Lego Burgers

These Lego Burgers are filled with a beef Lego man shaped patty, enclosed inside a savoury waffle. Perfect fun food for all Lego and beef burger fans.

We eat a fair bit of red meat dishes in our house. We do not eat lamb, however, as none of us like it, but I do cook with beef, and occasionally pork mince, to make some easy family meals. While the majority of my red meat dishes are relatively straight forward, because I have a pair of fussy eaters, occasionally I like to make them something a bit different to make mealtime a bit more fun for my boys, especially after a busy week at school. These Lego Burgers are exactly that – fun and tasty. Yet they still contain the nutritional goodness that a pair of growing boys need in their diet.

Now I may have gone a bit far with my Lego Burgers .This is because I actually shaped the burgers into Lego men as we have such a mould, usually used for making ice lollies. However, it is a tad fiddly and to be honest, you could just make round patties like a regular burger. The taste would still be the same , and it would make life easier and the time to make the burgers less! However, as I mentioned, sometimes it is nice to push the boat out and go the extra mile. Especially if the boys have behaved themselves, and had a great week at school. 

The great thing about cooking with red meat is that it is so versatile. There are so many delicious meals you can make at home for you and your family. I have included some of the recipes I have featured on my blog that use beef, at the bottom of this post for some more inspiration. Not only is red meat adaptable and lends itself to so many different meals, it also, more importantly, provides us with a whole array of nutrients that can more to often be too low in children and toddlers. These include iron, zinc, and B vitamins,siuch as selenium and potassium. Both my eldest child and his dad have low iron levels and, of course, red meat is an excellent source of this important nutrient.

Both my boys and their Dad adore beef burgers, and making them from scratch is very easy. These were super easy and speedy because they only contain 5 ingredients (now I sound like Jamie Oliver LOL!) : beef mince, red pesto, oregano, garlic granules and black pepper. It is handy if you can chill them in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking, as this will help them to maintain their shape while they cook. 

I recently purchased a waffle maker which is a great addition to our family because you can use it across so many meals. Anyway, I thought they would make for a tasty burger bap and they look a little bit like a Lego block……..well kind of! 

For some extra nutrition and Lego inspiration, I added 3 carrot slices to the top of the waffles to make them look more like a block. My boys are not a fan of raw carrot, but I by doing this I do get them to at least try and eat some.

I served the burgers alongside some French fries. Now obviously, I have gone all out and served these Lego Burgers on actual Lego boards (which I washed first!). The boys also made some holders for their French fries. This is not compulsory when making this dish. It did make it more appealing to my children and encouraged them to eat their dinner, BUT it also encouraged them to play with the Lego at there table. Therefore, maybe serving on/with actual Lego is not always a good idea if you want your children not to play with their food LOL. However, for special occasions I don’t see anything wrong with serving it in such a fun way.

Ultimately, the proof is in the eating. What was the verdict from my two fussy eaters? Well, I think their little excited faces says it all.

Ok, so a thumbs up from my eldest, that is a good start.

Tasty burgers!

Wow! A double thumbs up from my youngest, good stuff!

But what did they really think, after all they can smile all they like for the camera. However, once I have finished taking their photos did they actually like their Lego Burgers? YES – yes they did. They ate it all apart from the lettuce and all of the carrot pieces. Of course now want all meals served on Lego boards, hmmmmm they can hope!

Here is the recipe:

 

Pin for later x

Eat more red meat

According to Dr Emma Derbyshire, a public health nutritionist and mother herself  : “Including a small portion of red meat in the diet a few times a week after weaning can help to bridge nutrient gaps and so help to maintain good health through childhood and beyond.” Therefore, if you are able to give your child/children healthy red meat meals a few times each eek, you really are providing them with some great health benefits, that will give them a good start in life. 

As I mentioned above, here are some other of my easy family meals featuring red meat :

Lasagne

Multi Coloured Hidden Veggie Meatball Pasta Bake

Slow Cooker Beef in Ale Stew

Meatloaf Muffins

 

 

This post is an entry for the BritMums #HealthyRedMeat, sponsored by the Meat Advisory Panel.