My daughter's favorite thing right now is macaroni and cheese. It's not my favorite thing to feed her (especially when I'm slaving over home cooked meals) but with a crying newborn and a whining two-year old, I've been giving in a lot just to quiet down the kitchen.
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That said, I do what I can to make it a healthy meal. I start with Annie's Organic Mac & Cheese. Then I sneak in a little veggie that she doesn't know is there. I realized the trick to this is you must start early on, before they're smart enough to recognize that the little green specks aren't normal. One day I added an entire grated zucchini. She had no clue. You could even peel it first if you were worried your child would boycott the green. The zucchini worked so well that I gave kale a shot. That worked too. Amazing! Today I added minced parsley, red kale and a few spoonfuls of my butternut squash soup. Gobbled it up! Next up - spinach. Every little bit of nutrients counts when your stomach is the size of a golf ball.
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In addition, I always add freshly grated cheddar cheese to the pan when I'm mixing it and then grate parmesan cheese on top. It's my way of getting some real dairy into the meal since my child won't drink milk and I can't imagine powdered cheese offers much calcium. The cheese also helps hide the flavor of my hidden greens.
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Give it a shot with your little tot! And don't forget that smoothies are another great way to sneak veggies in.
3 comments:
My 2 year old LOVES Annie's too - great idea about adding your own cheese. I am going to try that!
Great ideas on how to sneak veggies into mac & cheese, thanks for sharing!
My three year old loves Annie's too, and I sneak the veggies in too, it makes me feel better knowing he is getting his veggies some how since he is so picky.
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