Young Child Dinner Ideas - Share Your Successes

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Folks,

I'm not sure if there's an appetite for this. Maybe it's been done before and gone off. Why not share your successful dinner ideas so that the rest of us can find a handy recipe that we can experiment eh try on our little ones.

CheeseBurgers

Without fail my little one loves these (she's almost 4). I make a very thin patty with a little bit of fennel seed in it. There's a slice of proper chedder, very finely chopped white onion, some salad & avocado. One part of the bun will have a thin layer of relish while the other part will have a thin layer of sour cream.

Kintarō Hattori

Quiche

This is fairly successful too. Make a thin pastry base, fill with some finely chopped onion, pancetta cubes or bacon (whichever you prefer), finely diced mushrooms, cheddar, whisk two eggs with some milk, Italian seasoning and pour over your quiche. Bake in the oven at about 180 for 30 minutes or so. What you serve it with is up to you but my little one loves gherkins and coleslaw.

You can easily make a vegetarian version by just using broccoli & mushrooms. I add a little Worcestershire sauce to help liven the flavour up a little.

fits

Just had avocado pasta. My boys love it. Adapted from baby led feeding cookbook.

Fry half onion gently until softened. Add 2 cloves of garlic and fry until soft. Put into blender with two avocados, a tablespoon of olive oil, juice of half a lemon. Blend.

Stir into cooked pasta. We add frozen peas and frozen prawns and cook for 2 minutes. Serve.

bee06

Quesadillas are usually a big hit here. Grated cheese, relish, scrambled egg and crumbled black pudding is a nice filling one that gets a particularly good reaction.

Kintarō Hattori

fits wrote: »

Just had avocado pasta. My boys love it. Adapted from baby led feeding cookbook.

Fry half onion gently until softened. Add 2 cloves of garlic and fry until soft. Put into blender with two avocados, a tablespoon of olive oil, juice of half a lemon. Blend.

Stir into cooked pasta. We add frozen peas and frozen prawns and cook for 2 minutes. Serve.

I'm not a fan of seafood so any suggestions for a prawn substitute?

fits

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I'm not a fan of seafood so any suggestions for a prawn substitute?

You can just leave it out. It’s nice without.

SmallgirlBigcity

I've always hated cooking and been bad at it but I needed to learn when my baby came along and I found the Joe Wicks Wean in 15 book absolutely amazing. His recipes are so simple and easy to follow. It's tasty healthy food and I happily eat them as well. Id defo recommend it for anyone who isn't great at cooking and wants to make healthy nice food for their little one.

Kintarō Hattori

Enchiladas



Tried her out with these earlier this week and they were fairly well received. This was a recipe from Annabel Karmel:

https://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/annabels-tasty-beef-enchiladas/

I added a little sour cream to make it a bit more appealing and threw on some plum tomatoes and avocado on the side.

Pistachios & cream

Really interested in this thread. i actually love cooking but i find its difficult to get a range of dinners that suit the adults and the 16 month old.
A dish we all love is egg fried rice. You can have it as a side or a main with some added protein

Leftover rice approx 1 Cup fried in a tablespoon of oil
add veg, Peas, Sweetcorn, Peppers chopped finely (any mix really just chopped fine) about 1 cup
1-2 eggs scrambled and then added to the mix, stir through the rice and veg until cooked
add a Dash of Soy sauce
top with chopped scallion

Kintarō Hattori

Pistachios & cream wrote: »

Really interested in this thread. i actually love cooking but i find its difficult to get a range of dinners that suit the adults and the 16 month old.
A dish we all love is egg fried rice. You can have it as a side or a main with some added protein

Leftover rice approx 1 Cup fried in a tablespoon of oil
add veg, Peas, Sweetcorn, Peppers chopped finely (any mix really just chopped fine) about 1 cup
1-2 eggs scrambled and then added to the mix, stir through the rice and veg until cooked
add a Dash of Soy sauce
top with chopped scallion

Great idea. I never thought of this. I've been trying to figure out how to get my little one to eat more rice as she's a monster for potatoes and pasta but hasn't taken to rice based dishes all that much. She initially ate a very mild chicken tikka masala but then went off of it.

catrionanic

I am reading these meals in envy knowing that my fussy children would eat none of them!

My highs are small sneaky victories like sneaking ground seeds and nuts into their porridge and pasta (they won't eat meat but at least that's a bit of protein), mixing nut butter in with Nutella so he doesn't realise he is eating it, sneaking very small amounts of a pale butternut squash/sweet potato pasta sauce into his plain pasta and cheese and getting away with it because the colour is so similar, and on the very very rare occasional that he will nibble the end of a carrot baton or dip his bread into some vegetable soup!

bee06

catrionanic wrote: »

I am reading these meals in envy knowing that my fussy children would eat none of them!

My highs are small sneaky victories like sneaking ground seeds and nuts into their porridge and pasta (they won't eat meat but at least that's a bit of protein), mixing nut butter in with Nutella so he doesn't realise he is eating it, sneaking very small amounts of a pale butternut squash/sweet potato pasta sauce into his plain pasta and cheese and getting away with it because the colour is so similar, and on the very very rare occasional that he will nibble the end of a carrot baton or dip his bread into some vegetable soup!

Meat is a total no go here as well unless it’s sliced ham from a packet, bacon or sausages (basically all the salty ones!). Cheese is probably his main source of protein followed by egg if he’s in the right mood.

fits

Hang in there. One of my four year olds was iffy with meat for ages but much better in recent months. He ate a full serving of haddock yesterday too ( fresh fried - no breadcrumbs or anything). . Couldn’t believe it. He’s still not great with green veg though.

Milly33

Oh fantastic thread, thank you.. We are having a bit of a nightmare the last yearish with our little miss. Just trying to get her to eat anything but fruit, and cereal... Looking forward to all this wisdom..

Kintarō Hattori

Pork Meatballs in a Mascarpone Sauce



This usually goes down fairly well. If you serve it with some wholemeal pasta it's that little bit better.

Fry some finely diced onion, bit of garlic, mix it into your pork mince with breadcrumbs and an egg. I add some fennel seed, oregano and then fry them gently in the pan. Once well on their way to being cooked you can either use some canned tomatoes and puree or passata. Add a bay leaf, a bit of brown sugar and cook until it's thickened to a nice consistency. Towards the very end add in some mascarpone cheese. I love this myself. The meatballs are soft and juicy and it makes a change from beef.

thejaguar

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Pork Meatballs in a Mascarpone Sauce

....Once well on their way to being cooked you can either use some canned tomatoes and puree or passata......

We do something similar but we make a tomato sauce with celery, carrot, onion and any other leftover veg we can find. Bung that all in a pot with a can of tomatoes or some passata and blend it up when it's cooked. We make a big pot of it and freeze it in batches. It goes into anything as tomato sauce base - we've even used in on pizza in a pinch.

Good way to get some veg into the diet if you have fussy eaters.

shesty

I make beef meatballs from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food book which also go down very well - often make them in batches with fresh lean mince, freeze them and then cook when I need them. They are handy because I can chop and kind of "mash" it in among the pasta, so the toddler is more inclined to eat them. The kids add a bit of parmesan on top, which they like doing themselves. I must try those pork ones, they look nice.


I also do chicken breast chunks coated in panko breadcrumbs. Nevin Maguire has an excellent "Chicken Dippers" recipe in his Family cookbook, which turn out really well. They can be quite dry though for toddlers, so the panko seems easier for them to manage. I bake in the oven with a little spray of olive oil on them. Again, can be pre-made and frozen, and then cooked as needed and served with homemade oven chips and veg.



My little boy has completely different taste to my 2 girls - he will eat a bit of chilli and more spicy things more than they will, so it can be tough to get a dinner they all eat. "Homemade" pizza is always a hit here too (I admit I buy the main elements but I am fussy enough about what I buy) - you can get some really nice pizza bases and pizza sauces that are great quality for kids, and they love adding the grated mozzarella and other bits. Two of mine eat my own vegetable soup no bother - potato, carrot, celery, onion, sweet potato, bit of thyme, and a veg stock cube, all boiled together and then whizzed up. Again, I generally make a big pot, divide it into storage pots and freeze it for use when needed. It's a handy way to get a good portion of veg into them.

Kintarō Hattori

shesty wrote: »

I make beef meatballs from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food book which also go down very well - often make them in batches with fresh lean mince, freeze them and then cook when I need them. They are handy because I can chop and kind of "mash" it in among the pasta, so the toddler is more inclined to eat them. The kids add a bit of parmesan on top, which they like doing themselves. I must try those pork ones, they look nice.


I also do chicken breast chunks coated in panko breadcrumbs. Nevin Maguire has an excellent "Chicken Dippers" recipe in his Family cookbook, which turn out really well. They can be quite dry though for toddlers, so the panko seems easier for them to manage. I bake in the oven with a little spray of olive oil on them. Again, can be pre-made and frozen, and then cooked as needed and served with homemade oven chips and veg.



My little boy has completely different taste to my 2 girls - he will eat a bit of chilli and more spicy things more than they will, so it can be tough to get a dinner they all eat. "Homemade" pizza is always a hit here too (I admit I buy the main elements but I am fussy enough about what I buy) - you can get some really nice pizza bases and pizza sauces that are great quality for kids, and they love adding the grated mozzarella and other bits. Two of mine eat my own vegetable soup no bother - potato, carrot, celery, onion, sweet potato, bit of thyme, and a veg stock cube, all boiled together and then whizzed up. Again, I generally make a big pot, divide it into storage pots and freeze it for use when needed. It's a handy way to get a good portion of veg into them.

Some great ideas there Shesty. Pizza is a winner here too. In terms of sauce I just use some good quality passata and a pre-made base.

Pistachios & cream

Tonight i'm trying a new one for the toddler. African Peanut stew. Specially adapted for my husband by the addition of chicken. Otherwise it'd be vegan.

She likes sweet potato's, rice and has liked satay sauce so i'm hoping this will be a hit but sure who knows with toddlers.

Ingredients
* 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth
* 1 medium red onion, chopped
* 2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 4 bullets of frozen spinach (recipe calls for collared greens but frozen spinach is what i have.
* ¾ cup unsalted peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
* ½ cup tomato paste
* Hot sauce, like sriracha (as an optional garnish)
* ¼ cup roughly chopped peanuts, for garnish
* 1 chicken breast
* 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

Instructions
1. In a medium Dutch oven or stock pot, sauce the onion, garlic and ginger
2. Add the chicken and sweet potato.
3. Add the broth and bring to a boil.
4. Cook on medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
5. combine the peanut butter and tomato paste, then transfer 1 to 2 cups of the hot stock to the bowl. Whisk the mixture together until smooth, t
6. pour the peanut mixture back into the soup and mix well.
7. Stir in the Kale and season to taste.
8. Simmer for about 15 more minutes on medium-low heat, stirring often.
9. Serve over rice if you'd like, and top with chopped peanuts and hot sauce to taste.


every time i plan to make this i think coconut milk would be a good addition but when it comes to it its not needed. i'll see how it tastes tonight and make a call on whether to add it or not.

Kintarō Hattori

Sounds very interesting Pistachios & cream. I'd love to know how this goes down.

Pistachios & cream

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Sounds very interesting Pistachios & cream. I'd love to know how this goes down.

I'd say this was moderately successful. she ate most of the portion i gave her (small one) and didn't look for other food after.

I've portioned up some of the leftovers for her weekend lunches as i find this the most difficult meal as we eat our lunch later than her.
Cottage pie tonight. We shall see how that goes

noplacehere

My two are horrendous picky eaters. I’m not sure why as us two would eat anything

For anyone who is on the same page as that I’ve had good success with three things they like and one new. The new one has to be tasted. And I do it over and over and gradually things get added in. I do hide blended veg in sauces etc.

I also have carb, two veg and protein at each meal. Usually three of those are things they like and the fourth is new or something they aren’t fond of. So we had chicken curry yesterday and the veg was served on the side as was the rice. So chicken curry style was new, the broccoli and cauliflower and rice they both eat already. They both had to taste the chicken. One liked it and had another two pieces.

Peppers are a total no go, only one of them will eat eggs, only one likes peanut butter. It’s a mess.

Homemade nut balls work for them both and I usually make sure I use them for a snack when I know I’m trying something they aren’t fond of protein wise at dinner

Milly33

How are these homemade nut balls made then!

Always find with my kids that the more they have to _do_ to eat the more into it they get.

So rice paper wraps or tortilla wraps are always a win. They get to construct the meal their way and get a bit messy doing it and it's all good.

A table top cooker / cheese melter also works well. Again the hands on experience of it makes them forget _what_ they are eating and concentration more on _how_ they are eating it. So they end up eating foods they might not be so keen on in other contexts.

And never be scared to just food process a lot of good food into a goo and slap it on pasta. You can sneak a lot of healthy good into kids this way. This recipe here is so easy for example as you just chop things up roughly without really caring - roast it all - puree it and slap it on pasta and cover it with a nice cheese.

Calling anything cake and making it look like cake also seems to have a good reaction on kids. This one for example.

Also as much as possible get kids into growing or preparing or even cooking their own food. The more invested they are in any or all parts of the process - the more invested they tend to get in eating the end result.

Milly33

I am liking this egg dish.. Mind I tried the egg souffle dish with herself and nope she loved making it but did not eat it..

Can I ask where ye get the rice paper wraps from? I have it on my list to try with her but never come across the wraps..

I tend to make rice paper myself so I am not sure where you can buy them. But I think shops like Tesco and a few others make Vietnamese Meal Kits which include them. At least that is where I remember last seeing them to buy. Asian Supermarkets will of course likely have them too.

Kintarō Hattori

Kid Friendly Carbonara



A little onion, bacon or pancetta cubes, chicken stock, cream cheese, some seasoning and grated parmesan or pecorino cheese on top. It's always well received.

thejaguar

That carbonara looks good.

There was a thread on here a while back about carbonara. I'd recommend you stay away from it - some people have VERY strong views on carbonara :rolleyes:

Kintarō Hattori

thejaguar wrote: »

That carbonara looks good.

There was a thread on here a while back about carbonara. I'd recommend you stay away from it - some people have VERY strong views on carbonara :rolleyes:

Just had a skim over that thread.... :eek:

noplacehere

Sorry for the nut balls I do 5-7 dates, 5-7 prunes (my lads can be slow especially if they’ve had banana) with 75g of nuts. I vary whatever I’m putting in. Blend. Then add a dash of maple syrup if needed to bind it

Milly33

Made a carbonara for Ourselves this weekend and the 1 and a bit year old went bonkers for it.. Donal Skehan recipe very easy to make, but added mushrooms (that were cooked in garlic and some wine would not have used wine it i thought he would eat it) he could not get enough of it

ax530

good thread, past few months with children being at home from school so much combined with the boredom of restricted life they seem to be worse at eating dinners.
They always requesting the same few things they like, not wanting to try new things and possibly snacking too much.
Up to age 6 would eat anything now getting more particular. One basically wants meat only another certain veg and pasta or bread. Always looking for a sprinkle of salt too.
They will eat wraps with cheese and any meat for any meal. I'm often wondering why I put pressure on myself to make them a hot dinner if they happy to eat a few cherry tomatoes and chicken & cheese wraps.

After Easter as I'm still working from home going to try get dinner ready over lunch and they can eat when in from school see if this works better.
So keeping eye on this thread for meals that can be in oven on timer or slow cooker ?

Kintarō Hattori

Chicken Pie



A simple enough recipe made with some chicken, parsnip, carrots & frozen peas. This is usually a hit. Cook the chicken in the oven just before you start on the veg and pastry and it's a handy enough number.

shesty

I have 2 chicken refusers here...they eat begrudgingly, if at all.Doesn't half make life difficult.

Kintarō Hattori

This wasn't a success for me, possibly because it was too spicy for her. I left out using chillies so the only heat was from the sweet chilli sauce. I said I'd link it here as it's easy to make and I imagine others would have more success with it:

https://khinskitchen.com/crispy-sweet-chilli-beef/

Pistachios & cream

I keep forgetting how sensitive their taste buds are and even mild spicing can seem a lot to them. i Have something similar planned for dinner tonight but with noodles. I'll separate out some plainer noodles before i add any spices and i have leftover roast veg and potatoes to supplement with. I'll offer the beef but invariably she doesn't like the texture of meat so it will probably be discarded. She has surprised me though.

Things that have worked well lately are build your own mexican inspired dishes, fajitas, chilli etc, i serve them all with wraps, grated cheese, guacamole, salsa etc and we can then spice to our individual taste. Small girl is loving guacamole as long as there isn't a lot of lime juice in it. Wraps and cheese also go down well and she will try the chilli (mild).

Similarly i do a mexican hash of airfryer potatoes, sweet potatoes, chorizo and peppers, topped with an egg and served with guacamole and salsa. This is a big hit as eggs are also a favourite.

shesty

The Supervalu near me do lovely little salmon fishcakes....lightly breaded, and just salmon inside, not too thick or big.They were a very surprising hit here last week, and the eldest went a step further and tried a teeny bit of sweet chilli sauce to dip them in.Just a taste of it.Today was fish goujons from Howth which again were a surprising hit with my older two.Served with my own chips and plenty of veg.Tartare sauce was roundly rejected though!Given that it's been well over a year since I tried them with fish last, I am happy to build on today!

Eldest has also discovered the existence of phad thai noodles with chicken.Has received a major thumbs up.I am just happy she is once more willing to at least try stuff.

noplacehere

We are FINALLY eating peppers again! And egg!

Found this and printed a few images of it
https://d1aettbyeyfilo.cloudfront.net/daniellebinns/3064628_15476822119991.jpg

It appealed to him coz he’s loved the experiments they do in school. And he has already decided that egg is fine. And after doing the placemat on one small piece he voluntarily ate the pepper I placed on the side of his plate today in the same way I have done for three years- Have I mentioned he’s stubborn….

Can’t wait to try some of the aboe

noplacehere

Can you give any more detail on this? It sounds amazing….


Similarly i do a mexican hash of airfryer potatoes, sweet potatoes, chorizo and peppers, topped with an egg and served with guacamole and salsa. This is a big hit as eggs are also a favourite.

Pistachios & cream

I call it Mexican hash as it’s based on a dish I used to order for brunch called Mexican hash but I’m sure it’s nowhere near that anymore. You don’t need an air fryer and could roast or pan fry the potatoes and veg too. It’s very easy, just chopping really.

I cube potatoes and season with garlic granules and some paprika(less since I had the small girl) and add toss in some oil
Cube sweet potatoes and toss in oil
Chop peppers and chorizo
Starting with the potatoes I cook them til about halfway in the air fryer, then add sweet potatoes as they take less time to cook. When they are nearly done I add the peppers and chorizo.
Fry a couple of eggs and I serve with guacamole and salsa and cholua but you can just use what you like.

For the adults I serve the veg mix in a bowl, top with an egg and add your own toppings. Toddler gets hers separated out as she also doesn’t like peppers but they appear on her plate regardless.

Milly33

we have had success on Peas!!! Bit of butter thats about it

crisco10

Not meals, but we make humus, salsa and guacamole with our toddler.

She helps make them (usually by putting everything in the blender, peeling the garlic and juicing the lime) which obviously increasing the attraction to her too, fierce easy to make with fairly normal ingredients.

Humus is just a tin of chick peas drained, garlic, peanut butter, lemon juice and cumin in a blitzer, blend til smooth and season to taste.

Guac; mashed avocado, 3 or 4 cherry tomatoes, garlic, onion, lime juice, coriander (dried leaf is ok, fresh leaf better). Blend.

Salsa; same as Guac, but more tomatoes, no avocado or garlic.

She devours them and anything that are dipped in them - e.g. carrots, potato, chicken etc. And are basically pure vegetable.

nikpmup

My son is VERY sensitive to tastes/textures, he has ADHD & other neuro issues, and will gag/vomit on stuff that is unfamiliar. It's been really difficult to get him to eat anything out of his comfort zone (namely ANYTHING veg wise) but I've had recent success with these:

Peanut butter noodles - whisk a small amount (tablespoon or two) of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, optional sesame oil, honey/agave syrup and a couple of tablespoons of natural peanut butter with a little water. Add sweet chilli sauce, garlic & ginger to your child's taste. Grate a carrot and some white cabbage, stir fry with some chicken or beef, add cooked noodles and stir through the sauce. I steam the veg along with some broccoli and cauliflower florets in the microwave for a minute or two to make sure they're tender before stir frying. The grated veg "disappears" into the noodles and sauce and can't be picked out. Really tasty, and if making for a family, increase the amount of sauce and add fresh chilli & ginger into the grown ups portion.

Courgette fritters - grate courgettes and a white potato, add seasonings to taste (you can add curry powder, garlic, turmeric, whatever flavours you like really) and a few spoons of chickpea flour to bind. If you need it you can also add a splash of milk to help form a batter. Drop a couple of spoonfuls onto an oiled pan, shape into a patty and fry until cooked through and crispy. You can also grate in a little carrot or stir in some sweetcorn to the batter. Nice for an adults lunch with salad too.

"Dinner pancakes" - finely chop veg of choice - I usually go for broccoli, grated carrot, a little onion, tomato, some spinach - and soften in a pan. Add chopped ham or chicken. Divide the veg into an oiled muffin tin, and pour over whisked eggs (add seasonings & herbs to the eggs).Top with grated cheese and bake for 10 mins or so until firmed up. These freeze really well and can be defrosted in the microwave quickly. These are great for getting the kids to help with. A silicone muffin tray makes getting them out a lot easier as well.

Milly33

thanks Nikp going to try the peanut dish tonight see if we get anywhere.

nikpmup

Milly33 wrote: »

thanks Nikp going to try the peanut dish tonight see if we get anywhere.

I realise the quantities for the sauce are.... vague! I generally judge it by eye and by taste, and add a bit more of whatever I think it's lacking! I add a tiny bit more honey for my son to make it sweeter. The sauce should be fairly thick but pourable, and it does need a good whisk to get it to come together initially. A squeeze of lime juice is nice in it too.

Milly33

thank you, i think we are the same with measurements i went with what you said but added more peanut butter... I did think it seemed rather thick alright, but i made it up with chicken first and then added to the noodles.. Was a bit hit and miss the younger chap like it but then poked out the chicken bits and the older one who I am most keen to get eating more did not even try it for me.. I made up a chicken and pineapple dish too and he loved it but her nope.. Tis tiring but made it in a big batch so going to try her again

shesty

It is completely headwrecking Milly.
But keep putting strange food on her plate, a bit here and there.I just tell mine if you don't want to eat it that's fine, but it stays on your plate.That in itself is a good lesson for them to learn, to be ok with unknown foods on their plate.It comes in time though.

Milly33

thanks Shesty that is actually a very good point to leave the food on their plate... She used to insist she did not want anything else on the plate now I just put it on..

Very odd one today, we were bold and got a take away and gave her two chicken nuggets as the beginning she was all no no not eating them but then half and hour onto it she did.. Maybe the tides are changing at last

bee06

We get that a lot here Milly. Start of the meal he’ll say Yuck, I’m not eating that. I’ll say, that’s fine, it’s your choice what you eat. And by the end of the meal he sometimes will have eaten it all.

shesty

My second child is/was a demon for saying "eww yuck, what's that, I'm not eating that" at the top of her voice, age 4.(now 5).She is a lot better now mind you!
Basically I would like to be able to bring her to a restaurant at some point in her life, and/or I do not want her to be the dinner guest at someone's house thinking that is ok to say at the top of her voice!!I have met some kids who have never been called up on that behaviour, and think it is ok to do everywhere they get food that isn't their usual, so it was something I wanted to work on with mine when she started doing it.Especially since the younger lad was parroting it afterwards....

Milly33

And we were blaming a book she got as a gift at Christmas for this Yuck! I dont like it, just another phase then...Thanks to all again