Home cooking

BiaMaith chef Liam Boland knows how to cook good, wholesome food for the family. Here, he shares some of his most popular recipes

Biamaith chef Liam Boland shares child- and pocketfriendly recipes the whole family will love

IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO GET KIDS EATING DIFFERENT FLAVOURS FROM AN EARLY AGE

IF you’re caring for a growing family you often don’t have time to spend hours in the kitchen cooking meals. You’re either coming home after a long day at work, or in a tizzy after collecting them from school, doing homework and bringing them to their various activities. But that doesn’t mean people want to feed their children convenience food and ready-meals either. What I hear most from families is that they are crying out for easy and accessible recipes that allow them to put tasty, healthy food on the table quickly. It’s a balance.

One of the biggest complaints I get from people is that they’re sick of making the same thing few meals over and over again. The kitchen has become a battle ground between food that’s convenient, quick and that the kids will actually eat, and the healthy food you really want them to eat. But the reality is, meals can be both; you can change how you feed your family, for the better. A quick win is to stop using jars of sauce, which can be laced with sugar and additives, and make simple sauces from scratch and for cheaper.

It’s important to get kids eating different flavours from an early age. Fussiness comes and goes, as with many phases, so just get goodness into them in any way you can. Try recipes with hidden vegetables, but also make things that have lots of colourful, sweet vegetables in them too, so they’re attractive for children.

Recipes like our homemade chicken chow mein with lots of veggies are really popular. Slow-cooker recipes are popular too, because people love being able to prep in advance, bung something into the slow-cooker in the morning and come home to a delicious meal in the evening.

Healthy eating habits start in childhood, so fostering that love for good food and eating together as a family from an early age should set up your children for life.