The Empowered Educator

Inspiring ideas, training and resources for early learning.

Toddler Food…..Mini Meat & Vegetable Pies!

by 5 Comments

The idea for these pies came from wanting to use up some leftovers…and in all honesty…not wanting to cook dinner that night! I'm so glad they were popular because it is another way to get some vegies into the toddler twosome without any associated stress on my part!

They really are very simple and even if you don't have leftovers they won't take long to make from scratch i promise!

They are my….
I have tried a few versions of homemade pies and sausage rolls but unfortunately puff pastry just isn't to the girls liking. Ruby does not like the way the flaky bits stick to her hands and mouth and can get quite stressed and needless to say….she then doesn't take a second mouthful!
I actually had some pizza dough in the freezer (i always make a double batch and halve it so it is always there as a quick option for pizzas) and thought perhaps the texture might be more appealing to Ruby's sensory oral aversions and to a fussy toddler in general.
I simply rolled and stretched the dough out until it was quite thin and then cut circles (i just used a glass which was slightly bigger than the tin circles) to fit a normal size muffin pan…the dough will puff up to much to be suitable for a mini muffin tin.

The pizza dough recipe i use is very simple and i get my breadmaker to do all the hard work! But even if you don't have a breadmaker it really is an easy process although you will need to allow more time before these are ready for toddler dinner time!

EASY PIZZA DOUGH
400ml water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups bread flour
4 teaspoons yeast

Add everything in this order to the bread machine and set to dough setting or equivalent, turn onto floured board when cycle is finished and knead lightly. If you don't have a machine, just knead by hand after mixing ingredients for 10-15 mins and then let rise until it doubles.
Push into a greased tin until the top of the dough comes up to rim of the muffin tin….i wasn't too fussy about that as you can see but next time i would come up a little higher as it makes it easier to join to the lid of the pie.
Make sure you save enough dough to cut out some circles to top your pies!
Now for the filling which is just basically a Shepherds Pie mince…next time i plan to try bolognese. Just keep a little of the mince mixture aside next time you make Shepherd's Pie and then you can stock your freezer with a few of these little beauties!
PIE FILLING
(This recipe provides enough for a family size Shepherd's Pie and a little extra for the pies…just halve the ingredients if you only want to make a tray of  the toddler pies)
1Tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion diced very finely
1 carrot cut into small cubes (or grated if you have a toddler who will refuse carrot)
1 zucchini cut into small cubes (or grated)
Handful of mushrooms chopped finely
1/4 cup each frozen peas and corn
500 g beef mince (ground meat)
2Tbsp plain flour
2 cups beef stock
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp tomato sauce
1Tbsp tomato paste
1 clove garlic (or omit if your toddler isn't a fan!)
1 tsp dried basil and paprika
Brown the onion, vegetables and mince in the oil in a saucepan. Try to break up most of the mince lumps as you go. Cook for around 5 minutes then add the flour and cook for 2 minutes or until combined well.

Add worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, paste, garlic and herbs and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce thickens (around 20 mins) if the sauce isn't as thick as you would like it just add a little more flour mixed with some water. It does need to be quite thick or it will be too runny in the pie case for little toddler hands to cope with!

Cool slightly and then spoon filling into your dough shells (sorry, forgot the photos for this step but i know you don't need them!!!)…paint a little eggwash around the rim of the dough and press your dough ‘lid' on top. Add a little more wash to the tops to help get that lovely brown colour and then into a moderate (180c) oven for 20 mins or until your pies are crispy and golden.

The texture of the dough is different to both shortcrust and puff pastry (but you could of course use either of those if you prefer). Ruby was a lot happier about picking up and then biting into this pie and it made very little mess which was another plus! Her sensory issues mean that sometimes i have to give those simple classics a bit of a twist and a tweak before she will eat them.

I'm happy to say that they made great lunchbox fillers for Miss Teen and His Patient Self and i enjoyed one for lunch with a little salad too!

What's your favourite pie filling? I'm keen to to try a few more varieties out on the girls now that i have this pastry trick sorted!!
You can find more finger food ideas for fussy toddlers in this recent post….

Fussy SPD Toddler finger foods



If this is your first visit to Mummy Musings and Mayhem and you like what you see you can follow us on Facebook and Pinterest for more inspiration, frugal fun and mayhem!


Warm Wishes

Comments

  1. Kylie @ Octavia and Vicky says

    I am dancing a happy jig right now. Pizza dough! Why didn’t I think of that? I made chicken pie this week and had run out of frozen pastry. I tried to make my own. Ha! It was a disaster LOL But I make pizza dough all the time. I’m going to try this with leftover chicken roast. Thanks! 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

.