How many times have you heard the classic "No mummy, I don wan dose green tings, begetaballs are yuk" ahh out of the mouth of babes.  Remembering back to those days when your child didn't talk back and tried everything you put infront of them.  Back when life was easier for the single mother...when your baby was...well just that, a baby.

As babies grow, they learn and develop their own minds.  With this comes the obvious problem of a determined toddler and the useful skill of saying "no!"

As a single mum, I struggle with time constraints for making a nutritious meal that my daughter will eat and enjoy. 

I have limited my daughter to treats only after she has eaten a good and healthy meal.  Her lunches are comprised of fruit, dairy and grains.  You'd be surprised, she eats it because she doesn't have anything else.

Dinner is tougher.  How to get those yucky green things to be delicious rather than something to be squashed or pushed around the plate in a tiring game of "I don't wanna"

It is better to put small portions on their plate, seconds can always be given if they are wanted but you need to make it clear to your child of how much you expect them to eat and a larger portion can be quite daunting and off putting.  Forcing food on a child results in negative feelings of food and a negative approach to meal times.  It gives children an unhealthy view of meals and leads them to expect negative reactions at meal times. 

Many people suggest hiding vegetables in other more likable foods, which works relatively well but in my opinion it is best to be honest and upfront with your child and approach healthy eating habits with them involved. 

Children learn from examples.  They may model their behaviour on each other or mirror your examples.  Make sure you make a huge deal about how good vegetables are and practise what you preach. 

You could try involving your child in fun games like creating animals out of raw vegetables like carrot and celery then eating them at meal times, there is nothing wrong with having raw vegetables rather than cooked.  Also you could try leaving a range of fruit and vegetables or portions of them on a small table for your child to explore at leisure.  Often when children are exploring, they will explore with all their senses including taste.  They may even find something they like! If your child is old enough, let them explore their cooking talents and allow them to aid you in cooking the vegetables, they always taste better when made by themselves.

If this still doesn't work, you could try vegetable pancakes.  This may sound strange, but try making a normal pancake recipe (with sugar) and include vegetables like grated carrot or zuchinni.  Start with a small amount of vegetables to the batter and slowly incress the vegetables and lower the sugar until you can successfully change the recipe in to a fritter rather than a pancake.

You could also try cutting toast in to shapes with cookie cutters (in to animals or such) and placing these with the vegetables or other foods, encouraging younger children to explore role play and pretend to be the animal and munch on vegetables and foods.

Persist with it, the child may need to be offered the new food up to a dozen times before they accept it as part of their diet. 
Children are often more in touch with their hunger signals than adults.  The child won't go hungry, they will tell you when they are hungry.  If need be, limit their snacks before dinner time and maybe this will bring more of an appetite.

Here are a couple of recipes you could try :)

Vege casserole

1 cup frozen corn
cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1 satchet dried mashed potato
salt and pepper to taste

Defrost corn and place in a medium bowl. Melt cheese and butter in microwave, then add to bowl and mix together. Prepare the mashed potato according to instructions and add salt and pepper to taste. Spread corn, butter and cheese mix in the bottom of a casserole dish. Then spread mashed potatos over mixture.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes on 400F degrees. Let it set for 2 minutes.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 package of sour cream mix
3 chicken breasts, cubed or 1 can of cooked chicken
1 small can of green chilies or 4 fresh green chilies
8 corn tortillas
1 cup of cheddar cheese

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Next pour the mixture into each tortilla and roll the tortillas. Then place them in a row of a 9X13 inch casserole dish. Pour the remaining mixture over the tortillas. Shred the cheese and sprinkle on top.

Bake in a 350F degree (175C degree) oven until cheese on top is melted.

Serve with a green salad or with guacamole.

Vege Macaroni and Cheese

1 package elbow macaroni
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tomato, diced
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup bread crumbs

Bring water to a boil and cook macaroni according to package instructions. Rinse with cold water and stir. Set aside.

Cook onion in butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, and flour. Add milk and cook, stirring occassionally until thick and bubbly. Add diced tomato and broccoli (or any other veggies you like). Stir in shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add macaroni and stir.

Pour into a casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes in a 350F (175C) degree oven. Top with bread crumbs for the last 5 minutes of baking.

Serves 4.

Recipes curtosy of kids love cooking