Vegging Out.

I have been on a personal mission to get my family to eat more vegetables. This has been no easy task, and they haven't been too happy about my enthusiasm towards this matter- except the baby- she'll eat almost anything. After a few attempts of healthy eating, little complaints started rolling in. Complaints over vegetables- now isn't that silly? I decided it was time for me to get sneaky. For the last few weeks I have been mixing in all sorts of veggie goodness into meats and soups, salads and sweets - smiling with pride- feeling oh so creative... Shredded carrots and squash are well hidden in sauces. Peppers, spinach and celery are too! HA! They hadn't even noticed the added flavor until tonight. Tonight I got caught. I had just finished shredding a HUGE mound of carrots to mix into the ground turkey when I heard my husband in the kitchen. He questioned the orange stack. I confessed...

-H O W E V E R -
Dinner turned out really good. Even the naysayers thought so. I think it was all the extra vitamin A. Point for me!

I am going to keep on being sneaky. It is for a good cause after all...

Need some ideas for your own family? Keep on reading.

1.Homemade spaghetti sauce
While I am cooking the meat (we use ground turkey) I add in shredded carrots, zucchini, onions or peppers. They are hidden by the sauce and aren't easily detected. This idea also works really well in meatloaf too.

2.Breakfast scrambles My family loves scrambled eggs, so I take this opportunity to add in a little handful of extra vitamins. Onion, pepper, spinach and mushrooms can be diced small enough to not attract too much attention.

3. Soups
I like to make soups and stews, and I have found that I can add spinach and it will not be easily detected. Spinach shrinks in size when cooked, and I will often add a few handfuls of fresh spinach leaves to quite a few of our dinners.

4. Stirfrys.
I use stirfrys as an excuse to showcase my family's most tolerated vegetables. Works every time.