The Veggie Box

Read any mom tip book or visit any website, and you will inevitably come across a chapter on how to get your kids to eat more vegetables. It’s a national maternal pastime. There’s the sneaking veggie puree into everything strategy, playing games with food and the ’50 times before they like it’ approach. I am proud to say all three of my kids love to eat raw veggies as snacks and with meals—and the way they developed that taste was simple, no games required.
I started always keeping a ‘veggie box’ in the fridge—a Tupperware container full of raw, cut-up vegetables such as carrots, celery, peppers, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, sliced cucumber, and cauliflower, that I refill every few days. When the kids are really hungry (like after school or when we come in for lunch after an active morning skiing or playing soccer), out comes the veggie box as the first choice for snacks, along with some vague excuse from me like ‘Just eat these for now, I’ll get you something else in a minute’ or ‘I am looking for your sandwich in the cooler’. Then lo and behold, when I turn around in a few minutes, half the box is gone. (The only thing that’s been rejected out of hand so far is radishes.) And the more often they eat them, the more they seem to like them. An added benefit is that I am eating a lot more veggies too, as they are always washed and ready to be eaten. Perfect with hummus when I get home from work.

What’s your tip for getting your kids to eat veggies?