To Sneak or Not to Sneak?

I've been having a discussion with one of my online groups about vegetables - how to get the kids to eat them, specifically. We've been discussing recipes that sneak vegetables into the mix so they are not as noticeable for kids who say they don't like vegetables. My kids are pretty good at eating their veggies, but I still find myself 'sneaking' the veggies into things just to get the extra vitamins. I put zucchini and carrots into muffins; I put kale into fruit smoothies; I even put pureed or finely chopped spinach, carrots and zucchini into my tomato sauce sometimes (though only when my husband is NOT eating it, because he'd know). I'm not really sneaking, because I do tell my kids that there are vegetables in it. I just may not tell them until they've said that it's good! Asher was very excited today when I told him he'd had kale in his smoothie.

I'm so fortunate, so far, that my kids eat a good variety of foods. So many kids have picky eating habits. It's definitely NOT my parenting that has made my children enjoy vegetables. I've always made them try new things, but I don't make them eat it if they don't like it. My kids don't like french fries (weird kids) very much, so we don't have them very often. Potatoes are not some of their favorite foods, so we just don't do those as often. But when we do, they always take at least 2 bites off their plate because that has just always been a rule in our house. Once those two bites are taken, then they don't have to eat something they don't like.

Oh, and I believe firmly that almost any vegetable can be put into muffin form: Zucchini, Carrots, and pumpkin make great sweet breads. Making Pizza muffins is fun and I add Spinach and tomato chunks to those along with some mozzarella cheese.

I don't know why any parent would think it wrong to 'sneak' vegetables to your kids. We make our children bathe, we make our children take medicine when they are sick (and I sneak medicine into drinks too when necessary). Why wouldn't we sneak in vegetables? They are good for them and unless they have some anxiety issue over certain types of food, I don't see it as a bad thing to do something that is good for your child! But I have heard folks argue against sneaking vegetables to their children because they see it as a breech of trust. The only time it's a breech of trust is if you've promised them that you wouldn't do it!