Kid-friendly Quick + Easy Meals
Most Mum’s (And Dad’s too) love to see their child clear a plate of healthy food. With less or no whining at mealtimes and less veggie pushing around the plate. We’ve got 2 kid-friendly plant-based meals that not only help you introduce more veggies - but will save you time. This meal prep begins with a big saucepan of veggie sauce. From this, we make two delicious plant-based meals with a high protein meat alternative that most kids (and adults) absolutely love, including meat-eaters. The two meals are plant-based spaghetti bolognese. And a super fluffy plant-based mash used to make a plant-based version of cottage pie. All in less than 30 minutes.
Fluffy Plant-Based Potato
Maris Piper, King Edward or Yukon potatoes all make a great mash. You can make a double portion with 1kg of potatoes. Peel, chop and boil until softened.
Once Cooked
Mash potato with a potato masher and add 1-2 big tbsps of PURE ™ margarine. Barista Oatly ™ is a creamy neutral milk that can be added to make it a little more smooth. Or use 2 tbsp of a neutral flavoured oil like grapeseed oil. And the dairy-free milk of your choice (ensure it is unsweetened).
Secret Veggie Sauce
The next step is to make the veggie sauce. This sauce only has courgettes and carrots as added ingredients. The carrot will add a slight sweetness to the sauce. We peel the courgettes the first few times we make this to reduce the flavour/ colour from the skin. But if your children are used to flavours keep the skin on as it is packed with nutrients.
METHOD + INGREDIENTS
The ingredients are in BOLD so you can quickly identify what you need. Get out all the ingredients at once, it will save you a little time.
Add the olive oil, chopped garlic and saute for 5 minutes on a low flame. Then grate a carrot and peeled courgette and add to the saucepan.
4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of chopped garlic
1 onion peeled and chopped (or pre-chopped frozen onions)
2 carrots finely grated
1 courgette trimmed and grated (you can keep the peel on later on)
Then add a tin of tomato and 2 tbsp of tomato puree and grape juice. And leave to cook.
800g or 2 tins of tinned tomato
4 tbsp of tomato puree
100ml grape juice (unsweetened) - Optional
Pinch of oregano - Optional
It’s best to blend these ingredients up together or use a hand blender. So that the sauce is completely smooth. Double up to make two batches one for the Bolognese and the other for the Cottage Pie.
BOLOGNESE
For the mince, we use a meat alternative called sunflower mince. It’s super easy to use and just requires that you add it to the sauce and cook for about 5 minutes. We think it’s really child-friendly. We have yet to meet a child that does not like it. Especially in bolognese. The mince is made from a single ingredient. Organic sunflower seeds. The sunflower mince original is free from all 14 UK allergens.
Split the portion for 2 child-friendly meals.
You can add 2 packs of sunflower mince as this will give you 8 portions. We are going to split this big pot of bolognese into two portions
MEALTIME: SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE
10 minutes before mealtime. And cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions. And reheat the bolognese. You can steam some broccoli florets whilst waiting for the spaghetti to cook or slice up some cucumber sticks. And here’s a child-friendly meal in minutes.
COTTAGE PIE
The other half of the sunflower mince will go to make our cottage pie. Layer unto the bottom of a baking dish that's big enough to comfortably fit both the bolognese and the mash. Layer the mashed potato unto the top of the mince to make the cottage pie. And put in the fridge ready for mealtime.
MEALTIME: COTTAGE PIE
30 minutes before mealtime pop it into the oven. Cook your child's favourite veggies with this. Add to the oven and heat to gas mark 6/180C and bake for 30 minutes until the potato is golden.