One of the difficult challenges you may face as a mother is deciding what your family eats everyday. Sometimes it may feel as though you are feeding your kids too much rice or too much banku. Sometimes, you forget all the options that are available to you, so I’ve tried to compile a variety of Ghanaian meals to choose from

Today, most parents give off meal responsibilities to schools, which is not the worst thing in the world, to be honest. If it keeps you sane and less pressured, that’s ok, but do make sure you know what your child is eating. Ask the school authorities to share their menu for the week with you. Know what your child is eating so that if they are not getting enough of something, you can make up for it when they get home. It also helps in not repeating what they had for lunch at dinner.

Look out for the Sample Meal Plans blog for weekly plans.

Breakfast

Breakfast as we all know is said to be the most important meal of the day yet most of us take it for granted. Can you blame us? Accra traffic won’t allow you to have a hearty breakfast!
Breakfast is more important for children so let’s not let our limitations prevent us from providing healthy meals for them. Here are a few options;

1. Porridges
   Porridges are the Ghanaian go to breakfast meal for children. You could give them Maize Porridge, Millet Porridge, Tom Brown, Rice Porridge, Wheat Porridge, Winimix, and all the other concoctions that the grandmas have been mixing. Just make sure you like the taste of the cereal mix your are offering your child because if you can’t eat it, chances are they can’t eat it too. And add a lot of milk.
2. Processed Cereals (Store Bought)
   Box cereals are great for when you do not have a lot of time on your hands. They can also be an option for breakfast even though they aren’t very easy on the pocket in Ghana. Wheetabix is a great source of fibre. (Weet-Bix is a more cost effective option). Corn Flakes, Coco Pops, Rice Crispies,.. you name them. Look out for good and trusted brands. There’s also Cerelac, yumvita and other ‘just add water’ options.
3. Eggs
   Eggs are a great source of inexpensive, high value protein and is delicious as well. You can make a simple egg sandwich aka bread and egg , french toast, scrambled eggs. My ‘Egg Meals’ post will give you recipes for egg meals.
4. Good Old Mashké
   Kenkey is a great source of energy to start of your day. Just be aware that it is all carbohydrates so adding a bit of groundnut paste (when blending) and milk makes it so much better and tastier.
5. Oats
   Quick and easy to prepare, yet so nutritious! Adding little chunks of banana makes it even better.
6. Hot Chocolate/ Milk
   There’s also always ‘Tea’ and bread. Milo is a great way to wash down sandwiches and can be very filling if made right. In preparing Milo, use only the chocolate powder and milk and make sure you have enough of both to get all the goodness out of it. Adding sugar to your milo drink means it doesn’t contain enough powder or milk. Milk is also a great source of calcium and your little one doesn’t need to stop just because they are past baby stages. Continue to give them milk. (ps. have you ever seen a Nido ad on tv where they pour the Nido into porridge? Never! They always add water and drink!)
7. Fruits/ Juices/ Smoothies
   A slice of apple, a finger of banana, a slice of watermelon, mangoes, pineapples, pawpaw, grapes, etc; diced, juiced, ‘smoothied’ can be a great end to a wholesome breakfast.

Lunch & Dinner
The options here are limitless so i’m just going to write a list. Check out the menu plan article for combinations.

This list can go on and on so let me know what I’m missing. Is there a meal your child loves very much? Tell us in the comments.