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My kids hate vegetables. Well, more my daughter than my son, but it's still hard to get them to eat. They aren't the only ones. My husband tries to avoid them like the plague.
Of course, vegetables are the best for you. They're healthy, they're filling, they have lots of vitamins and minerals. They can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect upon blood sugar. So how do you get your kids (husband) to eat more?
-You can easily mix veggies into your meatballs to add a boost of flavor and nutrients—simply finely chop mushrooms, greens, carrots, and onions and mix them into your meatball base.
-A simple hack to pack plants into mac and cheese is to blend butternut squash puree into the cheese sauce. The squash adds an extra creaminess and delicious flavor and boosts the nutrient profile of an otherwise 100 percent cheese base—butternut squash provides a boost of beta-carotene, vitamin C, magnesium, and fiber.
-Instead of using only potatoes in your mashed potatoes, opt for a blend of potato and pureed cauliflower—you (seriously) won't even taste the difference.
-Instead of eating an entire serving of regular pasta, do a mix of half pasta and half zucchini, butternut squash noodles, or spaghetti squash. You can also try mixing regular rice with cauliflower rice for a 50/50 swap.
-Shredded carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, and even beets are delicious, vibrant vegetables that can be shredded and folded into any muffin or bread batter.
-Butternut squash, zucchini, and eggplant can be thinly sliced chip dips with veggies. Baba ghanoush (a savory eggplant dip), roasted red pepper hummus, and Greek-style yogurt-based spinach artichoke dip are all great health-forward accompaniments to your chips or crackers.