Both young mothers and experienced matrons with many children have their own recipes for healthy meals for babies. Meat is essential for a growing body; small children can get it in the form of puree and tender meatballs.
What meat to choose for making meatballs for a child
The recipe for meatballs is different for each child's age; meat for their preparation also needs different. So, for children under one year old, dietary lean meat of rabbit and turkey is more useful. For babies, make meatballs from boiled meat, cheese may contain antibiotics and hormones. Do not forget to drain the broth after cooking.
A one-year-old child can cook chicken, veal, lean pork, and beef meatballs. Two-year-olds can already begin to accustom to fish meatballs. If the child does not like the specific taste of the fish, the meatballs can be pre-boiled in the broth so that the fish loses some of its flavor.
Turkey or rabbit meatballs in vegetable soup
The turkey and rabbit meatballs pair perfectly with vegetable soup. Such a dish is prepared according to the following recipe. Take 100 g of turkey or rabbit fillet, two pieces of potato and carrot tubers, two quail eggs (you can replace them with half a chicken), onions, bay leaves, salt and garlic as you like.
Wash the meat thoroughly and send it to a saucepan with water, leave to cook for another half hour after boiling. In addition to the pot of meat, put a second pot on the fire, into which you need to pour about 700 ml of water. Peel and dice the potatoes, carrots and garlic. When the water boils, send the onions and carrots there.
After boiling again, cook the vegetables for another 10 minutes, and then add the potatoes with garlic and cook for another 20 minutes. Remove the boiled meat from the broth and pass it twice through a meat grinder or blender. Add eggs to minced meat and form meatballs. You can give them an unusual shape to make it more interesting for your child to eat. When the potatoes are cooked, send the meatballs to the pot with vegetables. After they come up, salt the soup and put the bay leaf, cook for another two minutes. The soup is ready.
Steamed meatballs
Healthy meatballs for kids can also be steamed. Take the following ingredients: 100 g of meat, chicken or fish (depending on the child's age), 2 tbsp. l. cottage cheese, 1 tsp. butter, chicken egg and salt. Pass the meat through a blender or twice through a meat grinder, add the egg to the minced meat and beat thoroughly. Add the rest of the ingredients gradually, mix well. Form the meatballs and steam until tender.
Cooked meatballs can be sent to vegetable broth or left as an independent second course. Steamed meatballs will taste better if you sprinkle them with grated cheese, pour over the milk sauce and put them in the oven for 20 minutes.
