Do you dread or love dinner time? I used to find myself panicking before even sitting at the table, obsessing over whether and how much my kids ate and spending my time coercing them to eat what I’d cooked. Then one day I decided to relax, enjoy my dinner and my family’s company. I can sit and enjoy my meal even if the others don’t want to, why should they ruin my dinner?  And they quickly learnt!


From then on I have had a much more enjoyable time (and so have they) and I was able to get more adventurous with my cooking (and my kids are getting more adventurous in their eating too). I encourage them to try but I no longer criticise myself if their eating is less than perfect. It’s a journey, they will learn in time.
Creating a happy family meal time is easier than you think. Here’s how:
Firstly you need to eat with your kids at the table and turn the TV off. Creating a nice supportive environment where you can role model healthy eating is one of the biggest predictors of children’s diet. At least one parent should sit and eat with the kids at least once a day. If you currently feed the kids dinner early and eat later with your partner, it’s time to change (harsh, I know but you can still enjoy your partner’s company while they eat). And if you currently cook different meals for the different dinner sittings, now is the time to give yourself a break and cook one meal (you can combine food kids love with new foods to make it less scary for the kids).
Secondly set some family table rules. Teach your kids to sit at the table and chat, preferably even once they have finished (this may improve with age but start to encourage it). Involve them in the setting the table (they can choose some nice plates, maybe some napkins) and the cleaning up. Most importantly teach them the food politeness rule.
Lastly create a loving and calm environment which encourages kids to try new foods and ultimately enjoy healthy foods. They can learn that healthy food is fun and enjoyable, not about being gruffly told to “eat your veggies”.  Stop the nagging and start talking about your day and the food. Forget bribing but remember marketing. Use descriptive words like crunchy, sweet, colourful and fresh. Encourage kids to not just taste and food but see it and smell it as well. Sell healthy foods to your kids by explaining fish is brain food for tomorrow’s test, that green foods help you jump high and veggies of the traffic light make you a faster swimming.
I often have nights where one of my kids tells me they are not going to eat. We ask them to just sit and wait at the table. Ask them about their day. Talk about how delicious the meal is. Usually within a couple of minutes, they start eating and I smile to myself.
How do you create a fun family meal time?

Now that it's school holidays, I want to take some time to do some activities with my kids that support the things our family value. Here's what's on our "to do" list these school holidays.

1. Gardening

Spring is here so it's time to replant the veggie garden. I have to admit that I don't have a particularly green thumb but I try hard, I'm learning and I believe in having a go at things! Growing veggies is a great way to get kids invested and interested in fruits and veggies. I remember my two year old son rarely ate tomatoes until we planted some cherry tomatoes in a little pot in our tiny unit. They are now one of his favourites! Choosing what to plant can also be a great activity. Funnily enough, my kids favourite part is always measuring out the distance between the seedlings and of course watering! Invest in a little watering can that is appropriately sized to your child. My 4 year old even likes to water the garden with his water pistol!

2. Meal planning and market shopping

My 3 boys LOVE helping to plan the meals. I will often let them choose a meal to go on the fortnightly plan especially on the school holidays. Meal planning together gives me the opportunity to teach them about making sure they include a:
- GROW food (meat, meat alternative including tofu, eggs, beans)
- GO food (whole grains including pasta, flour, polenta, potatoes, rice ect)
-  and of course lots of GLOW foods (colourful veggies. Aiming for half the dish or plate to be different coloured veggies).

I also like to take them shopping to the green grocers or market. They can be involved choosing the colours for the week (both fruit and veggies). This gives them the chance to interact with fresh produce away from the table. It's not about eating or tasting, it's about becoming familiar and comfortable with fresh produce. Learning what a ripe avocado is, smelling the cantaloupe to see if it's ready and checking the bottom of strawberry punnets for the best ones. I usually let them each choose something to eat as a snack after shopping, that's how my son first decided he liked raw mushrooms!

3. Cooking

I'm looking forward to the time when my boys can cook me dinner but in the meantime, it's together cooking for us. From fruity baking (see our super snacks for inspiration) to lazy school holiday breakfasts (berry pancakes anyone?) to helping cook dinner (dinner recipes), cooking together is a lovely way to spend time together, get a 'chore' done, teach valuable life skills and create colourful and adventurous eaters!

Activities kids love in the kitchen:
- wash and scrub veggies 
- cutting, kids just love cutting!!  (try our great kids safety knives)
- mixing and blending
- tear lettuce and make salad
- roll meatballs
- crumb chicken or fish
- sprinkle seeds and herbs
- just helping and spending time with you

Make sure to teach your kids to help clean up afterwards too :)

So enjoy getting fresh and colourful with your kids these school holidays.

What fresh activities do you enjoy doing with your kids? Share in the comments below or join the conversation on our Facebook page.

(note: my blog was first posted on www.onehandedcooks.com.au)

In our house we have a rule – be nice to food. Be polite to sweet potato, courteous to carrots and there’s no need to badmouth broccoli.

This rule comes in handy when starting the experimental food phase with a toddler. Kids at this age tend to jump to extremes and exclaim they ‘hate’ certain foods, but it’s important to create a really positive vibe around food, particularly healthy foods, during this critical phase of establishing habits.

The food politeness rule is very important to older children too, especially those who are role models to smaller siblings.  We want our kids to keep trying and re-trying foods until they learn to like them.  Being nice to food helps to create a positive vibe around the dinner table, creating a supportive environment for your children to try, eat and enjoy.

If kids do feel the need to express themselves regarding a new food they’ve tried, then encourage them to be descriptive instead, whether they like the food or not – is it crunchy or soft? Sweet or sour or salty? This works best with mum and dad setting the example. Talk to your kids about their five senses and describe the foods in a positive manner using these senses. Talk about the colour and smell of foods, does it make a crunching sound when you bite it as well as the mouth feel and taste of the food. 

When posing questions to your kids about a new food or a non-favourite food, make sure to ask the question in a way that encourages a positive response. “What is your favourite part of this meal?” or “wow, isn’t the red capsicum so crunchy today” will usually result in more positive answers than “do you like this?”

If the child eats a food they love, encourage him to sing it too the world! This apple is so sweet and crunchy! This vegetable lasagne is so colourful and delicious! And if you really don’t like it and can’t say anything nice about it? Then take some advice from Bambi’s Thumper and “don’t say anything at all”.  

When teaching this rule, have fun with it. Practice with the kids. I get my kids at home and in cooking classes to take a bite of their favourite food on the plate and tell the whole table. Then we all take a bite of something that’s not our favourite and smile, cheeky grins and all and say nothing. The kids love it!

If your child still uses the words “yuck” or “hate” then nicely explain to them “ooops, remember to be nice to your food” or as my older kids prefer the rhyme “don’t be rude to food”.  

Creating a positive vocab around healthy food is also essential to engage kids at a level they understand and maintain a fun vibe in the kitchen and around the dinner table.

Your family can even create its own words and phrases surrounding healthy food. For example you can refer to vegetables as colours – it’s about eating as many colours as you can. Meanwhile, fish might be ‘brain food’ or ‘smart food’, essential for that math’s test or assignment.

Time poor? Want nutritious meals on the table fast? Can't be bothered cooking every night? This post is for you!!

I believe that anyone can cook.  I believe that colourful foods are quick to cook and delicious to eat. 


Whether you love cooking or not, cooking for a large family or just yourself, getting healthy meals on the table should be easy.  And one way to achieve this is through my magic pudding. 

The magic pudding is a dish you cook in bulk that can be eaten throughout the week, or frozen. You make one big pot and then turn it into 5 different meals. 

When thinking about your base dish make sure that it is jammed packed with lots of different coloured vegetables (some red, orange/yellow, green, white/brown/purple) and a protein source (beans, eggs, fish, chicken, red meat).  

Here are my top magic pudding dishes: 

Anything Sauce (click for recipe)
Meal 1: serve on pasta with a side salad
Meal 2: serve on a roasted potatoes
Meal 3: make burritos (recipe for tortilla here)
Meal 4: wrap sauce topped with a little cheese in a pancake
Meal 5: make cottage pie - place sauce in a oven dish and top with mashed/roasted potato  and cheese and bake for 30 minutes 

Your favourite stew or curry (click for my beef and apricot stew)
Meal 1: serve on a bed of polenta
Meal 2: mix stew with some cooked quinoa
Meal 3: make bread pies - hollow out some multigrain bread rolls, fill with stew and replace lid and bake on 180 for 20 minutes 
Meal 4: serve on rice (basmati or brown rice) with a side salad
Meal 5: warm cous cous salad - mix stew with cous cous and fresh baby spinach

Roast meat and vegetables
(next time you cook a roast, make double and try some of the below dishes): 
1. Warm chicken salad 
2. Chicken wraps (tortilla recipe here)
3. Chicken pie. Place chopped roast chicken, leftover sauce (gravy or mushroom sauce), chopped roast veggies (add extra grated veggies if needed) into an oven proof dish. Top with one slice of frozen puff pastry and bake in oven for 40 minutes 
4.  Omelette (mix with beaten eggs and fry in a fry pan, flip once)
5, Soup (sautee some onion and garlic in oil in a saucepan, add roast meat and veggies and top with stock)

Risotto (make it a veggie packed one)
1. Risotto balls (simply roll cold risotto into balls, top with grated Parmesan cheese and bake for 10 minutes)
2. Stuffed red capsicum or tomatoes - hollow out a tomato or capsicum, fill with risotto and bake 
3. Risotto cake (place half of cold risotto into a lined spring form cake tin. Top with thin slices of cheese, zucchini and sun dried tomatoes. Add remaining risotto and sprinkle with grated cheese and breadcrumbs.  Bake for 30-40 minutes) 
4. Soup - just add stock
5. Riso al Salto (like a pancake or fritter) - heat some oil in a pan. Add some risotto, flatten and cook until golden, flip and cook the other side. 

Eggs 
Technically not a magic pudding, but they are just such a great quick dinner that here are eggs 5 ways: 

1. Breakfast for dinner (toast, eggs, fried mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach with some multigrain toast and baked beans)
2. Omelette (here's an interesting recipe)
3. Frittata or veggie slice
4. Baked eggs
5. Gado gado (make a tipping sauce with some peanut butter and lite coconut milk. Serve with veggies and hard boiled egg) 

Other great, quick dishes for time poor people: 

- Foil Fish (place fish on foil. Top with lemon juice, sweet chilli sauce, coriander, basil (can use squeezable herbs) and veggie sticks. Wrap and bake in oven for 20 minutes)
- Stir fry 
- Fish curry 
- Colourful Soup 
- Gozleme 
- Japanese Pancakes

More  tips for time poor cooks

1. Be colourful 
Fill your plate with lots of colourful fruits and veggies - aim for half of your dinner plate to be colourful veggies. More about colours. 

2.  Be organised 
Fill your cupboards with ingredients to make quick and easy meals. Shop for the week so you always have ingredients on hand with which to cook. Read more about my essential ingredients to keep in the pantry and freezer and the ABC of meal planning 

3. Use your freezer
Make a couple of magic puddings for your freezer. Also keep frozen veggies and  berries so you never run out of colour!  More freezer ideas.

What are some of your favourite magic pudding recipes? 
Please comment below.