Thursday, April 5, 2012

Quick and healthy food for kiddies

2:44 PM |
At the Easter party last Sunday at the kindergarten I talked to a friend about cooking for kids, as we have to prepare for our children breakfast and lunch for the kindergarten every day. I'm cooking for my daughter every morning something fresh. You can imagine the looks and the obvious questions; what time am I waking up, how do I do it and what am I cooking. A lot of the mothers don't realise, how quick cooking for children can be. 

It was always very important to me, making food for my child that is diversified and balanced, as it is for my husband and me. From the beginning, when I introduced solids to her, I gave her everything to eat that was of course suitable for her development. Till she turned one, or even a bit longer, I completely cut out sugar and strong spices, as I did with honey and nuts. Till today I try to reduce or even leave out the sugar, but I'm not to quibble about it. I was rewarded with a child, who eats almost everything, who is always keen on trying everything new I give her and who is eating by herself since she is 11 month old. And I'm still able to give her oats sweetened only by a banana and the natural sugar from the milk and oats. You would be surprised, how curious children can be about food and ready to try almost everything, if you are convinced of what you are giving them. All without pressure of course. But I also appreciate, that I'm very blessed with such a good eater.

Preparing food for my daughter takes me normally not more than 15 minutes. The key is good preparation. Stuff I always have in the deep freeze are  ice cube size portions of chicken or veggie stock, finely diced onion and garlic, chopped fresh herbs (parsley, dill and basil), 3 sorts of early harvest vegetable mix and mostly a pancake or two, left from last Sunday.  I'm also lucky to have an own veggie garden, that's why I have additionally fresh courgettes, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, paprika and different herbs handy.
Don't be afraid of frozen vegetables, they contain normally more vitamins, than the "fresh" stuff you're buying at the supermarket. The onion and garlic I prepare in order to have a bit for the small portions. And it makes such a difference in terms of taste, if you either use or leave out the onion and garlic. At the end it's your choice, especially, because every child is different. But don't be afraid of offering your child something new, you'll never know, if he or she will like it. 
Courgette - carrot patties

 Ingredients

2 baby courgettes (marrows called in Namibia)
1 small carrot
2 - 3 tbsp cottage cheese (farm quark)
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp crushed almond flakes
salt
pepper 
oil

Preparation

 First grate the courgette (baby marrow) with the coarse side into a little bowl, salt gently and put aside. Then grate the carrot. Squeeze the fluid out the courgette and mix with the carrot and almonds. Add then the cottage cheese and mix all together with the flour. Salt and pepper to taste (careful with the salt!). 

Heat your pan  with the oil to medium heat. Try to use as little oil as possible but as much as necessary, as the patties tend to stick to the pan. With a big tablespoon put the mixture into the pan and flatten to a patty. Fry till the patty easily comes off the pan, then flip and fry till done. Place on a paper towel to soak in as much oil as possible. Serve warm.

The patties are not as stable as hash browns, but avoid using more flour, as you will taste the flour very much. With today's anti-stick pans it shouldn't be a problem.

The patties can be reheated, also in the micro wave (I know, there is nothing healthy about this).

Enjoy!
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