How To Camouflage Healthy Foods & Be Smart Moms

By : Purple Kaddu Posted on : July 13, 2015

Making your child eat fruits, vegetables and all the other healthy foods can really be a task. Mothers, you just need to be smart here. Camouflage foods such that your child does not even realise what actually is he eating. Here are some tips how you can include 'otherwise not eaten foods' into routine diet:

Spinach(or any green leafy vegetable):

Palak paneer, palak soup or even palak rice is not really tempting for kids. They detest such foods. How about making a green roll or a green wrap? Spinach can be blanched, pureed and added to flour to make dough for rolls(don't add chopped leaves as kids are smart enough to notice them) Trust me, your kids will not get a hint about what's so green in the roll. Even if your child does not like roti, coloured rotis will sure be appealing to them.

Beetroot:

How about pink curd? Some children dislike curd. If you add boiled beetroot paste into it, the combination results in a pink coloured paste. Kids, especially girls will not avoid this. Beetroot will also impart natural sweetness to the curd. You can then use this as a bread spread too.

Other vegetables (pumpkin, cabbage, cauliflower, dudhi):

Their colours are such that they easily get camouflaged and can thus be boiled, mashed added in curries, dal, sambhar. Besides, they provide enough thickness to the gravy. These vegetables also fit into gujarati dish 'muthiya'

Milk:

Mothers get upset over the fact that their child does not drink milk. Well, there are alternatives for milk such as curd and paneer. If you are still insistant on milk, then add turmeric(haldi) and pinch of salt to it. Name it as yellow milk.

Dal:

Each child is different. Some like, some dislike the typical dals. So, are there alternate recipes in which dals and pulses can be used? Yes! Dal dosa, dal stuffed paratha, rajma soup, hummus, boiled dal wada, muthiya. Mothers, you'll just need to explore!

Nuts(cashewnuts,almonds):

If your child does not enjoy nuts, here's how you can incorporate it into their diet. Make a paste of cashewnut and use it to make white sauce, or thick north indian gravies. Almonds can be powdered and used to make badam milkshake. Finely chopped and grated nuts also mould well into khajur pakh. You can give it a fancy name - 'the date bar'

Omega-3 rich foods(flaxseed,chia seed):

Unless your child likes fish, there are chances of deficiency of the nutrient omega-3 fats. These are essential for brain development. Flaxseeds and chia seeds are rich in omega-3 fats. But, when it comes to consuming these, children do not enjoy the taste. Being a Smart Mom, you can grind and powder flaxseeds, add it in dough for chappati. Chia seeds can be soaked in water. Once swollen, they can be used to thicken juices.

So moms, trick your child into eating various foods through smart cooking ideas.Happy camouflaging!