Posted on May 14, 2012 | Comments
Years ago when the Government introduced the 5 a day guideline for fruit and veg intake parents around the country have looked for ways to meet this guideline.
The joke is, itâs just a made up guideline by a government quango, it could have been 3 a day or 7 a day and some are convinced it should be 10 a day as I believe it is in Canada - when do they have time to do anything else but eat fruit and veg??
Children are often put off by eating a pile of plain vegetables on their plate, yes I know there are always exceptions to the rule, but in general a meal time ends with one parent saying "just one more piece of brocoli/carrot" etc. So I try and include veggies as part of a dish, if you're doing something with rice stir peas, sweetcorn and some chopped up carrot into it and it makes the rice more appealing and it adds a bright colour to the dish
If your children are completely anti veg try grating them down into really small pieces. Just take out your cheese grater and I generally use the fine grate (not the teeny tiny grate) and get grating! When Iâm making anything that involves a sauce, stew or casserole I grate in some veg. On the fine grate courgette will disappear, peppers create a nice wet juicey mush which will melt away leaving all the goodness behind and a mushroom can be easily hidden after its been grated. I know some people think this is deception but for all those exhausted parents who are fed up of begging their children to eat some healthy veg this can be a really nifty way of getting some veggies in without a fight. Why not try this tactic and home, Iâd love to hear how you get on!
