Vegetarian "Sausage" Rolls for the Whole Family

I'm not vegetarian but I do like my vegetables and I see no need to have meat in every meal.  There's something great about normal sausage rolls but there's also something a fatty about them too.  So why not do something vegetarian?

Well I gave it a go.  I loved them but the toddler was slightly less impressed (there was a pate sandwich in his eye line which was drawing his attention).  But I liked and will definitely make again.

Vegetable Rolls - makes around 20 or so

Ingredients

1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
200g, 7oz courgette (zucchini), approx one medium size
1 tsp Olive oil
1 tbsp fresh oregano
75g, 2.5oz Feta cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp Quark or cream cheese
Approx 250g, 12oz ready rolled puff pastry

Milk to brush.

Method

Chop the onion into small pieces.  Crush or chop the garlic.  Grate the courgette.  Fry the onion for a couple of minutes in the oil then add in the garlic and courgette.  Fry until softened and the liquid has evaporated.  Put into a bowl to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400F, 200oC, 180oC (fan), gas mark 6.

Once cool, add in the oregano, crumble in the feta cheese, egg and quark.

Cut the pastry into about 2 inch, 5 cm strips.  Put a line of the mix to one side of the pastry.  Fold over to make a long 'sausage' roll.  Seal with a fork along the edge.  Cut little vent holes then cut into short lengths.

Brush with milk and bake for approx 15 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

I froze the few I had left over and then defrosted them for lunch.  Even without warming, they were absolutely delicious.  Maybe it's a Mummy thing!

Sweet and Sour for the Whole Family

Ok, I'm going back on my normal principles here.  There is no cutting out sugar in sweet and sour.  Well not unless you want to go down the sweeteners route which I don't.

That said, this is slightly lower sugar than a normal sweet and sour and full of fruit and vegetables.  It's all credits and debits, i.e. the hidden additional veg kind of offsets the sugar and much better than those nasty balls that you can get; you know the ones with the frighteningly thick batter.  Ewww.  I'm justifying it...

So I've written a recipe for the sauce and a couple of ways to use it.  The great thing is you can make the sauce in advance then use a few spoonfuls for your child's tea then use the rest for yours when you're ready for it.  I know in our household my son is ready for tea around 4:30/5pm which is a stretch for me.

Sweet and Sour - serves 2-3

Ingredients

5 tbsp White wine vinegar
3 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Tomato ketchup
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1.5 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
1 tsp sweet chilli sauce

To make into a dish
Green peppers
Pineapple
Carrot
Prawns or chicken (or tofu if you prefer)
Oil for stir frying

Method

Put the vinegar, sugar, ketchup and soy into a saucepan and bring to the boil and bubble until the sugar dissolved.  Mix in the cornflour paste and chilli sauce stirring all the time.  Stir well until thickened.

If you're not using immediately, put into a bowl and chill.

To cook stir fry the carrots and chicken if using.  When they chicken is nearly cooked if using or when the carrots are starting to cook, add the sauce and a few tbsp of boiling water (add more throughout cooking if it gets too thick before everything is done or it's looking like it's going to burn).  Add in the green pepper and prawns if using, stir fry for a few minutes.  When nearly done add in the pineapple and when everything is cooked through and hot and the sauce coating everything, serve with rice or noodles.

Low Sugar Yogurt Cake for the whole family

I hate food going out of date.  On realising some yogurt was approaching use by, I gave this a go.  Lower sugar and lower fat than a normal sponge and a slightly different texture, a bit more like madeira cake but none the worse for that.

Yogurt cake - Makes one round cake

Ingredients

150g, 5.5oz Greek yogurt
250g, 9oz Self Raising Flour (or all purpose flour with a couple of tsp baking powder)
100g, 3.5oz Sugar (I used white caster sugar)
150g, 5.5oz Sultanas (golden raisins)
3 tbsp Vegeable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC, 350F, Gas Mark 5.

Mix all of the ingredients together, pour into a approx 8 inch tin lined with non stick baking paper and bake for approx 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for a while then cool on a rack.  Serve or keep in an airtight box or tin for a day or so.

Feta Cheese Chicken Kievs for Kids and Adults

Feta cheese is one of those fantastic cheeses like paneer which doesn't completely melt.  But unlike paneer, feta does soften and the action of heat is great on the flavour.  There is a traditional Greek recipe for baked Feta I keep meaning to make just because it's something I go a bit nuts for.

It also though compliments chicken pretty well and, in the spirit of invention and well just playing willy nilly with food origins, I've taken a chicken kiev style dish (either Russian or Ukrainian) added Feta (Greek) and Japanese breadcrumbs.  Some say a crime of (con)fusion food, I say "it tastes great!"  The other joys are:

• No frying
• No worrying about leaking filling because the feta stays pretty much where it's put
• My son will eat anything if cheese is involved

Result!

Feta Cheese Chicken Kievs - made 4 small Kievs

Ingredients

4 Fresh chicken breast slices (these were sold in my local supermarket, weighing approx 70-85g each; 2.5-3oz, about 1.5cm, half an inch thick but you could slice a thick chicken breast in half.)
100g, 3.5oz Feta cheese
1 Egg
3 tbsp Panko breadcrumbs (or normal fresh breadcrumbs)
Spray oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F / Gas mark 6.

Cut the feta into four 'sticks'.

Wrap the chicken slices around each piece of feta.  It doesn't matter if you can see the feta at the ends.

Crack the egg into one bowl and put the breadcrumbs in another.  Line a baking tray with baking paper (this helps them to not stick.)

Dip each chicken wrapped feta into egg then into the breadcrumbs (tip; use one hand for the egg, one for the breadcrumbs.)

Put onto a baking tray and repeat until they're all done.

Debreadcrumb your hands!

Spray the chicken liberally with spray oil and bake for approx 20 minutes or until cooked through and golden.

Cut the chicken up for little ones as it can get pretty hot in the middle.  Enjoy with vegetables!

Sugar Free Apple Pies for babies, toddlers and grown ups

A great way to not need to add sugar or reduce sugar in baked goods is to use fruit.  When fruit is ripe there is really no need to go on sweetening it, especially if you have a bit of dried fruit too.

From talking to parents I find that so many get really het up on what they should do if a child refuses part of their meal or holds out for dessert.  I think you have to do the thing which works for you but I'd also advocate making sure the meal is pretty balanced anyway, e.g. having fruit as a dessert or choosing a no added sugar option rather than a sticky cake or chocolate.

Anyway, it's the way I've always approached it and from my sample of one I now have a pretty open minded toddler when it comes to food who was asking for more broccoli yesterday but saying "no" to sweet potato.  Fair enough, I just go with it.  I sometimes feel like kids are born with personalities and my son has definitely inherited my stubborn streak.  There are times when I stand my ground but if I don't allow him some control and choices in his food, he digs his heels in and it gets worse.  Likewise though just because he's refused something once, doesn't mean he won't be offered it again.  This only reinforces fussy behaviour in my opinion.

A great way to get kids trying something they think they don't like is to change the way you offer it, so perhaps mashed sweet potato next time rather than roasted?  He went off broccoli for a while so I used to give him broccoli nuggets and well he's now back to loving it.

So if you do have a fussy child, don't give up, don't stop trying but do make lovely little things like these mini apple pies.  Not only will your child probably wolf them down but also parents think they're pretty good too!

Mini Apple Pies for Babies, Toddlers and Grown ups - makes about 6-8

Ingredients

Filling
1 Dessert apple, peeled, cored and sliced
1oz, 30g Sultanas (golden raisins)
3 tbsp Apple juice
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
A generous pinch of mixed spice (apple pie spice)
1/2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Pastry
90g, 3oz Plain flour (all purpose flour)
25g, A scant 1oz Cornflour (cornstarch)
70g, 2.5oz Butter (use non dairy margarine to make vegan)

Milk for brushing (optional)

Method

Put the apple, sultanas, juice, vanilla and spice in a sauce pan.  Simmer until the apple is starting to soften.  Mix the 1/2 tsp cornflour with a tsp of cold water then mix in so the juice is thickened and coats the fruit.  Allow the filling to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 180oC (fan) / 400F / Gas mark 6.

Use a food processor or a bowl to rub the butter into the flours to resemble breadcrumbs.  Add in cold water, maybe 1-2 tbsp until the pastry starts to come together when you grab a handful.

Bring it together on a clean worktop or board, then flour the surface and roll out until a couple of mm / 1/10th inch thick.

Use a round cookie cutter and cut out circles.  Press them into a fairy cake tin.  (Outside the UK you probably will only have access to cupcake or muffin tins which are much bigger.  Either make bigger pies or go for a mini muffin tin.  They will be more straight sided but should still work.)

Put a tsp of filling into each pastry case then top with a pastry shape of your choosing.

(If there's any pastry left you could reroll it and make jam tarts.  But remember shortcrust pastry doesn't "like" being handled a lot so don't reroll repeatedly.)

Brush with a little cold milk and bake for approx 10 mins or until the pastry is crisp and browning.  Put onto a wire rack, dust with icing sugar if you're wanting to be slightly naughty and either serve warm or cold with cream.

Best eaten the same day or warmed through if eaten on the second day.

Hmm, eat me!

Sticky Spare Ribs for kids and adults

I didn't try this on my toddler.  Not that I think the flavour wouldn't be great for him but he's never  been one for bones.  I know some kids doing baby led weaning are happily chomping away on chicken drumsticks but, much like his Dad, my son just looks at me oddly if I put something on his plate then say "you don't eat that bit".

So if I did give this a go for the little one, belly pork strips might be the way to go.  As it was, due to the joys (sometimes) of internet shopping, the ribs I got were a bit on the lean side.  No idea how they managed to get lean pork ribs but they did.  I was a bit concerned with the long slow cooking that they'd end up dry.  Testament to a good recipe perhaps that they didn't!

I've been making this recipe for years.  So much so there's a page in my cook book where I've put in the revised proportions, tweaking and changing the recipe until I felt it was 'right'.  So here we are!  A bit healthier than a takeaway, maybe (where the ribs are often fried) but no less tasty for it!

Sticky Spare Ribs - Serves 2-3

Ingredients

900g Spare ribs
2 tbsp Runny honey
3 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 dried chilli, crushed
Juice of 1 lime
3 cloves of garlic, grated
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

Method

Mix all of the ingredients together and put into a baking dish.  Marinate for a couple of hours.

Cover tightly with foil and put into an oven at 150oC / 300F.  After an hour, take out, uncover and give them all a wiggle.  Put back in for another hour.

Remove the foil, by now the ribs should be cooked but if the foil has been pretty tight there should still be quite a bit of liquid.  Stir all the ribs around and return to the oven.  Leave in the oven cooking away and getting more sticky until the ribs are coated and yummy.  Keep an eye on then to make sure they don't burn.  It could be a good idea to finish them off on the barbecue here, if summer ever arrives of course!

Serve with coleslaw or with a more Chinese dish like fried rice.  Yummy!

Oops, all gone!

Three Bean Chilli for the Whole Family

After the excesses of my son's birthday, something better for the body and soul felt in order.  This met with approval from the wee man; the exact quote was "It's yum!"

Ok, you're thinking I'm giving my (only just) three year old chilli.  Yes I am and have been giving him a toned down version since before he was one!  There is really no need to completely avoid spice with kids.  If you want to tone it down, reduce or miss out the chilli but leave in the paprika so there is still some flavour but trust me, a bit of chilli is not bad thing.  This was warming and tasty enough for me but if you like it spicier as an adult, add some salsa or pickled jalapenos, that would be great if you then served it with grated cheese and tortillas... Hmm, I think we can see how I'm going to be eating the leftovers.

Use the mix of beans you prefer but I think pinto are needed as they help thicken the sauce.  If you're using dried beans remember to soak overnight before using and follow pack instructions to cook first.

Three 'Bean' Chilli - serves 2 adults and a toddler with leftovers

Ingredients

1 Tin of pinto beans (175g, 6oz drained weight)
1 tin of Red Kidney Beans (240g, 8.5oz drained weight)
1 tin of Chickpeas (I used brown chickpeas) (240g, 8.5oz drained weight)
2 Cloves of garlic
2 tsp Smoked Sweet Paprika
1 Small dried chilli, seeds removed (optional for babies)
1 400g, 14oz Tin of chopped tomatoes
1 Red pepper (capsicum)
1 Bay leaf
Pinch of cumin seeds
Seasoning to taste (optional)

Method

I made this in a slow cooker but it was purely for convenience, stick it on, leave it, go to parent and toddler group and come back to a hot lunch!  Yay!  But equally you could make this on a hob.

Empty the beans and chickpeas into the pan or slow cooker.  Add the chopped garlic, paprika, dried chilli, tomatoes, chopped red pepper, bay leaf and cumin seeds.  Simmer for 30 mins or so or 2-3 hours on high in the slow cooker making sure you stir if you cook on the hob as it will catch.  Add seasoning to taste if using (remove baby or toddler portions first if using salt).  Remove the bay leaf and serve with cooked boiled rice, soft tortillas or tortilla chips if liked.  Add salsa, pickled jalapenos and / or cheese if you feel in the mood!

Cheesy Pastries for the Whole Family

A simple recipe made after a full on day.  Today was my son's 3rd birthday party.  We had a fantastic party but what with staying up till 11pm to ice the cake and worry about whether I'd made enough chipolatas (no, I'm not joking, it was my thought on waking at 4am), I'd only had 4 hours sleep.

So I made for comfort.  When I was little we used to go to Greece a lot and my Dad would sometimes buy pies like this from the local bakery for our lunch.  Followed by a slice of watermelon, this is the taste of my youth.

Now this is by a bit of taste memory and might not be authentic but I liked it and my son said it was "yummy".  Don't serve directly from the oven, better to serve warm rather than hot.

Feta Pies - Makes 4

Ingredients

100g, 3.5oz Feta Cheese
40g, a generous oz Extra Mature (Sharp) Cheddar
1 egg
1 tsp Fresh Oregano
A few grindings of nutmeg
4 Sheets of filo pastry
Olive oil for brushing
Milk for brushing

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F.

Crumble the feta and grate the cheddar.  Add in the oregano, nutmeg and egg.

Mix together.

Lay out each sheet of filo and brush half along the long side of the rectangle with olive oil.  Fold over to make the rectangle long and thin.  Put approx a quarter of the mix into one corner and fold up.  You might want to have a look at this recipe to see what I mean.  Brush with olive oil as you go.

Once it's folded into a triangle, brush with milk and bake for 15 mins or so or until well browned and cooked through.  For little ones they won't need a whole one so cut one in half but it's great finger food.  If allowed to cool fully the filo isn't quite so crumbly either which make them great for taking out on a picnic which is why I've linked this up to Britmums outdoor food round up if the weather ever improves...

Spicy(ish) Lamb Meatballs for the Whole Family

A tasty and warm if not excessively spicy dish which could even be finger food if you're feeling brave (and have your surfaces covered!)

If you're cooking just for kids who really like spicy food or adults, I'd up the harissa to 1tsp, perhaps 2 if you're really feeling the burn!  Or alternatively add a bit of extra harissa or chilli sauce in at the table.

Lamb Meatballs - Made enough for 2 adults and 1 toddler but there was loads left over for the freezer.

Ingredients

600g, 21oz Lamb Mince (ground lamb)
1 Courgette (zucchini)
1 clove of garlic, finely grated or crushed
1 tsp ground dried coriander (powdered / ground cilantro seeds)
Pinch ground cinnamon
1 tsp olive oil for cooking

Sauce

1 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
500g, 18oz Passata (sieved tomatoes)
1/2 tsp crushed cumin seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp harissa paste

For the couscous

100g, 3.5oz easy cook couscous
1 tin of chickpeas, ready cooked (drained weight 240g, 8oz)
Mint, parsley and coriander to taste
1 tsp white wine vinegar

Method

Grate the courgette (zucchini) and mix with the lamb, grated garlic, coriander and cinnamon.  Form into small balls a bit smaller than a walnut.  Heat a frying pan and put in the oil.  Fry the meatballs in batches until browning.

While you're browning the meatballs, heat the oil for the sauce in a large saucepan and add the garlic.  Cook for a couple of minutes then add in the pasatta, cumin, paprika and harissa and mix and leave over a low heat.

As each batch of meatballs is browned, put into the saucepan.  Do this gently because they're quite fragile until they're cooked.

Once all of the balls are in, slip on a lid then bring to a simmer.  Cook for 30 minutes or so, taking the lid off towards the end of cooking to reduce the sauce (but this does end up pretty saucy.)

While the meatballs are cooking, 10 minutes towards the end of cooking time, make up the couscous following pack instructions and heat the chickpeas following pack instructions.  Drain the chickpeas and add to the cooked couscous with the vinegar and about a tsp each of chopped mint, parsley and coriander or as much or little of them as you fancy.

If you would like to make this gluten free, why not serve with quinoa?

Serve.

My (nearly) 3 year old said it was "yummy" when he saw it bubbling in the pan and seemed to enjoy it.

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