Getting kids to eat their veggies may require devious behavior

Today in the news, I read a story about how kids who eat too many hamburgers on a daily basis are at a greater risk for asthma than children who have better diets. The link is here. I don't think this is much of a shock to many of us, but it just goes to show that the old adage, "Eat your veggies," may not be stylish or popular, but it is still valid.

Why am I showing you a photo of zucchini, rather than a hamburger? I want to suggest that you really can get your kids to eat their veggies, especially zucchini, but you may have to be a little devious about it.

Before you get all shocked, think about the time you actually went over the speed limit to get somewhere on time. Is it any worse to fool your kids about some of the ingredients in their food? Honestly, the food companies do it all the same and you pay good money for the fillers they put in your food -- just start reading the labels, and you will see!

How can you do magic and get kids to eat veggies? Start with something they usually like, such as spaghetti. Buy a jar of spaghetti sauce (choose one with ingredients you can pronounce) or make your own. Start small -- take a small zucchini or yellow squash or a half cup or so of fresh spinach and secretly put it into a blender with a cup of spaghetti sauce. Blend it until the squash is totally pureed.

Pour that into your pan, heat it up as usual, and you will have a healthier version of spaghetti sauce that your kids won't complain about. You can add a little more of the good ingredients each time you cook it and you will be amazed at how much your kids will like eating their vegetables.

I believe your kids won't even be able to tell. If they ask if there are veggies in their spaghetti, coyly reply, "Honey, you know tomatoes are vegetables!" Then get busy doing something else. Never lie to your children.

Use this method for serving up veggies in spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, lasagna and then move to soups and stews. What makes this work is the blender. Start slowly with small amounts and make sure the mixture is smooth and none of the "secret" ingredients can be seen. If they get a detectable piece of a vegetable in their their little mouths, you may be done for. If your blender doesn't get the squash or spinach smooth enough, cook the vegetable in a little sauce and then blend it after it is soft.

The next step is to add a little of the blended vegetables to a soup base. It will make a vegetable or meat-based soup even richer. Your family would never suspect you of doing something so devious!

Now if you have a VitaMix or Blentec blender, I can't believe you haven't already thought of this method! I have an Oster all metal drive, heavy duty blender that works really well and is affordable.

OK, this is important. One day your child will ask you for your wonderful recipe. When you give it to them, they may be a little surprised at first, but as soon as they get over the shock they will give you a hug and say, "Thanks for taking such good care of me!"