Getting kids to eat vegetarian meals

My daughter falls into the picky eater category more often than not. If you give her a choice she’ll go for pepperoni pizza or chicken nuggets, chicken tenders are not accepted. So when I decided to become a vegetarian I knew I’d be fighting an uphill battle to convert her and it would have to be a gradual process. Here are my tips for getting your kids to eat more vegetarian meals.

• If making a sauce add veggies to it and make sure to cut the veggies as small as possible so they’re not noticed. Kids zero in on normal size veggies and try to pick them out.

• Add more vegetables to a meal so kids get used to less meat being on the plate. For example, add lentils to your rice and have a side of veggies as well.

• For at-home treats try veggie chick’n nuggets and veggie burgers

• Try mixing vegetables they don’t like with one’s they do, for example, if they don’t like sweet potatoes mix sweet potatoes with white potatoes

• Cook tofu in different ways to see which they like best baked, fried, sauteed, etc

• Make one-pot dishes; stews, curries, chili’s where vegetables and tofu can be hidden

• Make the dishes they love and substitute the meat products with non-meat or vegetables that fit the original flavor profile of the dish.

• Let them help cook, if they are involved in the process they are more likely to give the dish a try.