Healthy recipes for your little ones

Making sure there is a balance of all the nutrition food groups in their daily diet can be tricky at first. Why are toddlers picky?!! Well, this part of their development is when they start to insert their independence. They also have sensitive taste buds, so when trying new foods, it can be quite intense for them. So sometimes, mealtimes may require extra patience and empathy from you!

Having looked after many children going through this phase, I wanted to share some recipes I used to make when I was a Nanny! There are many amazing options out there online, but here are my top three recipes that were easy to make and loved by the whole fam! 😋

1: Breakfast - Apple Pancakes
Inspired by the recipe from “Healthy Little Foodies”, this was a favourite amongst the little ones at breakfast time!

Ingredients:

• 2 x apples (chopped small – if making for baby, grate apple)
• ¼ cup of raisins (that have been soaked in boiling water – leave this item out if making for baby)
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• ½ cup of white flour
• ½ cup of wholemeal flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• ¾ cup of milk
• 2 teaspoons of butter OR coconut oil
• 1 egg
  
  

Instructions:

1. Heat a non-stick skillet with your butter or coconut oil. Let it heat up and add in your chopped apples and cinnamon. Sauté for about 3 minutes, until nice and soft. Then remove from heat.
2. In a big bowl, add all of your dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix together the egg and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir. Don't over mix, a few small and medium lumps are fine.
3. Drain the raisins that have been soaked in boil water, then add to mixture. Also add in your softened apples and mix.
4. Heat a non-stick skillet on medium and brush with butter or coconut oil. Add the mixture into the skillet. I could usually fit 4-5 smaller sized pancakes in the pan at once. The whole recipe will make about 18 pancakes!
5. You know when to flip when there are little bubbles forming on the surface!
6. Serve with more apples, squashed blueberries AND/OR greek yogurt! Full recipe linked below

Apple Pancakes - Healthy Little Foodies

2: Lunch – Arancini Balls

When ever I made these arancini balls, the little ones LOVED them. And as a bonus, when they got older, they were also able to help me make them! (This recipe does require left over risotto, so here's another bonus easy recipe to make an easy risotto - Vegetable Risotto with Sun-dried Tomato - Healthy Little Foodies) PLUS I've added in a twist to make this dish EXTRA scrumptious! 😋

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked and chilled risotto
• 2 eggs, beaten
• (¼ cup) flour
• (1½ cups) panko breadcrumbs
• A container of mini mozzarella balls (Extra ingredient that I add in😊)

Instructions:

1. Pre heat oven to 180c / 350F and line baking tray with baking paper / silicon mat.
2. Place flour in a dish, beaten egg in another and the breadcrumbs on a flat plate. Roll risotto into balls (mine were approx. Golf ball size)
3. This is optional, but I would now add in a mini mozzarealla ball in the middle of the ball. (So once cooked, it's all melted and delish in the centre!)
4. Roll each ball into the flour then dip into the egg and finally coat with the breadcrumbs.

1. Place on baking tray, lightly spray with olive oil and cook until golden and heated though out. (Approx. 20 mins)

Inspired recipe from this link below:
Risotto Balls (Baked Arancini) - Healthy Little Foodies

3: Dinner – Vege loaded Spag Bol

This spaghetti bolognese has LOADS of veges throughout, and the lil ones could never tell! If making for yourself as well, feel free to add pepper and salt, once you’ve served the little ones!

Ingredients

• 200 g mushrooms
• 1 medium carrot 150g
• 1 medium zucchini 150g
• 1 medium onion 150g
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 500 g minced beef (Can leave out if wanting to keep it vegetarian only)
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ cup tomato paste 55g
• 800 g tinned tomatoes 2 x 400g can
• 1 tablespoon mixed herbs
• 100 g chopped spinach frozen or fresh
• 500 g dried spaghetti

Instructions:

1. Prepare the vegetables: Grate the carrot, zucchini, and mushrooms. Finely dice the onion, you can choose to grate the onion if you prefer.
2. In a large pan heat the olive oil. Sauté the onion, grated carrot, and zucchini until softened and starting to go golden.
3. Add the tomato paste, sauté for 2-3 minutes. This helps deepen the flavour.
4. Add the mince and the mushrooms, cook until the beef mince is browned.
5. Add the tinned tomatoes, dried herbs and spinach.
6. Simmer for 25-30 mins until everything is well cooked, the sauce has thickened and flavourful. While the spag bol is simmering cook your chosen pasta as per the packet directions.
7. Serve with cooked pasta.

TIP: You can blend the sauce once cooled, so it is smoother for the little ones. Inspired by the below site:
Spag Bol - Veggie Loaded Bolognese - My Kids Lick The Bowl

So, there you have it! Some easy and scrumptious meals that your toddlers will love! Battling picky eating can feel like an uphill battle, but with a little creativity and a lot of patience, you can make amazing progress. Remember, the goal is to create a positive relationship with food that will last a lifetime – even by including them in cooking with you will put an extremely positive spin in their mealtime experience, and generally the children will love to eat food knowing they participated in getting the meal ready for the whole family!

Top tip: To make it easier, if you have a clip-on highchair like the Mountain Buggy® pod™, you can simply attach this seat to the kitchen bench or table, and your little sous chef can be safely sitting, mixing the yummy ingredients together with you! 🧑‍🍳

Keep experimenting, stay patient, and celebrate the small victories along the way. ❤
Happy cooking all!

Nanny Sunday x