Do you have a hard time getting your kids and/or significant other to eat their veggies?  I’d love to have a vegetable with every meal and make it the largest part of my meal, but this can become a challenge when I’m trying to please a 2 1/2 year-old and a grown man.  To keep them happy, I’ve found creative ways to incorporate veggies into meals that they might not otherwise have been included in.

Two of my favorite vegetables to include in my recipes are spinach and cauliflower.  Here are a few recipes that have been successful and a hit in my house, which pleases this mama:

Creamy Garlic Mashed Cauliflower – tastes just like mashed potatoes

Cheesy Cauliflower Patties

Spinach & Artichoke Chicken

Skinny BBQ Chicken Pizza – Now for this pizza crust I would usually use cauliflower instead of spinach, but I was out of cauliflower and the spinach worked well.  The green look probably isn’t appealing to most people, and I prefer the taste of cauliflower but it was a nice change and a creative way to use a super food in one of my recipes.

My favorite way to use cauliflower is as a substitute for potatoes, which may be evident from how I used it in the recipes listed above.  One of my favorite sides to have as a kid were tater tots.  My dad was an expert at these and would bake them on low in the oven for a LONG time to get them perfectly browned and crispy.

Cauliflower Tater Tots turned out to be just as good, but much healthier.  Coming in at only 180 calories per serving, my dad would be proud of this healthier version of one of our family favorites!

Here’s what you’ll need on your grocery list:

**This recipe makes enough to serve 4 people (24-28 tots with 6-7 tots making a serving size**

2 cups Cauliflower, finely chopped

1/2 cup Egg Beaters

1/2 cup Onion, minced

1/2 cup Reduced Fat Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese

1/4 cup Parsley, finely chopped

1/2 cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs

Salt

Pepper

Cook cauliflower by filling a small saucepan with about an inch of water.  Bring the water to a boil and place cauliflower in pan.  Cover and let it steam for about 4 to 5 minutes or until cauliflower is soft.

Drain water and set the cauliflower aside on a paper towel to allow it to dry while you put the other ingredients together.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, combine Egg Beaters, onion, cheese, parsley, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Using a knife, finely chop cauliflower.

Add the cauliflower to all the other ingredients.  Stir to combine.  Then using a potato masher, mash all the ingredients together until well combined.  This is a great way to take out any aggression you might be feeling from the day 🙂

Now here’s the fun part because you can get your hands dirty 🙂  Using a tablespoon, scoop up the mixture and then roll into a tater tot shape.  This would be a wonderful spot to involve the kids.  Think of how much fun they would have rolling this mixture into fun little tots, and it would probably make them that much more excited to eat these tasty tots!  I wasn’t a perfectionist when it came  to this because I was trying to get supper on the table as quick as I could so mine were a little more round shaped than tot shaped, but they still tasted and looked delicious 🙂

Bake for 15-18 minutes, flipping them over halfway through.

Enjoy this delicious, low-calorie side knowing that your family is getting some of their daily requirement of veggies they may have otherwise been reluctant to eat!