Sneaky Ginger: 6 Easy Ways to Get Ginger Into Your Kids' Meals

If your children treat anything green, orange or vaguely interesting as a personal attack, welcome. You're among friends. Ginger has a reputation for being too spicy for small people, but used in tiny amounts and hidden in the right places, it just tastes warm and a bit festive. Nobody needs to know it's there. Least of all them.

Here are six ways we sneak it in at home, tested on two small and brutally honest critics.

First, the ginger hacks

• Keep a root of fresh ginger in the freezer. It grates straight from frozen, no peeling, and it lasts for months.
• Use the finest side of the grater. Fine ginger melts into food. Chunky ginger gets spotted, fished out and presented to you like evidence.
• Start small. Half a teaspoon of grated ginger in a whole family meal is plenty. You can always add more next time once nobody has noticed.

1. Gingerbread pancakes

Add half a teaspoon of finely grated ginger and a pinch of cinnamon to your usual pancake batter. It smells like Christmas, so it goes down as a treat rather than a vegetable crime. Top with sliced banana or a drizzle of honey.

2. Fakeaway noodles

Fry a little grated ginger and garlic, add noodles, frozen peas, soy sauce and whatever protein is in the fridge. It tastes like a takeaway, which is the highest compliment a five year old can give.

3. Carrot and ginger soup

The blender is the sneaky parent's best friend. Soften carrots and an onion, add stock and a thumb's worth of grated ginger, then blend until smooth. Serve with cheesy toast for dunking and say nothing.

4. Apple and ginger crumble

Grate a little ginger into the apples before the crumble topping goes on. It sits in the background and makes the whole thing taste richer. Custard covers a multitude of sins.

5. Honey and ginger flapjacks

Stir a pinch of ground ginger, or a little fresh, into the melted butter and honey before you add the oats. Good for lunchboxes, and for eating three of while you pack the lunchboxes.

6. Ginger and lemon "lemonade"

Steep a few slices of ginger in hot water with a spoon of honey, add lemon juice, then chill and top up with cold water or sparkling water. Pour it into a fancy glass and suddenly it's a mocktail.

A quick note on honey

Honey isn't suitable for babies under 12 months, so skip it or swap it out for little ones.

"If they find a lump, you lose. Those are the rules."

And one for the grown ups

If you'd rather your ginger came in one bold hit before the school run, that's what we make. Our ginger, turmeric and bee propolis shots are made by hand in Holt with fresh ginger, raw Norfolk honey and lemon. It won't make the kids eat their peas, but it's a start. Join our waitlist to hear when they land.