Getting my kids to eat healthy without a fuss

As a toddler, my daughter used to love eating vegetables, especially leafy ones. but once she was around 2 she started leaving her vegetables in her plate. I do not like forcing her to eat anything as she will unnecessarily develop a total dislike towards the food item.

One way to get her to eat everything without a fuss is to feed her. But feeding her is not always possible as she loves to eat herself and does it very well. She does not make a mess and will help to clear up if something spills by mistake.

Since she likes chapatis I try to make them with multigrain aata and add other things (ragi powder/ powdered horse gram/ oats/ flattened rice/ grated carrot/ methi leaves) to the dough based on availability and my mood. The four of us enjoy them with butter.

Soups are a great way to get the family to consume loads of veggies. Be it pumpkin, tomato and coconut, palak/ spinach, mushroom or Palak and mushroom; they are all relished. At times I serve it with some toasted cheese garlic bread (the bread itself at times of palak, beetroot or carrot)

Easiest breakfast are crepes/ pancakes. The balance goes in her school tiffin box. Simple ingredients (egg-optional; Flour – Ragi/ wheat/ wheat+ kullith/ multigrain aata+ragi+kullith; sweetener– raw sugar/ brown sugar/ honey/ drinking chocolate/ palm jaggery/ banana; thinner for crepes– water/ curd/ coconut milk/ milk; Vanilla essence and a pinch of salt) whisked together and fried in a lightly greased pan. Since they are soft my little fellow started eating them once he turned 1. I don’t like to stress while cooking by worrying about perfection. If the salt is less, serve it with a little butter. If it is not sweet enough, add a few chocolate chips into the balance batter or serve them with a drizzle of honey. If they are too thick, add a little water and if too thin add some more flour.

Oh! And here too I get interesting requests. “Mama, I want chocolate straps”. I assumed she meant chocolate strips and she was happy with my interpretation of her request. For my son I made small circular ones that he could hold in his hand and eat.

The above dish is made with horsegram flour, ragi flour, multigrain aata, cocoa powder, raw sugar, egg, banana, vanilla essence and salt batter. I add a pinch of baking powder when I use ragi as I find that they tend to become hard and dry, as they cool, if I don’t.

My son is a rice fan. To get him to eat more veggies I started chopping up whatever cooked vegetable I had and adding it to my pulav along with grated carrot, finely chopped leafy vegetables and homemade broth. These worked well but my husband did not find it very appealing. As a result I had to cook boiled rice and curry for him.

I don’t like to spend my entire Sunday cooking. So on some sunday’s, when I needed 1 dish to please all, I started making my Baked chicken with spinach, peas and mushroom rice. If it was to be veg then I would make a pulav with spinach, peas and mushroom. 1/2 hour of active cooking is required. The non-veg takes more time to get ready but I do not have to sit in the kitchen.

Dosas and Pizzas are also great ways to incorporate a variety of healthy ingredients.

Do share your tricks in the comments below.

Enjoy cooking and experimenting🙂