Veggie sausages

[Petpet82]

Hi everybody and happy new year. I have a 5 year old son who refuses to eat any form of veg other than salad veg and in the autumn/winter this is a pain as as a family we eat a lot of veg other than my 5 year old. He is sausage mad and in the past I've bought veggie sausages for him but they don't seem to have the nutritional veg in like broccoli cauli carrots etc they seem to be just onion mushrooms herbs etc has anyone got any recipes on how I can make some veggie sausages for him so he's getting a good amount of veg. I have a sausage maker arriving in the next few days.

 

[CraigC]

Do you eat any meat or seafood?

 

[Petpet82]

Do you eat any meat or seafood?

we do yes. It he won't eat veg so want to try to disguise it in veggie sausage

 

[Mad Cook]

we do yes. It he won't eat veg so want to try to disguise it in veggie sausage

You could possibly make veg patties or "meat" balls with lots of vegetables incorporated.

How about homemade soup pureed so he doesn't see the actual veg. Make up names for the varieties you make so he doesn't cotton on. If all else fails - lie (I wouldn't normally advocate lying to children but in this case.....).

Don't despair entirely. I have a 50 year old cousin who, as a child and teenager, refused to eat any veg other than Heinz Baked Beans. He grew up to be a healthy, 6 foot 5 inch, rugby-playing sportsman and is still one of my healthier cousins. He eats veg now.

 

[Roll_Bones]

My parents just put it on the table and if you ate it fine, if not, you went hungry.
I can promise you my parents never lost one minute of sleep over this and neither did my wife and I.
My parents and my wife and I, have always provided healthy meals with taste the most important factor in what we cooked and served.

Funny how kids seem to pick up on this fairly quick and seem to eat and survive just fine.
Now I do understand you kid is only 5. But if he can push your buttons at this age, imagine what he will be like when he is 13?

 

[Kayelle]

Pet, does he like cheese? My kids hated broccoli until I started mixing it with a cheese sauce. Do you mean to put ground veggies in a sausage casing? I think he's old enough to not be fooled by that. Use a stick blender in a pot of veggie soup with cheese. That might work.

 

[Dawgluver]

Jerry Seinfeld's wife has written several cook books about sneaking vegetables into foods for kids and others who don't like them

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Ideas for hiding veggies:

1. Diced carrots, Celery, Onion, even chopped beets can be hidden in meatloaf
2. Meatballs
3. Chicken Eggrolls
4. Sausage to include various kinds of peppers (peppers are highly nutritional)
5. Combine apples, carrots, celery, bananas, and other fruits to blend into smoothies;
6. Hide chopped veggies in pasta sauces, and lasagna
7. puree veggies into seafood, or meat Bisques
8. Hide veggies in homemade forcemeats
9. Carrot Cake, need I say more?
10. make a carrot, pumpkin, winter squash, or bean pie.
11. Quick breads can hide veggies. Think zuchinni bread, spice breads, pumpkin bread, apple, bread, etc.

Hope that helps.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Cheryl J]

I didn't know that, Dawg! I'll have to look up some of her books. My grandsons like veggies, thank goodness, but I think that's because my daughters started introducing fresh veggies when they were very little.

Pet, no ideas here about veggie sausages, but you're new sausage maker will probably come with a recipe booklet that you could get some ideas from. You could also do things like sneak mashed cauliflower into mashed potatoes, grated carrots in spaghetti sauce....gosh, there are tons of ways to incorporate veggies into foods.

Cutting up veggies into kid size pieces and letting him dip them into ranch dressing helps, and the pureed veggies in soup mentioned above is a good idea. Try to introduce veggies to him a little at a time now, before he gets too set in his ways.

 

[GotGarlic]

If he won't eat veggies, why would he eat sausage made with veggies? Is it the texture? The flavor? Something else?

I think it's best to be honest with kids and teach them the importance of eating a balanced diet. If you hide veggies and pretend they're not there, they won't learn about nutrition and they won't learn to appreciate food flavors.

That said, I frequently add veggies to sauces, for increased nutrition and flavor. As RB said, just put food on the table and make it clear everyone is expected to eat what's provided.

Children are often more willing to try foods when they are involved in selecting and preparing it. Let him pick out veggies at the market and help prepare them for meals. And if it's possible, start a garden in the spring and teach him how to grow some of the food your family eats.

 

[jennyema]

I agree with Got Garlic's thoughts.

My parents gave up on my brother who refused to eat meat or vegetable matter from the age of 7 through HS. He was shamed into adopting better eating habits when he was in college. He ate pretty much nothing but breakfast cereal and egg noodles for 10 years and he's fine now.

 

[larry_stewart]

MY kids have been eating mushrooms for years, and just found out about it recently.
When I make lasagna , And i brown up the meat ( fake meat morning star farms crumbles), I always take whatever left over mushrooms I have, chop them up finely, and brown them with the " Meat". They are similar in color , and get covered with layers of noodles and cheese anyway. I think they actually would have missed it , if I stopped using them.

That being said, my kids have been eating veggies for ever ( being vegetarian, they didn't have too many other options).

 

[Aunt Bea]

I agree with the be honest don't worry crowd.

If your son has an older friend that he idolizes, every young boy seems to have one, invite him for dinner, put a bug in his ear and serve lots of vegetables!

Good luck!

 

[taxlady]

One more person who agrees with GG.

 

[taxlady]

A friend of mine had a toddler who would only eat bread. She made all of the bread for her family. She added pureed vegis to the bread. She also made bread with fruit.

 

[menumaker]

Mince eggplant, or aubergine as I know it, complete with skin,( very important) with onion,spices and mixed herbs and make sausages as you would if using meat. I looks like meat, tastes like meat and packed full of goodness. Another time try using other veg in with the eggplant such as carrots, courgettes, but it is something to do with the purple colour that seems to con kids all the time......!

 

[Roll_Bones]

I know a couple that would color the food with food coloring to make it more fun.
Like blue mashed potato's.
Their kid loved the smurfs and he loved blue mashed potato's. He did not like or eat regular mashed spuds.
You can see this was a long time ago. Do they even have "Smurfs" anymore?

 

[ernesto panini]

He wouldn't know the sausages are made of veggies, but in fact these sausages are better since they somehow contain nutrients found in vegetables. I'm sure your son will not know the difference since the sausage are made to taste like meat.