hungry? try our new book

At the beginning of last year, innocent asked lots of people if they thought it would be a good idea to write a recipe book to feed families with good stuff (having written not one but two smoothie recipe books already).

Hundreds of mums and dads got in touch to say they thought it'd be a very good idea.

So here it is...

A guide to healthy, tasty, no fuss food that the whole family can enjoy (and that don't take ages to make)

It's filled with over 100 delicious, simple, healthy recipes (from 2 minute breakfasts to proper Sunday lunches) and over 85% of the recipes in the book contain at least 1 of your 5-a-day.

There are loads of tips and ideas for getting everyone involved in making, cooking and eating. We've even picked out the bits kids can do in a rather fetching grey to make it even easier.

And there's as loads of other stuff for kids to do, make and help out with to get them involved and excited about food. 

Or just keep them entertained while you're waiting for bread to bake or just need something to do on a rainy Thursday.

In other words, a book that makes it easy to get good stuff into your family. Without having to spend hours labouring over the stove, making different meals for everyone or faffing about with miniature sushi.

So to celebrate the launch of this very fine book, we're giving away 5 copies away to the 5 people who can best answer the following question. What's your best parent trick to get kids eating fruit and veg?  Post your answer in the comments below.

 

Or if you can't wait that long, you can buy yourself a copy right here.

Either way, we hope you like it and enjoy many a memorable meal and muffin from it.

 

Comments

[Aaran]

Gas powered potato gun, filled with apples.

[Monica Duffy]

Get the kids to help you prepare the fruit/veg, just careful with the knives

[Sorcha king]

I think encouraging the children to grow the fruit and vegetables themselves, pick out the seed, sow them, take care if them and then et the fruit or vegetables when they are ready. Works great for getting adults to try new things too

[Roisin stapleton]

Chop the vegetables they dont like up really small and then cover it in something they do like, I cover whatever they don't like in cheese and bake the cheese in the oven until golden brown, works every time

[rainey days]

I agree with Sorcha when the kids grow there own they eat them a lot quicker. They call Pea's sweeties and they think they are a big treat. We cook our baby carrots in a little bit of orange juice and the kids gobble them right up!

[claire dennehy]

potato and veg croquettes,chuck some broccoli,carrots and other veg in with some spud and cover it in breadcrumbs

[Sinead Waters]

I make mashed sweet potatoes instead of the white potatoes for dinner sometimes. My kids enjoy sweet stuff & sweet potatoes contain lots of Vitamin A - which is essential for healthy vision.

Also always keep a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter within easy reach so kids can get them if they like.

[Jaki]

Decorating pizzas with veg to make funny faces and pictures!

[E O Flaherty]

That is an easy one in this house-for some fruit & veg anyway
Green means GO-so if you eat all the green on the plate well then you ‘go go go’..like superfast!
Carrots-well the Easter bunny eats carrots and that is why he has such great eyes to find great hiding places for the eggs so if you eat your carrots you would have super-eyes too-see everything!!
Sweetcorn-well obviously that means you get BIG BIG LIKE GIANT!!
And Bananas-well how else can you jump around like monkeys if you don’t eat yummy bananas

[Evelyn Mulcahy]

Make sure they are cooked right, no one likes soggy grey veg!
blended gravies and pasta sauces - you can sneak lots of veggies in that way,
Make pictures on the plate,
cook them into their favourite foods - omelette, pizzas, pasta bakes.
Roast them, everyone loves roast veggies!
add a bit of flavour, my girls love garlic mixed through the veg.

[Beatrise T.]

Presentation is the key! Kids are more likely to eat their veggies if they are presented in fun shapes. Another thing that works is re-naming (for example broccoli could be re-named as 'giant's trees') or even implying superhero powers :) I don't have kids myself yet but this really worked for me. My mum told me that I will grow taller if I'll eat a lot of 'giant's trees'.. and I didn't want to be short :)

[joanne o'flynn]

my 2 yr old is a very plain eater, and by chance i stumbled across this last week - i make her a sandwhich filled with salad and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes - the plate has been clean everytime since. she loves the star shapes and the xmas reindeer.

[Martina Sherry]

I liquidise the vegtables and put them into shepherds pie, he thinks he is just getting pince and gravy. Make the dinner into shape of something using peas as eyes, carrots as legs etc. Def helping to grow vegs helps

[abby bennett .]

hello,my name is abby bennett,your smoodies are so delyous and i love the manets good bye p.s. how do you make smoodies.

[Sarah Clancy]

There are definitely a few different tricks to help here. I've found the following works best:
Growing your own or letting the kids help out with the shopping.
Tell them what you're going to cook the veg with.
Smiley faces on the plates made out of the veg - children always love to eat someone's ear or nose.
For kids who just refuse to eat them: blend them up with mashed potato or puree them into mince with Spag Bol.