Adventures in Veggieland by Melanie Potock

Adventures in Veggieland by Melanie Potock ISBN-13: 9781615194063 Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: The Experiment Released: Feb. 6, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
A new, foolproof method developed by feeding therapist Melanie Potock, coauthor of Raising a Healthy, Happy Eater, teaches kids ages 3–8 to love vegetables. The book features 20 vegetables divided into four seasons. In addition to the easy-to-follow activities and recipes, Potock offers bite-size advice on kitchen science and parenting in the kitchen.

Her program is a simple—and fun—three-step process: the “Three E’s”" Expose your child to new vegetables with sensory, hands-on, and educational activities (Make Beet Tattoos). Explore the characteristics of each veggie (texture, taste, temperature, and more) with delectable but oh-so-easy recipes (Crispy Asparagus Bundles). Expand your family’s repertoire with more inventive vegetable dishes—including a “sweet treat” with every chapter (Give Peas a Chance Cake).


My Review:
Adventures in Veggieland is about proven ways to help children (ages 3–8) to learn to enjoy eating veggies. The author covered beets, butternut squash, parsnips, sweet potatoes, turnips, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, peas, spinach, bell peppers, corn, cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and pumpkin. With each recipe or game, she provided cooking tips, tips for parents on how to make the experience successful, and how this activity benefits your child.

For each vegetable, the author started with a game involving that food, like making temporary tattoos using beets or playing with little plastic toys in mashed potatoes. The intent is to get the child familiar with the food through seeing, touching, and tasting it. She then provided 3 recipes for main or side dishes that use the vegetable. The intent is for the children to help the adult make the food as they're more likely to eat what they help to make. These recipes are pretty simple to do, and she suggests what parts young children can help with and what parts older children can do. The final recipe in each section is for a desert that has some of the veggie in it.

She isn't necessarily making healthy foods so she often added veggies to or made them into more familiar foods, like fries. She used bacon in several recipes (but suggested that you only use a little and use bacon that doesn't have preservatives). But the recipes may not be suitable for children with dietary restrictions as she used dairy, eggs, wheat flour, and such. However, the overall method for getting picky eaters to enjoy their veggies sounds like it should work well.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.