No added sugar mini fruit cakes for babies and toddlers

Lovely fruity cakes without added sugar.  My son happily ate two after nursery.  This is made a little like one of my Mum's recipes from my youth by boiling the fruit with the liquid first.  Might sound crazy but it makes the fruit juicier.

No added sugar mini fruit cakes for babies and toddlers - makes 12

Ingredients

110g, 4oz Self Raising Flour
1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
55g, 2oz Butter
110g, 4oz mixed dried fruit or sultanas (golden raisins)
100ml, 3.5 fl oz apple juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
A few gratings of nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder

Method

Heat the apple juice, butter and fruit in a saucepan until the butter melts.  Preheat the oven to 180oC, 350F, Gas Mark 4.

Pour the fruit mixture into a bowl and allow to cool a bit.  Add in the egg, flour, vanilla, spices and bring it all together.  Spoon into cupcake cases and bake in the oven for approx 12 minutes or until cooked and springing back when pressed.

Keep for a day or so in an airtight tin but freezes well.

If you've liked this recipe, have a think about  nominating me in the Food category of the Britmums Brilliance in Blogging (BIBs) awards please?  The URL of my website is http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/ or http://mamacook.blogspot.com/ and my twitter handle is @Mamacook_blog.  Last year I was honoured to make it to the finals.  Thank you kind readers!

Garlic and Herb Roast Chicken for the whole family

I'm not one for prinking with a roast.  Chicken roasted with some salt and pepper on the skin is probably as good as it gets but man cannot live by plain poultry alone!  In search of some variety and because my two year old likes garlic, I gave this a go.  It gave a subtle garlicky taste which wasn't overpowering (despite the number of cloves) and a lovely gravy.

Garlic and Herb Chicken - easily serves two adults and a toddler plus leftovers for 1-2 more meals

Ingredients

One chicken (mine weighed 1.9kg, 4lb)
1 Lemon
Small handful of parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
8-10 garlic cloves, whole
Half an onion (or a whole small one)
30g, 1oz Softened butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 190oC, 375F, Gas Mark 5.

Mix the butter, crushed garlic, grated zest from the lemon and chopped parsley together.  Loosen the skin over the breast of the chicken by pushing your hand under it.  Then push the flavoured butter under the skin.  This will flavour and baste the bird as it cooks.  Add seasoning to the skin if liked (avoid adding salt for food for babies or at least avoid giving them the skin if you have seasoned it.)

Set up a tray (e.g. a grill tray) over a deep roasting pan.  Cut the onion into wedges and put into the base of the tray with the whole cloves of garlic and the rest of the lemon in wedges.  Put the grill tray on top and the bird on top of that.

Pour about an inch of boiling water into the tray under the chicken and carefully (don't splash yourself) transfer to the oven.

The instructions with my bird said to cook for 40 mins per kg plus 20 minutes.  I always find this is too much and normally cook for 40 mins per kg plus 10 minutes (absolute maximum) but you're best off testing your own oven and if you have one, using a temperature probe. The oven I used to have would take far longer to cook, they do vary a lot.  If you're unsure how to test it's done, take a look at this post here.  If the tray is almost dry during cooking add a bit more water.

Allow to rest for 10 - 15 minutes (anything up to half an hour is fine but put foil over it if it's going to be longer than 15 minutes) and serve with your choice of vegetables.  If you want to make gravy, while it's resting, drain any juices from the tray into a jug through a sieve discarding the lemon and onion but pressing the now soft and sweet garlic through if you like.  Skim off most of the fat using a spoon and mix with chicken stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil (my mum would always use a stock cube and some water from cooking vegetables, it's not cheffy but it is good).  Bubble away until it's the flavour you like then thicken using a dsp cornflour mixed with cold water then poured in slowly as you whisk the bubbling gravy.

No reason at all not to give this to toddlers, older babies and imagine this as an awesome baby led weaning meal with cooked carrots and broccoli?  Sliced meats are great as finger foods as they are often really easy to chew.  Not every finger food has to be in stick form!

If you do like making this, why not try some chestnut stuffing on the side?

If you've liked this recipe, I would be honoured if you'd consider nominating me in the Food category of the Britmums Brilliance in Blogging (BIBs) awards.  The URL of my website is http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/ or http://mamacook.blogspot.com/ and my twitter handle is @Mamacook_blog.  Thank you kind readers!

Why I would like to win a Britmums Award

Is it rude to ask or stupid not to?  I've spent so much of my life thinking it's rude but as I get older, I'm starting to come round to another way of thinking.  What if the other adage is true that if you don't ask, you don't get...



So, figuring there's nothing wrong with occasionally bigging yourself up, I'm going to ask and hope that some of you might be good enough to consider nominating me for a Britmums award in the Food category.  (My URL is http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/ and my Twitter username is @Mamacook_blog if you would like to nominate.)

Last year, I was hugely lucky and very proud to make it to the finals of Britmums in the 'Tasty' category.  My life started to change from this point.  Not in the ways that you might expect either.  I had never been one to boast of my achievements in life but I found myself talking to the Leicester Mercury, the Melton Times, Great Food Magazine and BBC Radio Leicester (with the lovely Holly Bell) in a live interview.  Crazy, scary and yes I did it!  Not at all typical for the girl who used to hide in the back of the class if any reading out loud was being requested.  Basically, Britmums and the local media recognised that what I was writing was worth reading and that felt great, I even did a guest post for Britmums later on in the year.

So why?  I do all this for no money at all.  I'm not sponsored, I'm not paid, I don't even offset ingredients against tax, it's all for the joy of it and the passion I have for food and feeding kids something decent.  That's what I'm all about.  I'm that passionate about it that I've even kept things going despite illness, >400 mile a week of commuting, running three times a week and my wee toddler who's nearly three.  (I don't know how she does it?  Erm, neither do I sometimes!)

So here are some of my favourite posts that I think are worth a read.  Some new, some old but all great in my humble opinion.

The first has to be one of my posts just before the ceremony last year.  The prize for winning being a gold man statuette, here are my little gold men in tribute.  A great snack for growing kids.

I love the picture, so cute, although the temptation to bite off the toes is strong...

The second post I'd love you to read is my most popular.
Broccoli nuggets might not sound like the most enticing of meals but if you have a fussy baby or toddler, it can be a struggle to get vegetables into them.  I'm not an advocate of never serving vegetables as nature intended but I think when children are going through fussy stages (which they all do) adding some into meals as an 'insurance policy' does no harm.  It also stops you worrying so much about which parts of the meal they do and don't eat and it keeps you offering previously refused foods.  Half of the battle with fussiness is not reinforcing it by making a big deal out of it or stopping offering that food.  Also, broccoli nuggets are delicious which helps!

I've included the following post for pear and almond pancakes not because the recipe is delicious but just because I love the picture.  It's not perfect, I'm annoyed I didn't capture the butter melting but every time I see it, it makes me want to eat the pancakes (well they are delicious).

I will leave you to explore the rest of my blog for yourself if you feel so inclined and I hope you do.  If you have any feedback on how you'd like it to progress, what you'd like to see or what you'd like me to include, comment below.  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

UPDATE 23/4/13.  I can't believe it!  I've been shortlisted for a Brilliance in Blogging BIB award by Britmums!  Yes really! I'm so excited.  Thank you very much if you nominated me.  If you like the look of my blog and feel so inclined, I'd be honoured if you could help a bit more by voting for me in the 'food' category on this link.  The top rated, most voted for blogs will get through to the final (and seeing as I make no money from my blog, I'd love to get to go out for a night out!  I'm easily pleased!)

Lemon and Tangerine Curd

This recipe is due to a shopping mix up I had too many eggs the other day.  I should explain.  After years of moaning about internet food shopping, I have succumbed.  Although I still say that it's no quicker, at least it's time I'm sat on the lap top ordering food intermittently sorting out a lego emergency with my son rather than time I'm walking round a supermarket with a podcast on trying to ignore the awfulness of it all.  And let's face it, we all hate supermarkets.  Sorry supermarkets, and shooting myself in the foot for any future sponsorship opportunities but yes, it's true.  We hate you.  We hate walking round you, we hate the crowds, we hate the fact you always seem to have run out of something we need, we hate the rising prices but mostly we hate ourselves for not having the time, money nor energy to go and shop from little local stores who lovingly hand craft each loaf of bread with their hands.  Ok, that's not true, I do often buy bread from Hambleton Bakery because it's excellent and when I get the chance I buy sausages from Grasmere Farm.

It annoys me though the pictures of TV chefs complete with basket walking into their local butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers, embracing the proprietors with open arms like long lost friends.  Balls.  Who has the time?  I very much think we need to support local producers who produce good food but for one, not all high street food shops are all that good (a particular failing of fishmongers in my opinion) but if the opening hours coincide with my working hours, sorry, it's not an option.

So, I have embraced the devil supermarkets out of necessity like 90% of the population and, even more so now, I've embraced internet supermarket shopping.  Why?  Well I work four days a week.  I currently commute 400-450 miles a week.  I blog, I try to exercise 3-4 times a week and in all this I also try and spend time with my son and occasionally open a book.  It's tough and something has to give.

So my latest internet shop arrived with eggs which were two days after their display until date.  So I needed a recipe to use eggs.  I still had some lemons in the fridge from when I'd been really ill a few weeks before (emergency honey and lemon) and some tangerines in the fruit bowl.  A fruit curd seemed like the obvious choice.  Not sugar free, not healthy but very tasty.

Quick tips, use a bowl which fits into your pan a bit.  You need a good contact with the steam and the bowl.  I didn't to start with and it took quite a long time to thicken.

Lemon and Tangerine Curd - made just over 1 jar

Ingredients

2 lemons (zest and juice)
3 tangerines (zest and juice)
(overall you need 200ml of juice)
200g, 7oz Sugar
100g, 7oz Butter
4 medium eggs
1 egg yolk

Method

Use unwaxed fruit if you can or give them a good wash and scrub first.  Zest the fruit using a fine grater being careful not to include the white pith.

Juice the fruit until you have 200ml.  Add the sugar and butter and put in a bowl over a pan of boiling water (the bowl should have good contact with the steam but not be touching the water).  Heat until the butter melts.  Add the eggs.  Stir occasionally for 10-25 mins.  It can take longer depending on the type of bowl.  What you're looking for is it to thicken and coat the back of a spoon.  Pour into a sterilised jar and cool.

Sterilise jars by washing in warm soapy water (or even better in a dishwasher) then warm in the oven at about 150oC until dry and hot.  For most jams I would then fill the jars hot but for lemon curd, especially as you will eat it very quickly and I don't want the eggs to have too much of a shock I just fill them warm.

Once cooled, keep in the fridge and eat within 2 weeks.  If it gets close to the end of it's life, it's great in jam tarts.

*Update*

After a valid challenge from a commenter, here is the official Food Standards Agency advice on best before dates on eggs.  Personally as I work in food safety I don't like to push things more than a day or two but you can tell whether an egg is not gone off by doing this test.

http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/eggs/how-to-tell-how-old-an-egg-is.html

The reason I still don't push it more than a couple of days past the best before date though is all the above test tells you is how old the egg is because there is an air sack which increases inside the egg shell as the egg ages.  That doesn't tell you whether the egg is contaminated with Salmonella or Campylobacter and if it is it tells you nothing about whether the bacteria have reached dangerous levels because that is also a function of how they've been stored.

So I agree, it is worth pushing the boundaries a little on best before dates but it's still worth being a bit careful.  Any eggs eaten after the best before dates should be fully cooked and with people who don't necessarily have strong immune systems or where the consequences of getting ill are pretty bad (i.e. the elderly, pregnant, infants and immunocompromised) it's probably not worth the risk.

Mini Pea and Feta Frittatas for Babies and Toddlers

My little one has had a recent aversion to peas.  Used to love them, perhaps he had them too often.  Anyway, my view is always fussiness gets reinforced by parents.  Stop offering and you're guaranteed your child won't eat that item, keep offering and there's a chance they will.  But there's no reason not to mix it up, offer the item as part of a food like this, cut it up differently (which worked with strawberries here) or cook it differently (a great idea is roasting rather than boiling root vegetables.)

So this was the result.  Mummy liked a lot.  Wee man was ok about it all, perhaps he's getting wise to my ways but still he polished off a couple with some green beans.

Pea and Feta Mini Frittatas - Makes Approx 12, easily serves an adult and toddler

Ingredients

85g Frozen small (petit pois) peas
85g Feta, cubed / crumbled
4 eggs
Oil for greasing the pan

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F.

Mix the peas, feta and eggs together.  Use a brush to oil the wells of a mini muffin tin, make sure you also grease the sides.

Put the mix in each well.  Bake for approx 15 minutes or until no longer wobbly.  Serve with vegetables.

If you like this, why not try:

Baked 'Quiche' Frittatas






or:

Broccoli Nuggets?

I've linked up to Britmums #eggmainsinminutes linky sponsored by British Lion Eggs, check it out on eggrecipes.

Low Sugar Parsnip Cake, Great for the Whole Family

I'd been thinking about making a parsnip cake for a while.  After all parsnips aren't a million miles away from carrots so why not?

I looked around on the internet and the recipe I liked the look of here was far too full of sugar and syrup.  Whole nuts too aren't the best idea for young kids so I needed to start from scratch.

Here's what I came up with.  Not sugar free but bearing in mind you can cut this into 20-24 squares, you're looking at less than two tsp added sugar per serving.  Not bad and certainly better than most commercial baking and even some products aimed at babies.   Not that I'd count any cake as part of your five a day but this has a good boost of fibre too.

Parsnip Cake - makes 20 - 24 squares

Ingredients

200g, 7oz Sultanas (Golden Raisins)
125ml, 4.25fl oz Apple juice
150g, 5.25oz Soft brown unrefined sugar (I used molasses sugar)
300g, 10.5oz Self Raising flour (I used half and half white and wholemeal)
2 tsp Cinnamon
4 eggs
250g 9oz Grated parsnip
1 tsp vanilla extract
125ml, 4.25fl oz Mild flavourless oil (I used sunflower oil)
1/2 tsp Baking powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC / 350F.

I made this a bit like a muffin recipe, so with a dry mix and a wet mix.  Still did the job.

So pour the apple juice over the sultanas and add the eggs, vanilla and oil.

Line a baking dish with baking paper.  Mine was 23cm by 33cm (9 inch by 13 inch).  If you don't have one the same size I'd go slighly smaller rather than bigger.

Add the sugar to the flours and break up any lumps.  Molasses sugar especially can be quite lumpy.  Add the baking powder and cinnamon.

Add the parsnip to the wet mix then mix it all into the dry mix.  Pour into the prepared dish, spread it out and bake for approx 35 minutes or until it springs back when pressed and a knife comes out pretty clean.

Leave to cool in the baking dish then cut into squares.  Eat either on the same day or the next day.  If you're keeping it for longer, it freezes brilliantly and a piece defrosts in only a couple of hours.

VERY enthusiastically enjoyed by my toddler.

I've entered this into the Bangers and Mash spice trail on cinnamon:

Mushroom Pasta Bake for Babies and Toddlers

A slight variation on a previous recipe but something I'd been meaning to try for a while, including eggs in a milk based sauce for a pasta bake.  I felt it made the dish seem more substantial.  Eggs are no bad thing nutrition wise either, a bit more protein and one of the rare sources of vitamin D in food.  A big hit with the wee man this.  Certainly older babies could have a go at it and it would be a great baby led weaning dish, just let it cool a bit before serving.

Mushroom Pasta Bake - Serves 1 adult and 1 toddler (with vegetables on the side)

Ingredients

75g, 2.6oz, Wholewheat pasta (or use normal pasta if you prefer)
150g, 5.3 oz, Mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp Olive oil
250ml, 8.5 fl oz, 1 cup Whole or semi skimmed milk
2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
60-80g 2-2.8oz Extra mature / vintage cheddar, grated
1 Egg yolk
1 tsp mild mustard

Method

Cook the pasta following pack instructions.  Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F.

Fry the mushrooms in the oil until fully cooked.  In the meantime, make the sauce by heating the milk in a microwave until very hot.  Mix the cornflour (cornstarch) with some cold water until it's a paste and then whisk into the hot milk.  Heat for a bit longer in the microwave until thickened but keep an eye on it as it can boil over.

Add the mustard and 2/3rds of the grated cheese to the sauce and whisk in, then whisk in the egg yolk.

Mix the cooked pasta, mushrooms and sauce together, put into a dish and top with the grated cheese.  (Use a bit less if cooking for babies).

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbling and browned on top.  It is very hot from the oven so allow to cool before serving with vegetables of your choice.