It’s no mean feat getting your once vegetable munching toddler back onto the good stuff once they’ve deemed every veg under the sun as ‘yucky’ – even peas. I thought every child LOVED peas. Apparently not!

I’m all for ‘hiding’ veg in pasta sauces – I do it all the time – but I wanted to get the defiant vegetable eater tucking into his five a day in their original form. After a surprisingly unbroken night’s sleep – not only will he not eat his veg, the toddler also likes to wander into our bedroom at some ungodly hour and watch me sleep, until I wake up with a start and put him back to bed – I hit on a plan.

It’s probably not the most original plan ever. I’m sure I must have stolen it from someone, but my Eureka moment involved taking the toddler to the supermarket with the specific aim of getting him to choose the veg that he was going to eat that evening. After rejecting broccoli, green beans and courgettes, he settled on a carrot, handed over the money for said carrot, carried it home, watched me peel, chop and cook it and then…to my amazement, he only went and ate the carrot.  We’ve yet to progress to any other vegetables, but I’m happy with carrots, for now!

The verdict from the toddler: ‘Mmmm, yummy carrots.’