What are your top child-friendly recipes which are rich in vitamins? £250 voucher to be won!NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

The people at Arla have asked us to find out what Mumsnetters’ clever child-friendly, vitamin-rich recipes are.

Here’s what Arla say, “Arla Big Milk is the only fresh cows' milk enriched with essential nutrients to support your child's growth and development, as part of a healthy balanced diet. Containing added iron, vitamin D, vitamin A, and naturally rich in calcium; Arla Big Milk has been developed to specifically support the needs of children aged from one to five.”

So, what recipes do you have up your sleeve which are full of vitamins and healthy goodness – and which your children will actually eat? Maybe you have a fussy eater who will ONLY eat pasta or chicken nuggets. What are some clever ways you have packed nutrition into their favourite foods? Perhaps you have a delicious smoothie recipe which guarantees a vitamin boost? Or maybe a homemade dip you have with crisps raw vegetables which has lots of vitamins packed into it? Or a fishcake recipe that's chock full of Vitamin D?

We’d love you to share your recipes - everyone who posts on this thread with their recipes will be entered into a prize draw to win a £250 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

My home made chilli always goes down well with my 2 and a half year old, I always pack it full of finely chopped/grated veggies and it can be made as mild/spicy as you like.

1 pack lean beef mince
1 tin kidney beans
1 onion finely chopped
1 leek finely chopped or grated
1 red pepper finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1-2 green chillies, seeds removed and finely chopped
Handful of sweetcorn
1 carton of passata
175ml reduced salt chicken stock
2tbsp tomato purée
2tsb brown sugar
Dried coriander leaves to taste
Mild chilli powder to taste
Cumin to taste
Paprika to taste
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pepper

Stir fry goes down well here- chicken, brown rice, mushrooms, spring onions, bean sprouts, carrots, courgettes, red pepper, soy sauce, cashew nuts.

My daughter loves tinned sardines in tomato sauce which is great for when we are in a rush. She has them with pasta and green veg for a quick and healthy meal!

My DS (2) loves anything with mince such as bolognese, chilli & lasagne. I find it quite easy to hide vegetables in such dishes.

Cottage pie is a particular favourite:
minced beef
carrots
onions
peas
beef stock
salt / pepper
Henderson Relish
Thyme
potatoes
parsnip (to add to the mash)

I sometimes add other veg such as leeks or cabbage, and often serve with a portion of broccoli (DS' s) favourite vegetable.

The old favourite of blending broccoli, peppers etc into bolognese sauce works well here. Also grate fruit and veg (courgettes and apple) into turkey mince to make burgers.

I make soup using whatever veg I have and need to use up. Usually something like carrots, leeks, celery, cabbage greens, courgettes etcI then add some pulses - peas, chick peas or lentils to bulk it up and to make it filling.

If I have any I might add ham or chicken. If i have it I use home made stock as I think this is full of goodness and I hate waste.

I have lots of fresh herbs growing at the moment so I'll often bung a load of fresh parsley just before serving. Hearty, healthy food that my kids love.

I add finely chopped vegetables and grated carrot to pasta sauces, peas and carrot to cottage pie and try to make as much from scratch as possible so that any goodness isn't cancelled out by added sugar/salt etc.

I also keep a tub of cut veg and a tub of fruit salad in the fridge to grab as a quick snack as required.

Pasta/curry sauce base using squash, celery and mushroom (due to tomato allergy).
Making a spread using cannellini beans, olive oil and garlic, to use in sandwiches with tuna or mackeral, with chopped spinach and grated carrot.
Curried lentil dip (red lentils, onion, garlic and garam masala in a bit of water, cooked for half hour with water topped up as needed) to use as a spread or on baked potato.
Adding sesame seeds and ground almonds to curry.
Flapjacks with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and linseeds.

Spicy lentil soup. So quick and simple and no 'bits'.

2 tbsp curry paste
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, grated
140g red lentils
1l hot vegetable stock

Fry the curry paste and onion in a large pan for 2 mins until fragrant. Stir in the carrots and lentils and mix to coat in the curry paste. Cook for 2 mins, then pour in the stock and simmer for 20 mins until the lentils are tender. Whizz with a stick blender until smooth.

Home made chicken nuggets is definitely the best trick ive learnt. Get cubes of diced chicken and coat in red pepper or tomato pesto (home made or jar) then roll in breadcrumbs and pop in the oven.
My children love them!

home made yellow bendy fruit

1. buy banana
2. peel bananas
3. serve

My little ones have always loved helping to make fish cakes. This can be done easily with tinned salmon or tuna and you can even add in veg like peas.

Mash together the fish with some mashed potato and some peas or chopped green beans. Spring onions also work well. Then dip in flour, beaten egg, then breadcrumbs.

Spray with fry-light spray (or similar) and place on baking tray in oven for around 20 minutes or so until golden and crispy and piping hot throughout.

All the goodness of fish and all the fun of making it and eating it!

Macaroni cheese- milk, butter, flour, cheese for the sauce. I also add lentils and cauliflower as well as the macaroni lots of protein in there. Baked chickpeas go down well, just drizzle with olive oil put them in the oven on low and they shrink down and go crispy a great snack.

Stir fry wins every time and the children just gobble up a variety of different coloured vegetables. I would do it with brown rice for extra goodness but DP disagrees.

I have a severe vegetable refuser. I can't hide veg in mash or pasta sauce because he won't/can't eat either of those. I can't even hide tiny amounts in a pizza because he can't eat cheese.

However, for packed lunch, he often has seedy bread, with houmous, a sausage roll (made with good sausages) and something like carrot cake, banana bread or blueberry muffins and all those little bits of goodness really do help.

We also sneak vitamins and minerals into his diet through the medium of puddings. He'll happily wolf down rhubarb crumble or apple pie and has a thing for even quite strong blackcurrants. I'll often add some nuts in for extra nutrition.

Sweet potato wedges are just as popular as ordinary potato wedges with my dc. Frozen chopped spinach can be added to curry, pasta etc. Put lots of fresh fruit into sugar free jelly. Fruit juice made into ice lollies or blend fruit with milk to make milk ice lollies.Smoked mackeral blended with cream cheese is lovely pate for sandwiches or toast. Home made ketch- up is great.

Cheesy frittata is great because I can get the kids involved with preparing it. We make it up with chopped spring onions, frozen peas, feta cheese, ham and 4 eggs, then bake it in the oven until the eggs have set. Serve it with a 'rainbow salad' - lettuce, sliced red and yellow peppers, cubed beetroot and any other seasonal salad ingredients your kids with eat.

Veggie casserole is a favourite in winter:
Fry chopped onions. Add garlic, paprika, cumin, dried thyme, carrots, celery and peppers. Cook for 5 mins. Add tinned tomatoes, veg stock, courgettes and fresh thyme. Cook for 20 mins. Add cooked lentils and simmer for a bit. Lovely with rice or mash.

I also add veg to mince.
Yesterday, I made a shepherds pie with onion, courgettes, carrots and celery all finally chopped in the food processor added to it.
The frozen chopped spinach is fab and goes into tomato sauces and curries.
I also make soup a couple of times a week which the kids enjoy. Especially with some garlic bread or cheese on toast.
When I bake, I try to incorporate fruit and veg into it. I bake things like carrot cake, blueberry muffins, chocolate banana loaf, flapjacks with chopped apricots and sunflower seeds.

Hiding vegetables in Bolognese sauce is a well worn tactic in this house. Also my daughter is a big potato fan so mashing potato with vegetables encourages her to eat the veg. She is well practiced at eating round the veg, so I have found this the most effective way of getting veg in to her. She's also pretty keen on fruit so whilst not a recipe, I always make sure she is offered fruit of some description at every meal as if she won't eat veg I'd rather she got her vitamins from somewhere.

Blueberry porridge with oats, apple juice, Blueberries and yoghurt always goes down well

Also bean burgers with different beans, cumin, coriander, spinach and carrots

Also fridge tart with all the veg in the fridge cooked together and put ontop of pastry that has been covered in cream cheese and pesto

Minestrone or worm soup is popular with my 2. I have one veg refuser who didn't really like mixed food so this started off as a smooth tomato based veg soup with spaghetti and cheese on top and over time the chunks of veg have grown and I've added in beans (cannellini or haricot) to ring the changes. It's a good one for the freezer - just add in some pasta as you reheat.

we make simple yogurt drops using fruit yogurt and chopping up strawberrys or grapes and putting themon top and freezing it. once frozen the little ones love eating these frozen bits of yogurt and fruit

DD loves veggie cakes...
1 courgette & 3 carrots grated into a bowl. Squeeze out the moisture and discard (a sprinkle of salt left in the veg for ten minutes wil make this more effective - depends if you want to use salt or not!).
Mix the grated veg with an egg, a teaspoon of oil, half a teaspoon each of ground cumin and ground coriander. Form into 'cakes' and shallow fry on both sides. Drain on paper towel, eat. We usually have ours with potato salad and chopped tomatoes, but they're a good veggie burger substitute as well. You can vary the veg and spices according to what's in your cupboard - any root veg, potatoes, leeks, onions, peppers all work.

Stir fries here too! DS loves them with lots of different crunchy vegetables and cashew nuts. I put tahini in the sauce too for extra nutrition and flavour.

I also make a chocolate pudding by blending up tofu, a ripe banana and peanut butter with some cocoa powder. Tastes delicious and decadent and is very nutritious. You can add honey or soft brown sugar if not sweet enough. It's also nice with cinnamon added, or more nuts sprinkled on top. Very versatile and also quite easy as I just bung everything into the blender and adjust until it tastes right!