Dishing Up Delish!

So you think you have a fussy eater? Join the club! At some point we all have to deal with fussy eaters. Toddlers & Pre-schoolers in particular can just get picky picky picky. Well - if you are still trying to get your toddler to eat that mush that we call baby food & comes out of little bottle or packets, you take a taste of it yourself sometime & then you tell me....would YOU eat it?

As easy as it is in today's rat race to heat up something ready-made after a tiring day in the office, consider this before you go through the ordeal of making your child eat the stuff. In general, by 18 months, many toddlers will have most of their teeth, will have been introduced to butter, salt & yoghurt & are observing the world around them in great detail, learning & picking up new things that they will amaze you with on an almost daily basis. So, what makes you think they are not noticing that they are eating different food from Mummy & Daddy? They are observing, they are connecting & most importantly...they are realising that their mush just doesn't compare!

I have a few tried & tested recipes my kids love...guaranteed to make them eat & some-how take in more nutrition than they would normally take in. Here is one of our  most popular dishes :

Buttery Boiled Fish with Veggies

Potatoes, carrots & any other veggies you find your kids likes

Chop the potatoes & carrots into bite-size chunks & boil in a little water with salt & pepper to taste. Make sure you use just enough water to boil the veggies, leaving a tablespoon or two of liquid in the pan once the veggies are boiled.

Once the vegetables are boiled add a chunk of butter (not margarine - butter!) - again according to your taste - but butter really adds flavour so being a little heavy handed here will only make the dish more delicious. When the butter is melted, add the fish & leave on the fire until the fish is cooked. Serve as it is with a baby fork & drenched in the buttery gravy so that your child can eat chunks himself or mash the potatoes, carrots, fish & some of the buttery gravy, add to rice & feed your child little mouthfuls at a time.If your child has been plagued by reflux the latter method may work better for you.

TIP :Sometimes I add a leaf or two of spinach into the water when boiling -I figure that even if they don't eat the spinach, some of the nutrition will have come out into the water whilst boiling!

I will dish up more recipes in a follow-up post- but in the meantime.....why don't you share some of your old favourites! 

Bon Appetit!