Sneaking Veggies into Children’s Food

Is it really worth it?

By: Julia Navin, SLU Dietetic Intern and Graduate Student

Okay, be honest- who has ever pushed your vegetables around on your plate as a child in hopes of convincing your parents that you ate more than 3 lukewarm carrots? It’s okay, we’ve all been there (myself included!).

It is well known that vegetables are good for us, however getting children to eat vegetables may be a hard task to conquer. There has been a big push to increase amounts of fruits and vegetables that children consume in the past few years. The Center for Disease Control reports that fruit intake has increased by 67% from 2003 to 2010, but vegetable intake has remained unchanged.¹ This may be because children are more likely to eat a something sweet and that fruit is easier to eat on the go.

Obtaining fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis is not as easy as it may seem. Fresh produce has a short shelf life and children are quick to change food preferences. Parent’s Magazine mentions how children’s tastes change frequently, as what they like one day may not be the same the next. Parents are busy people who probably don’t have an extra 30 minutes to make a vegetable plate filled with colorful choices. While frozen or canned vegetables are a convenient and cheap option, they are not often the number one choice in many households.

That’s where creative chefs and parents step in and try to hide vegetables into foods that children typically like to consume. Cauliflower mac and cheese, sweet potato pancakes, mushroom meatball, and more! These hidden vegetables can be fresh, frozen, or canned and often go unnoticed by a child. The idea sounds great and is meant with no harm, ultimately getting children one step closer to reaching the recommended 3 servings of vegetables daily. However, as with most great ideas, there are always some unintended consequences.

The Good:

• Increase vegetable intake without child awareness- Not knowing vegetables are in make it less likely for kids to turn their nose up at foods. Sometimes, kids may go a whole day without eating a vegetable. If vegetables are hidden in foods, children will get those nutrients and be closer to the 3 servings of recommended daily vegetables.
• Picky eaters may be more inclined to eat vegetables- Looking at a plate with a pile of mushrooms on the side may not be the most enticing for a picky eater. However, when the mushrooms are chopped and mixed into a meatball, the child is likely to consume the whole meatball without thinking twice about what’s inside.
• Short-term solution- Hiding vegetables is a short-term fix to get your child to eat more vegetables. While sneaking veggies into foods is great when a child is younger, it gets trickier as the child gains independence and is able to prepare his or her own foods. It is more beneficial in the long term to educate and prepare vegetables for your child to give them the autonomy to choose fruits and vegetables later in life

The Not-so-Good:

• Children can’t taste the vegetables- While your child may not have liked a certain vegetable at one point in time, taste buds change! Who knows if your kid will still have the same aversion, especially if they cannot taste the actual vegetable.
• Instill idea that vegetables are bad- Why do vegetables need to be hidden? Disguising vegetables so that the child doesn’t know what they taste like independently causes a mistrust and negative connotation to vegetables. This may lead to a decreased vegetable intake if children believe that vegetables are bad.
• Are you actually adding any nutrition?- One way parents try to hide vegetables is by masking it with other items like cheese. All those extra calories from the cheese almost outweigh the benefits from the vegetables. In addition, most recipes with hidden vegetables add less than 1 serving of vegetables. That is more than they would get normally, but is it really all that beneficial?

So, how does this work in real life?

I decided it was time to get my hands dirty. Primarily because some of the recipes looked good, but I also wanted to see how easy it was to actually “sneak” vegetables into foods. Now, I don’t have a child, but I do have a 23-year-old boyfriend who has similar taste preferences of a child (we’re talking mac and cheese twice a week and avoiding most green vegetables) so I thought he would be a decent substitution.

I combined a few recipes and ultimately ended up with Cauliflower Scrambled Eggs. Cauliflower doesn’t have as noticeable of a taste compared to other vegetables like broccoli and has a neutral color, so it doesn’t stand out when combined with foods like eggs or mac and cheese. The recipe I used is at the end of this blog if you wanted to check it out!

I started with a head of fresh cauliflower from the produce section. After washing it, I chopped it into smaller pieces and steamed it on the stove. Once it was tender, I drained the water and mashed it up with a fork. Let me just say, prepping from scratch is a lot of work! The whole process of cutting, steaming, and mashing the cauliflower took around an hour. It would have been more time efficient if there was access to a blender, however I got a mini work out in from mashing the cauliflower, so that’s a win! I then cracked and scrambled 4 eggs and added ½ cup mashed cauliflower, along with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder and sprinkle of salt and pepper to be split between the two of us.

The results? On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being disgusting and 10 being best thing ever: appearance was a 4, taste was around a 7, texture was a 5. The eggs masked the cauliflower fairly well, the only indication that there was a vegetable in the eggs were the smaller pieces since I couldn’t puree.

The overall outcome was yummy, but the effort it took to prepare the cauliflower and only increase my vegetable intake by ¼ cup (or one-twelfth of the total recommended daily vegetable intake) was not worth it. The whole process was time consuming and not practical for an everyday breakfast. The main pro from this experience, is that my boyfriend sampled some of the cauliflower before it was combined with the eggs and enjoyed it!

My recommendation going forward would be to buy a premade mashed cauliflower (like this) or simply a bag of frozen cauliflower to steam in bag. In addition, the cauliflower would be almost unidentifiable if it were pureed, so having access to a blender would be a huge help in making this recipe a success!

What’s the verdict?

While disguising vegetables is a great way to increase children’s vegetable intake in the short term, it fails to establish the taste for vegetables and may not be sustainable long term. It’s likely that your child won’t be adding pureed vegetables into dishes in college. Personally, I don’t think that the effort it took to prepare the cauliflower is worth getting a minimal amount of vegetables. It would be more beneficial to simply add vegetables into dishes, like mushrooms in pasta sauce for example, so that your child can taste the actual vegetable. Several dietitians from Parents magazine noted that their children ate foods with visible vegetables. This could be related to the normalization of vegetables or increased tolerance since they had been previously exposed. (Remember: it can take up to 15 tries for a child to accept a new food). You can also try to add vegetables into smoothies, baked goods, and general dinners. If cost is of concern, canned and frozen vegetables provide the same nutrients and are often cheaper.

Ultimately, the decision is up to you and what works for your family. If hiding vegetables is sustainable, then try it out. However, I would encourage progressively adding some vegetables on the side to get your child familiar with the smells and tastes to promote a healthy vegetable intake throughout their lifetime. Who knows, they could end up liking more vegetables than you think

 

 Cauliflower Scrambled Eggs

Serves 2

½ cup pureed cauliflower

4 eggs

½ t garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat pan over medium-high heat.

Crack and scramble 4 eggs in bowl. Add in ½ cup pureed cauliflower. Spray heated pan with nonstick spray. Add egg and cauliflower mixture. Season with garlic powder, pepper, and salt to taste. Cook until eggs are done and enjoy.

One portion: 150 calories, 9 g fat, 2 g carbohydrate, 13 g protein

How to Survive Thanksgiving with your Tofurkey

By Hailey King

Ever thought about quitting meat, cold turkey? I tried it and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be.

At the start of my dietetic internship, as I was moving into my new apartment with two other interns, they dropped the V word on me. They told me that they were both VEGETARIANS….. and guess what we had for dinner that night? Vegetarian curry with huge chucks of tofu and eggplant. Dessert was popcorn tossed in nutritional yeast. It was a bit of a shock at first, the curry was great as long as you could navigate past the islands of floating tofu and eggplant and the popcorn, well that was unique. So that night I started my three-week journey of becoming a vegetarian.

Week One:

The first few days were easy because we had left over curry to pack for lunch, and I didn’t need to think much about what I was going to have for dinner since my roommates took charge of cooking that first week. Then at the end of the week I had to make dinner and the pressure was on. I decided to make a sofritas bowls like the ones you can get from Chipotle. This application was actually amazing! Rather than leaving the tofu in large chunks I decided to scramble them resulting in smaller pieces and a far better texture.

Week Two:

Towards the middle of the second week I was starting to crave bacon, breakfast sausage, roasted chicken and a juicy Big Mac. I haven’t even eaten at McDonald’s in three years! As a result of a vegetarian diet, I was craving the fattiest animal proteins and those cravings continued into the third week.

Week Three:

The cravings finally subsided slowly half way through the week. At the completion of my third week I could walk through the grocery store without even wanting to stop by the meat section. That Friday I made an amazing vegetarian gumbo without the tradition bacon and the andouille sausage the depth of flavor I was able to create with tofu was incredible.

After completing my three-week trial of become a vegetarian I decide that it was not for me. Every now and then I would like to indulge in an animal based protein. In many ways, I would consider myself a flexitarian. For everyone who doesn’t know what a flexitarian is, it’s somebody who eats mainly a plant based diet and occasionally have a small portion of animal protein.  I would high recommend everyone to try being a vegetarian for at least a week. You will be able to learn so much about not only yourself, but also how to creatively cook different vegetables in a tasteful way.  After being a vegetarian for a short while I have a better understanding of the trails and tributes of being a vegetarian and overcoming the challenges of eating out.

 Headed into the holiday season many people have asked my roommates and myself how we are going to survive without eating the turkey. The answer to that is simple. Eat all of the sides, but if you’re worried about if there was bacon fat or chicken stock used in making those sides, then you can always bring your own sides and your own tofurkey.

What the heck is a Tofurkey? 

It is a meat substitute in the form of a loaf or a casserole of vegetarian protein, usually made from tofu (soybean protein) or seitan (wheat protein) with a stuffing made from grains or bread, flavored broth with herbs and spices.

You can find them in the frozen section of many grocery stores. They only cost $8.99 and they have a very similar texture to other animal protein, but it is completely vegetarian. They are also very easy to cook. Let the tofurkey thaw out in the refrigerator, as it will generally take anywhere from 1-2days to be thoroughly thawed. Preheat the oven to 350F and bake the tofurkey for 45 minutes.

While the tofurkey is baking you can make the vegetarian mushroom gravy. In a medium sized sauce pan, sauce thinly sliced mushrooms, 2 cups, over medium heat in olive oil. once the mushrooms are cooked, about 5 minutes, add the seasoning packet that came with the tofurkey and then mix in two cups of water. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes or cook to the desired thickness you like your gravy. Enjoy!

If becoming a vegetarian for even a week is too scary for you then you can always give Meatless Mondays a try. For more information about Meatless Monday visit the following website:  http://www.meatlessmonday.com

Winner, Winter Squash for Dinner

Holly Faivre

Winter squash – those goofy shaped vegetables that may be confused for an autumn decoration. Although they do act as a fun, rustic centerpiece, winter squash are a tremendously versatile, healthy, easy to prepare, and economical vegetable that every home cook should use in their fall and winter dishes!

The beauty of squash, other than its brilliant orange and yellow hues, is that it knows no bounds – the culinary possibilities are endless! There are many different types of winter squash – acorn, butternut, spaghetti, delicata – and there are even more subtypes among these general categories. Squash is incredibly versatile because its mild sweetness allows it to pair well with most flavors. Squash can be added into sauces and soups as a puree to thicken and add flavor, or the squash can be the star of the dish. Squash can also be a component and/or a fat substitute in baked goods such as breads, muffins, and biscuits. Squash also makes a delicious ravioli and lasagna filling for vegetarians and meat-lovers alike. The flesh of a spaghetti squash is different from other squash – it peels away in long thin spaghetti-like strands.

Regardless of the type of winter squash, two things hold true - it will be delicious and nutritious because they are packed full of Vitamin A and fiber. Vitamin A supports the immune system which is especially important in these chilly fall and winter months as cold and flu season are upon us. Vitamin A also plays a crucial role in the health of eyes! The fiber in winter squash plays a role in heart health and intestinal health. In fact, just one cup of cubed butternut squash provides 7 grams of fiber - that's 25% of the daily value!

A delicious and wholesome vegetable is no good to the home cook if he or she is not familiar with preparation methods. Fortunately, winter squash are fast and easy to prepare. This is a vegetable that can be put in the oven and practically forgotten about until the timer buzzes.

1. Cut the squash into equal halves so that the middle cavity is being split in half. This means the cut will start at the top by the stem.
2. Scoop out the seeds and “guts”
3. Add oil and spices to flesh - cinnamon, curry, chili, garlic, and allspice go great with squash but roasting it with salt and pepper is just as good!
4. Place the squash halves cavity-side-up on a baking sheet and roast at 400F until thesquash is fork tender (30-60 minutes, depending on the size of the squash). Depending on how firm or soft you want your end product to be, adjust the cooking time up or down.
5. Let the squash cool slightly so they you can peel off the skin
6. Use the squash as needed - mash, puree, slice, cube, etc.

Before preparing the squash, take this into consideration: winter squash are hard and dense (imagine pumpkin carving..) and they have rounded edges. To avoid injury, it is essential to use a sharp knife and prevent the squash from rolling around the cutting board. Helpful tip: roll up a kitchen towel and form it into a circle so that the squash is resting in a nest; this prevents the squash from rolling around.

In addition to their versatility and easy preparation, winter squash are also very affordable. They are an excellent addition to the grocery list when one is on a budget because they are inexpensive and have a long shelf life. The average price of a winter squash is $0.90 per pound. A winter squash will generally weigh between 1 and 3 pounds so the price will fall between $1 and $3 for a squash. Once the squash has been prepared, it will yield four one-half cup servings per pound of squash! One small squash could easily provide as the vegetable component of a meal  for a family of four.  Another economical aspect of winter squash is that they can be stored whole in a cool dark place for up to 3 months. Stocking up on winter squash is a practical idea because they can be enjoyed in the spring when squash is no longer in season.

Tis the season of squash eating – don't be afraid to tackle this peculiar, somewhat intimidating, vegetable. Winter squash are an easy to prepare vegetable that offer endless opportunities for creativity in the kitchen. This weekend, head to a favorite farmer's market or grocery store to pick up a few varieties and embrace the taste of fall and winter.

Picky Eating: A Success Story

Picky Eating: A Success Story

By: Samantha Gilbreth

“I always thought before I had kids that when I did they would be perfect eaters because– hello! –I was a dietitian! Then I had a child and reality hit.” – Brittany Poulson, MDA, RDN, CD, CDE

I do not have a picky eater for a child, but I do have a husband. Before my husband and I were married, I was aware of his lack of exposure to many foods that I had previously considered to be extremely normal. Growing up, his family was limited in exposure to a variety of foods from a dad that was a “meat and potatoes” kind of man and a family history of severe food allergies. This shaped him into someone who was a little cautious of trying new foods. It was on our one year anniversary that I recognized the true extent of his lack of exposure when he tried his first strawberry (and loved it). Since then, I have heard multiple lectures on the topic of “picky eaters” and how to lead them toward trying new foods while studying to become a Registered Dietitian. Although these lectures were all focused on children, I have found that some techniques can also be very effective with adults as well.

My favorite technique to put into practice is involvement in food preparation, which encompasses everything from making the grocery list to deciding which plates to use. When writing our grocery list, I always have categories first, such as “fruit”, “vegetable”, “meat”, etc. Then, I ask him to list a few under each category that he would like and ask him if I could put in a few suggestions (since he almost never includes items like carrots or tomatoes on his list). Then, when I am at the grocery store, I pick up what is on the approved list, and oftentimes I also pick up a surprise ingredient that fits into our categories to encourage variety.  When it comes to dinner time, I always give him menu options so that he feels more invested in the meal. He usually steps in to help with cooking, but I especially encourage it when we try new foods so that he can better understand how it is prepared and feel further invested in the food item. I have also found that when he is involved in preparing the food, he feels like he has more control and can make the food more to his liking. For example, he will not eat bell peppers unless they are cut to a certain size, so when he is in charge of cutting up the vegetables, I can rest assured that he will be eating all of his vegetables that day. This technique has worked wonders on widening the variety of foods that my husband will eat, especially when it comes to vegetables.

Another technique that works well is exposing him to new foods when he is hungry. Recently, we were trying to wait for dinner because we had late dinner plans already scheduled, but we could not hold off anymore. Since I was craving guacamole and had avocados already, I decided that it was a good idea to go ahead and snack. The only problem was that so far in his life, my husband had always been a little wary of avocados. I mean, they are mushy and green, after all. But, what he does like is lime, so when I squeezed fresh lime into the soon-to-be guacamole, he decided that giving it a try would not be the worst thing that he could do. Now, I eat avocados at least three times a week, per his request.

When I was little, my grandmother’s favorite line to say was “You don’t know that you don’t like it until you’ve tried it ten times.” Little did I know that she was right. Of course, there are some foods that you know you do not like the first time you try them. For example, I know that I do not like rutabagas and Cool Ranch Doritos. For my husband, the most recent discoveries are related to scallops and brussel sprouts. Over the past few years, he has tried scallops at least four times, always asking me if he likes them before taking a bite. Well, he finally decided one month ago, that scallops are definitely for him. However, brussel sprouts have not been so lucky. After trying them at least five times with different preparation methods, last week he decided that brussel sprouts could no longer be tolerated. That was a sad day for me, especially since I love brussel sprouts more than I sometimes care to admit.

When I told my husband that I was going to write about him, of course he became very curious, so I let him in on the project by asking him to list some foods that he loves now that he did not when we started dating. He then eagerly began listing foods, making sure that I was writing them down, and he also started talking about how his cooking skills have improved as well. On that note, he recently decided that he needed something more challenging than risotto to make for me, so he took on the scary but delightful task of conquering the chocolate soufflé. And he did.

Though sometimes it feels like there is no hope when it comes to getting people to try new, exciting, or maybe even “scary” foods, it is important to recognize that he or she has valid opinions and preferences and that using them as the driving force behind trying new foods will help with your success. My husband would not be where he is today in regards to the foods that he will and will not eat without constantly reminding myself that he is his own person that is capable of making his own decisions. My job is simply to help him find new opportunities. 

My Husband’s “Victories”
Strawberries            Kiwi            Avocado            Cauliflower            Red wine           Tomatoes            Mushrooms           Bell peppers            Broccoli	·         Lentils ·         Cherries ·         Sushi ·         Whole wheat bread ·         Raisins ·         Cranberries ·         Wild rice ·         Brown rice ·         Asparagus ·         Scallops ·        Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)

*For more information about intervening for picky eaters, visit: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/10-tips-helping-kids-try-new-foods

* “Even Dietitians Have Trouble Feeding Their Kids”: http://jillcastle.com/childhood-nutrition/dietitians-trouble-feeding-kids/

*Photo credit: http://blog.bestbullysticks.com/dog-care-101-tip-175-veggies-to-share-with-your-dog/