So Tell Me ...

... how do you get your toddler or child to eat vegetables by choice?

Emmerson loved vegetables when she was a baby, in the pureed form. There was a brief window when she enjoyed raw tomatoes, too. But now she eats broccoli with ranch dressing (loves it!) and corn on the cob. I've tried other vegetables with ranch, but that's a no-go. And I'm not sure that she will voluntarily eat any other vegetables. And if I mix in vegetables, say with pasta, and she sees a flash of orange carrot or the green of a pea, she'll disdainfully push it aside or sometimes get downright angry and stop eating.

I do diguise pureed vegetables in many meals (I add pureed carrots or sweet potatoes to spaghetti for instance). And just recently I started buying Horizon's Little Blends, which she enjoys. But that doesn't help her learn to eat vegetables by choice since she doesn't know she's eating them. I do try to offer her vegetables at lunch and dinner -- vegetables she can see and feel and fling to the wall to see if it sticks.

On the flip side, Emme loves fruit and would -- and often does -- eat fruit at every meal or for dessert. (She almost never eats any sweets.)

Maybe it doesn't matter that she won't eat vegetables. She's only 19 months old. I'm pretty sure I didn't enjoy vegetables at that age either (Mom??) but now I love all vegetables (especially if someone else is preparing them, and especially on the grill). Emme does take a multivitamin (especially important for vitamin D, which many kids are deficient in, especially African-Americans because of their darker skin).

How do you handle the vegetable situation with your child? Email me or leave a comment, if you carrot to. I'm sure I'll be green bean with envy.