Meal Ideas for Under 5s – Lettuce Wraps

Remember that time my 4 year old ate everything I put in front of her? No.. me either. That hasn’t happened since she learnt how to say no! Don’t get me wrong, her diet isn’t all junk food, in fact she eats more fruit a day than I do, she just has what I’d call a limited diet. I call it a limited diet because she likes the same few meals on rotation and is wary about trying anything new. It’s so frustrating for someone like me who wants to experiment in the kitchen. However, while in Florida one of my mum friends Emily had a bit of a breakthrough. Little Miss seemed way more interested in trying foods she deemed as fun. So that’s the angle we’re going for and I thought i’d share some of the recipes for under 5s incase anyone else is going through the same as me with their little one.

This week, we’re going with the lettuce wraps Emily made one night while we were staying with her family. Little Miss shocked us all by eating them so I thought i’d give them a try at home, and low and behold.. she ate 3! Plus a couple of mouthfuls of buttered corn. For me this is a huge success because lettuce wraps are something I’d happily eat too. I can’t even remember the last time we had the same meal! So here is how I made them;

Ingredients
– 400g Turkey Mince (I used the whole pack and froze what I didn’t use)
– Fry light (or whatever you choose to use to cook with)
– Tin of chopped tomatoes, juice drained off (this is what we’re using)
– Taco seasoning (fajita or enchilada works well too)
– 1/2 white onion
– 8 button mushrooms, diced small
– Iceberg Lettuce
– Grated Cheese

Optional
For Salsa
– 10 cherry tomatoes, chopped
– 1/3 red onion, diced
– 2 tbsp lemon juice
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– Spice mixture of cumin, chilli powder and coriander leaf
– Salt & pepper to season

For Buttered Corn
– 100g sweetcorn (I used frozen)
– 10g butter
– Garlic salt & cumin to season

This meal can easily serve 4, but since it was just LM and I saved/froze the rest. I’ve been having chicken and salsa wraps for dinner the last two days and the mince is ready for the next time we have lettuce wraps as I froze the left overs.

• First make the salsa as it tastes great if it’s chilled for a while before serving. In a bowl combine the chopped tomatoes, onion, lemon juice, oil, seasoning and spice. Give it a good stir so it’s combined and then pop into the fridge before serving.
• On the hob bring the corn to the boil then leave to simmer. If you want some extra flavour pop in a stock cube as well as seasoning with salt.
• Heat oil in a pan then add the onion. Cook until it’s soft then add the mince. Cook this until it’s brown. It shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes as turkey mince tends to cook fast. Once it’s brown pour in the juice from the tin of tomatoes, followed by the seasoning and the mushrooms. I went with the mushrooms because once it’s cooked you cant tell the difference between the meat and the vegetables. Win.
• Leave to simmer until the liquid has been absorbed. In the mean time prepare the lettuce by washing it thoroughly. Choose leaves that are long enough to make a decent wrap.
• Plate everything up and serve.  Little Miss really enjoys adding her own cheese and making the wraps herself so although it gives me more washing up, I plate everything up in dishes so she can top the lettuce herself.

One thumb for effort, two for a clean plate. She didn’t touch the salsa, but I knew she wouldn’t and that’s purely to bulk it out for me. But hey, she still ate lettuce, mushroom and a good amount of protein, so I’m not complaining!