There is so much talk these days about what foods kids ‘shouldn’t’ eat, and that can be really overwhelming for families. In this series of blogs, I’m talking all about my favourite ways to ADD extra nutrients into your child’s meals – in this case, dinner! I find it’s much easier to think about ways we can add things in, rather than worrying about what we should take out.
In our house, dinner can be quite chaotic, as it’s the end of the day and everyone is tired – and I’m usually running low on time and energy! That often means a ‘picky’ dinner – which are some of my favourite for getting in a good mix of food groups and nutrients. I am actually a big fan of dinner being a warm meal and it tends to be my largest of the day, so I will often serve the kids the same meal I’m having – even if just a smaller portion.
When it comes to my tips for boosting nutrients at mealtimes, it all comes back to balancing out dinner and making sure you’re ticking off food groups that children need to have throughout the day:
- Fruit and vegetables
- Wholegrains
- Protein/iron rich foods
- Dairy Foods
Here are some ideas for helping to add those extra nutrients into your little one’s dinners:
Add Extra Veggies!
Ideally, it’s good to include some vegetables in anything you’re creating for dinner. These can be added on the side, as a salad or included in the dish. For example, if you’re making spaghetti bolognaise, why not include some red pepper and mushrooms as well as a handful of spinach. You can buy these frozen and so they don’t need to cost a lot but they add fibre, vitamins and minerals as well as colour and texture into a dish. Root veggies, red peppers and foods such as sweet potato can also add sweetness which might help little ones to more readily accept new dishes too.
Another thing I like to do is offer my kids a ‘starter.’ I do this whilst I’m preparing the main meal, and it’s always something super simple – e.g. a ‘salad’ with cucumber and tomatoes, or some mixed frozen veg (peas and sweetcorn go down well in our house) quickly steamed in the microwave. I’ll put this in the middle of the table for them to pick at whilst they wait. They don’t always go for it, but more often than not, they’re quite happy with this and it’s a great way to get in a few extra nutrients whilst they’ve got a bit more of an appetite!
Additionally at dinner I always try to have at least one to two portions of veggies on the side of the meal – this helps them to have variety, visibly see and familiarise with veggies in their whole form, adds extra colour and texture to the dinner as well as adding extra nutrients such a fibre and vitamins and minerals.
Use spices
Although spices are used in small amounts, and don’t necessarily contribute much to vitamin and mineral intake as a whole, they contain antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. More importantly, they add plenty of flavour, variety and colour to a dish too.
It’s so exciting experimenting with these and can really help to diversify your little one’s palates. Just start slowly by adding a little at a time to children’s foods – especially if they aren’t used to them. For more about using herbs and spices for baby’s foods, check out my blog.
Plant-based proteins
Plant-based alternative protein sources have become increasingly popular in recent years – including for babies and toddlers.
Many children don’t eat enough in the way of iron, plant-based sources of protein or even meat and poultry. However I’d encourage parents to experiment a little more with some of those plant-based proteins in little one’s meals. For example, including small amounts of lentils, chickpeas, tofu, soya, kidney beans, butter beans in their meals can be a great way to add extra fibre, vitamins and minerals and also get them used to a more diverse diet.
Including meat, fish and poultry is also important for families who choose to eat these foods. Offering them fairly early (fine from 6 months as long as they are well cooked and the right texture) is good to get little ones used to a diet that’s similar to the rest of the family. Meat can sometimes be a little tricky for babies in terms of texture – check out my blog on when and how to introduce meat to babies.
However, swapping some meat out with plant based alernatives can add extra fibre and vitamins and minerals to kids diets, as well as broaden out the variety they are used to. If you normally have quite meat heavy dinners, try simply swapping out a handful of the meat for a plant based alternative (lentils work so well, are super cheap to buy and don’t hugely alter the flavour of a dish.
Vary your carbohydrate sources
There are so many different carbohydrates that can be included in children’s diets, but we tend to get stuck on pasta, bread and potatoes. Why not try varying it, using quinoa, rice, couscous, buckwheat as well as a variety of different pasta, breads and potatoes. There are also so many variations within each food. Try sweet potato, purple potatoes, penne, spaghetti, pitta bread, English muffins or crumpets…the list goes on! The more varied your little one’s diet is from the start, the more variety of nutrients they will get and also the more likely they will be to accept and enjoy a wide variety of foods as they get older too.
Sauce it up!
Make some sauces in bulk. One thing I love to do is make a standard sauce and then add variation to it by adding different “extras” throughout the week.
For example take a simple pasta sauce (link to my recipe kat). On one day I might add some cheese and kidney beans and serve it with pasta, on another day I might chop up spinach and mushrooms and chickpeas and add them to this to make a “chilli” and serve with rice. On another day I might add some roasted chopped veg and make a ratatouille and serve with some couscous and finally, I might turn it into a thin tomato soup, add some lentils and serve with some chunky bread. That’s one sauce but offered in multiple ways, with multiple extras! Let me know if you try it.
Recipe ideas for adding extra nutrients to your kids’ dinners
Here are a few of my favourite recipes for adding those extra nutrients in at dinner time:
- Mushroom stroganoff – this can be served with anything from rice to potato or couscous or pitta and is SUPER easy too!
- Spaghetti bolognese – a firm family favourite, and this version has some extra veg added in for more colour, flavour, texture and nutrients
- Easy peasy veggie stew – another super easy meal that can be prepped in 10 minutes – serve with any carbohydrate you want!
- Easy rainbow traybake – a one-pot meal is always a winner when you’re short on time – and this is a really versatile recipe that you can adapt to use whichever veg you like – mix up the plant-based proteins too for added nutrients and fibre
Creamy lemony salmon bake – this is one of my most popular recipes from my book, How to Wean Your Baby – and for good reason! It’s quick and easy to prepare, and delicious too! It’s a great way to include some omega-3 fatty acids from the fish, too!
A few extra tips for making the most of dinners:
- Have buffet/fridge raid meals and pull out lots of ingredients for your little ones to help themselves too .
- Add sides to most meals so there are always “extras” available
- Use dips and sauces – stir yogurt, pesto or tahini into dinners for added nutrients too
To see the other posts in this series see the links below and please feel free to add extras to my tips and ideas at any time.
How To Get Extra Nutrients Into My Child’s Breakfast