5-a-day For Kids Made Easy by Sally Child and Karen Ball

I have enjoyed reading 5-a-day For Kids Made Easy which is full of good ideas, and some very interesting recipes. It isn’t all new, in fact it is mostly reiterating what most of us know and try to do with our own children. However it is useful to have so many handy hints and practical advice all in one smallish volume.

There are no glossy pictures which I like. I sometimes feel that glossy pictures make the recipes less accessible as the food rarely resembles what you see on the page. The chapters are laid out in easy-on-the-eye paragraphs, bullet pointed sections and tips and hints in shaded boxes. There is a balance between common sense advice and evidence based science.

The habit and psychology section was particularly interesting. My own daughter of 12 years does not eat any fruit at all except a slither of apple once a week. I wish that I had persevered more with her when she started to refuse when she was a toddler. I put it down to genes – her father only eats apples and bananas, but her aversion is now firmly cemented.

The recipes are big on hiding and disguising vegetables, but one of the early chapters does talk about the importance of coming clean with your children, as they begin to understand more about their health and wellbeing.

I am looking forward to making the cheesy broccoli muffins (will they be green?) , the rainbow chips – aka roasted vegetables cut into chip like strips (with the homemade ketchup, of course) and the creamy leek croustade.

My daughter is toying with the idea of trying rhubarb, so I will make her the rhubarb and elderflower syrup cake, which I can always eat if she changes her mind !

A highly recommended book to have at home for ideas, recipes  and reference,
5-a-day For Kids Made Easy: Quick and Easy Recipes and Tips to Feed Your Child More Fruit and Vegetables and Convert Fussy Eaters: Sneaky Ways to Feed Your Children Healthy Food is available from Amazon.