The Curious Case of the Salad Biscuit

We had dinner at home this evening. Zoey had chicken and noodles. I was happily having my salad that consisted of lettuce and cucumbers topped with balsamic vinaigrette and a side of grilled chicken. Irene had lettuce and hard boiled eggs with a protein shake. Halfway through dinner, Zoey stretched out her hands to me and started asking for biscuits. There were no biscuits on the table.

Irene gave her a piece of lettuce which she looked at suspiciously, brought to her mouth and then spat out. As we struggled to figure out what biscuits she was referring to, I realised that the salad I was eating was really crunchy and the sound it was making sounded a lot like crackers/biscuits. Zoey has a liking for crunchy things. So I picked up a piece of the crunchiest lettuce there was and gave it to her. She devoured it with gusto and asked for more 菜菜 (vegetable) after that.

I had just started coming to terms to the fact that Zoey is not a huge vegetable fan. Unlike me, who loves her veggies and could just have a plate of stir fried vegatables for lunch, she is a huge meat eater instead. She could eat chicken, fish and egg all day with pasta, noodles or rice, but it takes quite a bit to make her eat vegetables of any kind. She'll take corn in a cup, dehydrated brocolli and carrot in soup, but that's it. She refuses most stir fried vegetables although she will insist we pick out the garlic in it for her to munch on. Occasionally she obliges us by eating the garlic with the vegetables but she generally eats only the garlic and not the accompanying vegetable. So this is a huge break through. I'm not sure if it is the fact that the lettuce was crunchy or the fact that it has balsamic vinaigrette on it. Either way I look forward to her requesting for more 菜菜 biscuits.

Do you have any tips to share on how to get your child eating more vegetables?