Our family has been on the healthy eating train for almost 2 months, hooray! I’ve been trying really hard to make dinner with vegetables or a salad, helping get in our greens. After talking to a friend of mine about how she helps her kids eat healthier food, she shared a super cool tip with me: keep a ready-made vegetable tray in the fridge. It’s so easy and it’s been a great way to help my kids eat their veggies.
We’ve been using this method for a couple of weeks and it’s been such a hit. Thanks to my friend Pam, (I’m giving her all the credit), I’ve never had my kids eat so many veggies. I’ve had to fill the tray almost every other day, wahoo!
Here are a couple of tips for using this veggie tray method:
- Find a sectioned chip/veggie tray. 4-5 sections is best if you have a variety of vegetables. I bought this one at the dollar store.
- To save on money, buy your vegetables whole and prep them yourself. It takes a little more time, but this can help with your wallet, especially if your kids start going through a whole tray in just 1-2 days.
- Add anything you want in your tray. My kids love all of the above, but you can tailor it to your children. Maybe they like pickles, peppers, and radishes, or even fruit like strawberries would work well.
- If you plan to store your tray in the fridge, which is best, place a piece of plastic wrap over the top to keep it fresh between uses.
- Bring it out for an after-school snack as the kids work on their homework. Or it works great as a side dish for dinner as well.
- You can also add a dip in the middle section of the tray. Salad dressing or peanut butter, maybe even a few raisins to make some ants on a log!
- I love it for cooking dinner, as the vegetables are already prepped and I can toss them in a salad or stir-fry.
- And I find that I’m snacking on these veggies all day too, it’s just so handy.
This veggie tray method is a great way to make vegetables look inviting. I think that’s half the appeal for my kids, making it so simple to grab.
How are you getting your kids to eat their veggies? What tips and tricks do you have?
| This post is sponsored by Hidden Valley® Ranch. Discover how you can make vegetables delectable! |
Written by Marie LeBaron
Marie LeBaron is the founder and managing editor of Make and Takes. Always having a love of crafts, she enjoys getting messy with glue and glitter. There’s always some sort of project going on, her kitchen counter is often cluttered with crafts. When she’s not crafting and creating with her kids, she loves to run, read, and blog! Read other posts by Marie
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a great idea, Marie. I think we all have a hard time getting our kids to eat enough vegetables!
great idea! before I had kids, I remember hanging out at a friend’s house and noticing she had a bowl of grapes in the fridge that the kids could easily access whenever they wanted a snack. that always stayed with me – if it’s easy for them to get to, they’ll eat it! love the veggie tray idea!
what a cool idea!!! I’ve filed this under “mom tricks to pull out in the future” :) the Moose is not quite a year old & she’s still pretty sure veggies are… well, there don’t seem to be any “V” words for… FABULOUS!
That’s great. Sounds like she’ll be well on her way to loving them as she grows!
When we go grocery shopping we usually let each of our daughters (ages 6, 7, 9) choose a treat. The only limitation really is that is must be from the fresh produce section. They have become really creative in choosing new things to try. Zucchini, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cucumber, pears, mango, kiwi, limes…. they’ve picked out all sorts of great things! When I’m on top of things I even work with them to learn new ways to prepare and eat their chosen fruit or vegi (I have chronic health problems and cannot always do everything I want). It’s fun to see what constitutes a “treat” to them and helps them learn to reach for the produce when they want something great!
What a great idea! I love that you let them choose and that it’s a treat!
Clever, clever girl! I think my kids would go bananas for a vegetable tray in the fridge. I’m totally going to start doing this. When we have these in the fridge for special occasions the kids totally pick at it because it’s all ready to go.
Okay, I’m sold. Going to the store today and I’m making a veggie tray.
Thank you!
I love this idea. I’m starting tomorrow. Thanks.
2 months will soon be 2 years, then 20. You’re doing great and I love that you’re inspiring others to do the same. Best of luck to you and your family from ours! I’m also going to post this on the Facebook component to my blog.
Thanks for the encouragement, Susan! Yes, before I know it, we’ll be cheering on our 20th year :)
I love the veggie tray idea. Teaching your kids how to eat a whole-food based diet is such a good thing! Sometimes “just for fun” I will get out our miniature cookie cutters, and use them to make fun shapes with bananas, apples and dried apricots. I also cut carrots and turnips into star and flower shapes!
This is great. I need to get a set of small mini cookie cutters. My kids would go gaga over tiny flower bananas or heart shaped cucumbers! Thanks for sharing!
That is truly a great idea. Thanks for sharing that tip.
Every morning we have a fruit and veggie smoothie that gives us six veggies and five fruits every day. We put in broccoli, sprouts, carrots, celery, cucumber, spinach, apple, orange, banana, pineapple (or mango) and berries. It has been wonderful seeing my 2 year old autistic son (who is a VERY picky eater) down it in no time flat. It is one of the ways I ensure he gets adequate nutrition as he has limited his diet so severely.
Smoothies are the best. My kids are the same, they will drink a whole glass of veggies and not really know they just did! Glad this is working for your picky eater!
I’m thinking about doing this just for myself! I sometimes struggle to get two fruits and two veggies in a day. At least this way I have no excuses.
Yes, like I said, this tip is helping me too. The veggies are already washed and prepped, making it so easy to snack!
Just came across your site (when searching on how to make wheat grass….what a cute Easter idea!) and love this idea! I started doing this for my kids so I can make sure they have veggies with their meals. My 2 yr old boy will munch on it all day long if I leave it on the counter! I have also found that it is nice to put out a little tray of snacks for when we have a babysitter over. I will usually do strawberries, grapes, oranges, crackers, popcorn, or whatever other fruit I have on hand. This way the babysitter has snacks on hand to give the kids and they’re not asking for other things (that are only allowed to have on a limited basis) from the pantry.