Cod and Prawn Chowder for Babies on soft lumps and finger foods, Toddlers and Adults

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  My son normally goes to nursery three days a week but this week he's at home with me due to having a bout of hand, foot and mouth (no, not the disease cows get before you ask, it's a mild virus).  Now there is a double frustration here; there is no way he picked it up from anywhere else but nursery so that's annoying as obviously their exclusion policies don't work but secondly, he's not ill!  He has been a bit funny about food but that's it. 

Nursery policies are nursery policies and even forwarding them the guidance from the health protection agency has had no impact on them so, here we are.  Still, there are worse things than being stuck at home with your child who isn't ill and grouchy!  The one problem is that his diet has been affected.  I had a think today and came up with a chowder recipe.  Now this is completely off the top of my head so I'm not saying it can't be improved upon.  Something saltier in there like smoked fish or bacon would also go down a treat, especially with older kids or adults where you're not worrying so much about the sodium content.

That all said, with a mixture of spoon feeding himself and fingers, he wolfed it down.  Best meal he's had all week so I'd say that was a hearty endorsement!

Cod and Prawn Chowder - serves 1 adult and 1 child with large portions!

Ingredients

I large potato, peeled and cut into approx half inch (1.5cm) dice
Half an onion finely diced
1 clove garlic, chopped finely or crushed
1/2 oz (15g) unsalted butter
1 pint (550ml) full fat milk
1 cod fillet, approx 4oz / 100g (or another white fish or even smoked fish)
Large handful of sweetcorn
A few small brocolli florets
A few cooked prawns
1 bayleaf
A sprig of thyme, chopped
A handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method

Sweat the onion and garlic slowly in the butter until softened.  Do this on a low heat.  Add the milk bay and thyme, turn up the heat and bring to the boil (keep an eye on it, it will boil over if you're not careful).  Add the potatoes, return to the boil, cover and put on a low heat to simmer for 20 mins. Remove the bay leaf.

Add the broccoli and simmer for 3 mins.  Meanwhile, chop the cod into small pieces.  Add the cod and sweetcorn, simmer for a further 2 minutes then add the prawns and parsley.

Crush a couple of the potatoes against the side to thicken.  Serve when cool enough for your child (keep your portion covered to keep warm).

He followed this up with some halved grapes and a hearty portion of homemade sugar free date cake.  I think he might be on the mend.