When I suggested to my gluten and dairy-free friend that I was planning on making her and her gluten and dairy-free son a cake made out of cannellini beans, she gave me a bit of a strange glance and changed the conversation. But it didn’t put me off giving it a go. Continue reading
I’m still on a mission to get the fussy toddler to eat a something other than pasta and meatballs. While there’s nothing wrong with pasta and meatballs, what would I feed him if he decides he doesn’t like them anymore?
So, following a successful visit to Wahaca, where he readily tucked into chicken, lettuce as part of his ‘make your own tacos’ meal, I decided to get him more involved in food. Having witnessed, with amazement at him tucking into a slice of pizza at a fellow toddler’s birthday party, it appeared that pizza was the way to go. Continue reading
The first time I discovered yoghurt cake was in a chalet, half way up a mountain in France on a skiing holiday. It’s something to do with the yoghurt acting as a stabliser when cooking at altitude. But enough of that, I happened across this particular recipe for bluberry and yoghurt – cake courtesy of katielovescooking.com – by chance (it’s Katie’s take on a recipe by Ruby Tandoh (her off The Great British Bake Off), and thought I’d give it a go. Continue reading
I always used to say that when I had a child, he or she, would eat the same as the husband and I. Fast-forward two-and-a-bit years and having tired of throwing away food that has barely been looked at let alone tasted, I spend my evenings making not one, but two meals. One for us and one for the toddler. Except, that is, when it comes to a good old spaghetti Bolognese. Continue reading
The vegetable dodging toddler has got the better of me. After a week or so trying to bribe him with cars, jelly and chocolate in a bid to get him to eat veg that looked like veg, I’ve hunted down my copy of the toddler food bible, Annabel Karmel’s New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner. Continue reading
In an attempt to get the vegetable dodging toddler to eat a wider variety of veg, the husband suggested I give Ella’s Kitchen’s root vegetable crisps a try.
They’re from Ella’s Kitchen – The Cook Book – The Red One, and in the usual Ella’s Kitchen style they’re called nicely spicy veggie crisps. You peel and thinly slice 2 parsnips, a sweet potato and a beetroot. The book suggests using a mandoline or a peeler to get the veg slices super thin. However, in the absence of a mandoline I tried using a peeler and ended up in a right old mess, so using my sharpest knife I sliced the veg into suitable slithers. Continue reading
The toddler’s been badgering me to make him some jelly for weeks, and seeing as this is a blog about me making things, I thought it would be a bit of a cheat to buy a packet mix, so decided to make it from scratch – kind of.
The husband’s a fish-eating vegetarian, otherwise known as a pescatarian, so proper gelatine was out of the question. Instead I bought myself some of Dr Oetker’s vege-gel. Continue reading
I’m always on the lookout for toddler friendly sweet treats, and with a couple of bananas looking a little worse for wear I came across this sugar-free banana and date flapjack recipe from those helpful ladies at mumsnet. Not only is it sugar free, it’s also dairy-free as you use vegetable oil instead of butter. Continue reading
It’s no mean feat getting your once vegetable munching toddler back onto the good stuff once they’ve deemed every veg under the sun as ‘yucky’ – even peas. I thought every child LOVED peas. Apparently not!
I’m all for ‘hiding’ veg in pasta sauces – I do it all the time – but I wanted to get the defiant vegetable eater tucking into his five a day in their original form. After a surprisingly unbroken night’s sleep – not only will he not eat his veg, the toddler also likes to wander into our bedroom at some ungodly hour and watch me sleep, until I wake up with a start and put him back to bed – I hit on a plan. Continue reading
gas mark 5 