Sneaky, Sneaky Mommy!

Horizon Little Blends and TwitterMoms have joined forces to create a fun and easy blogging contest for TwitterMoms members. They want to know how moms make sure their kids are eating all their fruits and veggies, even if they have to sneak them into their food! They asked us bloggers to share tips, tricks and advice for getting kids to eat their fruits and veggies.

I have to admit that my 3 kids from my first marriage are excellent fruit and veggie eaters, they absolutely LOVE it. Case in point; we occasionally will splurge and take all of the kids out to a buffet type restaurant, in Southern Virginia we love to frequent Golden Corral, Cici's Pizza, or a local Chinese Buffet. That means the 4 younger kids (because the oldest, at 21 years old and Autistic, doesn't do well with interacting with the younger kids) and my 2 toddler nephews= 6 growing kids. My 3 bio kids (I only say it like that to differentiate here) will always head to the salad bar first and load up their plates with salad and various fresh veggies, cottage cheese and fruit. I wish I could say that I trained them that way, LOL. Now as for the other children, my sweet Amber and my 2 nephews will avoid the salad and fruit bar at all costs. I have to help steer them there. Just a little nudge. Amber will choose maybe the 4 largest pieces of lettuce, and place them strategically on her plate so that it takes up three-fourths of the plate, and maybe she'll add a piece of fried chicken along side of that. That's her entire meal. Dessert, on the other hand, will quite literally be an overloaded plate of chocolate brownies, cookies and cake, maybe some ice cream, too. My sweet, innocent nephews adore her, so they follow suit. DH thinks this is cute and endearing, I shoot him looks as sharp as daggers. My DH is just as bad, he hates all veggies except for peas, potatoes and corn (those aren't real veggies) and despises all fruits except citrus fruits. Do you see what I am working with here? As parents, we need to lead by example!

I know its important to make healthy choices for my family, someone has to do it! Part of that is incorporating variety into meals and making it fun and appealing, and if that means being sneaky--then so be it. I'm Mom, and you can't sue me!

• I make a great zucchini bread that my DH and nephews especially favor. DH thought it was just a fancy cake--his face turned white when I told him! Gotcha buster!
• My family also loves my homemade chili, its a hit around here. As a matter of fact, its a special at our weekly poker games--the guys love it, too! I make my chili base with fresh tomatoes that I puree with some onions, olives and bell peppers. I usually make a fresh pot of steamed jasmine rice, then I layer a scoop of the rice in each bowl and scoop the chili over it.
•  Kayla, my 13 year old, has learned to make a great Banana Strawberry pudding, which my nephews think is better than ice cream!
• Nothing says fun like home made pizza! I admittedly favor using the pre made pizza crusts, like Boboli, as I get them at my local Entenmann's bakery outlet and freeze them. The kids love to layer the sauce and veggies and make cute faces or other interesting edible artwork for their pizza masterpieces.
  
•  We have different kinds of salads and veggie trays throughout the week.(I usually buy veggies in bulk at my local Sam's club and Farmer's market) I also like to skewer fruits and veggies and set them out on trays, the kids love that, too. I made these trays (pictured below) up on Saturday night, and its now Monday morning and the last bits of it were packed in today's lunches--GONE!

• Smoothie time! My kids love to make smoothies and homemade ice cream from seasonally fresh blueberries, strawberries, cherries. I have a Magic Bullet and an Electric Ice Cream Maker machine thingee, so its not too much work. I have the kids help put it all together, and they think its the funnest!
• We'll be visiting our family in New York within the next few weeks, and our favorite past time is apple picking when we visit. Its officially the Fall, and nothing evokes past memories and traditions better than the sweet fragrance and aroma of fresh apples made into cider, pies, fresh applesauce, and even candied apples! 

There are so many different ways that you can creatively incorporate fruits and veggies into your family meals! Make it fun for the kids, let them get involved and most importantly, don't give up--keep trying!!! Kids and adults tastes evolve, so something they may not like today might be tomorrow's obsession! If you want to learn more about this contest and how you can enter, visit TwitterMoms here for more information.

About Little Blends:
Little Blends from Horizon is an all-natural yogurt blend of fruits and vegetables that will help parents incorporate more nutrition and variety into their child’s diet. Each 4-ounce cup packs a daily value of 20 percent calcium, 25 percent protein, omega-3 DHA and probiotics. Parents will really love how Little Blends makes sneaking fruits and veggies so much easier. This new line is just one example of how Horizon continues to deliver nutritious food options that support healthier kids and a healthier planet.

Anyone have any great tips?  I would love to hear them!

*I would like to thank TwitterMoms  for this blog review opportunity, to help spread the word about the importance of balanced, healthy eating. I was not compensated or endorsed by Little Blends®  to promote their products, but I like TwitterMoms, and I thought you might, too*