
1 lb. lean ground beef (or chicken, lamb, turkey)
1/2 cup V-8 juice
4 Tbsp. ketchup, divided
2 Tbsp. barbecue sauce
1 cup chopped vegetables of choice (carrots, potatoes, onions, etc.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drain canned vegetables and chop lightly, or, if you need to, mince them. Tear bread into small chunks. Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl, saving 2 tablespoons of ketchup for the top. Add any seasonings you like, such as pepper, garlic powder, salt.
Form meat into a loaf shape on a rimmed baking pan; spread the last of the ketchup over the top and bake for 45 minutes or until done (no longer pink in the center). Let cool slightly, slice and serve.
It’s going to warm up soon, and frozen treats will be almost necessary. These two recipes are so darn healthy I just don’t know what to tell you.
CANTALOUPE POPSICLES
1 can (6 oz.) frozen fruit juice concentrate (pink lemonade is good)
3 cups cubed cantaloupe or other melon
3/4 cup water
10 paper drink cups
10 wooden popsicle sticks
In blender or food processor, combine fruit juice concentrate and cantaloupe and process until smooth. Fill each drink cup with about 1/3 cup of this mixture, then freeze until partially frozen, about one hour. Insert wooden sticks and freeze until firm. To serve, peel away the paper cup.
PEACH YOGURT POPSICLES
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh peaches
1 cup low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey, warmed
Combine peaches and yogurt in blender. While processing, add in a slow stream of honey. Process until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds or paper cups. Insert popsicle sticks and freeze until firm.
If your family prefers snow cones, then make a granita rather than a corn fructose-flavored ice. It’s the same texture, it has to be checked on every now and then (great for the kids, to build the anticipation) and you can still put it in a paper cone.
WATERMELON GRANITA
4 cups seedless watermelon chunks
1/2 cup sugar or Splenda
Juice of 1 lemon
Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Puree until smooth, then pour into a shallow, wide pan and freeze for one hour. Rake mixture with a fork to break up the crystals and freeze for another hour. Rake and freeze for one more hour. Rake and serve in cups. Just about any fruit or fruit combination you like will do.
I hope that helps some. If you have any great ideas for encouraging your hungry mouths to eat five a day, send them on in. The address is P.O. Drawer C, Emporia, KS 66801 or murphysmenu@yahoo.com Let’s get cooking!