How to Hide Veggies in Your Kent Family Meals

Cast your mind back to the New Year… Did you promise yourself that this was the year you were going to start taking care of yourself? Get more exercise, go for walks, eat better? Did you promptly forget these promises and reach for the biscuit tin? Well now’s your chance to get back into it.

Healthy Eating Week runs from 12 to 16 June and is all about getting some goodness into your body and improving your lifestyle.

Even if your intentions are good, we all know that getting a balanced diet can be difficult – it can be expensive, takes a while to prepare, and some fussy eaters just won’t be convinced to try new dishes.

So, in this quick read, we explore some easy ways to improve your diet and make eating well more interesting for the whole family.

1)     Hide your veg

It’s not just kids who are fussy eaters. More and more of us have become dependent on boxes and bags of beige oven food because it’s easy to prepare and tastes good. Hiding veg in food is a great way to introduce a more nutritious diet without causing tantrums.

Pasta sauce is a staple in many households, and it’s easy to sneak some extra veg into your otherwise plain tomato sauce. Just whizz it in a blender and keep quiet when it comes to serving up dinner. This can also work for traditional British dishes like shepherd’s pie, cottage pie and shortcrust pies.

2)     Smoothies

Smoothies are a great way to boost your diet. Start by using berries and bananas and gradually introduce spinach, kale or cucumber. If you or your family really don’t like the idea of drinking a smoothie for breakfast, split the mixture into smaller containers and freeze for a frozen yoghurt-style dessert.

3)     Baked chips

Chips are a firm favourite for most of us, but why fry them when you can bake them – reducing the calories and fat content. They’re not quite like chips from the local fish and chip shop, but it’s a small compromise to make when it comes to getting healthier.

You could also try baking sweet potato chips to add some variety.

4)     Rice replacements

Ok, this might be more difficult to pull off, but you could swap rice grains for veggie rice. Cauliflower or broccoli rice might not taste the same as regular rice but cover it in sauce and cross your fingers – the family might not notice.

If that doesn’t work, then try making fakeaways, like egg-fried rice (add in peas, carrots and anything else you can get away with) or spicy rice (add in peppers, tomatoes and onions).

Healthy Eating Week is a campaign run by the British Nutrition Foundation. To find out more ways to improve your diet, check out their tips here.

Have you got any tips for hiding fruit and veg in your meals? Comment below.