V is for Vegetables

     When my son was a baby the doctor started him on vegetables and he seemed to love them.  He would focus in on the tiny spoon filled with vegetables and open his mouth wide.  When he became a toddler he still ate his veggies but then blew the winds of change.




      It seems as if it was overnight that he developed a hatred of vegetables and has refused to eat them ever since proclaiming quite loudly that he didn’t like them.  I was perplexed.  When the vegetables were pureed and came from the baby food jar he gobbled them up.  Now he refuses to eat them.  

    I am a big fan of the “Biggest Loser” and last season they challenged three kids to lose weight.  Bob Harper suggested to Bingo’s parents that they prepare recipes that would hide the offending vegetables so that he would unknowingly eat them anyways.  Taking my cue 
from Bob, I decided to do the same thing.  My son has loved sandwiches since he was very little.  Instead of requesting any other snack, he always wants a sandwich.  One day I decided to mix mayonnaise and honey mustard together.  In the mix I added grated carrots and sweet peppers and spread the concoction on his bread and top with meat.  He ate his sandwich without ever knowing the difference.  I have also performed this little bit of veggie magic on meatloaf, hamburgers, and meatballs and watched with a knowing smirk when he gobbled each up proclaiming them delicious.


       He still refuses to eat vegetables.  I often remind him how much he loved them as a baby.  He always rolls his eyes and wrinkles his nose in disgust.  I hope someday he will discover how yummy vegetables really are and broaden his horizons to knowingly give them a try.  Until then, I figure what he doesn’t know won't hurt him.