I am constantly asked about ideas to help children accept superfoods and supplements. Here are some ideas to help your children get these nutrient-rich items into them.
Cod Liver Oil
- Avoid fermented cod liver oil at all cost! See Kaayla Daniel’s site for more information, but fermented CLO is not a health food.
- Mix with a fruit juice concentrate.
- Mix with equal parts blackstrap molasses and butter oil. The blackstrap molasses is so strongly flavored that it covers everything else.
- When my daughter was a toddler, she fussed about taking it until I offered one gummy bear, organic animal cracker, sundrop (like an M&M) or jelly bean afterwards as long as she didn’t fuss. Worked like a charm.
- Most children are more accepting of the cinnamon or orange flavored CLO than the plain.
Veggies
- See our hidden veggies category for all of our posted recipes.
- To help get good fats into your child, make avocado pudding. Mix mashed avocado, banana, stevia or raw honey and organic cocoa powder.
- Add sauteed veggies to your spaghetti sauce, marinara, or other tomato-based sauce and simmer until completely tender. Process in a food processor, blender, or using a stick blender until smooth.
- Add spaghetti squash to any pasta dish.
- Place chopped spinach into lasagna. Thaw it, squeeze it out thoroughly, chop finely and add in with meat sauce or as a layer in the lasagna.
- Green smoothies hide the taste of the green vegetables nicely. If you use a dark colored berry, they won’t be able to see the green, either.
- Put shredded carrot or zucchini into banana bread and other baked goods. These are especially helpful for baked goods that need extra moisture.
- This tip comes courtesy of Karen in Marysville, VA: We add shredded veggies into spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and taco meats. The easiest are shredded zucchini, carrots, eggplant, and mushrooms. We also add shredded carrots into mac -n- cheese. The orange color of the cheese hides the carrots so well.
- The tip comes from violicious from the now-defunct forum: I like to be sneaky and hide pureed greens in rice and you can even do it in salad dressings (ha-they never thought to look there!). I like kale, beets or beet greens for the dressings along with the regular vinegar, oil, lemon juice and a drop of maple syrup.
Organ Meats
- Grind in a ratio of one part organ meat to three or four parts ground meat. Great for making spaghetti, meatballs, meatloaf, and tacos without a noticeable change in taste.
- Make chicken liver pate as a dip for veggies or crackers.
Coconut Oil
- Expeller-pressed coconut oil does not have the strong, coconut flavor of virgin coconut oil. It is not raw and is best for heated applications. It is also much less expensive. I use it as the main fat in all of my cooking.
- Make warmed chocolate milk by combining milk, coconut milk or soured milk, honey or maple syrup, cocoa powder and coconut oil on the stove and heat until warmed through and the coconut oil has melted. You can also add cream or coconut cream to this.
- Fry or scramble eggs in it.
- Melt on top of any hot drink.
- Use it in place of any fat for cooking.
- Make coconut oil candy by combining coconut oil, nut butter, cocoa powder, cacao nibs, butter, shredded coconut, honey, and anything else good you can think of. Portion into ice cube trays and place in the fridge to harden. You can also spread it onto a pan and refrigerate, then cut into pieces.
- Our Nut Butter Cups are a huge help, and they get coconut oil into children beautifully.
- Coconut milk made into jigglers can get coconut oil into them in a fun way.
Raw Dairy
- Kefir/Cultured Dairy Smoothies.
- Make the smoothies into popsicles.
- Make kefir cheese and make dips out of it.
- If your child drinks juice, add a splash of whey to it. This provides minerals.
