Revealed: keys to getting kids to eat more veggies

(BPT) - Incorporating veggies into your family’s diet this summer can be easier than you ever thought. How? Creative parents know that adding flavor and making veggies a crunchy, fun treat can result in pleas for “more veggies please!”

Keep your kids busy on warm summer days with activities like picking vegetables out of the garden or creating a platter of your family’s favorite veggies for dipping in fun-flavored dips.

Here are some tips to making certain those veggies will be eaten:

* Nearly 80 percent of parents say veggie dip helps their kids eat more vegetables, and that having dip handy in the fridge helps everyone in the family eat more vegetables, according to a recent study by the T. Marzetti Company. Marzetti Veggie Dips make veggies taste delicious with multiple flavors including light and fat-free varieties.

* Mix veggies into your family’s favorite recipes for additional flavoring. For example, add zucchini to breads or blend it up into spaghetti sauce. Mix some corn kernels into salsa or homemade soups. Your entire family may be surprised at how delicious their favorite recipes end up tasting. For more recipe ideas, visit www.marzettikitchens.com.

* Add some vegetable creativity to pasta salads this summer. Add Marzetti Ranch Veggie Dip to a chicken pasta salad mixed with apples, chopped celery, scallions, pecans and dried cranberries for an unforgettable taste.

* Switch up your spreads. People often top their sandwiches with mustard and mayonnaise. Add some zing to a turkey wrap with Marzetti Southwest Ranch Dip or try Dill Veggie Dip as a spread on a wheat roll with chicken and arugula.

* Who says you can’t play with your food? Build an edible veggie creation with your kids. Lay out an assortment of raw veggies and fruits and let imagination run wild with faces, figures, places and more. When your child’s creation is finished, take a photo for posterity (share it socially), and then enjoy eating with delicious dips.

The summer months are when fresh vegetables taste best, so be sure to take advantage of the selection available from your garden, farmers markets and in the produce section at your grocery store. Consider introducing the family to a new vegetable each week or laying out a “dip bar,” exploring new tastes in the process. Soon you’ll have all members of your family asking for more vegetables.