Dinner ideas for very fussy eaters — vegetables

Dinner is traditionally the place we serve vegetables and hope we have children who happily tuck into them. The reality is often quite different, with the greens producing a reaction that ranges from ‘totally ignore’ to ‘passionate hatred’.

When I work with families I always say that dinner is NOT the place to teach your child to eat. Role model eating well and pleasurably, yes, but focusing on ‘getting them to eat something’ nope!

There is nothing that turns a meal into a misery for everyone faster than a mission to make sure the broccoli gets eaten or the peas get tried. Which is not to say we do not want our child to eat widely and well, just that there are usually better ways to do this.

One of the best long-term strategies for supporting children to eat more veggies is serving them more frequently. Passive learning is slow and takes consistency and frequently a long time, but it is how our children learn most things — like reading.

However, like reading, the more immersed in the experience we are, the more likely we are to do well at it.

I also know that giving up often resolves any conflict around meals but does not lead to long term success.

Let us look at some ideas that may reinvigorate efforts and offer some inspiration. As…