How to sneak in veggies at dinnertime to help get your kids on the road to health

(WXYZ) - Getting a nutritious budget friendly meal on the table each night can be a challenge, especially if your kids aren’t big fans of vegetables and other healthy choices. But there are things you can do to sneak in those veggies and make other foods look more appetizing. And it all starts, not at the grocery store, but before you even make the trip.

“The first thing you need to do before you even step foot in the grocery store is to make a plan,” says registered dietician Tina Miller. She’s also Meijer’s Healthy Living Advisor.

“Think about what I’m going to have the next week. Look at sale papers for the grocery stores where you shop. That’ll give you an idea of what’s in season, whatever is on sale, so it’ll help you make those healthier choices and save money while you’re doing it.”

As a mother of two boys, Miller is keenly aware that getting kids to eat their veggies isn’t always easy. So she’s come up with tricks to disguise them or hide them altogether in some nutritious dinner meals. Baby food anyone?

“Like adding some pureed carrots, baby carrots, just mix it in with mac and cheese and that makes an easy way to pump up the nutritional value of the food,” Miller says. “I like to add pureed peas to soups or sauces because it helps to thicken it and bump up the nutritional value as well.

Or how about a jar of pumpkin in your pasta sauce?

“It bumps up the Vitamin a, a lot of extra fiber and that helps increase the vegetable servings.  In place of using ground beef, I used some of our morning star crumbles. These are actually soy. A lot of time, I’ll use half ground beef, half the crumbles and of course soy is a plant food, so we’re getting more vegetable food in our diet as well,” according to Miller.

I tasted the sauce, and while it was delicious, I couldn’t even taste the pumpkin, and your kids probably won’t either. Serve with whole grain pasta, and you’ve got a healthy meal. Meat is the most expensive part of any meal, so Miller suggests stocking up on meat when it’s on sale… and freeze it.

And when you’re ready to make it, get creative by adding things that your kids like to vegetables. Kids typically like cheese, so Miller whipped up a mozzarella cheese, spinach and tomato mixture and stuffed a chicken breast with it.

“It’s attractive,” Miller says. “Kids love food that looks nice.”

Another idea, a red pepper sauce, whipped up in just minutes, with sweet red peppers, diced tomatoes, some garlic, water and salt and pepper.

“You can place it on the plate, that helps to increase the amount of vegetables they get by serving the meat on top of it, so it kind of hides it.”

Healthy choices, to get you on the road to health.

Below are the recipes for the dishes mentioned above (along with a veggie sandwich)

WXYZ Healthier Family Meals – January 2012

Tip 1:   Sneak in the Veggies!  Add pureed veggies to soups, stew, sauces and casseroles to pump up the nutrition.  Canned pumpkin, loaded with vitamin A, is convenient but so are jars of baby food vegetables. 

• Add pureed sweet potatoes to mac and cheese
• Add body to soups with purees squash, carrots or other veggies
• Add canned pumpkin to sauces, such as our Pumpkin Spaghetti.  Really veg it up by using steamed spaghetti squash in place of noodles.

 

Pumpkin Spaghetti

Serves 6

1 lb. extra lean ground beef or 2 cups MorningStar® Recipe Starter soy crumbles

1 small onion, diced

1 cup 100% Pure Pumpkin (canned)

1/2 jar of Meijer Organics Traditional Pasta Sauce

1 Box Meijer Extra Spaghetti

Parmesan Cheese, grated

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, brown ground beef with onion until no longer pink. (Alternately, brown onion is 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, add MorningStar soy crumbles and heat through.)
3. Add pumpkin and pasta sauce to a skillet and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes more. 
4. Spoon pumpkin sauce over spaghetti and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

 

Use vegetables in a variety of sauces:

• Blend roasted red peppers seasoned with herbs and a bit of lemon juice, then drizzled over fish
• Puree butternut or acorn squash, carrots, grated ginger, and bit of brown sugar to top chicken, turkey or pork.
• Add a cup or two of tomato or vegetable juice in soups and stews – acids will help tenderize meats while boosting nutrition value.

Poached Fish with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

Sauce:

 1 12 ounce jar roasted red sweet peppers, drained or 1 large fresh red pepper, roasted

1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup water

2 tsp. McCormick dried basil

2 Tbsp. tomato paste (save remainder of tomato paste to add to soups or stews)

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. Meijer salt

Dash McCormick cayenne pepper

Fish:

1 pound tilapia fillets or cod fillets (cut in 4 serving pieces)

1 lemon, sliced thin

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 teaspoon McCormick lemon-pepper seasoning

 Directions

Sauce: 

1. In a blender container or food processor bowl combine peppers, tomatoes and garlic; cover and process until nearly smooth.
2. Add 1/2 cup of the water, basil, tomato paste, sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and dash of cayenne pepper. Cover; blend or process with several on-off turns until mixture is nearly smooth.
3. Transfer to a small saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until heated through.

Fish:

1. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Measure thickness of fish.
2.  In a large skillet bring the remaining 1/2 cup water and half of the lemon slices just to boiling. Carefully add fish. Return just to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 4 to 6 minutes per 1/2-inch thickness of fish or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
3. Gently pat tops of fish dry with paper towels. Sprinkle fish lightly with the 1/4 teaspoon salt and lemon-pepper seasoning.

Spoon the sauce onto dinner plates. Place the fish on top of sauce. Garnish with remaining lemon slices.

Nutrition Information per serving:  Calories 109, Protein 18g, Fat 1g, Cholesterol 23mg, Sodium 358mg, Carbohydrate 7g, Fiber 2g.

Recipe adapted from bhg.com

Tip 2: Add shredded vegetables to baked goods and sandwiches.  Use shredded carrot and zucchini in muffins, cupcakes and quick breads and generously top sandwiches and wraps with a variety of vegetables.  It’s important to eat a variety of colorful vegetables and fruit---different colors provide different nutrients!

• Top wrap sandwiches with shredded broccoli slaw or cole slaw mix. Try turkey burgers cooked with BBQ sauce and topped with broccoli slaw mixed with Marzetti’s light slaw dressing.
• Layer sliced mushrooms, avocado, tomato, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, flat leaf spinach or whatever you desire on top of sandwiches

Chicken Veggie Wraps

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken breast meat, diced or shredded rotisserie chicken, skin removed

½ cup grated baby carrots

½ cup chopped broccoli florets

½ cup Marzetti’s low fat ranch dressing

3 cups Dole Romaine salad

6 Meijer whole wheat tortillas (7"- 8"diameter)

Directions:

Combine chicken, carrots, broccoli and dressing. Toss gently. Line each tortilla with ½ cup of packaged salad mix. Spoon ½ cup of chicken salad mixture on to tortilla. Roll closed and slice each tortilla into thirds. If desired, secure each wrap with a party toothpick.

Serve with a cup vegetable or tomato soup.

Nutrition Information: 525 calories, 10g fat, 52mg cholesterol, 645mg sodium, 80g carbohydrate, 6g fiber, 27g protein

Recipe adapted from produce for kids.org

Tip 3:Vegetables are not just for dinner!

• Sautee shredded or sliced veggies (i.e., mushroom, red bell pepper and onion) and scramble with eggs.  Top lightly with reduced fat shredded cheese.
• Ants on a log make a good breakfast too – celery sticks with peanut butter topped with raisins or use light cream cheese and top with dried cranberries (Craisins).
• Snack on raw vegetables and include vegetable side dishes at lunch, such as a small salad or a cup of light coleslaw.
• Have leftover vegetables from dinner with your lunch the next day.

 

Tip 4 : Incorporate green veggies into favorite foods

 

• Add a cup or two of fresh spinach or other greens to soups and stews
• Mix baby spinach with soft cheese (ricotta, cottage) and use to stuff pasta shells or when making lasagna
• Mix greens with stuffing for chicken or pork, such as our stuffed chicken and rice recipe:

Spinach Stuffed Chicken & Rice

Makes 4 servings

 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 (10 oz.) packages Meijer frozen spinach, thawed and drained of excess moisture

1 (14 oz.) can Meijer diced tomatoes

1-1/2 cup Kraft shredded part skim mozzarella cheese with ¼ cup set aside

McCormick herbs of choice such as oregano, parsley, basil, thyme

2 cups of Meijer uncooked brown rice

 

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Slice each chicken breast open to create a pocket.  Stuff each chicken breast evenly with spinach, diced tomatoes and 1-1/4 cups mozzarella cheese.
2. Use a toothpick to close the end of each stuffed pocket.  Place on a baking sheet.
3. Use the remaining cheese to sprinkle on the top of the chicken breasts.  Sprinkle with herbs.  Bake for approx. 25 to 30 minutes, until chicken is done.

Serve over brown rice.

 

Nutrition information per serving: Calories: 461, Total fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 96mg, Sodium: 485mg, Carbohydrate: 45g, Fiber: 7g, Protein: 49g.

Serve with Dole® bag salad