Tips from Jennie Garth

Jennie Garth may be most famous for her role as 'Kelly Taylor' on the long-running hit series "Beverly Hills, 90210," but being mom to three girls and wife to actor Peter Facinelli is what she considers her best role. One important lesson this vegetarian mom wants to instill in her kids is good nutrition and an appreciation for vegetables. With the help of what she’s learned from experts and her own experience raising her kids on their Santa Barbara ranch, Jennie has developed some great tips for parents on how to get their kids to develop a life-long love of veggies:

• Story Time: Break out the kid-friendly books that tell stories about veggies. Try “Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli” or my favorite “Kitchen for Kids.” If you get them thinking about veggies during a fun activity, they will crave them and not find them as unappetizing as they did before.
  
  
• Play Hide & Seek: Add a secret veggie to one of your family’s favorite dishes, and then ask the kids to guess what it is. Consider adding carrots to your marinara sauce or a new veggie to your lasagna. Veggies are also great in desserts, too. Add zucchini or squash to your favorite cake or bread recipe, and you’ll be sure to keep kids guessing.
  
  
• Fresh from the Farm: Many kids think their veggies come from the grocery store, so show kids the real origin of the vegetables they eat. Suggest a school field trip to your local farm or farmers’ market to your child’s teacher (and come along as a chaperone). If you educate through entertaining, they will get excited to see how vegetables grow and will be more invested in eating them at your dinner table.
  
  
• Get Creative: Let your kids get creative with their veggies. Anyone can grow a cucumber in a garden, but how about growing one in a bottle? Or try coming up with fun names for the veggies, like “mini green trees” instead of broccoli.
  
  
• Just Dip It: Let them dip them in something delicious. A little Hidden Valley® Ranch Dressing goes a long way during snack time.
  
  
• Make it a Favorite: Integrate veggies into your kid’s favorite dishes. Put a new twist on classic kid-favorites, like adding broccoli to mac & cheese or making pureed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. For kid-friendly recipes, visit hiddenvalley.com.
  
  
• Knowledge is Power: Kids want to eat food they know a lot about, so teach them about vegetables. Research fun facts about all the veggies you are serving that night at the dinner table and then give everyone a fun and educational “pop quiz” before you sit down to eat. Did you know peppers have three times as much vitamin C as an orange or that potatoes are sodium free?
  
  
• It’s a Family Affair: Having your kids help you in the kitchen is not only fun for them, it’s also a great way for you to spend time as a family. Start by sending your kids to a kids cooking class so they can learn kitchen fundamentals. Then invest in a lettuce knife (they are less than $10). These knives are perfect for kid sous-chefs because they are big and plastic so they greatly reduce the risk of injury in the kitchen, yet they are strong enough to cut through kids’ favorite veggies.

About Jennie Garth

Jennie Garth, currently starring in the iVillage.com Webisode series "Garden Party” sponsored by Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings, skyrocketed to stardom with her role as Kelly Taylor on Beverly Hills, 90210. The show became a ratings juggernaut, lasting 10 seasons, and remains one of the most successful television series produced. Jennie now reprises her role as Kelly in the new 90210 series. She is back at West Beverly High, but this time she is all grown up and working as the school guidance counselor.

Jennie most recently competed on ABC’s hit show Dancing with the Stars. Her newfound moves and loyal fans made her a crowd favorite and kept her in the competition through the semi-finals. Jennie also starred opposite Andrea Bowen in Lifetime’s Girl, Positive which was the network’s highest-rated movie.

In 2002 Jennie made her comedy debut as the straight-laced sister of Amanda Bynes in the WB’s What I Like About You. The series concluded in 2006 after a four season run. In addition, Jennie made several appearances alongside Jennifer Connolly, Adam Goldberg and Tom Everett Scott on Fox’s The $treet, produced by Darren Starr.

The talent Jennie displayed on the iconic Beverly Hills, 90210 opened up additional professional doors. Jennie’s first starring role in TV-movie was Danielle Steele’s Star, which launched NBC’s fall 1993 schedule and garnered the highest ratings for a season premiere (MOW) for NBC since 1989. Later that year Jennie starred in and executive produced Without Consent, an entertaining and educational telepic for ABC. Jennie’s character was a rebellious teen committed to a psychiatric facility by her out-of-touch careerist parents. Based on true accounts, Without Consent explored a growing problem in the mental health care system, and aspired to help bring about change by raising public awareness for the issue. The success of this project led to a three-picture deal at ABC for Jennie to develop and produce her own projects.

Jennie and husband, actor Peter Facinelli have three daughters Luca Bella, Lola Ray and Fiona Eve. The family enjoys spending time at their home in Los Angeles and ranch in Northern California.