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With fun ideas, helpful information, and even some creative recipes, the Inkless Tales Newsletter -- a monthly-ish production -- is a great way to keep up with what's going on here.
Make food fun. Restaurants do it for grownups, after all.
Red peppers pack nutrients - the more colorful the food, the healthier.
Crudité CAN be for kids, too.
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How to Get Kids To Eat Vegetables without Really Trying.
Getting children to eat their vegetables is tricky. Sometimes it’s tempting to simply plop a vitamin on the plate and skip the trouble.
There’s a good trick that works wonders, though, and it isn’t as much trouble as it sounds.
Serve them as appetizers.
Presenting the veggies with a little panache makes them go down a lot easier. Since kids generally like vegetables raw anyway, why bother cooking them? Slice them into bite-size pieces, look for plates – you’re best off with unbreakable – that are unusual, beautiful or novel, and make a gorgeous presentation with a fun dipping sauce in the center.
Do it in front of the television while they’re getting their hour of it before their “real” dinner is served, and they may hardly notice they’re getting a large part of the nutritional value of their day.
You can get a nice size dipping sauce holder at a restaurant supply store, or even the bottom half of a colorful paper cup will do.
Studies show anyone – grownup or child – tends to eat more when there’s variety on their plate, so choose at least three types of vegetables. For convenience’s sake, slice a whole red pepper and save most of it in a zipper-style baggie for later in the week. Do the same for the celery and for the baby carrots.
Another rule of thumb: the more colorful the plate, the better it is for you. And the more fun it is to look at when you’re eating it.
Which, if you’re a kid, you’re more likely to do.
-Elizabeth Bushey
elizabeth@inklesstales.com |
Inkless Tales 