There’s not much that’s not kid friendly about meatballs, but Matthew and Elora can be fussy with their food most of the time. We eat very healthy dinners, and healthy dinners don’t always appeal to small children, for some reason. They seem to like chips and sausages and easy food like that. I find it annoying sometimes because they will ask for hot dogs and complain if we are eating a healthy chicken breast with vegetables. I will not allow the children to eat rubbish every night, but baked beans and hot dogs appear on the table once in a while, and on these evenings, I am, apparently, the best mother on the planet. Sigh.

The following recipe for meatballs uses an interesting ingredient (cinnamon), the idea for which I got from Tessa Kiros. Matthew and Elora gobble these down and ask for seconds. They like them for the flavour and for the fact that they are bite sized, making them easy to eat, I suppose.

Kid-friendly Meatballs
500g minced beef
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs, lightly whisked
Juice of one small lemon
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp thyme
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Plain flour, for coating

Mix all ingredients together with your hands (having wet hands makes it easier)
Make small golf ball sized balls and roll tightly.
Rolls meatballs in flour.
Continue until all meatball mixture is used.

Cook meatballs by bbqing or shallow frying in oil in a hot pan, turning occasionally so all sides of the meatball are cooked. Alternatively, we cook our meatballs in a George Forman electric grill, which is a healthy option.

I like serving these with chili sauce for dipping but the children like tomato sauce. The children would probably eat this with vegetables and sliced bread; Monte and I would serve these up with shiploads of salad.

meatballs on the barbie