Kids Who Won't Eat Vegetables Will Eat This Vegetable-Pasta Salad

Kids are noodle nuts. They will eat spaghetti with tomato sauce, yet shy away from vegetables. Say the word "vegetable" and kids start to make faces. Though middle and high school kids will eat vegetables, they are selective about the ones they eat.

My 15-year old grandchildren (they are fraternal twins) pretend to eat vegetables by moving them around on their plates. What could I do? I combined pasta and vegetables, and added a tangy lemon dressing. The ratio of vegetables to pasta is five to one, and I think that's pretty darned good.

The directions say you should marinate the salad for three hours before serving. The longer pasta marinates the more dressing it absorbs. You may need more dressing than the recipe calls for if you marinate the salad all afternoon or overnight. My grandchildren loved the salad so much they went back for seconds, and my grandson went back for thirds.

This is not an exact recipe and you may play around with it. If you have leftover veggies toss them into the salad. Make the vegetarian version or add your protein of choice (see below). Customize the salad to your kids' tastes. Kids who do not like black olives may eat green. If your kids hate onions leave them out. You may leave out the roasted red peppers and substitute Cheddar for feta cheese.

While the salad tastes good year-round, it tastes especially good in the summer, when fresh vegetables are available, and tomatoes taste like they are supposed to. Vegetable-Pasta salad is the perfect picnic dish. Just remember to keep it cold.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups small pasta (shells, rings, tubes, spirals), cooked

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup English cucumber, chopped

1 cup frozen petite peas, defrosted

1 cup shredded carrots (from a bag)

3 scallions (white parts and green), thinly sliced

1/2 cup sliced black olives

7-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

2 tablespoons (or more) fresh basil, cut into narrow strips

4 ounces fat-free feta cheese

Dressing

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons extra light olive oil

1 teaspoon salt-free lemon and pepper seasoning

1/2 teaspoon low sodium salt

Protein of Choice: 1 small can water-packed tuna, or 1 cup cooked shrimp, or 1 cup chicken cut into

bite-size pieces, or 1 cup ham, cut into bite-size pieces

METHOD

Make salad dressing and set aside. Put ingredients into a large bowl. Add your protein of choice and salad dressing. Marinate for at least three hours. Serve on lettuce leaves and garnish with lemon wedges. Makes 8 servings.

Copyright 2007 by Harriet Hodgson

How To Add Leafy Green Vegetables to Your Diet

Many of us already know how good green vegetables are for our health, but sometimes it's hard to incorporate them into our daily diet except in the form of a green salad, and often that's made of iceberg lettuce which is hardly green at all.

Leafy greens are highly nutritious and low in calories. The World's Healthiest Foods site (www.whfoods.com) puts collard greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach, swiss chard and turnip greens on its list of healthiest foods. Depending on the green, they can be high in calcium, iron, antioxidants, and vitamins A,C, and K among others. (www.whfoods.com gives a complete list.) Usually, the darker the green, the more nutrients it contains. Leafy greens are also a good source of fiber.

So, what to do with them? Well here's a few of my favorite easy suggestions:

* For collard greens or kale--Wash, remove stems, and coarsely chop a bunch of greens. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a frying pan, sauté the greens for a minute or so, then add a small amount of butter and finely chopped garlic (the butter should keep the garlic from burning). Lightly salt, and keep cooking & stirring over a low heat until the greens are tender but not overcooked. (I prefer my greens still slightly crunchy, so I don't cook them long--for me if they're dark green and mushy, they're way overcooked.) I like to serve these as a side to beans and rice. You can put them right in the same bowl.

* Another idea for kale--Kale can easily be added to lots of different meals without anyone knowing. (Helpful if you're cooking for picky eaters.) Wash and dry a bunch of kale, remove stems, and then chop it up finely in your food processor (do not puree!). Put desired amounts in Ziplock bags ( I put in about a cup of chopped kale per bag), and then put them in the freezer. You can then add the chopped kale to chili, soup, stir fry or spaghetti sauce while cooking--and none of the picky eaters has to know what it is. I even add small amounts to macaroni and cheese.

* Swiss chard--Okay, if you're worried about fat, then this is not the recipe for you. Because of the high fat content, this is a recipe I only do about once a month, but it's always a hit. This is my version of Cheesy Chard.

* Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked brown rice, 1 full bunch of swiss chard, 1 large onion, olive oil, 2 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper, 1 package of sharp cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

1. Cook 1 cup of long grain brown rice according to the directions on the package. (Don't use white rice for this recipe because it's too light and sticky.)

2. During the last 20 minutes that the rice is cooking, chop the onion and sauté it in a large frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until the onions start to get soft.

3. While the onion cooks, wash the chard, remove the stems and coarsely chop. When the onion is soft, add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and add the chard. Lightly salt. Stir, cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the chard just wilts (this should not take more than 3 to 5 minutes).

4. Remove pan cover and layer some cheddar cheese over the chard. How much? This depends on your tastes. I use about 1/2 a small brick (maybe 4 oz) of cheddar cheese.

5. Cover the cheddar cheese with the hot brown rice and wait only a minute for the cheese to melt. Then mix the chard, cheese and rice thoroughly.

6. Salt and pepper to taste.

7. If you want more flavor, either add the Parmesan cheese or add even more cheddar cheese. For more vegetables, you can also add chopped carrots or some garlic while the chard is cooking.

As I said up front, this is not a low fat recipe. I serve it with warm French bread drizzled with olive oil, and that's the whole meal.

So those are a few ways to add non-lettuce leafy greens to your diet, and there are many more. Some good recipes can be found in Great Greens: Fresh, Flavorful, and Innovative Recipes by Georgeanne Brennan. The U.S. government now recommends eating at least 2 1/2 cups of vegetables per day for the average person, and it gets pretty boring if all you eat is broccoli, carrots, and lettuce. Add some leafy greens to your diet for more variety and better nutrition.

Getting Your Kids To Eat Their Vegetables!

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Getting kids to eat more healthy foods is usually a top concern among moms today. There are so many unhealthy options available at the grocery store, at restaurants and eateries, and in the school cafeterias that it seems moms must work extra hard to make sure healthy foods don't disappear from the menu. This becomes especially important when we take a look at some of the health problems facing young kids today that are increasingly being associated with poor diet such as diabetes, childhood obesity, attention deficit disorders, and even plaque build-up in the arteries.

What can you do when your kids just don't prefer healthier foods and vegetables? Giving up and letting them eat whatever they want is not an option. Almost daily a mom tells me that I should just give up and give in and let my kids eat what everyone else is eating... so they can learn how to "cope" with the real world. I'm wondering if that also means I should just let them take some drugs and watch some 'mature', graphic entertainment, since that seems to be the way of the world, too!! Of course not! Giving up is absolutely not an option.

It's time to get creative and here are some ideas.

1) Kid-Friendly Understanding of Requirements for Health

First and foremost, we teach our kids that vegetables are a requirement for health. Plain and simple, like it or not. If they want to feel great, be fast and strong, jump high, do well in school, etc. they need to include vegetables in their daily intake. It keeps them alive and well and their bodies performing at peak levels. I'm a firm believer in parents "wearing the nutritional pants" of the family. We set the rules for our kids when it comes to bedtime, chores, manners, time on the phone and computer, types of friends they can spend time with, experimenting with drugs and sex... why on earth would we not take food as seriously? It's our job to keep our kids healthy and to teach them how to make healthy decisions for themselves. Wear the pants!

2) Get Sneaky

If you're not up for wearing those very unpopular pants some days, one of the easiest ways to overcome an aversion to vegetables is to hide them inside other foods so that your kids either do not know they are there or they don't care. This subject has come under fire recently with the release of two recipe books that address this very issue. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious are two books that provide instruction on creating vegetable purees and then inserting them within other foods so that kids still get the nutritional benefit of their vegetables while still enjoying the "taste" of their favorite foods. The purees can be used in making macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza, and even brownies.

Some parents have denounced this method saying that sneaking the vegetables into the meal does not effectively teach kids the importance of eating healthfully. Other parents have decided the benefits circumvent this reasoning and do not see why healthy eating education cannot include teaching children to disguise the healthy foods they find unappealing inside the foods they do like, perhaps creating a life long habit.

OK, I definitely agree with the first group of parents. To the second group I say, "Okaaaayyyy... I kinda' sorta' agree with you... kinda'!" I think kids need to completely understand the critical importance of filling up with healthy food choices, whether they need to disguise them or not. Once they understand THAT, I'm in favor of doing whatever floats your boat to get kids to consume generous amounts of veggies.

Some of the not-so-obvious ways we include ample servings of veggies (and other health-building foods) in our family's diet can be summed up by the "3 S's": Soups, salads and smoothies. Especially at this time of year, we love to whip up a batch of homemade soup each week, loaded with a surplus of vegetables the kids might not consume otherwise. We also make a salad topping consisting of finely chopped pieces of a wide variety of vegetables - things like beets, kale, rutabaga, parsnip, leeks, onions - things you definitely won't catch my kids asking for as a snack! We add various herbs and seeds, keep it all in a glass container in the fridge and scoop it onto whatever lettuce we're using as a base. This ensures that we all get a wide variety of nutritious veggies at one sitting. Finally, we whip up a mean, green smoothie that our kids LOVE! (You can actually get FREE samples of the greens and protein we use at http://www.FirstShake.com/4251)

3) Invite Your Children to Participate in Meal Preparation

One of the best ways to ensure that kids are enthusiastic about their meal is to have them participate in making it. When they help out with meal preparation and cooking they feel a great sense of accomplishment and that in itself makes the meal more appealing. Even younger kids can help out by measuring or mixing ingredients, finding recipes inside magazines or cookbooks, and setting the table. The excitement of making the food can only be surpassed by the excitement of actually trying it. Just take a few deep breaths before undertaking this adventure with them... and anticipate that a normal 30 minute meal prep will now take 90 minutes, with their "help"!

4) Give Them Time

It can take many repeated exposures to vegetables at dinner time before kids feel comfortable trying them. The key is not to pressure them and make the dinner hour one of tension. Pressuring kids to eat their vegetables can work against our ultimate goal. Just keep serving vegetables and other healthy foods with each meal and let children get used to seeing them on their plates and their parents plates and often times they will come to accept them in time. If there are a select few veggies that your kids DO like, just make sure they get those daily. Right now our daughter is going though one of her phases where she's not wanting much variety in her vegetable. I find myself serving her green beans, peas, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes (I know it's not really a vegetable!) for 80% of her dinners and lunches. Then I throw in asparagus, edamame beans, sweet potatoes and salads the other 20% of the time and don't worry about it too much! I'm sure she'll embrace broccoli and Brussels sprouts again at some point in her life!

Also, remember that children mimic the actions of their parents so the next time the salad is passed to you, realize that a big "I LOVE salad" can go a long way!

Boys who do not want to eat vegetables is to eat this vegetable pasta salad

Children are nuts noodles. Eat spaghetti with tomato sauce, but are afraid of vegetables. Talking to begin with the word "vegetables" and children to make faces. Although middle and high school children will eat vegetables, which are more than those who eat selectively.

My twin 15-year-old nephew (they are fraternal) to pretend to eat vegetables with the addition of everything in the pot. What can I do? I combined pasta and vegetables, and added a spicy sauce with lemon. The ratio of vegetablesPasta five to one, and I think that damn good.

The instructions say you should marinate the salad for three hours before serving. The dough is more than it absorbs the marinade dressing room. You may need more than the recipe calls for dressing the salad, if you marinate all afternoon or overnight. My nephew has the salad so that he returned for seconds, and my nephew went to third.

This is not an exact recipe and you can playaround. Leftover vegetables, if you throw them into the salad. Make a vegetarian version, or add your protein of choice (see below). Adjust the salad the flavor of your children. Children who do not like to eat black olives, green. If your kids hate onions leave them out. You can leave the peppers roast and cheddar cheese substitute feta cheese.

While the salad tastes throughout the year, is particularly good in summer when fresh vegetablesavailable, the tomatoes and taste as they should be. pasta salad with vegetables is a perfect dish picnic. Remember to keep it cold.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups of pasta (shells, rings, tubes, spirals), cooked

1 / 2 cup chopped celery

1 / 2 cup English cucumber, chopped

1 cup frozen petite peas, thawed

1 cup carrots (from a bag)

3 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced

1 / 2 cup sliced black olives

7-oz jarRoasted peppers, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons (or more) fresh basil, cut into thin strips

4 oz fat-free feta cheese

Dressing

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil easy

1 teaspoon salt-free lemon pepper

1 / 2 teaspoon salt, sodium

Protein of choice: 1 small can of tuna packed in water, 1 cup of cooked vegetables or shrimp, chicken or 1 cup of sliced

bite-size pieces, or 1 cup ham, cut into bite-sizedEach

METHOD

Make salad dressing and set aside. Put ingredients in a bowl. Add your protein of choice and salad dressings. Marinate for at least three hours. Serve on lettuce leaves and garnish with lemon slices. Makes 8 servings.

Copyright 2007 by Harriet Hodgson

Angel Hair Pasta with chicken and vegetables a great week night dinner Busy

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For parents who work are employed, single mothers, families, sports, etc., to help you, this recipe is dinner ready in 30 minutes. No need to fast food when you can make this healthy and nutritious meal for your family any time, any more than would be required to go through the drive through window fast food, home and put the food. Making a promise to feed the family for healthier foods this year, and the recipe for Angel Hair Pasta with chicken and vegetables to your meal plan to addFile. This meal is not only healthy and delicious, it's cheap, too. Add the garlic bread and salad, if desired. I am a great meal that your family have no doubt the request again.

Angel Hair Pasta with chicken and vegetables

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast half, cut into cubes

1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 package (10 oz) frozen broccoli, thawed

2 cloves garlic, minced

12Oz Spaghettini

2 / 3 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried basil

1st / 4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Yield: 4 servings.

1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken in hot pan. Cook, stirring, until the chicken is also through. This should be about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and pour over paper towels. The remaining oil in same pan. Put water on the fire to cook the pasta according to package directions.Add the carrots to give the pan and cook, stirring about 4 minutes. Add the broccoli and garlic to give carrots to the pan and cook while stirring for a few minutes.

Tagliatelle. While the noodles cook, chicken broth, basil and parmesan cheese mixture into the pan. Stir until all ingredients to combine. Return the chicken to the pan. Reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes left.

Drain the pasta in a large bowl. Top with chicken and vegetablesMixture. Serve immediately, still warm.