Encouraging Kids to Eat Veggies

There is nothing better than fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden. Some of our daughter’s favorite foods are fruits and veggies. As a new mom I wanted to make sure my daughter was getting the proper nutrition from the start. We try our best to exposure her to different flavors and foods to encourage healthy habits at a young age. Please note although this is a sponsored post, we have been big fans and consumers of Happy Family since our daughter started eating solids over a year ago. She still loves the pouches and they are a perfect snack to throw in your purse or diaper bag. 

Happy Family just launched a brand new Love My Veggies line and we got to try the new varieties. These organic pouches are the first toddler pouch to contain one full serving of vegetables! I have to be honest, I was a little nervous to give the first pouch to my daughter. She was used to the fruit flavored pouches and I thought she would say in her new toddler voice “no, no, no.” Instead, she asked for more. She loved the vegetable and fruit combinations. In this post I also wanted to share three ways to encourage your children to eat their vegetables.

Encouraging Kids to Eat Veggies

• Start them early: I believe in starting fruit and vegetable consumption early. Our daughter’s first food wasn’t rice cereal or oatmeal. We started with avocado and banana. Slowly we increased the variety of fruits and vegetables in her diet. Now that she is 20 months old she almost never refuses any fruit or vegetable. She is a good eater so that helps but I also think early exposure to whole foods and limited sugar consumption helped with her eating habits.

• Keep offering: The first few times we offered squash our daughter refused. I’m not sure if it was the texture or the taste, but she didn’t like it. We decided to keep offering it to her and eventually she ate it. We also added some different spices and sauces. This seemed to increase her willingness to try it. Don’t be discouraged if your child doesn’t like it the first time. Keep trying.

• Try fruit and vegetable combinations: If your baby or toddler is refusing plain vegetables try spicing it up. You can add fruit to the dish or puree to add a sweeter taste. I love the combinations of Happy Family’s new pouches. Carrot, banana, mango and sweet potato sound amazing to me as an adult. Combinations can help you slowly increase vegetable consumption in your children’s diet.

What are some ways you encourage your kids to try veggies? Why not give Love My Veggies pouches a try? A 4-pack is now available at Target for $5.89. The pouches are available in three awesome varieties: banana, beet, squash & blueberry; carrot, banana, mango & sweet potato; spinach, apple, sweet potato & kiwi.

Do you have a favorite veggie recipe?

Our daughter loves the Southwest Bean Dip recipe I often make. It’s loaded with veggies and bite size so she can eat all of the ingredients with no problems. I want to challenge you to also take the #LoveMyVeggies pledge from Happy Family. Make a commitment to become a veggie lover in the month of April. Modeling healthy eating habits is so important so take the challenge with your kids!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Happy Family.