Healthy kids’ dinner recipes

My kids are grown up now, but I still remember how difficult it was to come up with meals that were healthy, easy to make and that they loved to eat. I thought I’d share my own kids’ dinner recipes for those struggling to know what to cook. I’ve made sure they’re all easy on the pocket, too.

Milly Molly Mandy Potatoes

I got the inspiration for this recipe from some old-fashioned books called the Milly Molly Mandy series, which I used to read to my children. The main character tucks into what she calls a ‘lid potato’ – a jacket potato standing up on the plate, stuffed with cheesy potato. Here’s my version.

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 large jacket potatoes
• Thick honey-roast ham slices
• Cheddar cheese
• Butter
• Fresh chives

Method

1. Bake the potatoes in the oven at 200°C for around 45 minutes. You can check if they are done by sticking a fork into a potato ­– if it slides in without resistance, they’re ready.
2. Slice the bottom off each potato, so it will stand up straight on the plate.
3. Slice off the top to make the lid. Then remove the potato filling, taking care not to carve too deep and break through one of the sides.
4. Mash the potato. Add butter, salt, pepper, grated Cheddar cheese, chopped chives and diced ham.
5. Put the mixture back into the potato and grill for five minutes, until the top goes golden brown.
6. Serve with green vegetables.

Fruit animal toasts

I always found it hard to get my kids to eat fruit and vegetables, until I hit on the idea of serving them arranged in funky animal patterns. I soon realised that if you arranged animal shapes out of fruit on toast, you could make a complete meal for young children.

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 8 or more slices of wholemeal toast
• 300g strawberries
• 4-6 bananas
• Peanut butter
• Low-fat cream cheese
• 200g packet blueberries

Directions:

1. Toast bread.
2. Slice strawberries lengthwise (to make triangular shapes) and bananas
3. Decorate the toast so it resembles an animal’s face. For example, you can make an owl by smearing a cream cheese oval onto the bread, by adding banana slices with blueberries on top for eyes, the tip of a strawberry triangle for a beak, and further slices of strawberries for feathers. If you Google ‘fruit animal faces toast’, you’ll find lots of images to inspire you.

Chicken nuggets and smileys – the healthy version

It sounds like a lot of work to make chicken nuggets from scratch, but I promise you it’s really easy, and it’s something the kids enjoy helping out with as well. You can serve your nuggets with McCain Sweet Potato Smiles – a healthy version of the potato smileys kids know and love.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken breasts (depending on size)
• breadcrumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3-4 tablespoons flour
• Garlic salt or plain salt
• McCain Sweet Potato Smiles

Directions:

1. Start off by preheating the oven to 210°C. When it’s hot, add the smiles and cook for 17 minutes. Make sure to turn them over so they crisp on both sides.
2. Dice the chicken breasts into nugget-sized pieces.
3. Place a saucer of flour next to a bowl of beaten egg, which is placed next to a plate of breadcrumbs mixed with salt to taste.
4. Dip each chicken piece into the flour, followed by the egg mixture, and then the breadcrumbs.
5. Fry the nuggets on a medium heat until golden brown. Cut the largest one open to make sure they aren’t pink inside before serving.

Sticky sausage bake

This is a family-favourite recipe that I still serve today. Sticky sausages, soft potatoes and sweet apples are a totally addictive combination. And since no oil is used, it’s a healthy alternative to fried bangers and roast potatoes.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 8-12 sausages (depending on appetite)
• 2 leeks
• 3-4 carrots
• 500g new potatoes
• 2 medium apples (Russets, if you can get them)
• vegetable stock cube/powdered bouillon
• 1 jar red-onion marmalade
• fresh thyme

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Chop new potatoes and apples. Peel and chop carrots. Arrange on a large oven tray. Season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Place sausages on top.
3. Mix together around 100ml of stock and pour over. Spoon the  marmalade generously over the mixture.
4. Cook in the oven for an hour or so, stirring the mixture around the halfway mark. It’s ready when the sausages and vegetables are caramelised.

I hope you have fun cooking these healthy dinner recipes, and that your children enjoy eating them – mine certainly do! What do you cook your kids for dinner?