I think it’s the question lot of parent ask daily bases from themselves. You want to feed them healthy fresh food, but most of children have totally different idea from you, what they need and want. With my first one I tried to follow books and follow them word by word, but she didn’t have any of it.  You could eat the veggie yourself and meal without fruit wasn’t going down very well and porridge – this grey stuff, which came out from HIPP box was only good enough to go straight to bin. Then the second child came around, veggies were welcoming addition to any meal. Fruit was flying around the kitchen and porridge filled him up to have good run around up until lunch. By age of 6 his favourite was bowl of mussels in some tasty, spicy dressing, which made him lot’s of admiring fans in our dinners at pubs.

Then I had period when I cooked things in two different saucepan – one for us and another one for children, using same ingredients but leaving out anything I thought would put them off their dinner. It was mission impossible as they had very different tastes – my daughter likes anything traditional and quite bland, my son loves spicy and well seasoned food.

Now, my children are almost 10 and 12 there is no more messing around they have to eat what I make to us, but they are aloud after tasting it to say that they don’t really like it and eat plain rice or whatever we having with our meal. No extra meals! Have to wait until next meal time and hope they will like it.

I’m just too lazy to have a argument with them and I deffinetly don’t like them develop unhealthy relationship with food.

I’m sure they have sometimes bit too much of sugar and maybe not enough veg, but I’m hoping that my passion to food will leave some kind of mark to their attitude to the food.

Kung Pao Chicken

Enough for 3-4 people

Around 500 grams of chicken breast, cut about 1cm pieces

1 tablespoon cornflower

2 tablespoon oil (I used walnut oil as I’m using just nut oils or olive oils only nowadays , but you can use vegetable oil)

3 spring onions

3 garlic cloves – I chopped it

dried chilli flakes – according to the taste, I didn’t’ use too much as my daughter not keen on too spicy food, but enough to get her used to more spicier food

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped

4 tablespoons of rice vinegar

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablspoons oyster sauce

4 teaspoon sugar ( you can reduce the qty, but I liked it like this)

dry roasted peanuts about 1/2 dl

I also added 1 medium courgette and 1 small aubergine, chopped

Cooked rice for serving

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1. Mix the chicken pieces with cornflower in the bowl.

2.Heat the oil in the wok or big frying pan

3. Add chicken and stir fry until cooked through – about 5-7 minutes

4. Remove the chicken from the pan an set aside

5. Add the veggies if using and add bit more oil, stir fry 2-3 minutes and then add ginger, garlic, spring onions and chilli flakes, stir fry another minute or two.

6. Remove from the heat

7. In a small bowl mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and oyster sauce. Stir well and add to the pan to the vegetables.

8. Return chicken to the pan and stir until chicken is coated with the sauce.

9. Add peanuts, heat through an mix well

10. Serve once with cooked rice.

Both my children eat all the chicken I put their plates . They did leave some vegetable bits and my daughter don’t like any nuts, but I think it went down well and one new thing in their list they have tried.

Mission successful!