BBQ Food For Kid’s

The Great British summer has arrived and weather permitting (!), the delicious smells of sizzling sausages and burgers will be wafting into our South London back garden at the weekends. Kids love outdoors eating so what better way to get them interested in the food, by letting them get involved with the preparation and cooking of it.

My son loves all the wonderful dips that go so well with BBQs. Maybe it’s his Greek heritage, but hummus, olives and tzatziki with carrots, radishes and cucumber sticks never get turned down. Why not try making another Greek favourite, melitzanosalata (aubergine dip) as alternative to the usual shop bought one? It is really simple and this fab recipe from BBC Food is really easy to make and a real winner (see attached photo for the proof!). Serve with crudities, tortilla chips, pita or mini breadsticks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/aubergineandcoriande_1929

 

Children love getting their hands mucky so making homemade burgers and rissoles is a great way to get them involved with your BBQ feast. I have attached a couple of tried and tested recipes to get you started.

http://www.kidspot.co.nz/recipes-for+3145+4+BBQ+Mini-lamb-burgers.htm

http://www.kidspot.co.nz/recipes-for+3472+4+BBQ+Chicken-rissoles-with-sweet-chilli-mango-salad.htm

 Minced turkey works very well instead of chicken and is often easier to find. Mini burger buns can be found in most supermarkets to accompany these dishes. Serve with a mild cheese slice and ketchup. Yummy!

 

It can be difficult to encourage children to eat leafy salads, so I find that this recipe for Greek salad is a real winner.  Children love to choose what they will and won’t eat so by cutting the ingredients up into individual bite sized pieces, they can select their favorites. The marinade is delicious so the adults will love it too!

 Kid Friendly Greek Salad

1 tbsp – lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)

½ tsp – lemon zest

1 tbsp – extra virgin olive oil

2 tsps – mint, finely chopped

1 small clove garlic – finely chopped

200g block feta cheese, cubed

½ a cucumber – sliced in to 1cm rounds and then quartered

20 cherry tomatoes (whole or quartered depending on the age of your children)

a large handful of pitted olives (green, black or both – I think Kalamata olives work best with the feta) 

Stir the lemon juice, zest, oil, mint and garlic together and pour it over the feta. Leave to marinade while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Mix everything together and serve. 

 

I’m sure parents will agree that finding desserts that children will eat is never as problematic as finding savory courses! Most children love summer fruit salads with fresh seasonal berries with or without a scoop of ice cream. For something slightly different but still healthy, I absolutely love making this Jamie Oliver mixed berry ice cream. For busy parents short on time, it is ridiculously simple to throw together and the children can’t get enough of it.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipe-print.php?url=1-minute-berry-ice-cream

BBQ Safety and Tips

Whilst BBQ’s are good fun for all the family, care needs to be taken when small children are involved.

• Never leave children unsupervised around a hot BBQ even when you have finished the cooking as it will remain very hot for sometime afterwards.
• If you are cooking items with lots of fat, remember that they may spit hot fat onto sensitive skin.
• Always put cooked food onto a clean plate and not the plate that brought the raw food out to be cooked (unless it has been washed first).
• Make sure all meats and fish are properly cooked; it is a good idea to halve thick or large cuts of meat into escalopes.  Thighs and drumsticks can be part cooked in the oven before being finished off on the BBQ.

Burns

After our choking blog last week, which had a great response, we have asked Emma from First Aid For Life to give us some first aid procedures to carry out when dealing with burns. 

Burns can happen suddenly and the pain and damage caused can be devastating. Knowing what to do if this should happen can make a massive difference in reducing the amount of pain and scarring experienced and may avoid the child having any tissue damage.

 

FOR All BURNS – TREAT THEM IMMEDIATELY WITH COOL RUNNING WATER

• Immediately, but extremely carefully remove loose clothing covering the burn.
• DO NOT TAKE CLOTHES OFF IF THERE IS ANY RISK THAT THE SKIN HAS STUCK TO THEM OR IF THE SKIN HAS BLISTERED.
• Put the affected area under cool running water for at least 10 minutes. Remember you are cooling the burn and not the child.
• Keep the child warm and dry and look out for any signs of shock
• Phone an ambulance, particularly if a large area is affected, or if the skin is broken or blistered and keep the area under cool running water whilst you are waiting for the ambulance.

A burn is measured using the size of your hand – your palm is roughly equivalent to 1% of your body. Therefore a burn measuring just the size of a 50pence can be very serious for a baby or small child.

If the burn is caused by a chemical, run under cool running water for at least 20 minutes and be careful of the run off as it could still be corrosive and hurt you. Look at the advice on the packaging and see if there are any specific instructions.

Sunburn:

• Cool the area under a shower for at least 10 minutes or apply repeated cool wet towels for 15 minutes.
• When completely cooled, apply neat Aloe Vera gel to the affected area, this will soothe, reduce swelling and promote healing.
• Give the child plenty to drink and seek medical advice.

Electrical burns:

Always ensure that the area is safe if someone has been electrocuted:

• Do not touch them until you have turned the electricity off at the mains.
• Electrical burns have an entry and exit and burn all the way through the inside. Therefore the electrical burn is unlikely to be the most important injury and should not be a distraction when they may be losing consciousness and could stop breathing as a result of the shock affecting their heart.

Burns to the; hands, face, feet, genitals, airways, or a burn that extends all the way around a limb, are particularly serious. Keep the burnt area under cool running water until the paramedic arrives.

All burns are serious, particularly when dealing with children. Often people have different depths of burn within a single injury. Whatever the depth of burn, they should all be treated under cool running water.

 

Treating a burn promptly under cool running water for at least 10 minutes makes a huge difference to the severity of a burn and therefore the amount of pain, scaring and length of time in hospital that the child may experience.

Never touch the burn, pop blisters, or put on any creams whatsoever. 

Always get a medical professional to assess a burn.

Never:

·        Remove anything that has stuck to a burn

·        Touch a burn

·        Burst blisters

·        Apply any creams, lotions or fats

·        Apply tight dressings, tapes or use anything fluffy

First Aid for life provides this information for guidance and it is not in any way a substitute for medical advice. If you think you need to brush up your skills and do a first aid course then give Emma a call today.

For more information please visit:  http://www.firstaidforlife.org.uk or contact emma@firstaidforlife.org.uk  0208 675 4036

www.thebabydrop.co.uk