It seems as if children were born with a chip that makes them adore fast food and the restaurant menu of spaghetti and battered meat. But it is just the reverse, as we used to eat these things thinking that there will be no problems at the table, then they do not want anything else.
But frequently eaten pizza, nuggets or frankfurters are neither healthy nor the cheapest way to feed a child. Vegetables, fruit and legumes are still unbeatable when it comes to being healthy and cheap, so why not base your children's menu on them? We know that you may think that your child does not like vegetables or fish …
Don't worry, at CLARA there are many of us who have children and we also have an answer for this. We have prepared a delicious children's menu, very economical and easy to cook. It's not about you being in the kitchen all day, right?
Here you have a downloadable weekly children's menu as well as several of the recipes of the dishes that we propose. At the end of the article you can also download the menu.
- Children's menu to download
- Inexpensive Kids Recipes
Children's menu: keys to make it appetizing
"My son does not like vegetables, he will not love them"
This is surely the first thing you can think of. He may be reluctant to eat a plate of boiled broccoli, but if you make him a rice with vegetables (broccoli sprigs, carrots, beans, peas …) and a few cubes of chicken, he will enter without realizing it.
The potatoes are raving children . Why not boil them with the skin and fill them with other cooked vegetables and top with a little grated cheese? It is a delicious recipe that they are sure to ask you for more of.
The creamed vegetables also tend to eat very well, especially the zucchini or carrot and both are very cheap and healthy recipes. We can make them more palatable with toppings such as toasted bread chips or a little Serrano ham cut into very thin strips.
You can also grate carrot and zucchini, lightly sauté them, add beaten egg and make pancakes with them in a pan. They will not leave even crumbs.
Not to mention how much you might like homemade vegetable chips. And it is as simple as cutting the vegetables very finely, brushing them lightly with oil and putting them in the oven to roast.
Make salads more appetizing
And salads are also a good resource on a children's menu so they can eat more vegetables if you add pasta or legumes, olives of the variety they like the most, cherry tomatoes, which are sweeter, boiled corn…. It's about making them as attractive as possible.
You can even turn them into a game by putting the various ingredients in a bowl and letting them “build” their own salad (of course, put a base of lettuce on their plate, so they don't skip it).
In wok and they will think they are in an oriental restaurant
Sautéing the vegetables with a little rice and pieces of chicken or other meat or tortilla is another good way for them to eat more vegetables and you have a fantastic unique dish, which is made in a jiffy and with which you save because you can put little quantity of meat (or egg or leftover fish or legume).
What vegetables to make it cheap
The ideal for preparing a children's menu is fresh seasonal vegetables, but what your children like is not always in season. So do not be afraid and throw in frozen vegetables, which are also usually very well priced.
And don't throw anything away. If you make cream of leeks, save the green parts and with them, the broccoli stems and other vegetables, you can make a broth -only vegetables or chicken if you add a carcass and two legs- and you have for a first broth with pasta of soup.
Tricks for children to eat legumes
Start by giving "easy" legumes, such as peas, which are sweet and tend to go well. With a few pieces of ham or bacon, they tend to delight young and old.
The hummus - mashed chickpeas with oil, lemon, tahini and water also tends to like you a lot because dipear is something children look like something fun.
You can also add legumes to vegetable creams. This makes them a unique dish ideal for a dinner if you accompany it with a more complete dessert such as a yogurt with pieces of fruit or an apple in the oven (or in the microwave, which is just as good and is faster to make).
The classics that do not go out of style and that are in many school canteens are combinations of cereals and legumes such as rice with lentils. If you want to go a step further, you have the couscous with chickpeas and vegetables, which will surely surprise and love them.
And stew dishes such as legume stews are also often liked by children, but sometimes you have to make concessions and try not to have as strong a flavor of sausage or spices as the grown- ups like.
The croquettes and vegetable burgers are another delicious and fun way to eat them. You just have to crush the boiled legumes, mix them with a little breadcrumbs, egg, some vegetables to your liking, shape them and pass them through the paella.
How the cheapest legumes
The cheapest way is the dry ones and, if you have a store nearby that sells them in bulk, the better. Anyway, as it is in itself a very cheap food, if you buy boiled food at the market or the supermarket, it also usually has very good prices.
The cheapest meats (and their alternatives)
It is true that children tend to eat hamburgers and steaks well. But veal is one of the most expensive and you don't have to eat it more than once a week.
The cheapest meats are the so-called third-quality meats (it is not nutritional quality, but they are more robust cuts), such as cheeks, skirt or vacuum or morrillo. They are ideal for chup chup stews. And, also, by mixing them with potatoes and other vegetables, you can put less amount of meat and make the dish much cheaper.
Chicken, turkey or rabbit also tend to have a better price than beef and they serve you the same to mix with other foods.
For example, you can make homemade chicken nuggets - not processed, which are not so healthy - or even lasagna and cannelloni with chicken or turkey mixed with chopped mushrooms and tomato sauce and a little béchamel. With less amount of meat you have a delicious dish.
What if you don't like fish?
It is true that fish is more difficult for them to eat and that the one they like the most is usually more expensive, such as monkfish or hake. But although it is more difficult, it is not impossible to include fish in the children's menu.
Fried foods make it easier for children to eat fish, be it sardines, anchovies, mairas or dogfish.
The fish cakes made with sofrito of tomato and onion, milk or cream and eggs are also an idea that they desire more fish and also to the mixing with other even food with breadcrumbs or potato according to prescription- rife much more.
Also fritters or meatballs "disguise" the fish and make it more appetizing, in addition to "stretching" the amount we put. For example, to make good cod fritters for 4 you only need 200 g of fish and the less noble parts of it (and cheaper).
And do not forget the mussels, which are usually always very well priced and that only steamed are already a delicacy.
What are the cheapest fish
This is the list of cheap fish, which is usually easier to find in the market than in the supermarket (although it is increasingly easier to find in the frozen ones).
- Brótola
- Canana (known as the squid of the poor)
- Mackerel
- Vogue
- White bream
- Mackerel
- Starling
- Anchovies
- Bighead octopus
- Squid
- Mussels
- Maira
- Sardine
- Butternut
Eggs, that great resource
Rare is the child who does not enjoy a potato omelette or fried eggs. If they are very young, it is not usually recommended that they eat more than 4 eggs a week, but being over 9 years old, they can eat up to 1 egg a day. So you can include it in various menus throughout the week and they always usually have a good price.
Tricks to eat more fruit
Ripe fruits tend to be sweeter and this makes them taste better. If you serve them cut and sprinkled with a little cinnamon, they will want more.
You can also string different fruits on a skewer and mix the banana, which many children tend to like, with other fruits that they don't like as much.
And fruit salad made with orange juice instead of syrup is another great resource for them to eat fruit.
What kid doesn't like ice cream? Well, if you take advantage of the fact that many greengrocers put bananas and other fruits that are quite ripe and freeze them clean and chopped, then you just have to crush the banana and some of these fruits and you have a delicious ice cream that is 100% healthy.
Another great dessert is plain unsweetened yogurt. The cheapest in the supermarket and the healthiest, especially if it is eaten without sugar. You can sweeten it with cinnamon or with a hint of honey.
What do I give him for breakfast?
Neither sausages nor cheese are for every day for health reasons because they are processed meats that provide a lot of fat and salt to the diet. So they don't have to eat them every day.
Neither biscuits or industrial pastries nor cereals "for children" should be present daily in your diet, but very exceptionally.
Healthy breakfasts and snacks for children
A healthy breakfast should include dairy, fruit, and cereals. Bread is made from cereals, so a good idea is to make it toast with mashed bananas and cinnamon. Or cook fruit with a little water and cinnamon and pour it on top as a homemade marmalade without sugar.
Also oat flakes are cereals. And if you cook them in milk and cinnamon, they will surely like them because they taste like rice pudding. Very good and very cheap! 40 g in a glass of milk is very filling.
You can also make crepes (flour, egg and milk) and serve them with pieces of fruit and an ounce or two of melted chocolate or a hint of honey. A delicacy!
And don't forget that one day you can have an omelette or scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Healthy and inexpensive children's menu
- Plan. This will be easy for you if you use the healthy, cheap and delicious children's menu that we give you here to download (and with which not only children can eat, but the whole family).
Children's menu to download
Inexpensive Kids Recipes
- Be flexible. You must have a waist and although the menu says that for dinner on Monday there are sardines, if when you went to the market what was on offer are anchovies, then you change it and thus save more.
- Get organized. It is true that this menu makes you have to cook but depending on your schedule, think about the best time to make the preparations and find a way to do it in the shortest possible time. If you have more time on the weekend, make the bases of the dishes (stir-fries, tomato sauce …) that you can and thus during the week you will only have to finish the dishes. For example, a good idea is to make a lot of onion sauce and have it as a base to later make tomato sauce or vegetable creams, a vegetable rice …
