It is said that good things come in small packages and maintaining this notion during mealtime is important especially when you have young children. Preparing healthy meals is essential for the growth and development of your kids’ bodies while simultaneously avoiding diseases and health conditions that arise due to poor feeding habits. Moreover, you should prepare and serve your children with bite-sized meals and snacks to enable them to feed properly even on their own.
It is the norm that children like sweet foods and the healthy diets should not lack the sweet and delicious taste. Each meal should contain low calories levels while maintaining high healthy ingredient components helpful for the optimal growth and development of both body and brain for your children. The meals should be easy and quick to prepare and at times, you should involve the children in the preparation to teach them benefits of healthy eating.
1. Egg and Rocket Pizza
The meal takes approximately 10 minutes to prepare and a further 20 minutes to cook. You should replace pizza with seeded tortillas to make sure that you have prepared a quick and healthy lunch for your children. Crack the egg and bake it to boost the protein intake levels. The meal is beneficial for normal brain and body growth and development.
Ingredients
A little olive oil for brushing
Two eggs
Two tomatoes
Two seeded wraps
Two tablespoons of tomato puree
A roasted red pepper from a jar
One tablespoon of chopped parsley
One tablespoon of chopped dill
65g of pack rocket
A half red onion that is thinly sliced
Preparation
Heat your oven to a temperature of 200c and lay your tortillas on two baking sheets. Brush the tortillas sparingly with the olive oil and bake for approximately three minutes. Chop the pepper and tomatoes and mix with your tomato puree as the tortillas bakes. Add seasoning and herbs to the tomato mixture. Turn the tortillas over and spread the tomato mixture on it leaving the center free of any large pepper or tomato pieces.
Break your egg into the center of the tortillas and return to the oven for approximately 10 minutes. Make sure that your egg is just set and the edges of the tortillas are crispy. The meal is ready for serving and should be scattered with onions and rockets. The taste and crispy texture is appealing to children enabling them to feed excellently.
2. Mixed-bean chilli with wedges
It is a healthy meat-free delicious meal that is highly beneficial for the kids. It requires you to pre-heat your oven to a temperature of approximately 220c and takes 50 minutes to prepare. The meal has nutrients that will help your kids organs to develop normally and simultaneously boost their immune system.
Ingredients
400g of chopped tomatoes
four medium unpeeled baking potatoes each cut into eight wedges
One yellow pepper
One roughly chopped red onion
One tablespoon of Cajun spice mix
Four teaspoons of olive oil
Two-410g cans of mixed pulses in water rinsed and then dried thoroughly
150ml of vegetable stock
One tablespoon of dark chopped chocolate
four tablespoons of reduced-fat soured cream
Preparation
Toss your potatoes with the oil and spread them in a single layer in a baking tray. Put them in your preheated oven for approximately 35 minutes and turn them halfway through the time. Make sure that they are golden brown and tender. Meanwhile, as they are baking, mix the chilli with the remaining oil and place the mixture in a casserole dish. Fry the pepper and onions for five minutes and add Cajun spice, pulses, tomatoes and stock.
Simmer for 20 minutes and remove casserole from the heat and stir until the chocolate has melted. Put the chilli into bowls and top each of them with a tablespoon of the soured cream. Serve the mixture with the wedges and it is appealing to the children due to the chocolate taste that is dominant in the served meal.
3. Squished tomato pasta sauce
Fresh tomato sauce is quite healthy when taken with pasta. It takes approximately half an hour to prepare. The sauce is excellent in the enhancement of your kids’ immune systems.
Ingredients
Four basil leaves
12 cherry tomatoes
200g of cooked pasta
eight blacked or green stoned olives
two ordinary tomatoes cut into halves
small bunch chives
olive oil to be used for drizzling
Grated Parmesan or cheddar
Preparation
Squeeze the cherry tomatoes into a large bowl until they squirt. Press the halved tomatoes onto a lemon squeezer to obtain as much juice as possible. Snip the chives and basil using scissors and add them to the bowl. Cut the olives into halves too and add them to the bowl. Add a dribble of olive oil into the mixture and put your cooked pasta into smaller bowls. Spoon your sauce on top of the pasta and sprinkle with cheese.
4. Super-healthy salmon burgers
These burgers take half an hour to prepare, and they are nutritious and delicious for your children. This meal is beneficial for excellent brain development.
Ingredients
Four boneless and skinless salmon fillet with a total weight of 550g.
A small cucumber
Two tablespoons of Thai red curry paste
Two carrots
A bunch of half-chopped corianders
One tablespoon of golden caster sugar
One tablespoon of soy sauce
One tablespoon of vegetable oil
A tablespoon of white wine vinegar
Lemon wedges functional for serving
Preparation
Place the salmon in a food processor with soy, paste, ginger, and chopped coriander. Tip out the thoroughly blended mixture and shape them into burgers. Fry the oil in a non-stick pan then fry the burgers for approximately five minutes on each side ensuring that they are well-cooked, and they become crispy. Peel the cucumber and carrot strips into a bowl and toss them with vinegar and sugar till the sugar dissolves to entirety. Toss the coriander leaves into the mixture and serve the burgers with rice.
5. Pea Hummus
This meal takes ten minutes to prepare, and you can use garlic, cannellini beans, and tahini to serve with pitta bread and veggies for your children. This meal is beneficial for the growth and development of your children’s body organs.
Ingredients
200g of cooked peas
One tablespoon of tahini
One crushed garlic clove
A squeeze of lemon
two tablespoons of olive oil
raw vegetable sticks, to serve
One tablespoon of cooked cannellini beans from a can
Strips of pitta bread to serve
Preparation
Mix all ingredients thoroughly using a hand blender or a food processor. Add two tablespoons of water and mix again. Serve with the raw vegetable sticks and strips of pitta bread. You can keep what remains chilled for up to three days.
