Hearty, Healthy Meal Ideas For Busy Families - Team Mamamade Approved.

As a parent, some nights are more challenging than others. We know how you feel; we’ve all been there and have crawled our way out of it! 💜 After all, that's how Mamamade began. Just a mum helping share the love and the load 🙌🏼

Here are a few healthy family meal ideas/recipes that will not only save you time but also leave you with some energy to look after yourself in the evenings when the kids are eventually tucked up in bed. These recipes are super quick, hearty, and approved by picky eaters and all family members.

Sophie’s favourite Time-saving Magic Tomato Sauce by David Atherton 

This is an ideal hidden-veggie sauce recipe that’s perfect for pretty much any sauce-related dish; use it as a base for pasta sauces, pizzas, noodles, and much more. 🥫 Plus, as it can be frozen, it will save you time when it comes to cooking any weekday or weekend meal - result! ⏰

Fancy making a batch?

INGREDIENTS:

✨ 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (2 x 400g)

✨ 50ml water

✨ 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped.

✨ 1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped.

✨ 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped.

✨ ½ a green pepper, roughly chopped.

✨ 5 cloves of garlic, peeled.

✨ 1 tsp table salt

METHOD:

• Start by tipping both tins of chopped tomatoes into a medium saucepan, add the water and bring to a simmer on medium heat.

• Add the peeled and roughly chopped onion, carrot, celery and pepper into your saucepan. Then, finely grate the garlic and add in the salt.

• Leave everything to simmer for 30 minutes over medium heat. Next, take the sauce from the saucepan and tip it into a blender, whizz until smooth or your desired consistency.

• In the final step, leave the magic sauce to cool or add the sauce into some cooked pasta.

This sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to three days, or you can freeze it for whenever you need it next.

If you’d like to cook along with us, CLICK HERE to watch David Atherton talk through his Magic Tomato Sauce recipe and his childhood memories of all things food with Sophie Baron, the founder of Mamamade.

Himanshi’s Ultimate Vegan 3 Ingredient Banana Pancakes! Allergen-free, egg-free and dairy-free + suitable for Baby-led weaning.

These pancakes are a win-win for the whole family! Whether you're trying to pimp-up your morning breakfast routine or make use of the leftovers in the fridge. These pancakes are pretty much the simplest thing you'll find to cook up 👨🏽‍🍳 Oh, and did I mention they're great for weaning your baby! Either if your little one is a weaning pro or just testing the waters with solids, you have to give them a go. I've yet to meet a munchkin who doesn't like baby banana pancakes 💜 Plus, no matter who's on the table, you can always top these up with your favourite toppings and spreads.

Let's get making, cue the pancake song from Matilda 🎶

INGREDIENTS:

✨ 2 ½ banana

✨73ml of milk, of your choice

✨ ½ cup of plain flour or white whole wheat flour.

✨ tsp of oil, of your choice

METHOD:

• Mash the peeled bananas in a mixing bowl until smooth; little bits of un-mashed bananas are completely fine.

• Add the milk of your choice to the mashed banana, stir that until combined and then add in the flour whilst mixing it all together with a whisk. Set aside for 5 minutes while the pan warms.

• Lightly grease the pancake pan with coconut oil or any oil of your choice. Pour in a small amount of the pancake batter to make a single portion and cook both sides until the ends start to dry out and show colour. Approx 3 mins on each side

Put these pancakes into a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze in ziplock bags, and defrost at room temperature 1 hour before serving! Or, if you don’t have the time, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you - check our very own Banana Oat Pancakes from Mamamade 👀 Trust me when I say that they are my go-to for rushed mornings not only for my toddler but also for myself and my husband 😅

Katie’s family favourite vegan pizza recipe - suitable for any occasion + baby-led weaning approved

Who doesn't love a pizza! Well, you're in for a treat because we've got the easiest, most deliciously good family pizza recipe that truly caters for all the members of the family 💗 We never need an excuse to eat pizza but this one helps you sneak in some extra veggies for toppings. Plant-based, nutrient-dense. Easy as 1,2,3.

Get me my chefs hat 🧑🏽‍🍳🤌🏼

INGREDIENTS:

📍 For the base

✨ 200g chickpea flour (plus more as needed)

✨ 500ml water

✨ 1/2 tsp dried parsley

✨ 1/2 tsp dried oregano

✨ 1/2 tsp dried basil

✨ 1/2 tsp garlic granules

📍 For the sauce

✨ 1 red onion, roughly chopped

✨ 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

✨ 2-3 carrots, roughly chopped

✨ 2 garlic cloves

✨ 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

✨ 2 tbsp olive oil

✨ 1 tbsp of Italian seasoning or 1/2 tsp of oregano, parsley, basil

METHOD:

• To make the base of the pizza, heat the oven to 200C (190 fan)

• Combine the flour and water in a large bowl and stir until smooth and well-combined. You can add the flour as needed until the batter resembles a thick pancake mix.

• Stir in the dried spices, pour the batter into a greased pan, and bake for 20-30 mins, or until firm.

• Let's make the sauce! Add red onion, celery, carrots, ginger and chopped tomatoes into a blender and combine until smooth.

• Pour the mixture from the blender into a saucepan over a medium heat.

• Add in some seasoning with a drizzle of olive oil and bring to a boil and then lower the heat to cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring regularly.

• Take your pizza base out of the oven when its done. Then cover the top of your pizza base with the sauce and top with some cheese (of your choice). Bake for another 5 mins until the cheese is melted.

This recipe is an excellent way of adding in hidden veg for those who don't eat their greens! 🙃 If you'd like to watch Sophie make this in her own kitchen, CLICK HERE for an Instagram cook-along 👀

We hope you've enjoyed all our time-saving, healthy family recipes! They get us through the week, and we're sure they'll do you some good too. Let us know if you've tried them by commenting below, sending in your pictures and telling us what you did differently 🤤 We love hearing back from you, so make sure you send in some of your family favourite recipes for us all to love and share 🥰

Love,

Himanshi