Five portions a day?

kittycat07

We find it hard - and it's only DH and me in our house! My nephew's 3 and for him they tend to split his fruit and veg down - i.e. lots of half portions rather than 5 whole big bits. So for example he might have half a portion of strawberries / banana / raspberries etc on his cereal, then for mid mornng snack half a banana etc etc. HM soups are a good way of getting lots of "hidden" portions in and he tends to have either a little smoothie or glass of fruit juice a day too. I like the ideas above about veggie burgers etc off to investigate for next time he's round.....

dolly_day_dream

When my children were little I had only one rule at dinner. They didn't have to eat everything but if they left a significant portion of their meal then they obviously were not hungry so went without desert. No fuss was made about them eating vegetables and as a result they will now eat just about anything. One is not keen on raw tomato and one now (aged 27) has decided that he is not that fond of roasted parsnips. In their teenage years they had a far healthier diet than many of their peers.

Eating enough veg has never been a problem cos veg=cheap meat=expensive . How about blending veg into pasta sauces? The burger idea is a good one and soup works well. How about getting them to grow some carrots/beans etc cos then they may well decided that they want to eat them. Don't forget that salads and raw veg count as well. Adult role models are important. If you go with seasonality then seeing adults anticipate the first crop of asparagus/strawberries/peas will also help them to realise that veg are something to be enjoyed.

morganb

My two always have a portion of fruit and a glass of juice with their breakfast, without fail. That's already two portions.
I have recently read that the recommendation is 2 fruit and 3 veg a day, although sometimes we do 4 fruit and 2 veg. I don't think it really matters as long as they are getting a range.
If there's veg they are not keen on, i.e. cauliflower, then I stick that in a soup. Their favourite soup is butternut squash which I cook with onion, carrot and lentils (that's four different veg).
I have recently bought DS1 (5 yrs old) one of the children's knives from pampered chef ... he now chops up grapes, kiwis, red peppers etc. for me when I need them and as a result eats them without moaning too.
I really do think it is just a question of conditioning them to expect fruit and veg. My two now have an apple or orange for a mid-morning snack, and I always serve a meal with three or four different types of veg. If they moan about them, then I say they are allowed to leave one this time, but that they must eat it the next time ... and then I tend to serve them it the following day. If they ask for potato wedges, for example, then I make sure they have normal potato wedges mixed in with some sweet potato ones.

I hasten to add that DS1 had a nightmare two years where he barely ate anything other than bread, weetabix and pureed fruit pots (and even then, only the hipp organic ones) but I made sure that everything he ate for him was 'good' and didn't give in. It was a complete nightmare but we can just about laugh about it now. He now eats almost anything. The other day we went out for a meal and he asked for the tomato soup for a starter and then ordered a burger but asked if he could have it with vegetables!!!! And then he ate them all, I was so proud. Just the sight of him tucking into fruit salad the other was enough to make me cry, he has really come a long way!

It is hard to start off with, but once they are used to fruit for snacks, etc., then it gets a lot easier. I do think food companies have a lot to answer for with all this over-manufactured food aimed at kids. Why buy cheese straws, for example, when they can have a slice of cheese??? The only 'kids food' that we buy is fruit humzingers, as they are a nice snack to eat in the car ... i.e. I don't get crumbs everywhere and they don't stink the car out like bananas do!!!!

Something that we did last year, which got then fussy DS1 into a wider range of veg, was pick your own.
Hope I didn't go into too much of one there! HTH!!

comping_cat

Remeber - a portion is classed as a handful, so see how much you could fit into your hand, and that will be enough.
Obviously, for a child, their hand is a lot smaller, so that might be an easier way of getting them to eat more, a smaller portion (the size of their palm) will not be so daunting as a massive pile of veg!!!

Mrs_pbradley936

I manage this very easily. I eat lot of vegetables and always ask for more when eating out and no I am not a vegetarian. I have to force myself to eat fruit because I do not really like it, I get around it by putting a few blueberries and raspberries in salad. Also if I eat a dessert I try and make it apple crumble but by the time you have added custard or cream the calorie count must surely outweigh any goodness in the apples!

Gingham_Ribbon

Pulses count as do fried fruit like raisins and fruit juice (pure, not 'juice drinks'.) Each can only be counted once as the idea is to get variety in youy diet.

Some ideas -

Breakfast: grate an apple or pear into porridge and sprinkle some raisins in. Add dried fruit to cereal instead of sugar, or slice in a banana. Have fruit and yoghurt.

Lunch: Sliced cucumber/tomato/olives/onion with ham, beef or cheese slices for a sandwich. Hummous counts as one as it's made from chickpeas. Have it in a sandwich with grated carrots. Have a piece of fruit after lunch each day. Banana is great in cheese sandwiches, and raisins or sliced fruit are good with peanut butter.

Dinner: I find this easy as a vegetarian. But if you like meat and potatoes, why not put carrot, celery and onion in mince; mushrooms, peppers and courgette in bolognaise, add carrots and sweetcorn to h/m burgers, have 2 or 3 veg with meat and veg and cut down on the amount of potato and meat. (Potato skins are bursting with vitamin C so try to keep it on if possible. Make your own coleslaw, have 3 bean chillis, have veg with things you might not normally add it to. eg have fried mushrooms over cheese on toast, or peas and sweetcorn with eggie bread; have a corn on the cob for a snack; have a fruit salad for pudding.

Gingham_Ribbon

eg day 1:

Breakfast: Cereal with sliced strawberries, followed by half a grapefruit
midmorning snack: apple
Lunch: ham salad sandwich, yoghurt, banana
Dinner: meat, whole potatoes mashed with leek or chives, sweetcorn and peas. Glass of orange juice.

Day 2:

Breakfast: Porridge with grated pear and raisins
Snack: dried apricots
Lunch: Baked potato with h/m coleslaw, pineapple juice
Dinner: Chilli with mince, onion, kidney beans, mushrooms, courgettes; apple crumble

etc

ellat257

Try not to make an issue out of it. If they seem healthy and are keeping up with their friends leave them to it.

With my two I never pushed, just lead by example. They expected to see veg and if they didn't eat it I didn't push. Now they both (14yrs and 8yrs) eat anything except spinach for one, the other doesn't like tomatoes.

They also have no objection to pureed fruit in the bottom of angel delight.

Be beware. You might find that the grapes, tomatoes etc that are easy to snack on disappear very quickly. And NEVER expect you will get the last brussel sprout. All of us agrue over them - three of use sat around the table with reasons why it should be them.

stefejb

I used to think that we were struggling until we found out that pulses and nuts and seeds count. 10yo dd is veggie and I am more or less so it's quite easy. One thing that encouraged her to eat more veg was when she started to grow her own - it's absolutely magic to see her go out into the garden to collect the salad and then eat it. Let the kids prepare some of the veggies too - even a littlie can slice mushrooms with a dinner knife. Also when dd decided to be veggie I did tell her that she would have to be less fussy about the veg.

Gingham_Ribbon

Just had a thought. Tinned tomatoes or passata (seived tomatoes) count too and make an easy quick pasta sauce. And beans on toast. Add cheese on top of both for a protein rich meal for the kids.