Written by Elizabeth Rietz

Fixing meals for picky toddlers and preschoolers can really make you want to pull your hair out sometimes. And when it comes to eating veggies, these little ones can be downright impossible.

This is when you need to get a little creative. As Jessica Seinfeld and other mommy chefs have recently proclaimed, fooling kids into eating veggies is a solid strategy. It certainly should never substitute for getting kids to eat the actual veggies, but it’s a great idea to also sneak them in wherever possible.

Because my daughter looooves pancakes just like any child, I recently purchased some Arrowhead Multi-grain Pancake Mix to give veggie pancakes a try. And voila, a new family favorite was discovered!! Here’s how I made them:

• I followed the recipe on the back, but used olive oil instead of regular oil.
• I added a ¼ of cup shredded mozzarella
• I cut up about ¼ - ½ cup of veggies I had kicking around the fridge – fresh spinach, broccoli and green pepper. (If your child is REALLY veggie adverse, you can puree the veggies together first).
• I cooked them in olive oil (or you can use olive oil spray) instead of regular oil.

Another day, I added about ½ cup of pureed steamed cauliflower to the mix along with the mozzarella and a pinch of cayenne pepper. You can get creative and add a large variety of veggies.

Cooking with Kids Tip: Get your older kids involved in cooking these flapjacks. Let them decide what veggies they want in the mix. They can stir the batter, pour the batter into the skillet and flip’em (with your close supervision, of course).

Jan 14th by Generation Orange