How to (hopefully) convince your kids to love veggies

This post is sponsored by Delish Deliveries.

The most common question I get asked by friends, family and readers is “how can I convince my kids to love veggies?”. I’m not an expert by any means, but I want to share what works for us and hopefully, you can get a tip or two or an idea on how to try and convince your kids to eat veggies.

It’s quite funny how this post ended up being sponsored. Before the whole stay at home thing, I started ordering from Delish Deliveries- they have a 36 hour farm to front door promise, and you can really tell from the quality of their produce. And now I’m working with them so that you can find out all about how amazing they are.

I have not been disappointed yet (and I’m tough with my fresh produce). They have a whole range of supermarket items you can order too. Norco dairy products for example - which are Aussie made and owned, then all the pantry and fridge essentials for any meal you can dream up! I’ve not done a supermarket shop since we started getting delish deliveries, because I just haven’t needed to. All our lunchbox fruit, veggies, bread, eggs, milk, pretty much EVERYTHING has been delivered to my door.

They also have a wide (and growing) range of quality meat - so you really can cook a whole meal on delish alone! They deliver Sydney wide and also now the Central Coast & the Illawarra all with free and really convenient delivery - you don’t have to be home and you wake up to groceries on the doorstep!

The kids literally start jumping up and down on Friday mornings, desperate to open the boxes. Sure, I always order the staples that I know they will eat- the carrots, cucumbers, potatoes etc, but I also try to push the boundaries - by adding in new veggies and getting them to try them.

So...how do you convince your kids to eat veggies?

1. Make sure your veggies are fresh.
   
   I cannot stress this enough! Fresh and yummy veggies are so much better than limp ones. There is nothing better than a crunchy, delicious carrot! The key here, is if you are serving veggies at their absolute best, they taste fantastic. 
   
   
2. Try them in all colours
   Stock standard from supermarkets is the orange carrot, the green broccoli, the white cauliflower, but these veggies come in so many different colours! Once you have mastered the orange carrot, one way to encourage new things is trying a different colour- they come in people, white, yellow, so many varieties, but all with a very similar taste to the standard orange, so it’s a great way to give something new a go, with much less pressure. Delish supply colourful bunches of Heirloom carrots picked straight from a farm not far from Sydney.
   
3. Cook it different
   
   Try veggies in different ways, whether it’s how they are chopped (rounds, sticks, grated…) or how they are cooked, veggies are so versatile and there are so many different ways to prepare them. Try baking carrots in honey and olive oil, or roasting your cauliflower instead of steaming it. It’s ok to like one way better than another.
   
4. Don’t make a fuss about it
   More often than not the veggies are “just there” on the plate or on the table, and the kids eat them as a result. They are a normal part of our meal. The less I talk about them, the more they tend to get eaten.
   The kids now know that they need to eat them and serving themselves from the table has been a key convincer- using tongs and spoons to dish up the veggies is apparently incredibly fun!
   
5. Make dinner together
   Or at least make the dinner choices together. Try to get a rainbow on the plate and focus on only putting one new or learning veggie in each meal. Stick to favourites and build from there - Rome wasn’t built in a day and nor is a love of veggies!
   
6. Take the focus off dinner.
   All the veggies don’t have to be eaten at dinner time! Carrot sticks, cucumbers, celery are all perfect additions to the lunchbox. And that means that dinner is less stressful!
   
7. Make them fun
   Whether you choose to go the “eat a rainbow” way, or start putting them in fancy side dishes, there are lots of ways to make veggies more interesting. Surprising winners at our place are Mediterranean veggie bake, sweet potato bake and the humble carrot, roasted with honey and sesame seeds.
   
   
8. Don’t give up!
   Do I need to say anything here? Even un-eaten veggies are exposure. And if all else fails, you can hide them in food. When I make hidden veggie meals, I also serve them with veggies, then no-one suspects a thing.
   
   

If you’re keen to start upping your veggie game, the best place to start is by getting the freshest and tastiest veggies you can find! Try some favourites in different ways, like broccolini instead of broccoli, heirloom carrots instead of orange ones.


Give delish deliveries a go, I’m sure you’ll be impressed!