5 Ways to Get Your Kids (or Husband) Eating Vegetables

RULE 1: DON’T let them into the kitchen while cooking or they will know the sneaky things you put into their food.

Trick 1: Spaghetti Sauce

When making your spaghetti sauce, pick a mild-flavored veggie (most any will do- carrots, spaghetti squash, spinach, etc.), steam it, dice it, and throw it in the blender and pour the puree into your spaghetti sauce. The red will cover your tracks visually and the blend of spices will cover the flavor. If needed, throw in a little extra garlic or onion powder to hide any trace flavors, so they won’t know your ‘special’ ingredient

Trick 2: Ham Fried Rice 

Use your favorite fried rice recipe, but with a few additions. Add 1/8 cup onions (VERY finely minced) per person eating and add it when you are frying the ham. Let it cook a little longer than normal, so that the onions become soft. Make sure that your ham chunks are a little larger than normal and add 1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon (Or a ramen noodle seasoning packet). The ham chunks being larger make them ignore the smaller onion pieces and the chicken bouillon gives it a yellow tint, covering the onions visually.

Trick 3: Mash Potatoes

Dice and boil potatoes, adding squash (after removing the seeds), making it 3 parts potato and 1 part squash (spaghetti squash, zucchini (make sure to remove the skin) and if your kids aren’t TOO discerning, butternut works, too.) After boiling until completely soft, mash and add (per 3 potatoes and one chunk of squash)

*4 tablespoons of butter

*½ cup sour cream (or 1/3 cup of evaporated milk)

*¼ cup of cream cheese (optional)

*Salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder to taste

They may not be light on fat… but they are delicious and more nutritious (secretly). If anyone comments on the slightly different color, simply tell them it’s due to the ‘extra butter’ that you added.

Trick 4: Barbecue Sauce

I use this one on my husband, who claims to hate tomatoes. When cooking up his favorite meat (chicken breast, pork chop, steak, etc.), I brown both sides on medium-high, turn down the heat and add, already mixed

*1 can of tomato sauce (for every 3 pieces of meat)

*1/4 cup of soy sauce

*1 tablespoon of cumin

*1/4 cup of brown sugar

*Salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder to taste

and then finish cooking the meat on low in this sauce. As it cooks, the water will evaporate, making the sauce thicker. When the meat is done, simply put the meat over potatoes or rice and divide the remaining sauce over it. They won’t know that your delicious ‘sauce’ actually gives them a full serving of tomatoes….

Trick 5: Taco Meat

Easy and fast, this is great for everyone that loves tacos. When adding your taco seasoning to your hamburger, simply put in 1/3 the water required (norm is ¾ a cup per packet, so put in only ¼ of a cup) and throw in one can of diced chilies for every 2 people eating. The strong flavor of the taco seasoning and the ground texture of the meat make it virtually undetectable. I told my husband, after a year of taco-making, that I add green chilies to his taco meat. He didn’t believe it until he saw me add them while I was actually cooking them.