Healthy Dinner Time Recipes

As the New Year comes around, resolutions are in full swing. We can bet that most people will have one relating to healthy eating! But at Easy2name we understand that this is often hard to keep up, and even harder if you have a fussy family, so finding something that both adult and child enjoy and see the benefit of can be a challenge. So, we have put together a list of yummy, but healthy dinners for all of the family, for you to try throughout January, and hopefully if you enjoy them as much as we do, and use them again throughout the year! We often find that the more involved your children can be involved in the meal preparation and cooking of their dinner, the more they enjoy and are willing to learn and try new foods. It is also a great way to talk about where their foods come from, learn about food hygiene and safety, as well as how much goes into dinner preparation, developing their culinary skills early on. BBC Good Food have a great range of dinner options in their ‘Healthy Family Collection’, including chilli chicken and peanut pie, duck ragu, lamb and squash biryani, kidney bean curry or vegetable tagine with apricot quinoa. Our favourite, is their low calorie but delicious meatballs with fennel and balsamic beans and courgette noodles. Rich in potassium to lower blood pressure and maintain a healthy heartrate! This dinner only takes 35 minutes of prep time, and 40 minutes cooking time to give yourself time to put your feet up and reflect on the day. Combining beef steak mince, oregano, egg, garlic, rapeseed oil, fennel, carrots, passata, balsamic vinegar and vegetable bouillon you can make juicy, tasty meatballs. Paired with spiralized courgettes and soya beans, you have a delicious meal. Although there are a lot of elements to this dish, there are lots of skills for your children to learn, from chopping, to measuring, to mixing and spiralizing, they’ll be a pro in no time! Jamie Oliver also has a ‘Family’ collection of recipes perfect for everyone, ranging from starters, mains and desserts! Plenty of tips, tricks, ideas and nutrition advice too. He has a range of categories for you to choose from including family classics, fakeaways, veggie friendly, feeding a crowd, healthy meals as well as family favourites. One of our favourites from his healthy meals range, are the baked sole goujons. Super easy to make and very low in calories. When you combine lemon sole fillets, plain flour, eggs, smoked paprika and a handful of breadcrumbs you get a yummy treat! This meal gives the chance for your little ones to get their hands dirty, get involved and enjoy a healthy meal. Pair these goujons with a garlic aioli, tartare sauce or even ketchup, as well as a colourful salad. We also love Delicious Magazine’s collection of ‘Healthy Family Dinners’. They include a range of simple tray bake and one pot ideas, vegetable stews, chicken schnitzels, tasty pastas and healthy curries. With plenty of vegetarian and vegan alternatives on offer. If you are short for time one evening, we suggest their chorizo, halloumi and tomato traybake, which only takes 25 minutes for both preparation and cooking time. This simple 3 step recipe required very little preparation, combining halloumi, chilli paste, olive oil, red onions, cherry tomatoes, peppers, chorizo, chickpeas and lemon. Add chicken to fill it out if more people are eating or pair with flatbreads to mop up with juices and make more filling. This dish will introduce your children to a range of new strong flavours early on, combining spicy chilli and chorizo with sharp lemon flavours. We sometimes like to add spinach too for extra nutrition. Another handy source for healthy and inventive meals is Good To Know, which also have their own collection of their top ‘50 healthy family meals’. Including Quorn sausage pasta bake, Cajun chicken, fish burgers, cauliflower pizza and even vegan burgers. We love their black bean shakshuka, which is bursting with flavour and quick to make.  This one pot meal is easy and simple, saving you on washing up too! Combining onion, fennel, garlic, chilli, paprika, cayenne pepper, peppers, lemon, chopped tomatoes, black beans, spinach, eggs, feta and parsley, you get a delicious mix of flavours.  This is a great balance of spices, healthy vegetables and plenty of protein, you can enjoy this Weight Watchers meal guilt free. We hope you found our dinners ideas helpful, healthy and delicious. We would love to know which yummy foods you created throughout January, which your children loved the most and which you will be cooking again! Or even any recipes that gave you inspiration to try your own combination, we’d love to hear about your creations. If your children loved helping you create their healthy dinners, be sure to make more so you and your children can enjoy a nutritious lunch of leftovers the next day at work or school.  Make sure to name label their lunchboxes and Tupperware boxes with our assorted designs of dishwasher, steriliser and microwave safe name labels to ensure they don’t lose their scrummy food. As part of our Fab and Funky Stick-On range we have a variety of fun themed name labels they’d absolutely love, also ensuring they get to enjoy their treats themselves, as we know their friends will be envious of their healthy but tasty lunches!