Chances are that if you sit the kids down and read out a list of the following vegies (and one legume), they will do all sorts of face contortions, with tongues out, shoulders up and arms flapping. They will quite possibly spend much energy and passion telling you just how much all of these things are GROSS. Which is a shame, because they are packed with a massive amount of nutrients that your kids really need to eat if they ever want to grow up to be astronauts or ballerinas.
So while I really like to spend a lot of time educating kids about how to eat well, at other times, I just like them to shut up and eat dinner. On some nights, with some ingredients, full scale smuggling is required.
I think these five ingredients are prime vegie smuggling candidates. Apparently disgusting on their own, with a bit of effort, you can transform them into delicious dinners that are down the hatch before the kids even have a chance to utter the phrase ‘I’ve been duped’.
Eggplant
Shepherd’s Pie
Chickpeas
Cheeseburgers
Broccoli
Cheesy pots
Tomatoes
Chilli (with no chilli)
Zucchini
Spaghetti carbonara
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Vegie Smugglers 
Natural New Age Mum said,
October 22, 2012 @ 9:08 pm
my kids freak about eggplant, but I love it and continue to make them eat it 🙂
wendyblume said,
October 22, 2012 @ 9:42 pm
links to dishes you like? I’d be keen to hear what works for you!
Natural New Age Mum said,
October 22, 2012 @ 9:49 pm
I usually use it roasted with loads of other mediterannean veges (see the post here I did about that: http://naturalnewagemum.com/2012/06/12/roasted-vegetables-and-all-the-things-you-can-do-with-them/
And I also add eggplant to any sort of curry, tagine – that sort of thing. And Moussaka – I need to blog my easy lamb moussaka recipe – yummo.
Vivienne said,
October 25, 2012 @ 8:19 pm
Thank you for your inspiration. I’ve always had trouble smuggling eggplant too, but I was successful last night!
I made a basic spaghetti bolognaise sauce (onion, garlic, mince, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, a little bit of sugar, basil, oregano). While that was cooking away, in the microwave, I cooked a large eggplant, and then pureed it when it was soft, and tossed it into the spag bol mix. I did the same with some zucchini, and then some spinach.
Served with pasta and grated cheese. It went down a treat! Yah! The spinach made it look a bit dark green, but otherwise the other veges weren’t obvious at all.
Thanks again for your inspiration.
Vivienne said,
October 25, 2012 @ 8:20 pm
Forgot to say that I peeled the eggplant and the zucchini after cooking them.