My one and a half-year-old has suddenly become very picky with vegetables. He will only eat corn and occasionally butter nut squash. I want to get some spinach in them via some sneaky foods. He especially likes carbs/baked goods. Thinking maybe some kind of muffin type thing ...anyone have some good ideas/recipes?
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Chili and meatballs?
Also my family had had spinach balls at reunions and holidays forever. They basically taste like cheesy stuffing but have quite a bit of spinach. You could prob play with the ratio too so it's more stuffing and less spinach and once he's hooked adjust the ratio. If interested I can send recipe. -
A similar muffin recipe to this one was really good!
https://roarsweetly.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/savoury-muffins-for-toddlers/I think I did pre shredded carrot and chopped, drained dethawed frozen spinach.
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Does he like smoothies?
I put a handful of spinach in my kids' smoothies. -
I love veggie muffins! I just grate up some zucchini or carrots and stir into whole wheat applesauce muffins. You can't taste it at all! I also used to put finely chopped spinach and carrots in meatballs/ meatloaf and pureed carrots in my tomato sauce.
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We sometimes do chicken alfredo with spinach. I run cooked spinach through the food processor and mix it in with the sauce. It turns it green, but you can't really taste it.
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@chopsuey: yes, I do put some in smoothies-forgot about that!
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I've made this kale pesto pasta before and it tasted pretty good: http://pinchofyum.com/5-minute-vegan-kale-pesto
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We've done these. I mean, they aren't as tasty as "real muffins" (
) but they're pretty good!
http://thetribemagazine.com/spinach-banana-healthy-breakfast-muffins-recipe-for-toddlers/
ETA: I've also successfully hid zucchini, spinach, and carrots (not all at once) in pancakes!
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I made a whole batch of green muffins and my picky kid refused to eat one.
I put greens in smoothies. Or anytime I'm making pasta with ricotta cheese (lasagna, ziti) I add a pack of frozen chopped spinach- but it's not really hidden, I think it just tastes good. I occasionally have luck if she helps me make green sauce (basically puréed spinach in cheese sauce) for pasta or green eggs (chopped spinach in scrambled eggs) if we have been on a dr Seuss kick.
And I like to add frozen butternut squash to macaroni and cheese sauce. My picky eater prefers the box kind without the squash but she will still eat this because she just loves Mac and cheese.
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My toddler loves Dr. Praeger's Spinach Littles which is basically a dinosaur-shaped nugget of potatoes and spinach. They're a bit pricey but they're a hit.
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I get a box grater and can finely shred zucchinni or yellow squash to add to just about anything - Mac n cheese, pasta, soup, etc. It doesn't taste like anything.
I usually add whatever veggies we have into a pot of spaghetti sauce and purée it all up with a stick blender. If I'm making meat sauce, I add cooked ground meat to it after I purée the sauce. I usually add peppers, onions, spinach, and zucchini.
I can usually add spinach to meatballs or meatloaf if I'm not using zukes. Smoothies are obvious.
My kid will also eat seaweed snacks like chips. That's a pretty good green food.
I cook broccoli until it's reallllly soft and mash it into mac n cheese, broccoli cheese rice with chicken, or pasta with Parmesan or Alfredo sauce.
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If my kids see green, they refuse. Except for those spinach muffins. I call them green monster muffins.
But I've tried to add spinach to meatballs and things like that and those get refused. The one thing I'm able to do is add a tons of veggies to a spaghetti sauce and then puree it before I add any meat so you can't tell it's in there.
ETA, I see Gingerbebe and I had the same idea.
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What about spinach tortillas? I'm thinking about trying them soon with my daughter.
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I do a simple hamburger goulash and chuck spinach in, chopped up super small.
My kids will eat anything, so don't generally refuse (nor do they have the option!) and never really question what it is!
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