Dear mummy, finding healthy recipes that children love but are also quick, easy and affordable is the holy grail of parenting. One of the healthiest, tastiest and most versatile ingredients is lean red meat, and experts recommend including it in children’s diet from weaning onwards. It provides a range of important nutrients that are often low in toddlers and children – including iron, zinc, B vitamins, selenium and potassium.
Luckily for my mummy I love red meat and enjoy having mince in Spaghetti Bolognese, beef burgers and lamb kebabs. However my mummy doesn’t want me to get bored of the same dishes all the time so she’s on the look out for new and ingenious ways of tempting me to eat. Making meal times exciting and an ‘event’ as opposed to a chore is a great way to get me to eat meat and vegetables. Red meat provides a range of important nutrients that are often low in children – including iron, zinc, and B vitamins, selenium and potassium. My mummy wants to make sure I get enough of these nutrients in my diet.
My folks were challenged by BritMums and the Meat Advisory Panel to create a delicious recipe with beef, pork or lamb to bring a little variety and inspire some enticing ways to include red meat into our diet. Dr Emma Derbyshire, a public health nutritionist and mother, says: “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.”
My mummy couldn’t wait to get stuck into the #HealthyRedMeat challenge and wanted to surprise me with her recipe, however she’s not the best cook in the world so wanted to make it extra special with her presentation. With Halloween coming up my mummy wanted to surprise me with a spooky Halloween Stew, great for parties and after school. It even steams like a witches cauldron (Watch our video to see).
Here’s how to make our Halloween Stew AKA beef stew in a pumpkin!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs diced beef
- A little oil for the frying pan
- 3 large potatoes, cut into 1 inch bits
- 3 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch slices
- 1 onion, diced
- Casserole mix or beef stock, either homemade or store-bought
- 8-10 lb pumpkin to use as serving dish
Method
- Pre-heat the oven at 180.
- Brown the diced beef in the frying pan with a little oil, chop up the onions and mix together for a couple of minutes. We used a medium heat.
- Mix 300 ml water with the beef casserole packet. Then pour into the casserole dish along with the chopped potatoes and carrots.
- Add the browned diced beef along with the onions from the pan.
- Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or until beef is tender.
- Carve the pumpkin and line the inside with tinfoil to avoid leaks.
- Pour the cooked hot beef stew into the pumpkin, serve and enjoy!
Slow cooking in an oven is easy because you pretty much dump the ingredients in a casserole dish, give it a quick stir and then forget about it until the cook time is up. My mummy put it in the oven before she collected me from school and then served it up a couple of hours later. We had fun carving the pumpkin serving bowl together.
While it was cooking I helped my mummy cut the top off a pumpkin and clean out the seeds and flesh. I was very tempted to carve a face out of it, but my mummy dissuaded me thankfully as all the stew would have steeped out. We lined the carved pumpkin with tinfoil and used it as a serving dish! The left over pumpkin flesh was used for Grandma’s pumpkin soup.
We poured the cooked stew into the pumpkin and popped the pumpkin top back on. It created a plume of smoke and every time I lifted the lid it looked like a witches cauldron! You could even use mini squashes or pumpkins to make individual servings of this beef stew recipe. So each person gets their own pumpkin on a plate.
This beef stew served in a pumpkin is one you really have to try this Autumn. I like the novelty of serving myself from a pumpkin and you can see in the video how I get stuck in and enjoy fishing out the beef. Since this beef stew is full of vegetables, it is a complete meal in itself and my mummy is content that I’m getting some goodness into me.
It doesn’t need any additional sides which is cost-effective and easy as a main meal. We’re going to make it every Halloween now as a family tradition and it looks awesome. As an added bonus, it saves you from washing a serving bowl and afterwards you can removed the tinfoil, rinse out the pumpkin and carve a spooky face into it for Halloween. Zero waste!
What do you think of our Halloween stew? It’s simple but hopefully a good way to get kids eating meat.
Love Bella x
This post is an entry for the BritMums #HealthyRedMeat, sponsored by the Meat Advisory Panel.
dearmummyblog.com 
That sounds really fun. I struggle to get my 2 year old to eat any meat. Maybe making it an event like you say might help. I’ll give it a go!
Halloween is my favourite time of year. Will definitely be trying this for our dinner party!
This sounds like a great beef stew for a get-together, really interesting idea to serve it from the pumpkin itself as well.
What a great idea! I love how you’ve put the stew inside the pumpkin and created your very own witches cauldron! Beef stew is always a delicious dish, especially if it’s slow cooked.
I would of never thought of doing a recipe like this but how cool this is and fun for the kids too.
What fun Halloween twist on beef stew – it is one of my husband’s favourite meals!
I had no idea that red meat was so good for you! I love that you created the stew in a pumpkin, if that won’t entice a kid to eat their dinner I don’t know what will! So cute x
I love the idea of serving it in a pumpkin or mini squashes for Halloween!
Ahhh love your video, thats so cute! That stew in a pumpkin is a fantastic idea!!
Sounds like a perfect dish for a tailgate party on a cool Fall day! Cute pictures…
This looks scarily good 😉 I’ve never served food in a pumpkin, but it looks tempting x
Mmmm that looks gorgeous!
Nice idea to serve up at the Halloween party in October
Oh I love this! Eating it from the pumpkin is such a fab idea!
I love lean red meat and often visit my local butchers for a slice. Loving the idea of serving the stew in the pumpkin how neat
That looks like seriously good comfort food! Love the addition of pumpkin too!
The presentation is just perfect for Halloween and I bet that it tastes delicious too!
Love the Halloween twist – commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part
I love the idea of using the pumpkin as a bowl to serve stew and things out of x
What a lovely post and photos. Looks like it was great fun making this and especially serving it up in the Pumpkin 🙂
I saw your video of this on twitter and thought it looked brilliant. What a great idea for a tasty hearty meal now the weather is cooler. I hope you win you’ve done a great job and your pictures are fantastic!
Omg what a clever idea! I’d never thought of using something like the pumpkin as a serving dish before but that’s fun and creative!
I love using red meat in most of my meals too. We love it as a family.
Just the novelty of serving this amazing stew in a pumpkin is just perfect in itself but the stew really does look good might have to try this recipe and check it out 👍
I do love a healthy beef stew. Loving you are serving it in a pumpkin
I love beef stew at this time of year! How lovely to have it served in the hollowed out pumpkin. x
How cool is this! I wasn’t able to do any of things with J my mother growing up! It’s beautiful to see you doing these things with your baby girl!
This beef stew looks amazing! I love how you created the yummy dish!
What a fabulous idea for a stew..looks and sounds super tasty!
Your mummy is a genius, I would never have thought to serve a stew in a pumpkin. How fun! I actually have a beef stew simmering away in my slow cooker at the moment, but no pumpkin unfortunately. #dreamteam
What a fab Halloween recipe and I just love that it is served in a pumpkin. I’m definitely using that idea this year.
#dreamteam Do you think my son would eat more veg if I put it in a giant pumpkin? Lol…typical kids, who needs plates. Sounds like a nice recipe
With Halloween fast approaching one must find great pumpkin related recipes to make. I find your idea to put stew inside a pumpkin awesome.
Oh wow this looks fab served in the pumpkin! Did it affect the taste? (I do like pumpkin but my daughter doesn’t like it at all)
I love that we’re back in stew season. They are so easy to make and always taste delicious.
Nope it didn’t affect the taste at all, as we lined the inside with tinfoil 🙂 It actually stayed hot for such a long time too! Super insulated 😉 Afterwards we rinsed out the pumpkin and carved it! Double whammy!
Love the idea of serving it in the pumpkin, that’s so creative! My sister would love this and I’m sure it would work well as a vegetarian option for me if I substituted a few ingredients. I wouldn’t want to miss out on all the fun!
This sounds perfect for Halloween and to serve at a Halloween party, it would make a great centrepiece.
Yes, yes, yes I totally love this fun halloween inspired recipe. A real tasty treat.
I love autumn and all of the heavy, hearty food! This sounds like such a great stew, I’ll have to give it a try at the weekend.
This beef stew sounds amazing, especially cooked inside a pumpkin. Perfect autumn comfort food :))
I love the idea of using the pumpkin as a serving dish for Halloween! Brilliant idea and I will definitely be pinching this! Very spooky indeed. 🎃 Thanks for linking to #DreamTeam x
… sorry lovely – me again. I commented earlier but think it’s got me logged in as “wobbles and rhyme” and so probably gone to spam. Just to say that I think this looks amazing and love the idea of serving it in a pumpkin for a spooky Halloween treat! Thanks for linking to #DreamTeam x
Love the idea of severing it in a pumpkin! I do love a good beef stew during the autumn/winter months.
I’m a polo pescetarian so I don’t eat beef but I could totally make it with chicken! looks lovely.
Holly x
There’s definitely a lot of different variations you could make! x
Looks lovely!
This looks great. It might not be Halloween but it would make a perfect family meal during these cold winter months”