Even more inspiration for fussy babies, toddlers and older kids

Back in February I posted a list of recipes with hidden fruit or vegetables.  My son has been going through a slight aversion to fruit and vegetables recently.  No, that's not true, he still likes fruit and vegetables, he just doesn't like what I want to give him (whatever that might be), it's a control thing.  He wants to make sure he's making the choices not me.  Ah, toddlers!

Anyway, my little toddler doesn't realise (yet) that I'm still sneaking in some insurance fruits and veggies just to make sure he's getting his five a day (to be fair my husband doesn't realise this either...)

1.  Fried Rice.  Unhealthy right?  Perhaps not, especially when you pack it full of vegetables.  It's easy to include ingredients like peas, mushrooms, onions etc.  I think mushroom fried rice is my favourite recipe (and my son loves it too.)

2.  Pizza.  Ha, I must be mad starting this list with fried rice then following it up with pizza?  This isn't any ordinary junkfood though, this pizza recipe has 6 hidden vegetables in it (there's even one in the crust); if you top it with mushrooms and sweetcorn that's 8!  Surely the ultimate fusspot food?

3.  The pasta bake; a fantastic way to get more vegetables into your kids.  When you make pasta with a sauce, it's easy to go heavy on the pasta which is a useful source of carbohydrate but not much else.  In a bake you can include all other kinds of ingredients, peppers, mushrooms, courgette etc.  Why not try this chicken pasta bake recipe?

4.  Broccoli nuggets have to be one of my most popular recipes.  It would be wrong of me to say this is a hidden vegetable, they are green after all but for some kids refusing vegetables can be as much about their shape, form or texture and trust me, these are blooming tasty.  A reader said on the comments "I just made these and my boy of 10 months wolfed down two as soon as they were cool, I think they are fantastic and even my partner had one and he NEVER eats broccoli!" 

5.  Noodles can be a great way of including ribbons of vegetables.  Make them colourful and even if your child does notice them, they might be interested to try.  My Pad Thai recipe includes peppers and mushrooms  as does my prawn stir fry.

6.  Stews are a great place to hide pulses if your child isn't keen.  This is a great, flavourful chicken stew with borlotti beans and chorizo.  Delicious for kids and parents and makes expensive meat ingredients go further.  Alternatively sneak lots of root vegetables into a beef stew.

7.  My first attempt at a sugar free carrot cake wasn't a total success in my opinion but my son liked it.  Loads of hidden fruits and vegetables in there.

8.  Fajitas!  Why not try a bit of spice?  Kids are way more adventurous than most parents give them credit for.  When my son was very little I used to feed him a toned down version of chilli, this was also great in quesadillas and another way to sneak in those extra vegetables.

9.  Beanburgers.  Sneak in those vegetables and pulses!

10.  Thai curry - mushrooms are in here but there's no reason why you couldn't increase the vegetables.  Maybe some green beans?

So if your child isn't keen on the vegetable kingdom, keep heart.  Keep offering them in their 'natural' form but if you have an insurance policy then you aren't going to be feeling so pressured about whether s/he decides to eat that carrot or that bean and I'm sure half of the battle is just easing up the pressure.