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Raising Three Savvy Ladies

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Birds Eye Rewriting the Dinnertime Rules with Jennette McCurdy #Giveaway

I was not compensated for this post.  I attended the Bird’s Eye event and received a VIP goodie bag.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What does it mean to Rewrite the Dinnertime Rules?  My 3 savvy ladies and I recently had the chance to meet Jennette McCurdy and Birds Eye Executive Chef Michael Christiansen to find out how to get the kids involved and make dinnertime with veggies a great experience.

Birds Eye Jennette McCurdy

The Birds Eye and Nickelodeon partnership is in its second year. In 2012, the program drove a 20 percent increase in incremental volume for Birds Eye versus 2011. Not only did last year’s program drive brand sales and overall category growth, the effort helped in reversing a negative trend in the category and increased vegetable consumption in a fun, engaging way.

I am happy to say that my girls have always liked veggies.  But, I know that this is not the case for all kids.  But, I’m here to report “Don’t give up! Keep offering veggies because it takes many attempts when trying something new.”

Birdseye Collage
McCurdy and Birds Eye have the following suggestions for getting started Rewriting the Dinnertime Rules. These rules are only the beginning, McCurdy says. “Kids have endless imagination—veggie tacos, veggie faces, veggie ‘try’ outs and on and on. Rewriting the rules means letting them put the fun in the picture. I had so much fun filming as I played with my Birds Eye veggies, so I hope kids will watch my videos and they will provide inspiration!”

birdseye1 Collage

While at the #PlaywithVeggies event, my girls and I experienced the four rules and came up with ways to add veggies that I had not thought of before.

During this time, the girls were able to make their own “Veggie Pizzas”.  By displaying all the vegetables in a welcoming way, the girls added all the toppings and ate multiple veggies on their little pizza.

Another favorite was making smoothies.  Who knew that by adding fruit and veggies together with honey, it would taste yummy.  Another plus in my book!

But our most favorite was when the parents were blindfolded and were asked to try  a new veggie treat.  I was so surprised how much I loved peas when in recipes such as guacamole – so yummy and healthy for you!

Here are the rules to help you come up with some new ideas at dinnertime:

Rule #1: Role Reversal. Kids pick the menu and the veggies, help shop for the groceries and are in charge (with a little help from mom and dad) in the kitchen. Plus, they get to pick the theme and dress and decorate accordingly, whether it’s hitting the “beach,” bringing out your family’s wild side in the “jungle” or cheering on your favorite sports team.

Rule #2: Play with Your Birds Eye Veggies! You can use your veggies to make smiley faces or create colorful rainbows on your plate … you can even give your broccoli a mohawk haircut (really!) – just have fun!

Rule #3: Celebrate Every Bite. It can take up to 12 times for a kid to try a new type of veggie, or any new food before he or she begins liking it (http://www.choosemyplate.gov). So, keep it up! And while you’re at it, give yourself a high five for every bite your kid takes.

Rule #4: Be a Veggie Explorer. There are all sorts of cool and surprising ways to serve veggies. Like smoothies (mixed veggies with yogurt, OJ and honey), popsicles (carrots and OJ) and salad dressings (carrot ginger). You AND your kids will be amazed at all the cool ways you can eat your veggies.

Birds Eye Chef Michael Christiansen

 

Consumers can enter the Rewrite the Dinnertime Rules sweepstakes, receive weekly ideas for increasing family fun with kid-friendly veggie-eating ideas and more atBirdseye.com or by following the brand page at Facebook.com/BirdseyeVegetables.

To stay connected and find more ways to incorporate veggies into your dinner, check out
Birds Eye on:
www.twitter.com/BirdsEye
www.facebook.com/BirdsEyeVegetables
www.BirdsEye.com
www.nick.com/BirdsEye
 Birds Eye and Raising 3 Savvy Ladies want you to rewrite the dinnertime rules at your house and be able to try Birds Eye veggies:

We have 5 FREE Bird’s Eye Veggies coupons and a $50 American Express gift card for one lucky reader to enjoy a fun Veggie Dinner Night. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Comments

  2. My rule I just make the veggies that I know my kids will eat. We have at least one veggie every dinner and sometimes at lunch

  5. I like rule #1. When my kids are involved with deciding what veggies to serve, they seem to eat them and enjoy them more.

  11. My son will not eat vegetables at all , but I do sneak them in. I will hide carrots or spinach in meatloaf or spaghetti. As long as he does not see me do it he will eat it up.

  14. my daughter loves them the simpler the better – so we often just much raw carrots, celery, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, etc before “dinner”. it’s just her and me so we maybe break the “rules” but we get our veggies and love them!

  17. I think Rule #3 is the key – every bite counts for everyone in the family, and we should celebrate. Mostly kids learn by example, so if mommy or daddy is also encouraged to try a new veggie or a veggie served in a new and different way … that is magic. Too many parents have locked down attitudes about what they eat and how they will eat it. How can you expect your kids to try new and different, when the reality of their meals is the parent forcing the child to eat.

    My husband really disliked brussel sprouts, which the kids knew. We would have them Thanksgiving and dad would give thanks that the annual eating of brussel sprouts was over for a year.
    Somewhere in the blogs I found a roasted veggie recipe last year where you brush the halved sprouts w/basalmic salad dressing. lol – totally changed the taste and every sprout was devoured. It was an excellent life lesson for the kids to see him change his mind. It also helped that they also really liked the taste.

    i would say we are veggie explorers, but that rule seems to go the sneaky route of disguising veggies.

  18. # 1 is my favorite. I also have a rule in my house that you have to try 2 bites of any new food. I find that they always hate it on the first try but by the 2nd they often find it is not so bad.

  19. We eat veggies every night.. and my kids help me buy veggies and fruits at the store.

  24. I like Rule #1. Giving the kids the option of choosing would let them be more up to trying something new, rather than parents forcing it upon them

    sweetheart4171(at)yahoo(dot)com

  25. I like Rule #2. As well as the one about celebrating every bite… I’ve learned presentation is everything for my little girl. She eats with her eyes first. If it looks fun she’ll try it. She likes it to look bold and fun and then of course we have to experiment and try things many times before she decides if she likes it or not. She may decide she likes something better raw or cooked or vice versa.

  30. My fav rule is to often make veggies the star attraction of a meal, instead of a side dish! Also to make it appealing enough that everyone wants more and becomes a fan of veggies! I like your ideas very much.

  34. I say Rule #3 is my favorite. Even if my daughter doesn’t like a veggie the first try, I try again. Usually just changing some ingredients usually help.

  38. ii like rule number 1 Rule #1: Role Reversal. Kids pick the menu and the veggies, nice to get the kids involved

  44. Rule #2: Play with Your Birds Eye Veggies! You can use your veggies to make smiley faces or create colorful rainbows on your plate … you can even give your broccoli a mohawk haircut (really!) – just have fun!

  45. My favorite rule from the ones above is Rule #1. I think the more involvement a kid has in preparing meals the more interested they will be in the meal.

  56. I love Rule #3 the most! Entered the rafflecopter as “Wild orchid”

    Thanks for the chance to win!
    wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

  64. I like rule Rule #4: Be a Veggie Explorer. There are all sorts of cool and surprising ways to serve veggies. Like smoothies (mixed veggies with yogurt, OJ and honey), popsicles (carrots and OJ) and salad dressings (carrot ginger). You AND your kids will be amazed at all the cool ways you can eat your veggies. best.

  65. I like the “Veggie Explorer” rule — it’s always fun to think of new ways to incorporate veggies into every meal, especially with purees and sauces that kids can enjoy.

  69. I like rule #3! Being an encourager and celebrating when they eat their veggies!

  72. Rule #1: Role Reversal. Kids pick the menu and the veggies, help shop for the groceries and are in charge (with a little help from mom and dad) in the kitchen.

    This is my favorite and something I have always done with my kiddos!

  75. Rule #2 always worked best with my nephews, they love their Auntie because I’m always doing fun things with food and how I present it. They love it! Dear Sissy has no idea why they always eat healthy stuff with me and not her! LOL (Shhhh don’t tell her it’s my little secret!)

  78. To get them to love their veggies – we planted a garden – they picked the seeds and cared for them and helped pick some fun recipes at harvest time 🙂

  85. my dad grew some veggies in his small garden – helping to grow them made me want to taste them 🙂

  90. My favorite is Rule #2: Play with Your Birds Eye Veggies! There is nothing more fun than making my dishes “pop” with fun designs and colors 🙂

  93. I have at least one veggie side side with dinner and I try to incorporate the hidden veggie in each dinner.

  97. I like rule #4. I use to get the same peas that I couldn’t stand over and over again as a kid. My Mom should have tried different varities, LOL!

  101. My favorite rule is #3. I am a big believer in this and I have seen it work many times. You just have to keep offering. It took my son 12 years to eat broccoli and now he loves it.

  102. I like number 4. My daughter-in-law is great at making smoothies with spinach and doing wonderful juices with other veggies. My daughter puts broccoli, spinach…in several of our recipes.

  108. I like playing with your veggies. it makes eating fun, and they are more likely to enjoy it as they grow.

  109. I like rule 3 the best.
    I am always making my daughter have just 1 bite,every few weeks.

  110. I have never had a problem getting my children to eat vegetables. Ever. I just assumed when they were small that they would eat them, and never made a big deal about it…even when they were tiny and we made our one baby foods, the emphasis was on different veggies, all of the time. I now have kids that eat green bell peppers like apples…lol..and grab cucumbers for snacks… I think if you start when they are small, and just put it on the plate or in their foods, without making it a struggle, they’ll eat what they see you eating! When they get older and you beg, it becomes a power play and they know they can win it 🙂 I think number 3 is the one that speaks most to me..

  118. I like Rule #4: Be a Veggie Explorer. There are all sorts of cool and surprising ways to serve veggies. This makes eating fun!

  135. Rule #4 is our favorite. We love trying veggies in new and different ways and recipes.

    jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com

  136. I like rule #4, exploring …but really my rule #1 would be keeping veggies simple. I don’t want to mask the taste and healthiness of the veggies by over cooking with dressing and sauces. The kids should know what they’re eating.

  141. We mix veggies in sauces and casseroles, and as long as the dice is small, no one seems to mind.

  161. Rule #2 is my favorite. You are more likely to get my kids to eat something if they have fun making it.

  162. Rule #3: Celebrate Every Bite. Yes, it can take MANY attempts before the kids like their veggies..

    brich22 at earthlink dot net

  164. I definitely believe in Rule #2: Play with Your Birds Eye Veggies! You can use your veggies to make smiley faces or create colorful rainbows on your plate … you can even give your broccoli a mohawk haircut (really!) – just have fun!

  173. I like Rule #2: Play with Your Birds Eye Veggies! You can use your veggies to make smiley faces or create colorful rainbows on your plate … you can even give your broccoli a mohawk haircut (really!) – just have fun!

  174. I use Rule #3 by telling them what a big boy or girl they are for eating all their veggies!

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