Getting Real with Kira Hazledine
I am not a Pinterest mom by any means, so I reference Pinterest just to get the general point across. For every picky child that won’t eat their veggies, there is someone out there insisting that I can just mix up delicious smoothies or cookies with spinach and kids will never know the difference! Lies. All lies. My toddler is not picky; she’s a culinary expert. There’s no hiding from this kid, so instead, I’ve had to come up with my own hacks.
Flavor is a must.
Hallie is a big fan of stir fry. She will eat brocolli and rice all day long, if you cook it to her standards. The infant that used to gladly munch on a raw brocolli tree will now demand garlic and soy sauce, so I’m learning that if I want her to eat veggies, I better do it right.
Size matters.
A baby carrot is still too big for my toddler. Even if I cut it to small bite-size pieces (which you definitely should) she still isn’t interested. I get even smaller chewed up bites returned to the palm of my hand with a polite “no thank you”. What she will eat are those tiny sliced carrots that you can find in salad mixes. She thinks those are hilarious and will gladly consume them.
My plate is better.
I’ve managed to make salads for my toddler to eat, and sometimes she will eat the whole thing. Other times she will dump her bowl into mine (luckily they are prepared exactly the same) and take handfuls of what is now our salad. So I have started skipping her bowl entirely and allowing sticky toddler hands into my arrangement of lettuce. Gross for me, but healthy for her.
Presentation is important.
I’ve never seen such a small child consume an entire ear of corn in so little time. My toddler lives for corn on the cob. It’s just so much fun to eat, with messy hands and corn mashed to her face. What’s not for a toddler to love?
I’ve tried the smoothies and the cookies, and I’ve lost every time. My toddler knows what she wants, and she will either eat veggies or she won’t. I can’t just place some random side of veggies on her plate and ask that she eat them, because they will get thrown at me. Good thing there are gummy vitamins. If you have any non-traditional veggie tips for toddlers, let me know. At least my toddler likes fruit?
