Do you sneak food?

by

there's squash in here ya'll!

This post has been languishing in drafts for a while.

It’s something I think about pretty much daily—yet I wasnt sure it was completely post-worthy until a Twitter chat last week.

The chat focused on healthy living & children (starting NOW please to feel free to substitute spouse/partner/friend for the words CHILD or KID). 

One of the questions asked for our best tips on sneaking healthy food into our kids’ meals.

And, as per this languishing-in-drafts post, I thought:

Im completely, entirely, wholly & utterly anti-sneaking.

And, as per my lack of filter these days, I tweeted precisely that. 

Out of all the chat attendees only one other woman agreed with my perspective.

Allow me to back up a moment.

Remember when Jessica Seinfeld came out with her Deceptively Delicious cookbook and prattled on & on about how she’d created a way to sneak veggies into her kids’ (& Jerry’s) meals?

I rolled my misfit eyes.  Hard.

This concept is nothing new (which she eventually acknowledged).

My own mother–back in the 70s–experimented with black bean brownies.

I remember because she laughed to me about how we werent supposed to be able to taste the beans and invited me to help her concoct them (you cant taste the beans. the brownies rocked).

Ive chosen to parent in this same way.

I love the notion of slipping veggies into unexpected places and all the better if in said places you cant taste them at all tell they’re there!  (ala our fave Shrek Shakes).

Where the other twitterchat attendees and I parted ways was in the sneaking.

Id be lying if I didnt say it can be a struggle to maintain the Tornado’s healthy eating habits (thanks Kinder!), yet I firmly believe if I “sneak” veggies she’s not creating a lifestyle she’ll maintain.

We make a game of sneaking on ourselves.

We slip in things we both dont really like arent tremendous fans of & see if we’ve created a way in which we’ll eat them!

We make a game of sneaking on ourselves.

We use our imaginations in the kitchen to find a tastier vehicle for our veggie consumption.

We make a game of sneaking on ourselves—but she’s always aware the healthy, good-for-you stuffs are in there.

I agree with the men & women who asserted pureeing/sneaking is an easy, painless method for getting our kids (spouse/partner/friends) to eat more veggies.

I just question, still, if it’s a method which will be a disservice to them in the long run?

And you?

  • have you successfully sneaked veggies into a loved one’s food & feel firmly it’s the way to go?
  • are you a fan, as I am, of the open-sneak and believe we can teach healthy eating that way?
  • do you wish this post had remained in drafts where it mightcould really have belonged?

 

Please to hit us up in the comments below.

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Comments

  1. When I read the tweet I thought you meant ‘sneaking’ food in a scoffing chocolate with no one looking way! (Cos I definitely do that!)

    I was a fussy eater as a child and one of the biggest ‘spankings’ I got that I can remember was when my father was cooking for us one night and made mashed potatoes (I loved potatoes even then). Unbeknown to me he added raw onion… so of course I piled my plate up high, but spat it out when I tasted the onion (I didn’t eat it back then). I think I possibly had a little tantrum or swore or something. I mostly remember the occasion cos he chased me out of the house to spank me. (He wasn’t violent, but I grew up in the ‘smacking’ era!)

    So.. if I had kids I possibly wouldn’t sneak stuff into their meals. (I might fib about how nice it is though!)

    Deb

  3. I think it is what parents do, Carla.
    We tease and trick until our children will do it of their own accord.

  4. I do sneak a great deal.
    Usually the purees and I have found my kids will eat anything then!
    I’d not considered the notion they aren’t creating healthy habits.
    Food for thought.

  5. Yes and no…

    No sneaking with my kids- we practice the one bite rule and they actually love their veggies after years of constant exposure…

    My ex on the other hand… Yes, I would sneak veggies into anything I could because he was set in his meat and tater ways and it was easier than the battle…

  6. We sneak 🙂
    I jus don’t want the argumet, but you’re right. They aren’t learning.

  7. I don’t really do this but I look at it more as packing in extra nutrition than trying to hide veggies per se. I too have a small one that detests veggies. Thankfully she will eat fruit.

    That said, I add pureed red bell pepper to my meatloaf when I have it on hand. It tastes so good!

  8. I tried “sneaking” veggies into food and my 3 year olds figured it out and wouldn’t eat it. I like your way better, “sneaking” but telling them. I think your way creates the foundation for a healthy lifestyle and “sneaking” without telling just creates deception!

  9. I love the idea of trying to hide from myself.

    I’m not a fan of veggies even at 27!

  10. hmmm, i would say, YES… to YOU! I have 3 nieces and nephews who are picky eaters, BUT… Let them choose what they want and lead by example and they will try it. Yes?
    I like using squash in brownies or pumpkin, but i would not call that sneaking, just useful. hehe.

    Great post.

  11. I think sneaking is great. But I’m definitely with you that we should share the information about the sneaking so they learn to sneak to themselves! I also believe in trying to get the healthy foods straight up also. That way they can see that their are multiple avenues for healthy eating! Apple straight up=delicious. Sneaking apple into a healthy bread recipe=delicious!

  12. Yes! (said the non-parent) Make it fun and let them play along. I can also see ‘sneaking’ an ingredient into a ‘guess-the-surprise-ingredient’ dish, and then telling them, after they fall in love with it, what that ingredient is.

    • I love that idea, Cammy! We’ve built up the trust (being serious) in that she would see this as fun and not be…afraid 🙂 of what id trick her with! Love!

  13. very interesting post! on the one hand i agree that sneaking in vegetables can be a great way to get a couple extra servings in, I also totally agree with the point that if you don’t teach your kids what they’re eating and what’s really in their food, how can they be expected to recreate that when they’re out on their own. if they didn’t know there was an extra cup of veggies pureed into their spaghetti sauce, when they make it for themselves they’ll probably just use plain spaghetti sauce.

  14. I’m with you. I make things that have veggies mixed and blended in – like sloppy joes made with mostly grated and chopped veggies and the wonderful green smoothies. But I still tell my kids what’s in there and show them that veggies CAN taste delicious.

  15. I love the Jessica Seinfeld book and hadn’t considered the idea my girls aren’t developing habits.

    The are developing tastes though perhaps?

  16. I have nothing against sneaking foods in, although it seems to work better with my hubby than the kids as they are very anti-sauce. Whatever works right?

  18. you make a good point I failed to as well, Janice.
    I’m constantly amazed at what she happily snarfs when truly hungry!!

  19. Have never thought much about this but it’s interesting for when I have kids. I have always thought I would just start my kids eating veggies from the time they can and that they would learn to like them like I do (prepared tastefully that is.) I like your point of view that they will not maintain if you “sneak.” I think I’m with you on this one!

  20. Open-sneak! Absolutely! As a kid, I never had anything sneaked into my meals…it was always open for me to try out! I was free to develop my own taste buds (be it veggies, proteins, fruits, whatever!). That’s probably why, today, I don’t fear trying new foods! And neither do my siblings 🙂

  21. This is so timely!

    I nanny and just started the sneak LOL. After reading this I realize I wouldn’t sneack if they were my own kids.

  22. I do remember that Jessica thing. I never thought so sneak food in, since my kids were too old to be fooled by the time I even thought of it! But I think your approach makes absolute sense.

  23. I do sneak… A Lot!

    But whatever I purée as the sneak is also served up as the side dish. That way i’m ensuring that whether or not they eat the side dish beyond 3 Bites i know they’re getting some in the sneak foid. We practice the “3 Bite Rule” in our house.

    If you don’t like something that is your choice, but you must try 3 Bites before being excused from the table.

  24. I’m with you on this, Carla. I sneak openly. Green milkshakes are probably my favorite example. My 4yo doesn’t “do” raw spinach or other greens. But he will daily beg me to make him a green milkshake, even stuffing the blender with spinach for me. Neither kid is a big fan of courgettes, but both marvel that the muffins I make that they devour include them.

    I’d wager to say they are proud – they know veg are important for their health, and they’ve helped work with us to find ways to make them palatable to their young taste buds.

    • I dont! And not for any “IM TAKING A STANCE DAMN IT!” reason either 🙂 She typically knows to at least try what’s on her plate and Ive also learned, with her, she’s more apt to be curious about and ask to try something new if it is on MY plate…

  26. I didn’t sneak veggies back when my kids were little, but I also like just steamed veggies – I’m not one who needs everything covered in a cheese sauce. And that’s how they prefer them now, as adults. I guess I didn’t make too big of a deal about it – don’t remember my kids actively disliking most foods, so I guess I was lucky?

  28. I do both! I don’t exactly put their green smoothies in see-thru cups. They drink them up in princess sippy cups, but can’t tell they’re green. But I also tell them that vegetables are healthy and they help us run fast.

  30. We eat a lot of veggies and fruits, and they are everywhere. I also make a lot of “clean-out-the-fridge” pureed veggie soups (we get CSA boxes, and there are always some veggies that don’t get used otherwise). I talk to the kid a lot about healthy foods and what they are good for. At his preschool, they have a communal veggie & fruit bowl that is supplied by a different family each week. They talk about what different fruits and veggies are good for, and he often brings this up at dinner.

    So, in general, it’s definitely an “open sneak” in our house. However, I have to say that the kid is not an “easy eater.” It’s much, much, much harder than it was with his older brother. When “the almost 21-year-old” was little, he saw me eat mainly veggies & fruits, and that’s what he mainly ate. At that time, people would always comment how amazed they were that he ate so many salads, veggies, etc. (which drove me crazy as I didn’t want eating veggies to be a big deal but “normal”).

    The kid eats and likes veggies, but he has somehow awlays a “food of the week.” What that means is that he gets totally focused on one food and wants nothing else. Usually it’s healthy. But it’s still hard to convince him to eat other things. So there are times when I do make a pureed veggie soup with as many different veggies as I can think of so that he gets a variety of foods. And if his current favorite, lets say tomatoes, is in there, then it just may be “tomato soup”… 🙂

  31. I do a bit of both too. The boys always get vegetables on their plate during meals or, if it’s something like soup, they know that there’s vegetables in there. We have been upfront with them about fruits and veggies and the importance of eating them. However, I will at times add fruit or veggie purees to pancakes or muffins or other things as a substitute for oil or butter. Not necessarily as the only means of getting them to eat veggies but as a supplement.

    I’m glad that you took this one out of the drafts. It’s an important conversation around our kids/partners/family/friends and about our eating habits that we all need to be having.

  32. I guess I’m with you – my daughter doesn’t like zucchini but I will put it in things that I know she won’t mind it in, and I will tell her. My girls were pretty hesitant the first time I added spinach to their smoothies, but I told them what it was (and they loved it). So, although I add extra veggies and things in to recipes, I never pretend it isn’t there…

  33. Wow, now that you mention it — I have to say, I totally agree with you too. How will a loved one learn to embrace and LOVE real, healthy, wholesome (and tasty) food if they don’t even know they’re eating it to begin with? Case in point – my husband used to be SO PICKY before he met me. Over the years, he’s grown to love, love, love things like asparagus, snap peas, broccoli, tomatoes, giant salads, etc. He never ate any of those things pre “me”. His parents never instilled that in him, instead letting him be as picky as he wanted to be so he never really had a chance to even figure out if he liked veggies or fruits or whatever. Now he’s much more adventurous, mainly because he’s more open to trying things – and even more open to it if I spice a new food up (anything spicy he LOVES…which is why you’ll see lots of cracked red pepper on asparagus, broccoli, in beef stew, etc. It works like a charm!). 🙂

  34. I do what Cammy does…will add an ingredient and see if it can be guessed. My husband has an excellent set of taste buds and can figure out the various ingredients in the dishes I make. And although I don’t have my own kids, when my stepkids were younger, the rule was, “try it and if you don’t like it you don’t have to eat it.” Sometimes I’d put something they supposedly didn’t like into something else, and they’d eat it, and I’d then tell them. To this day I tease my stepdaughter about mushrooms and sundried tomatoes, both of which she used to hate but now loves 🙂

    Oh, and by the way? I can TOTALLY taste the black beans in black bean brownies…ICK!

  35. I have not done that but the kids did not live with us. I tend to think like you Carla, if we start them out young eating whole foods instead of making it like they are something bad, then the child learns to eat a balanced & healthy meal & food from early on.

    Parents like to eat what they want to eat yet want their kids to eat healthy when they are not providing a good example for them. I have seen way too many stories on overweight kids & parents wanting to help but they actually are the problem in not setting a healthy example in the home.

  37. Took me forever to get into your blog, but I kept at it because I disagree LOL
    I think we need to start with the sneak then reveal to them look you liked this!!

    Just my two cents.

  39. I don’t have kids, I do this for myself. By which I mean: mostly I am not a fan of just sitting down and eating a pile of vegetables (the exception being salad or snacking on raw veggies). I lean toward dishes where the veggies are mixed in with everything else.

    For what it’s worth, my parents tried very hard when I was young to get me to eat veggies. A lot of them I still don’t like (Carrots – blech!). A veggie that happens to be mixed into a soup, stir-fry, chili, curry, fajita is still healthy. I think it’s more important to learn ways to enjoy foods you may not be crazy about on their own, rather than possibly not eating them at all.

  40. I dont’ have kids, but I sneak for my own sake. I almost always use apple sauce or bananas in baked goods instead of added oils, and I love a good green smoothie for breakfast most mornings.

    I don’t usually tell my boyfriend about the substitutions I make, but he keeps on requesting my “special apple bread,” the one that tastes so moist. I told him it’s so moist because I added extra apple sauce but I didn’t mention that I left out all the oil… so that could be considered sneaking right there 😉

  41. I have a good friend who is a nutritionist and when the Seinfeld book came out, she had pretty strong feelings against it. Her point, and I agree with her, is that kids should learn to like vegetables for vegetables. Yes, it’s tough–I have one kid who eats everything (bless him!) and one who I have to work harder on. Her vegetables “likes” are more limited. But I keep plugging away and figure that I am teaching good eating habits. Hopefully some of it will stick!

  42. Awesome post. I’m currently pregnant and handt thought about this before.
    Sneaking sounded easy and fun.

  43. and the more I’ve stepped back the more I realize this started so much as TRUST OVER FOOD. I want her to know if I say ‘this is XYZ’ that it is!
    Even though it would and is in our grown up eyes a GOOD sneak could this undermine trust?!

    • Yes. This is why I plan never to sneak, Carla.
      In my eyes it is no different from other lying and I want to teach truthfullness.

  44. fortunately I’ve never had to sneak anything into the kids food…they eat whatever I give them and actually like veggies, fruits, healthy whole foods!!!

  45. This is a great post! I am definitely w/you – no sneaking. I want my daughter to learn how to make choices and about how she feels when she’s eating healthy, whole foods. Now that said, she does NOT eat most vegetables, and eats only a select number of fruits. I’ve followed Ellyn Satter’s advice for feeding her since the get-go. I make lots of healthful foods available (I am a ridiculously healthy eater, my husband a well-above-average healthy eater) to her, and she chooses for herself. She naturally gravitates toward healthy choices (strawberry/banana kabobs are a current jag, as are lowfat, low-sugar frozen tubes of yogurt). She doesn’t have the variety I’d like to see, but she’s loosening up as she gets older and we set a stellar example for her.

  46. LMAO – I just made the black bean brownies from Spabettie. And some apricot bars with sneaky stuff. It was lovely. I wasn’t “trying” to sneak – like getting healthy stuff in. But I love how these recipes repurpose ingredients, in surprising ways. I love having “traditional” treat like foods with healthy goodness inside.
    And “he” liked them so much he didn’t even ask what the mystery ingredients were (he knew there HAD to be mystery ingredients) because I was alone in the kitchen. For a while.

    hehehehe HAHAHAHAHA

  47. I almost feel like I’ve missed the point of posting this, but you have inspired me to figure out a way to eat brussel sprouts. Nasty dirt booger things.

    • Brussel sprouts are YUMMY! (and I wouldn’t have said that a year ago) Get fresh (frozen are nasty in my opinion). Cut them in half. Boil them for about 4 minutes. Then drain and put in a baking pan. Put the cut side down. Drizzle with EVOO and put some pepper and Kosher salt on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 12 -15 minutes. You want the bottom of the sprouts to get a little brown. The leaves that fall off will get nice and crunchy. I like mine served with a little more salt and pepper and garlic powder.

  48. Without pontificating too much, I never snuck food into my daughter. Being in the fitness industry I saw so many incidences of eating disorders that I researched everything I could to know how to instill safe, healthy, food habits into my daughter so she would not have body or food issues. So far, so good! She is an active, body confident athlete with no disorders around food. The means do not justify the ends ultimately. Hugs to you!

  49. At first I thought you meant sit in the car and eat cookies sneaking.
    Which I know nothing about LOL.
    This I probaly should try with my boys in the fashion you do with The Tornado.

    Sneaking on ourselves.
    Great suggestion, Miz.

  50. I went the sneaking route for a bit but then realized it was a lot of work for me to puree all that stuff.

    I want them to know what they are eating so that when they are someplace other than our kitchen (restaurants, friends houses, etc.), they know what they like and what they don’t.

    • I agree, Thea!
      It is so time consuming and messy to puree everything.
      I do swap some things to be more healthy.

  51. I agree whole-heartedly. (Did I say that right?)I noticed that kids in France tend to develop palates quite quickly because foods aren’t kid-friendly or adult-friendly. They don’t feed their kids chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, the kids eat what they are eating. (That being said, I know many American parents these days don’t feed their kids the above mentioned foods, either.) Introduce the foods now so they like them now. I specifically liked this line: “yet I firmly believe if I “sneak” veggies she’s not creating a lifestyle she’ll maintain.”

    Exactly.

  52. My husband thinks he doesn’t like tofu and that it’ll never pass his lips…but what he THINKS is cottage cheese in our vegetarian lasagne IS tofu…shhh….our little secret!!! (he also thinks coconut is evil, but sure likes the thai curry I make…but there is NO coconut milk in it…never..wink)

  53. Love this post! What a great conversation, that’s why that question was my fav of the chat – so many perspectives. Love reading all the comments!

  54. Interesting perspective! As someone who doesn’t have kids, and has a spouse that loves all foods, I don’t have much experience on “sneaking” stuff into food. However, I have babysat for my 7-year-old nephew often enough to know that if we tell him what’s in it, eat it ourselves, not make a big deal, and promote it as awesome, he’s good to go! Stuff he’d never normally eat is considered delicious when presented in this way, and the sneaking doesn’t have to happen. I agree with you – sneaking it in doesn’t teach a child how to have a healthy lifestyle that can be maintained in the future.

  55. I’ve never sneaked (turns out Firefox told me that snuck is not a word) veggies in, but I have used things like Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in dips and some of my friends have freaked OUT about it.. I honestly can’t tell the difference but they can! Ha. I liked this post and am glad you published it. But then again, I like everything you ramble about.

  56. Let me just say, all these methods to increase veggies also work with “veggie challenged” husbands. My favorite “game” is to let him eat some, and if he likes it THEN I ask him to guess the ingredients. And he reluctantly agrees it’s “not so bad after all”. Men. Gotta love em.

  57. My husbands mum used to do this and I’ve promised to him that I will not do so for the two of us. He’s agreed to try something first before he says no if it has things in it he doesn’t like. Seems like a fair deal.

    That being said, I have no problem with making healthy substitutions wherever possible in recipes, but to me that is a different thing. If it tastes the same, then I think it’s fine. I don’t think you should need to hide healthy foods. If someone doesn’t like something, they’ll taste it. The more you try the more you find out if you like or not. After hanging out in the kitchen there are a few things that my husband wishes he didn’t know the ingredients for, but that’s up to him and his brain to decide if he wants to eat them… 🙂

  58. People, all sneaking means is that they won’t trust you. That will work once, until you punk the kid by saying, “GUESS WHAT I PUT IN THERE?!” and now all you’ve created is a kid that won’t eat ANYTHING you put in front of them because they don’t trust you. Congratulations. o_O

  59. I’m with you. But then I’m lucky, I have two girls who like their veggies and aren’t picky eaters. You wouldn’t believe how quickly we go through a bag of apples in this house!
    In my case, with kids who aren’t picky, I think it’s best to put it on their plates so that they learn to make healthy choices and how to eat properly.
    I have also seen friends go through so much emotional agony with their picky eaters. One friend had a 2 year old who refused to eat any solid food for days at a time. He was given lots of green smoothies and home made green popsicles.

    So Yes, in general I completely agree with you. There are however situations where for whatever reason, the child is refusing to even try and it may be a way to get some healthy in there.

    Husbands on the other hand…I’ve given up trying to convince mine to make healthy choices when it’s not cooked by me and put right in front of him!

  62. Well, i’m blessed that my kids eat the veggies without sneaking, and always have. Not every veggie (beets are only for dad), but enough variety that it’s not a problem.

    My mother did sneak stuff on my brothers, because they would eat it if it was pureed and pick the stuff out if it wasn’t.

  63. My mom just made me eat ’em. No sneaking, no trying to make kid food. If they were having liver and onions for dinner, I got liver and onions. If I didn’t like it, tough.

    However, I was lucky enough to really like a lot of veggies and fruits (meat was what was hard to get me to eat…).

  64. I feel like you need to learn to like veggies just like I learned to like…wine (?!) and how will you know you like something if you don’t know you are eating it. But, with that being said, I am not a fan of making 2 meals at dinner so if that means spaghetti squash noodles need to look like pasta noodles…I am NOT opposed to making that happen!

  65. Great point! My son is only 10 months and he eats whatever I put in front of him. I love that he loves veggies and I definitely like your theory that it shouldn’t be a secret they are eating veggies. They need to learn what is good for them so that when they can make their own choices they think it through. Nice post!

  66. I am all about the open sneak.I love that my boys ask for spinach in their muffins and eggs and cheer when broccoli is in their mac and cheese and ask for avocado “pudding”. 🙂 Um, how cute is the tornado with her flower????

  67. you can introduce and model and do a bunch of stuff…but you can’t follow them to college! (Or if you do, it would be frowned upon!) It all goes to hell then-especially drinking alcohol. Don’t think “your” kid is immune, ’cause they won’t be! They may even rebel MORE if they finally realize there are burgers, fries and beer “out there” for the taking!

  68. I’m definitely glad you posted this. I love the “open sneak” idea. That’s pretty much what we do now. My daughter is almost 5 and I am finally getting Chinese Herbs into her. She knows. I make them into a tea and she has them in her Green Drink. She’s such a trooper about it.
    I was just like you before she was born. I was disgusted by the idea of sneaking food, Jessica Seinfeld’s book (and the original sneaky chef…) And as a life long veggie lover myself I was very confident (smug) about my ability to make my daughter into a veggie lover too.
    And then she had no interest in much food at all for what seemed like forever. I started putting green peas or spinach into her Guacamole (she would always eat avocado) and carrots or squash into her Mac and Cheese. My rationale was this: I wanted her pallate to be exposed to those things at that very young age. (I had trouble breast feeding so couldn’t get different things into her that way.)
    She ate some things…. devoured an artichoke a day before she was 2, loved brocolli… but not enough variety.
    I wouldn’t put veggies in sugar or chocolate things. That’s really counter-intuitive to me.
    Now I’m finding that I just need to be more creative. I love veggies enough to eat them steamed and the same every time. For my family, more variety has been the answer. She even ate red chard and loved it the other day. I made it with Kalamata olives and capers. Yum.

  69. I have to admit I too am anti sneaking. I agree it is not something maintainable. It also still makes veggies the “villains” of the food world, a completely unfair title. I think it’s completely fine to add squash to your mac n cheese, or beans to your brownies, or sweet potato to your muffins. I just don’t think it should be about “sneaking” it in.

  70. My kids are simple food kids, so I don’t have any sauces or mixes I could mix things into if I wanted to LOL. That said, when my 6 year old was a toddler, he would eat anything if it was in the form of soup. I got a LOT of vegetables in him that way, but it was more a case of that’s how I make soup than an intentional sneak. Now he will eat quite a few veggies just steamed with a little salt, so maybe his taste buds were affected in a positive way.

    • This is kinda how I feel about it. I would never lie to my kids about what’s in their food, but I’m not going to make a big deal about the fact that it has vegetables. If they don’t notice that I put peas in the cheesy pasta then they’ll learn when they’re teenagers and need to learn how to cook. In my opinion, vegetables are not so remarkable that failing to mention their presence is deceptive.

  71. As a kid I was allergic to almost everything- literally. The sneak would have been a huge no-no!
    And… I can’t help but think that this is just one more unnecessary step to making vegetables into seeming undesirables. Even by ‘accident’ we seem to put vegetables into that category and I am living proof that if you keep trying you can find good stuff that works for you. Better it seems to me to be honest whenever possible.

  73. I agree! NO SNEAKING! I was a picky eater growing up…wouldn’t eat anything that was green or had ever been green! I consume lbs of veggies a day now, but I am not sure I would appreciate them as much had my parents not encouraged me to “AT LEAST TRY IT.” That was the game…I tried the veggies, one bite at least, and if I didn’t like them I didn’t eat them! Honestly I remember not liking veggies out of sheer bullheaded stubbornness…I WILL NOT EAT ANYTHING HEALTHY! I never really didn’t like them! I wouldn’t like being tricked as an adult. In my HUMBLE OPINION tricking children…well not a good idea!

    Great post!

  74. Though I’m not a mom yet, I will be sneaker when my time comes; I’m sure of it. However, I’m not going to lie about ingredients. If my kid asks what’s in something, I’ll tell him/her. I just may not necessarily call it “mac n’ butternut squash” – I may just refer to it as Mamma’s Pasta Casserole.

  75. I totally love your approach of making a game and including them in your sneaky endeavors. It gets them thinking about problem-solving and tailoring “the given” into what “could be better.” Transmits into all avenues of life. Great post.

  76. Very good points. In our house, we have established what’s normal for us to eat. We eat whole wheat bread vs white, brown rice vs white. Our pancakes are the cottage cheese-oatmeal variety. This is just how we eat. I agree with you and the other commenters about setting up healthy eating habits for life. In general, our society makes too big a deal about food. We think about what we should/shouldn’t be eating way too much, and this can be really harmful for our kids.

  77. I do occasionally but if said food is enjoyed I confess, in the knowledge that next time I can do it openly without sneaking! The last time I did it was flageolet beans in shepherd’s pie – worked quite well as they had a similar texture to the mashed potato.

  78. I don’t have kids and my husband is like a garbage disposal – he’ll eat anything I cook.. so I don’t know. I don’t think sneaking is bad :p

  79. TORNADO IS SO SO SO STINKIN’ CUTE!!

    Your mom deserves credit for those brownies! Genius!

    Yes, I think my most common sneak is spinach–but you’ve got me thinking of much more!

  80. ummm this so does not belong in drafts. so glad it’s out there!

    your thoughts on why sneaking food isn’t a good idea make perfect sense to me. you aren’t teaching by doing for your child. if they grow up blissfully unaware they’re consuming veggies, when they have their own choices of what to eat, they’ll have no reason to choose to consume them. they won’t know they like veggies in the first place!

    but it’s tough b/c as a parent you want what’s best for your kid. and it’s also often easier i’m sure to sneak them in and not try to make your kiddo eat them. my mom never snuck veggies in for me, but she did MAKE me eat them and as soon as i got my drivers license, i went on a bit of a chilis-and-friendlys-fiesta for about a year out of pure rebellion.

    so it seems that making kids eat veggies and hiding them are both bad ideas. you just have to try to foster a true enjoyment of them, like you are working on with the tornado and like i hope to do with my children someday, even though right now i’m at that i-dont-want-them-ever stage. but even with my loved ones – my mom sneaks faux meat into chilis a lot and doesn’t tell my dad, and then we’ll go out to eat and he won’t touch a veg option because he has no idea he actually DOES like them!

    that was a novel. but seriously, awesome discussion.

  81. I’m not a sneaker…I’m more of an everyone-tries-a-little-bit-of-the-sweet-potato-or-smashed-cauliflower-or-whatever-er.

  82. reading this was interesting and I wish I could piece together a decent comment for you. I do both. I totally sneak where I can with what I can because I play mind games with myself like there’s no tomorrow. I want to stop though, because one day I’ll have children and I want them to appreciate all food, not think veggies and fruit are things to be “tricked” into eating.

  83. I sneak zucchini into my husband’s favorite cookies. Why sneak…it makes him happy and if he knows, I know for a fact he will not eat them any more. I choose to make him happy.

    I do a lot of what Jessica might think is sneaky, but is just my recipe. If my kids want to know what I put in that meatloaf they are free to ask. Will I volunteer, NOPE. To me that is not being sneaky.

  86. I’m not a food-sneaker either. Although mine’s more out of laziness than anything else. My exhaustion kind of informs a lot of the way I feed my children: I don’t cook different meals, you eat what I made or you go hungry, whining gets you nothing, dessert is not a right… wow, I sound evil when I write it out like this. I swear I say it all with a smile. Usually. ANYHOW.

  88. I read recently a lot UK adults believe they are superior cooks than their mum, and the large portion of parents claim to have taught their own kids how to cook!

  89. How do you sneak half a plate of veggies? It would look really, really funny. LOL (Obviously, I’m on the “don’t sneak it” side of this argument.)

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