Ninety percent of kids don’t eat the recommended amount of vegetables each day.[1] To help get more kids on board with healthy eating, it’s important to show them how fun veggies can be.

It’s no secret that kids love to play, especially with their food. While this behavior may normally be discouraged, the Birds Eye Vegetables brand is switching things up and encouraging parents to try rewriting the dinnertime rules this year. The Rewrite the Dinnertime Rules program lets kids have fun and play with their veggies while setting healthy eating habits at a young age.

“Getting kids involved in the dinner process makes them more likely to eat and enjoy what they helped create,” said Birds Eye Vegetables Corporate Chef Michael Christiansen. “With our Rewrite the Dinnertime Rules program, we’ve come up with some easy ways to get your kids excited about dinnertime and loving vegetables.”

Here are five tips to get your kids to eat more veggies, and a kid-approved recipe to try for your next family dinner:

• Get your kids involved: When kids are involved, they’re more likely to eat their creations. Let the kids help with the shopping, choosing of the recipes, prep and cooking of the meals. Have them choose the veggies they want to eat for dinner and which they want to pack in their lunch. Encourage them to try a variety of colors and flavors.
• Make family playtime with veggies: Kids can create rainbows on their plate with veggies or make smiley face pizzas. For the pizzas, use mini whole-wheat pitas as the base and let the kids add marinara sauce, reduced-fat cheese and Birds Eye veggies to make faces.
• Mix it up: Veggies can be used in surprising and delicious ways. Mix veggies with yogurt, orange juice and honey to make nutritious smoothies, or whip up refreshing popsicles with carrots and orange juice.
• Positive reinforcement: Celebrate veggies and how delicious and fun they can be by using positive words when talking about them. You can also amp up the cool factor by using some of your child’s favorite stars, such as Jennette McCurdy, as inspiration.
• Use new veggies in familiar dishes: Combine new veggies with a few simple ingredients for a twist on familiar favorites. Try making pea guacamole, corn salsa or other unique creations that combine old favorites with healthy veggies. For these recipes and other ideas, visit www.birdseye.com or www.pinterest.com/RealBirdsEye.

Chicken & Corn Sliders

Total time: 15 mins

Servings: 6

• 1 bag (12 ounce) Birds Eye Steamfresh Super Sweet Corn
• 1/3 cup prepared barbecue sauce
• 1/4  cup water or fat free, low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken, skin removed
• 2 green onions, chopped
• Torn lettuce leaves, such as Boston, Romaine or Iceberg
• 12 (1-ounce) whole grain slider rolls

Bring barbecue sauce and broth to a boil over high heat. Simmer 1 minute. Stir in chicken and Super Sweet Corn; toss to coat and heat through. Stir in green onions. Evenly arrange on lettuce-lined rolls. Secure with fun toothpicks.

The post Put Play on the Plate with Veggies appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Many parents struggle with the never-ending task of wanting their kids to grow up strong and healthy, so we often encourage our children to eat their vegetables. As a daddy to six healthy children – two toddlers and four in their twenties – with one more on the way, I’ve learned a few tricks over the years that are sure to get your kids eating their veggies!

Lead by Example: One of the easiest things you can do when expanding your child’s palate to include vegetables is to lead by example. Eat vegetables often yourself, so your child can see it’s perfectly normal and that they are yummy too. Incorporating healthy servings of veggies into every meal is important, but including them at snack time is also key. Try to get a feel for which vegetables your child likes best and start there – then grow their palate over time.

Make Them Kid Friendly: There are plenty of ways you can make vegetables kid friendly. I suggest giving them a low-fat ranch dip for their snack-time veggies, encouraging them to make toothpick-veggie creations like dinosaurs and robots or making a dish like spinach dip that’s often perceived as tastier than a serving of steamed vegetables.

Start Young: It’s important to feed your child vegetables starting at a young age. There are plenty of blended baby food vegetable options, but don’t stop there. As your child begins to eat solid foods offer them vegetables often. Starting young will help establish the norm of eating healthy, and as your child grows up eating veggies it will become a part of their foundation and lifestyle.

Have a Garden: Creating a garden is a great way to get your child involved in growing and harvesting vegetables. It doesn’t have to be a big garden by any means; you could pick 2 or 3 veggies to grow on a small deck (if it gets consistent sunlight). If you’re lucky enough to have a yard, I highly encourage having a garden. You and your child, together, can water the garden daily and watch it grow. Your child will be excited when you finally get to harvest some of the food you’ve worked so hard to grow.

Encouraging your children to eat vegetables everyday is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. It might be tricky to jump in and create a habit out of it, but trust me – it’s worth it! 

Robert Nickell, aka Daddy Nickell, father of 6, offers his “5 cents” worth of advice to expectant and new parents.  Daddy Nickell is the founder of Daddyscrubs.com, delivery room duds and daddy gear for dads, and the Daddyscrubs.com blog where he covers topics about parenting and the latest baby and kids gear, all from a Dad’s perspective.

The post How to Get Your Kids to Eat Their Vegetables appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.