Great advice about putting the veggies in their true form on the side! A wonderful middle ground for the different camps of vegetable servers/eaters! Great post..

So glad that you’re posing these questions. I always find those sneak-it-in’s a bit creepy and feel like beautiful, nourishing food, cooked competently, will be enjoyed. The food I thought I hated as a child I now realized just wasn’t prepared as well as it could be. In a quest to be as healthy as possible, a squeeze of lemon juice was all that adorned our vegs. And that doesn’t improve broccoli! But good recipes do-- delicious food doesn’t stay on the table! Perhaps instead of sneaking it in, we just need to try some new recipes from excellent authors (Gourmet’s magazine’s recommended cookbooks [all listed on their website] are a wonderful place to start)

I’m really torn.  I have an 8 year old daughter and a 3 year old son.  I’m an excellent cook, as is my husband.

Elder Child loves fruits and vegetables, and always has.  She was asking for broccoli and peas at 2.  The Boy?  Not so much.  He never has, even when it was baby food.  Now, at three, he often looks at his dinner plate, says “No want it.  I all done.” And doesn’t eat a thing.  He would, however, live on milk, carbs, and meat if we’d let him.  He doesn’t get a lot of snacks or as much milk as he’d like, of course. 

So it’s tempting to “sneak” in some ways, because I want him to grow up healthy, get the vitamins and minerals he needs from locally grown food whenever possible, and I really want him to be adventurous with food/willing to try new things.  But I don’t think I will sneak as a general rule.  For one thing, how will he ever think to try zucchini if I hide it from him?  For another, I don’t like being dishonest, especially with my kids, and these books feel very dishonest to me. 

I just keep exposing him to a good variety of healthy, well-prepared food of all sorts, and hope that one of these days he’ll decide to try the green beans or whatever. 

But patience is not a trait I’m known for, so there’s that.

I wholeheartedly agree that we shouldn’t lie to children and that fruits and veggies should be presented in a proper form (main or side dish.) As a home chef, one of my main complaints with sneaking veggie ingredients into a recipe is that it will, often, throw off or completely ruin the flavor of the final result. I must say - why why why put blueberries in tacos? While I’m sure they’re out there somewhere, I’ve personally never met a kid (or adult) who had a strong aversion to blueberries. Why feel the need to sneak something that looks and tastes like candy?

Out of my own experience, I’ve learned that when it comes to people disliking vegetables (peas, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, etc) usually has more to do with social dislikes (learning from their friends) and being forced to eat veggies that are poorly cooked (taste bad.) If the cook learns to prepare the veggies properly with good taste and spice, even the “worst” veggie will be a taste sensation.

Oh, so the reason my child won’t eat is because I suck at cooking!  I see now why my child eats all of 5 different fruits and vegetables.

I don’t doubt that improving taste helps with children who willingly try things, but do remember that some children are flat out refusers. Eric Ripert and Tom Colicchio are renowned chefs, and they have both admitted to going through “the child eats four foods” stage with their own families.

Seriously, it is really hard to be the parent of a picky eater. We did baby-led solids, and she happily ate a wide variety of table food up until about 17-18 months. I’m talking samosas, tacos, quinoa, veggie sushi, whatever. Then she got sick, went to breastmilk only for about a week, and after that, no go on most foods previously enjoyed. I have no idea if her sense of smell was affected or something like that. There is no rhyme or reason to the foods that she will consume, as they span hot, cold, soft, creamy, crunchy, chewy, and so on. She seems to judge things on sight and smell, and she will utterly refuse and get really upset if something does not pass her inscrutable standards. They do not even make it into her mouth to try the “taste sensation.”

I have beaten myself about this, asked several doctors, La Leche League leaders, and other parents, and the answers I have received range from “Totally normal” to “That’s weird, my beautiful child eats everything on earth with a smile. Have you tried chard?” I’ve read “Help, My Child Won’t Eat.” My in-laws think I have ruined my child for life.  It is incredibly frustrating, to say the least. We prepare a wide variety of tasty (no, I don’t think I am totally deluded on this one, people frequently compliment my cooking) organic meals, offer her some of everything, and then she will still prefer to go hungry than eat something unappealing. We rotate through about 4-5 dishes for her core nutrition, and it gets pretty depressing. They are only offered as backup when it’s clear she is not going to accept the other things.

She is almost 2.5 now, and there have been small improvements, but I do constantly worry about her nutritional intake. She can sniff out a vitamin mixed into something, even in a minute amount.  So excuse me if I sneak pureed greens or squash into tomato sauce or nutritional yeast into pancake batter once in while for my own peace of mind. Even the LLL leaders suggested this.  I don’t think anyone can make blanket statements on how another family chooses to provide nourishment or the potential quality of cooking of the parent with a picky child. I don’t feel the article did this, but some of the comments sort of stung (yes, I am sure this was not their intent).

Everyone has to cover basic needs and ideally move past stages of strong preference in the least traumatic way for all. What’s appropriate for a young child may become inappropriate for an older child, etc.

I cut up kale, chard, or spinach into my child’s organic mac and cheese. I don’t think it is hiding the greens, and actually, my children notice it when it is missing.

I don’t understand the negative reaction to these books. Jessica Seinfeld says in the books and in interviews that she still gives vegetables in their pure form on the side. I haven’t read the Sneaky Chef, but it is probably the same. The point is that some kids are extremely picky and refuse to eat vegetables in their pure form and would refuse to eat foods if they knew vegetables were added in.

Most people don’t go into the full list of ingredients of any meal they make, whether there are additional veggies hidden in or not. I don’t consider that lying.

For parents of stubborn kids who would refuse to eat vegetables, sneaking them in allows parents to calm down and back off, which actually increases the likelihood that a child will try veggies in their natural form.

I do think that parents’ obsession over what their kids eat or don’t eat or trying to introduce solids before a child is ready can cause food issues, but I have heard that many young toddlers who were previously good eaters go through a phase where they start refusing to eat things they ate before.

By the way, my two year old is an excellent eater and loves vegetables. I just got the book for ideas to boost nutritional content and be prepared in case my good eater hits an eating phase.

I have both of these cookbooks and I use them all the time.  There are some great breakfast ideas.  I also love making healthier cookies and desserts.  My three year old knows that she’s eating the veggies.  It’s just so much easier to get her to eat spinach, broccoli, red pepper, etc.  It’s changed the way I cook for my family.