Mrsfoodiemumma – Marie Muccio, foodie, wife, mum of three and granddaughter – inspiring you to get excited about food!
I often get asked by people who follow my Insta & FB page “wow how do you get your kids to eat all that?” Are my kids perfect eaters hell no!! Are they fussy eaters?
My youngest is a dream he eats whatever is put in front of him and always asks for more. I can get my eldest to eat something she is not particularly fond of with a promise of dessert but my 4 year old will find any excuse not to eat his dinner and wishes he could live on a diet of tacos and pumpkin soup! But I continue putting home-cooked meals in front of them every night because I want them to try new things, be exposed to different cuisines and different flavours.
The one thing I have found though that helps is getting kids involved with cooking. My daughter loves making pizzas and my son loves helping with baking. Even my almost 2 year old always grabs the step ladder and drags it up close to the bench so he can climb up and see what I’m doing.
Getting them involved has so many benefits such as teaching them basic maths, building their language skills, informing them about healthy eating and exploring their senses.
Get them to help to pour, to stir, to sprinkle. For the older kids you can now get child safety knives so they can help chop up broccoli or slice tomatoes.
If they are still a bit small for cooking they could assist you with shopping for the food, make it fun and talk to them about different ingredients or colours and get them to name the fruits and vegetables.
I find if they see what goes into their food and help to make it they are much more likely to eat it! So this month I wanted to share with you my sausage roll recipe. This always gets my kids excited when they hear its sausage rolls for dinner. Making them yourself is so much better as you know exactly what’s in them. In this recipe I’ve purposely filled the sausage rolls with veggies and served with some greens or a garden salad, you can turn it onto a healthy dinner. Hopefully there will be no protests at your dinner table!!
So I’m going to set a challenge for all the parents, grandparents, aunties & uncles; get the kids involved, teach them some valuable skills and the rewards will be well worth it. You will bond together over cooking and have experiences and memories that will last a lifetime. As always if you try my recipe please tag
me in your post or drop me a line
@ mrsfoodiemumma
Sausage roll recipe
4 sheets puff pastry, thawed
1/2 cup water
1 egg lightly beaten
Sesame seeds for sprinkling on top
For the filling
500g premium pork mince
1tbs fennel seeds
1tbs oregano
1tbs tomato sauce
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 carrot & 1 zucchini grated
1 clove crushed garlic
3 spring onions thinly sliced
1/4 cup Worcester sauce
Method
Place all ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well to combine. Lay your puff pastry on a flat surface and working with one sheet at a time cut the sheet in half horizontally place 1/8th of the mixture along the long side of the pastry shaping into a long sausage as you go. Brush the egg mixture along the long edge. Roll the pastry to enclose, finishing seam side down. Place on a tray and brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining pastry. Heat oven to 200deg and bake for 20min or until pastry is golden brown and mince is cooked through.
Serve with a garden salad. Xoxoxo
