Getting Your Kids to Eat Broccoli
Most kids are particular when it comes to eating green veggies. They have their favorites and then there are the ones that they won’t touch at any cost. If your kid won’t venture to try anything green, learn ideas to get them to eat it and appreciate the taste. Today, we’ll be starting with broccoli.
The most convenient way to get your child to eat broccoli is to add it to a dish that they already like. If your child has never tried broccoli, this will make it easier still. The taste of the other foods will mask the taste of the broccoli. Broccoli doesn’t taste bad, but it does need some sprucing up to taste better.
Add broccoli to a bowl of macaroni and cheese. Most if not all kids love to eat macaroni and cheese. Steam a pan of broccoli until it is almost done, but still very green. Once the macaroni and cheese is ready stir the broccoli in. Before you mix it, cut off the stalks. The tops are easier to eat. Sometimes the stalks have hard parts that you could chew on for days and they still wouldn’t disappear. If you don’t want to chop all of those stems, buy bags of broccoli that just contain the florets.
Does your kid love casseroles? Stir in broccoli to your favorite casserole. Transform a cheesy chicken and rice hot dish into a cheesy chicken, broccoli, and rice hot dish. A beef and noodle casserole could get a touch of green with some broccoli florets. Your kids will be so happy that they don’t have to eat peas that they won’t even care about what’s in the hot dish.
My kids crave chicken potpie. Many potpies contain segments of potatoes, carrots, and green beans. If you are making it from scratch, add a few baby broccoli florets to the veggie mixture. Once the veggies soften and mix with the chicken, and the cream soup the taste mixes right in. You can add broccoli to a turkey or a beef potpie also.
Offer broccoli as a snack. Many times, kids will snack on veggies when they are raw and they taste better to them that way. Set out a plate of broccoli with the stalks and a bowl of ranch dressing. Ranch dressing on veggies is yummy and a quick snack to munch on while watching television or doing homework. It fills them up for the moment and there’s no sugar in it to ruin their dinner. If ranch dressing is not their thing, try cottage cheese, yogurt, or another type of dressing.
Broccoli works well as a side dish with a sauce. Most of the time you see broccoli with a sauce, it is cheese sauce. Watch the fat content though. Use a low-fat cheese to melt on top or try Velveeta® light cheese spread. Light salsa con queso (with cheese) is also an alternative for a sauce topping.
Broccoli is a good vegetable to eat. It can be combined with any pasta dish or casserole, or used as a side dish with seasonings for flavor. Getting your kids to consume broccoli is a task but it can be completed if you use their favorite foods as cover.
Note From The Author
For Kid Approved Meals, this is the e-book I sell at Kid Approved Meals which some of you may already have. I just revised it last week, so this is the new and improved version. It includes 13 weeks of breakfast & lunch menus with grocery shopping lists, as well as 27 pages of snack ideas. The fun part is that I had custom binders printed to hold the book. These are a limited edition item, as I probably will not get any more binders printed. The price is $20 which includes shipping & tax. The ebook on the website is $14.95. So for $5 more you get 117 pages printed (You can hardly print it at home for that price) plus you get the cute binder & it's shipped to you! It’s a great deal!
Christine Steendahl - The Menu Mom
