Cathy Glass - Happy Mealtimes for Kids

Copyright

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2012

FIRST EDITION

© Cathy Glass 2012

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Cathy Glass asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN 9780007497485

Ebook Edition © September 2012 ISBN: 9780007497492

Version 2020-01-28

Contents

COVER

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

INTRODUCTION: WHY HAPPY MEALTIMES?

ONE: WHAT IS A BAD DIET FOR KIDS?

Diet and behaviour

Sugar

Caffeine

Food additives

TWO: WHAT IS A GOOD DIET FOR KIDS?

Calories

Ideal weight

Protein

Carbohydrates

Fibre

Fat

Vitamins and minerals

Fluid

THREE: MEALS AND EATING

The importance of mealtimes

Establishing good mealtimes

Food fussiness and refusal to eat

FOUR: BREAKFAST

Breakfast routine

Breakfast food

Drinks for breakfast

Quick breakfast ideas that kids love

Cereal

Toast

Bread rolls

Bagels

English muffins

Croissants

Fruit

Yoghurts

Smoothies

Cooked breakfasts

Full English breakfast

Omelette

Boiled egg with soldiers

Egg/sausage/tomatoes/baked beans/cheese/mushrooms on toast

Eggy bread

Welsh rarebit

Toasted sandwiches

Pancakes

Leftovers

School breakfast

Breakfast for adults

FIVE: LUNCH

School dinner

Packed lunch

Drinks for a packed lunch

Bread, wraps and rolls

Fillings

Pots

Little extra pots

Main meal pots

Other savouries for a lunch box

Packed lunch desserts

Lunch at home

Jacket potatoes

Kids’ hash

Egg in a nest

Stuffed pepper

Quick cauliflower cheese

Sausage and rice pan casserole

Soups

Potato and carrot soup

Lentil soup

Cream of mushroom soup

Pasta lunch

Cheesy pasta

Macaroni cheese

Tomato pasta

Pasta bake

Spaghetti

Tagliatelle

‘Toast lunch’

Toasted sandwiches

Kids’ kebabs

Bubble and squeak

All-day breakfast

Lunchtime desserts

Fruit

Smoothies

Yoghurt

Other lunch dessert ideas

Drinks at home

Convenience food for lunch

SIX: DINNER

Easy and popular main meals

Spaghetti bolognese

Cottage pie

Lasagne

Toad in the hole

Onion gravy

Curry

Plain naan

Casseroles and hot pots

Meat and vegetable casserole

Vegetable casserole

Hot pot

Fish and sweetcorn pie

Stir-fries

Simple stir-fry

Simple stir-fry sauce

Beef and baby sweetcorn stir-fry

Honeyed chicken and noodle stir-fry

Other stir-fry ideas

Meat and two veg

Roasting meat

Braising meat

Stewing meat

Grilling meat

Frying meat

Puddings

Apple crumble

Bread and butter pudding

Fruit pie

Rice pudding

Bread pudding

Sponge pudding

Cake in custard

Banana and honey whip

Cheesecake

Trifle

Convenience food for dinner

SEVEN: HAPPY SNACKS

CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CATHY GLASS

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Introduction: Why happy mealtimes?

I am a foster carer, and as well as bringing up three children of my own, I have looked after other people’s children for over twenty-five years. Some of those children stayed with me for a few days, while others stayed for years. The reasons why children come into care vary – from a single parent having to go into hospital for a night, to a child being badly neglected and abused. While some of the children I’ve fostered had received adequate diets at home, the vast majority – over 95 per cent – had not, resulting in the children being under- or overweight, short in stature, with dull skin and hair, lacking energy, and often having difficulties in concentrating and therefore being behind with their learning.

One of the first changes I have to make when a child comes to live with me is to their diet, and they are often resistant to change. When the children have been used to snacking on whatever was to hand – usually crisps and biscuits – not only do I have to wean them on to ‘proper’ food but also I have to introduce them to mealtimes rather than having snacks in front of the television. Highly processed food – usually the only food they have known – is often visually attractive and easy to eat (requiring hardly any chewing), but it has few nutrients and addictive amounts of salt and sugar. I have to win the children over to a healthier way of eating as well as providing meals that the whole family enjoys, and like most busy parents I don’t have much time. I have therefore become adept at producing simple nutritious meals that are easy to make and which kids of all ages will love. In this book I share my recipes, together with some important food facts. I hope you find it useful. Bon appétit .

CHAPTER ONE

What is a bad diet for kids?

No food is actually ‘bad’ for a child, unless it is poisonous or the child is allergic to it, or is on a restrictive diet, but some foods become ‘bad’ because of the quantity in which they are eaten. A poor diet is usually high in sugar and fat, low in protein, and lacking in vitamins and minerals. So, for example, a packet of crisps in a lunch box alongside a sandwich containing protein (such as meat, fish or eggs) and a piece of fruit is fine, but four packets of crisps a day are not, especially when they replace a meal. Likewise a piece of chocolate or a cup cake in addition to a main meal is acceptable, but chocolate and cake regularly eaten in large quantities are not. Crisps, chocolate and most heavily processed snack foods are high in calories, salt, sugar and fat, and low in nutrients, so must be eaten in moderation.

You may find it incredible that a child could ever be given chocolate or crisps instead of a meal, but many of the children I have fostered had been used to substituting this type of food for meals before they came into care. Breakfast, often bought from the corner shop and eaten on the way to school, would be a chocolate bar, or a bag of crisps and a can of fizzy drink, while the evening meal would be whatever the child could find in the cupboard, and very likely sugar-laden cereal and a packet of biscuits. Often the only ‘proper’ meal a child had, therefore, was the free school dinner from Monday to Friday. While this type of eating applies to the minority, many children from good homes are overweight and lack essential vitamins and minerals simply because their diets are too high in processed foods. These are attractively packaged and sold to us through advertising on the television. How many of us as parents have given in to our child’s pestering in the supermarket and bought a ridiculously expensive, attractively packaged (sugar-laden) cereal because our child had seen it advertised? I’ll admit I have.