Do your kids eat salad?
Mine tend to avoid it, although I have noticed recently that they’re willing to try it a bit more. If I could go back in time and do it over, I would have introduced salad to them much much earlier. I did focus quite a bit on vegetables, in fact I insist they eat a fruit or veggie at every meal and strongly encourage the same for between-meal snacks. We need to increase that quite a bit though.
I found a new recipe today that I want to try on the boys tomorrow. The original version is in the current month of Kraft Food and Family magazine. I didn’t have the broccoli slaw that it called for, so I improvised. I also cut the recipe in half since I was making it for purely scientific reasons.
Basically I took a package of Ramen noodles, broke it up into small pieces and dumped into a medium bowl. Take the seasoning packet and mix it with a quarter cup of italian dressing. Fill the bowl with chopped veggies (I used celery, green pepper, cucumber, and broccoflower) and pour the seasoned dressing over the top. Stir and serve.
This salad is soooooooooo delicious! The original recipe called for sliced almonds and roasted sunflower seeds. I didn’t try those, but the noodles and raw vegetables were plenty crunchy. Even if the noodles soften a bit overnight, there’s still a great deal of texture to enjoy. I might sprinkle some sunflower seeds on it tomorrow, but I plan to leave them out of the main salad until the boys have tried it. They’re generally not fond of nuts. Yet. Heh, heh, heh. I’m definitely going to put broccoli slaw and green onions on the shopping list this week so I can try the original version of the recipe.
So, do your kids eat salad? How do you make it tempting and delicious? Share with the group, would you please?
Oh, and excuse me. I’m going to have to go make some more salad… the batch I made already is nearly gone.
by AmyL
[tags]kids, parents, children, parenting, salad, nutrition, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, eating, food[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by bbaltimore, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
0 responses so far ↓
Jill in Atlanta // Apr 4, 2008 at 5:16 am
I have one who was born eating everything - regardless of whether it’s actually good or not - the kid was happy to taste baking soda when we baked when he was young, and has never spit out any food. That said, I can claim no victory. His older brother is a pretty typical kid eater.
We’ve worked hard with him however and now I’d say at almost 7 yo he’s better than average. I started at babyhood when he’d tolerate only carrots from the entire veggie food group (babyfood made or bought) I mixed it with others until I finally gave up and he was ready for more solids anyway. I cooked him carrots for a year and it was the only veggie he’d eat. Then we grew our own cherry tomatoes and at age 3 he discovered veggie #2. We have since added cucumber slices and red bell pepper. He heard once that each time you try a new food you’ll add 7 years to your life, so he’s willing to taste new things, just doesn’t really add them in permanently. We insist on eating some however - against traditional parenting advice - he has to eat his age (6 still) in pieces of salad. This may be four baby carrots and two pieces of cucumber, or a bite of green beans and 3 carrots, 2 tomato slices. He’s willing, as long as the veggies are on the “approved list”, so I keep up my work increasing the list. He’s starting to accept lettuce if I give him crunchy pieces from the stem area. Slow progress , but progress.
Stu Mark // Apr 4, 2008 at 6:38 am
My family loves salad, save my daughter, who, even at age 12, views it as “eating leaves.” Fortunately she eats a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, although I’d love a recommendation on a decent substitute for green, leafy vegetables.
Jill in Atlanta // Apr 4, 2008 at 6:45 am
I got spinach in my kids on St Patricks Day by making them Green Eggs and Ham. I blended a cup of chopped spinach in as I made a breakfast casserole with egg, ham, bread and cheese. I also tossed in some basil leaves because I can sometimes pull off bits of green as “herbs”. (I also grow those and Pook -picky kid - cuts them for me. It was a bit like growing tomatoes in that when he grew them he began to eat them.)
InTheFastLane // Apr 4, 2008 at 6:55 am
My two older kids HATE salad. It would be like I was trying to poison them, if I put it on their plates. They will happily eat lots of other vegetables, so I really don’t push it. They especially like their vegetables uncooked, so it is not at all difficult to put broccoli or carrots on their plates when we have salad. My youngest (almost 3) will eat it, but he is really in a non-eating phase altogether. So a couple bites of anythings is as good as it gets.
nan // Apr 6, 2008 at 10:17 am
Do kids need salad? It seems like the world over, small children hate green leavy veggies. Maybe they are hard to digest? Maybe small kids SHOULDN’T eat leafy greens, because they create so much work for the digestive system, with very little nutrition compared with other foods? I have wondered about this before. My big boys now love salad, especially in a sandwich with “everything” or with gooky salad dressing. I think it’s and excuse to eat gooky salad dressing, myself! What is the nutritional value of leafy green salad (lettuces, cabbage, etc) for a kid under, say, six? Any stats out there?
Debbie // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:07 pm
My 4-y.o. son M will eat almost anything that isn’t moving. His sister, 5 y.o. K, will try any food she doesn’t like an infinite number of times. They’re great eaters. That said, it’s nearly impossible to get them to eat dark green leafies. They DO love parsley, however, and they’ll eat raw cabbage and broccoli. I figure they’re getting the nutrition they need. Peter and I model salad-eating at least once a day, often enough that the kids sometimes ask for some. We try to keep salad dressings around that they like, as an incentive. We also keep our eyes averted when they dip their veggies into, say, o.j. diluted with ketchup.
AmyL // Apr 7, 2008 at 7:03 pm
@Jill: Sounds like you’re making great progress! My mother instituted the “no thank-you helping” with my sister growing up. I use that with the boys sometimes. I figure if they at least try it, that’s a victory. I never really pushed the salad thing though, which is why I asked.
@Stu: Huh. I don’t know what you’d sub in for leafy and green besides other kinds of leafy and green. Would broccoli count?
@Jill: Way to go on the spinach! We saw the Green Eggs and Ham at IHOP and it looked so cute. The boys rejected it out of hand though.
@InTheFastLane: Yes, my boys like other veggies enough that it’s not a worry per se. I’ve noticed that it’s difficult to feed them if we’re out anywhere; even at a church potluck. That’s what started me thinking about the whole salad thing.
@Nan: Wow. Never thought about it that way. I have a friend who’s a naturopath and I’m going to ask her about it. That’s so interesting though. The younger boys are 5 and starting to show interest in lettuce if I use it. I won’t use iceberg though; I’m hoping that having them see the darker stuff will influence them. Heh, heh, heh.
@Debbie: Interestingly, my boys refused to use any kind of “dip” for years. They still often eat their chicken nuggets dry, and 2 out of the 4 stick with plain carrots. Parsley, eh? I’ve not offered them parsley.
Hey all, fantastic to have you commenting.
I like comments.
Kristy // Apr 8, 2008 at 11:12 am
I only have one who eats salad, out of four (the youngest is not two yet so probably still too small to try). As far as nutritional content, that depends greatly on the salad. Iceburg lettuce has noce, but spinach and other darker and red leafy greens have lots!
The new trend of chopped salads can be a great way to introduce salad to kids because the pieces are small and uniform, they’re colorful salads, and you can include a lot of veggies without your kids ever really knowing what they’re eating.
STL Mom // Apr 9, 2008 at 10:37 am
My kids will lick the blue cheese dressing off their lettuce and then put the lettuce back on their plates.
My husband would do the same thing if he could get away with it!
I don’t serve a lot of salad around here since I’m the only one who eats it.
AmyL // Apr 9, 2008 at 11:37 pm
@Kristy: Chopped salads, eh? Would the recipe I posted qualify? I’m going to have to look that up. I’m so bored with food!
@STL Mom: Blue cheese! Really?!? Wow. My kids wouldn’t touch it. Someday they will, right? Lol. Now they barely touch Ranch dressing.
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