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[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;”] A[/dropcap] few months ago I was chatting with my sister Naomi. She had just been to a lunch with her mothers group.
She was telling me how much they were all struggling to come up with ideas for healthy dinners.
And I can see why.
As a new mum myself, I know how short on time mothers can be. Then add to the equation the need to please both the tiny people in the house and the adults. It’s definitely a tall order to fill.
So as Nao and I were talking, we began to flesh out an idea. We really wanted to come up with a way to help mums and dads walk this difficult tightrope.
I had toyed with the idea of doing something for parents myself, but given that I’m just starting on the parenting journey I didn’t feel ready to branch out yet.
Naomi, however, knows intimately the challenges of feeding a picky almost 2 1/2 year old.
And so ‘The Yellow Bench‘ was born.
We’re both super excited about our new project. And this week to celebrate the ‘birth’ of our new blog dedicated to bringing joy back to family meals, I thought I’d share my 10 favourite child-friendly meals…
10 Healthy (Child-friendly) Meals
1. Pirate Food with Sea Weed
[aka Fish Cakes with Wilted Spinach]
recipe below
2. The Magic Sausage Supper
[aka Baked Sausages with Veg]
3. ‘Dead Ant’ Salad
[aka Quinoa & Grilled Veg Salad]
4. Dinosaur Tree Stir Fry
[aka Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry]
5. Green Eggs with Ham
[aka Pesto Eggs with Ham]
6. Cheesey ‘Moon Rocks’
[aka Cheesey Chickpeas ;)]
7. Red Lentil ‘Risotto’
[aka Red Lentil Risotto]
8. Real Mac & Cheese
[aka Real Mac & Cheese]
9. Real Kids Eat ‘Dirt’
[aka Parisian Lentils]
10. Do-Ahead Baked Meatballs
[aka Meatballs]
Any of these sound tempting?
Why not come over to our new blog and say Hi…
www.theyellowbench.com
___________
Pirate Food with Sea Weed
[Fish Cakes with Wilted Spinach]
One thing we love doing at the Yellow Bench is coming up with more fun names for meals. It’s amazing how a bit of creativity can go a long way to improving the image and ‘edibility’ of a particular food.
Enough for 2 adults
1 large tin tuna in oil (425g / 15oz), drained
1 can chickpeas (400g / 14oz), drained
1 egg
1 bag baby spinach
mayonnaise, natural yoghurt or lemon juice, to serve
1. Preheat an overhead grill or broiler.
2. Mash tuna and chickpeas together in a bowl using a fork or your hands. It’s OK to leave a few chickpeas whole. Or just whizz it all together in your food processor.
3. Stir in egg and form mixture into fish cakes about the size of a golf ball.
4. Place fish cakes on a heat proof tray and drizzle with a little oil.
5. Cook under the grill (broiler) for about 5 minutes or until browned. Turn carefully, they can be partial to falling apart, and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
6. Meanwhile heat a little oil in a large pot and cook spinach, stirring, until just starting to wilt.
7. Serve ‘pirate food’ fish cakes topped with mayo / yoghurt / lemon and serve spinach ‘sea weed’ on the side.
VARIATIONS
adult-friendly – serve with your favourite hot sauce like sriracha or Tabasco.
vegetarian – replace tuna with an extra can of chickpeas.
more summery – don’t wilt the spinach!
With love,
Jules x
Great idea Jules! Mums certainly have some unique challenges! Having mum exhaustion at the end of the day, along with kids underfoot whilst you cook & when you finally get something on the table, kids won’t grace you with social etiquette if the meal doesn’t appeal to them!
Both my kids have been eating your meals since they were born & they seem to eat most things. I try not to stress about it too much as they change one day to the next. The only thing I don’t try with them is curry. The only night we ate your Thai chicken soup with lime. I just used 2 pots. In ours I did the coconut milk & curry paste & in theirs I used a crushed garlic clove & coconut milk. I did the rest the same. I add broccoli into that recipe as well. I also added cous cous into the kids at the end, so it’s a more manageable meal for my 19mth old. So I had 2 meals, but I was prepping for one.
Love it Nic!
Xx
Jules,
The Yellow Bench is awesome!!!
Thanks Kitty!
Nao and I are super excited about it
Jx
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