I can't get my kids to eat healthy...what the Crock(er)!

Do you have picky eaters at home? Creating fun, healthy meals can be frustrating when kids refuse to eat certain foods.

Given how busy we all are these days, it's easier sometimes to just give in to the inhibited gourmets. Even big kids fuss over their food. I was recently out for dinner with some friends, and one of the girls ordered some pad thai--minus the eggs and peanuts. Trying to convince her that pad thai isn't pad thai without those ingredients just didn't work. I suppose if she's made it this far in life without eggs and peanuts, there's no use in trying to convince her otherwise.

In the case of the pad thai, my friend's only missing out on the exquisite flavor. But with vegetables and kids, there's much more at stake than a deficient dish.

So, how do you get those fruits and vegetables into a kid's stomach?

I put this question out to my Facebook friends to see how they do it. And boy, do parents have all kinds of tricks of the trade.

A lot of people said they try covering up vegetables with butter and cheese, but they admit this defeats the purpose somewhat. Even then, some kids will see through the ruse and not bite, literally. Like many of our friends, I've always been a fan of ants on a log. However, I've also seen enough spit out raisins and licked celery stalks to appreciate the efforts children will take to avoid healthy snacks.

Other parents say they lie to the kids about what they are eating. One mother commented that she convinced her son to eat peas by telling him that they were just green corn. Apparently, the concept of off-color corn is more appetizing than fresh peas, because she said it worked. At least, she clarified, for a little while. Now that he's older, though, he eats all his vegetables...except peas! I guess they were martyred for a good cause.

Another common response is to make soups loaded with vegetables, especially minestrone. Another great thing about soups is a good slow cooker can do most of the work for you, and there are always leftovers to take for lunch the next day. Still, parents lamented that this strategy isn't infallible either. Many soon discover that their tikes are little Jacques Cousteaus, deep sea exploring in their bowls to avoid anything that looks healthy. It's "Where's Waldo?" soup edition.

The suggestion that was by far the favorite took the cat-and-mouse game one step further: Create dishes where the vegetable isn't just hidden but disguised.

This note came from one of our Facebook friend's Internet test kitchen:

"I am a fan of taking muffin and pancake mixes and adding pureed fruits and veggies to them, as a way to sneak healthy foods into my picky two-year old. So try a recipe of adding 1/2 cup pureed beets to pancake mix (tastes like fruit; not my idea, it belongs to Jessica Seinfeld); or adding 1/2 to 1 whole cup of sweet potato to any muffin mix. Doesn't really change the consistency; you just add a few extra minutes to the baking time."

I love this idea. Beets are great too because they can be used to add a rich color to foods. (It's the traditional food coloring in velvet cakes.)

Once this was out there, everyone started coming up with all kinds of foods where puree fruits and vegetables could hide. We will be posting a lot of your recipe suggestions on our website, including the beet pancakes and sweet potato muffin recipes.

Keep them coming.

Betty