Healthy meal ideas kids will eat

[Wishingstaar]

So basically just what the title says. I am really wanting to make a change to the way we eat as a family. For me personally it's about losing some weight and getting healthier, but I also want the kids to eat healthier. I have 2 dd's age 11 and 4. 11 year old eats pretty much what I eat like bolognese, curry, roast dinner etc, but I'm hoping to get her to start trying more adventurous things (like salad lol) My 4 year old mainly only eats fish fingers, fishcakes, pizza and cereal. I'd love it if she were to try new things with lots of veggies. I only buy chicken or turkey as i don't eat red meat so I'm looking for some good meal ideas with chicken, turkey, fish or vegetarian. Thank you x

Some ideas:

• vegetable soups with some of the sweeter veg (carrots, peas, sweet potato, butternut squash, leeks, onions)?
• mixed roast root veg chips (carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, beetroot, celeriac) with roast chicken pieces
• pasta bake with various veg, a tomato sauce and cheese on top, or a veg / lentil lasagne
• paella, starting with whatever your children are most likely to eat (chicken, white fish, prawns, veggie)
• lentil shepherd's pie with loads of sweet veg in the lentil base

Good luck finding some things that work for you and your family.

One of my 5 year olds favourites is a vegetable packed minestrone stew, with a dollop of pesto on top.

Make your own enchiladas full of vegetables and beans, top with a sauce and some strong cheese to use less.

You could try making mashed potato with half cauliflower, or start with 1/3 cauliflower, it's all we have at home and when my MIL made these rich mashed potatoes, my children wouldn't eat them!

Baked potatoes are an easy meal, and add toppings like baked beans and serve with tomato wedges or mini cucumbers.

Make salad available before the meal is my tip. Communal bowl of sliced cucumber, tomatoes and peppers on the table, ostensibly to go with dinner, but of course you don't mind if they have a couple of bits beforehand if they really must...
Amazing how much tastier it is pre-meal.

Maybe you could trial a few different meals with fish (fish as the main, steamed vegetables on the side) and see if your DDs take to any specific types of fish?

Smoked haddock is very flavourful and has a fun yellow colour. Mackerel is another good one, as is salmon (especially with cheese or sour cream sauce). I'd go for fillets rather than fish on the bone, to keep the texture consistent.

Try making your own fishcakes. There's lots of different flavour combinations using different fish, herbs and flavouring and you can add veg in too. Thinks like salmon with peas, broccoli, lemon and dill, cod with parsley and carrots, tuna with sweet potato and sweetcorn etc etc. Get the children involved in the cooking.
You can also make healthy falafel by mixing the chickpeas with veg and then baking. They make a great meal served in a pita with salad and herby yoghurt.
Fritata can also hide a multitude of veg.
It all depends whether you need to hide veg or if you just need recipes that pack plenty of it in!
Basically most dishes with a sauce can hide veg if you have a stick blender!

I make a very successful chicken curry. Fry up onion, carrot, red or yellow pepper and any other non offensive veg. Add mild curry powder and coconut milk and blend into a paste. Add some chicken to cook in it and some chickpeas.

My fussy kids love it (though I don't call it curry 🤣)

Some favourites in our house:

Sesame chicken noodles www.myfussyeater.com/sesame-honey-chicken-noodles/

Tomato risotto www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-baked-tomato-risotto

Katsu chicken realfood.tesco.com/recipes/chicken-katsu-with-extra-veg-sauce.html

Egg fried rice www.healthylittlefoodies.com/vegetable-fried-rice/

Tray bakes with wither chicken or fish work well.

Use an oil spray and add a piece of fish or chicken then slices of onion, peppers, cherry tomatoes, I often put a slice of lemon on the chicken.

You can add spices / herbs to season.

Growing cress can get kids interested.

I like the idea of a bowl of salad on the table, I think finger sized fruit and veg are more tempting.

Bo you have a BBQ? Veg kebabs or chicken and veg.

My kids are annoyingly fickle with interesting foods.

omelettes rejected here but ‘egg wraps’ are not …make thin omelette, sprinkle with cheese (or whatever) then roll up like pancake.

soups?

sweet potatoes - baked and serve with feta, salad

tacos - with bean chilli lettuce Greek yoghurt and little bit cheese

richmond veggie sausages are very low cal and fat and both my two eat them (unlike most other