Veggies & Voyages

So my kids love my roasted vegetables. They will eat entire trays of my vegetables for dinner. However, when we go to restaurants or travel, we have a big problem. It takes me around 45 minutes to 1 hour to prepare and roast my veggie trays for them every night and so there is no way that can be replicable or profitable in a restaurant setting. There isn’t enough oven space in a given restaurant to replicate what I do in my kitchen for a restaurant of patrons.

That means that my kids are always pushing away “non-cooked” vegetables in restaurants. Sometimes a restaurant claims that a vegetable is grilled or charred but 9 times of out 10, it comes back barely sauteed.

In 2014, Freakonomics Radio did this awesome show about why you should bribe your kids into eating healthy foods. They went into these schools in Chicago and tried offering a second healthier choice, which did nothing. Then they taught them about food pyramids and how eating better foods will make their brains smarter and their bodies stronger. That, too, did nothing.

Finally they told the kids if they choose the healthy choice (and ate it) they’d get a prize (small prizes that cost under a dime each). 8/10 kids started making the healthy food choice and forming better habits.

All that to say, on our December 2023 trip to France, I introduced my kids to a veggie rewards program. Every time they would try a full forkful of a new vegetable they’d get a checkmark (each checkmark is worth a quarter). At first my husband called this ridiculous. But at the airport lounge, where they were serving green peas (which I never cook at home), both kids flat out refused. Once I explained the chart, they both grabbed their forks and took a mouthful each of the peas. My son actually enjoyed them and kept eating!

Unfortunately, restaurants in Paris don’t seem to serve many vegetables besides potatoes, but still this system got them to try lettuce, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and other vegetables they don’t enjoy as much.

As you can see, this system cost me $5 between the two of them. And it was 100% worth it because I didn’t have to fight them to try a new food anymore- they asked me for opportunities to try new foods! It changed the game for all of us and got them to eat much healthier on our vacation.

In the comments, please share your experiences or strategies for promoting healthy eating habits with your young kids when they’re eating away from home!