How to help children eat their veges
Fundamentals
Make sure your knife is sharp and your chopping board big. Otherwise it’s a pain to peel and chop vegies.
Have a container nearby to put the scraps into. That way you wont get messed up with vegie droppings. This again makes your job easier.
Kids prefer their vegies finely chopped cause it’s easier to eat.
Don’t put too much work into making the meat nice. They tend to eat that anyway. Put the work into making vegies delicious.
Sugar helps EVERYTHING taste better. You don’t have to use too much, just a teaspoon or two.
Serve less food in the afternoon so they’re hungrier for dinner.
Serve the meal in two parts. Vegies first when they’re hungry, meat and starch later because they’re easier to eat.
Serve vegies in smaller quantities so they’re not overwhelmed by the mounds on their plates.
When cooking vegetables try to concentrate their flavours and drive off the excess vegie water. Do this by roasting or frying.
Vegies as sides
To roast vegies, dice into smallish pieces and toss together in a bowl with salt, sugar and oil. Pour into a flat roasting pan that is lined with baking paper. Roast at 200 until brown, at least 30 mins. Stir occasionally.
Salsas are great. Very finely chop vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, red onions: any fruit such as mango, oranges, apples: and add seasonings such as chilli, cinnamon, thyme, garlic. Serve a tablespoon per person as a sauce for meat.
Vegies as mains
Gado gado. Make a salad with raw and cooked vegetables eg potatoes, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes etc. Add a protein such as hard boiled eggs or tofu. Cover with peanut sauce and sprinkle with fried onions.
Maximum effect. Minimum effort. I love cooking. I really do. But usually I want to play with flavour combinations to gain the most delicious dish with the minimum amount of effort. Most of these recipes reflect this.
