Between training, playing games and attending meetings, Carlton’s young dads don’t have time to struggle with their little ones at dinner time – and thanks to Kids’ Favourite Dinners, they don’t have to!
The online portal is helping thousands of parents across the country bring joy back to meal times, by sharing their children’s favourite recipes as well as helpful hints and tips.
Carlton is pleased to be associated with Kids’ Favourite Dinners, the brainchild of Melbourne mum of three Hayley Ingram.
After the birth of her third child Mia, Hayley found meal times increasingly stressful, so she reached out to friends and had an overwhelming reaction.
“I started asking friends with kids ‘what are you cooking, what are your kids favourite meals?’ and I was getting some recipes and my children were enjoying the meals,” Ingram said.
“Then I decided to start a Facebook group and our followers just started growing. More recipes were coming in and I realised it was a real problem for people, not just me."
The Kids' Favourite Dinners website and app continues to grow, with parents around Australia adding
their own recipes to the portal. (Image: supplied)
A year later in February the official Kids’ Favourite Dinners website was launched, followed by the app, which continues to grow every day.
“I guess as a parent you don’t really talk about the hard things…I guess lots of people struggle and they like that support from each other, sharing tips and hints,” she said.
“People are just loving the fact these meals are tried and tested by kids and families, they’ve been added by families so they’re recipes that will work.”
The website is free to join, and can even alert you to recipes you and your kids may be allergic too.
“My eldest daughter is anaphylactic to peanuts, so when you sign up you answer a few questions in your profile so it’s personalised to your needs,” Ingram said.
“I ticked that peanuts was one of my allergies, so any recipes I drag into my meal planner alerts me if it has peanuts or peanut oil.”
Carlton forward Andrew Walker has three children, and says the online community has been a huge help when it comes to planning and preparing meals.
Andrew Walker runs through the banner with his three children before his 200th AFL game (Photo: AFL Media)
“Ever since my partner and I signed up to Kids’ Favourite Dinners we have been on the site constantly,” Walker said.
“It has got a such a variety of recipes on there, it’s easy to navigate, and you can always find something you like.
“I even put up my kids’ favourite dish, chicken and prawn risotto, so if you head online and sign up you can give it a go.”
To join the Kids’ Favourite Dinners community, visit: http://kidsfavouritedinners.com/
Although the skipper is yet to have kids of his own, it hasn’t stopped him from also sharing his favourite recipe on the website – another risotto recipe! Check out how to create Murphy’s chicken risotto dish below.
Marc Murphy’s Chicken Risotto
Ingredients:
2 Cups arborio rice
1 Zucchini
10 Cherry tomatoes
1 Brown onion
2 Chicken breasts
1 Garlic clove
3 Cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp olive oil
Method:
Fry off onion and garlic in a pan in a little olive oil, add diced chicken and brown. Then add zucchini and cherry tomatoes. Once all cooked and tender, add washed arborio rice, then slowly add chicken stock one cup at a time, continue stirring till all cooked through and rice is soft.
Serve!
Tip: Keep stirring the rice so it doesn’t get on the boil.
