Family dinner with young kids can be tricky as much as you’d love them to eat every vegetable you eat sometimes it just seems impossible and not to mention stressful. I get it my kids have their moments too let me assure you.
Visually vegetables are an instant turn off for most kids, seeing the amount they have to eat each night already gets them in a bother. Sometimes we have to get creative and hide them in food they do like. Let’s be real as much as those cute food pictures that look like a butterflies or funny faces made out of veggies or cookie cutout salads look visually stimulating but who really has time to do that every night? Hiding them or mixing them in other foods just seems to be a much less time consuming and gimmicky way of getting their daily serve of veggies.


While I don’t eat meat anymore I haven’t taken it out of the children’s diet purely because they don’t eat the array of vegetables and plant proteins that I do and because they are young they still like eating it. I buy them organic grass fed chicken and meat at home from our local organic butcher and it’s limited. When they become teenagers and are grown ups I feel they can make up their own minds. Buying good quality is more important than quantity. Eat less, but better.

Meatloaf is one of those meals that has been served on Australian dinner tables for decades. Probably because it is easy, fairly cheap to make and feeds the whole family. Kid friendly and served with a good mash is a hardy, filling dinner. Hiding grated carrot and zucchini in meatloaf is the simplest way that fussy kids won’t be able to taste that they are eating them.

Another veggie secret the kids don’t know about is in the mash I serve. I have added mostly cauliflower with only a small amount of potatoes upping it’s nutritionally value. We had squeaky clean plates and the secret is still to be revealed. I might keep that under wraps for a while longer.

Hidden Veggie Meatloaf with Tomato Glaze
Family Favourite GF DF options
Ingredients
1kg lean organic beef mince
1 onion finely, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 eggs
1 zucchini, finely grated
1 carrot, finely grated
1 cup milk, full cream or almond milk (DF)
1 cup breadcrumbs or gluten free breadcrumbs or almond meal (GF)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
50g sachet tomato paste
2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and Pepper
Tomato Glaze
50g tomato paste
2tsp Worcestershire sauce
2tsp apple cider vinegar
2tsp honey
Directions
- Preheat oven to 180’C
- In a small bowl add the breadcrumbs and milk and leave it to soak for 5 mins
- In a large bowl place remaining ingredients, add the soaked breadcrumbs mix altogether until well combined.
- Grease a rectangular loaf tin then place mince into the tin. Gently press down the mince to even the loaf.
- To make glaze place all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Paste half the glaze over the meatloaf.
- Cook in preheated oven for 30mins. Paste remaining glaze over meatloaf and cook for further 30mins. Remove form the oven and let it rest in the tin for 15mins.
Serve with Cauliflower and Potato Mash and steamed green beans


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