August 26th, 2011

Peas and Thank You is a collection of recipes and stories from a mainstream family eating a not-so-mainstream diet. It’s filled with healthy and delicious versions of foods we’ve all grown up enjoying, but with a Mama Pea twist—no meat, lots of fresh ingredients and plenty of nutrition for growing Peas. From wholesome breakfasts to mouth-watering desserts, there’s plenty here to satisfy the pickiest Peas in your life. It’s easier than ever to whip up crowd-pleasing meals that will have the whole family asking for, “more, Peas.” Sarah Matheny’sdelicious recipes and entertaining stories draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to her blog, peasandthankyou.com each month, where she makes raising a vegetarian family easy and fun. She is the author of  “Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love.”

Check out great tips below from the SocialMoms community on how to get kids to eat more veggies!

Peas and Thank You
August 26th, 2011
Don’t give up. I keep trying new and different ways to incorporate veggies and fruit into whatever my kids happen to be liking at the time. It is not always a successful venture and sometimes I don’t like what I made, but I keep trying!
Read more from Insights By April
4 notes
Peas and Thank you
veggies
August 26th, 2011
Try things raw-Before you cook the vegetable, let your kids try it raw. Sometimes, when a vegetable is uncooked the difference in texture will make a huge difference. My daughter loves uncooked broccoli but if I were to give it to her cooked, she’d through a fit. Personally, I don’t care it is cooked or uncooked as long as it is being eaten.
Tip from Not So Ordinary Girls
4 notes
peasandthankyou
veggies
August 25th, 2011
Use the baby food. That’s right, I said baby food. When my son transition to chunkier foods, and then out of the baby food stage all together I didn’t want to waste what I had. So I started adding a container or two of squash (or peas, green beans, spinach - whatever I grabbed) to sauces when I made them. No one was the wiser until I told them, and it helped to convince my dubious daughter that she did in fact like spinach.
The Quiet Moments suggested this
Peas and Thank you
veggies
August 25th, 2011
Salsa. For our house, salsa is a delicious snack and doesn’t resemble vegetables in flavor or shape! It’s a great little healthy trick!
See more tips from Cars, Trucks, and Teething Rings
Peas and Thank you
veggies
August 25th, 2011
Make vegetables available. Why do kids like snacks like potato chips, crackers, and cookies? They are easy! All you have to do is go into the pantry and grab a cookie! So make it just as easy to grab a veggie! Cut up carrot sticks, slice up cucumbers, or break apart that head of broccoli and put them in Tupperware in the refrigerator. Then it will be just as easy to grab a healthy snack!
Excerpt from Formula Mom
Peas and Thank you
veggies
August 25th, 2011
Let them have dip. I always suggest for kids not to learn the only way to eat veggies is smothered in dips, but sometimes this is a great way to begin introducing them to children. Set out a tray full of dipping veggies (raw broccoli, baby carrots, celery, etc) and several cups of dips, such as ranch dressing, hummus, or French onion and let them dip away.
Read more tips from The Happy Wife
Peas and Thank you
veggies
August 24th, 2011
Let them help! My son loves helping make his salad. He then gets to choose what goes in it and is more excited to eat it.
Excerpted from Crunchy Beach Mama.
Peas and Thank you
August 24th, 2011
Lead by example. If you eat your vegetables your kids won’t think that they are all that bad and won’t know anything different growing up.
Continue to read more ways to make veggies FUN and edible to your kids by Real Moms Real Views.
Peas and Thank you
August 24th, 2011
Make salad art! If your kids don’t dig on the idea of a bowl of lettuce – make it into something fun. You can easily turn all the usual salad ingredients into something playful like a face or animal.
Creative ways to make veggies FUN and edible to your kids by The Busy Woman’s Guide to Surviving Motherhood.
Peas and Thank you