Banana and Honey Ice Lollies

I've never bought an ice lolly for my son which has led to full on, lying back, kicking, screaming because he wanted more.  Apart from my son's behaviour (and not wanting to reward it), it's not going to make you feel too bad giving him two.

It's also a great way to use up and store bananas which are past their best as you do want them slightly over-ripe.

Banana and Honey Ice Lollies - makes 4-6 depending on mould size

Ingredients

1 ripe banana
2 tsp runny honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
100g, 3.5oz Yogurt (low fat is fine)

Method

Peel and chop the banana.  Blend the ingredients together.  Pour into an ice lolly mould and freeze until solid.  Run some warm water over the outside of the mould to release them.

Don't give to under 1's due to the honey (you could always miss it out if your bananas are super ripe and sweet.)

Quesadillas for the Whole Family

Quesadillas was something I used to make for my son when he was very little.  This is a slightly updated version with plenty of sneaky hidden vegetables!

Quesadillas - Serves 2 adults and a toddler

Ingredients

1 tomato, diced
1 tbsp fresh coriander, cilantro chopped
1/4 Green pepper (capsicum), finely chopped
Approx 1-2 inches courgette (zucchini) finely chopped
1/2 tin (drained, 120g, 4oz drained weight) red kidney beans
1 Clove garlic
1/2 tsp mild smoked paprika
45g, 1 1/2 oz Extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar
4 tortillas
Salsa or chilli sauce, to serve

Method

Mix the ingredients apart form the cheese tortillas and salsa and heat in a saucepan for 5-10 minutes or until hot through and combined.

Spread half the mix on a tortilla, top with half of the cheese then put a second tortilla on top.  Don't be tempted to overfill them as they'll fall apart.

Dry fry in a non stick frying pan.

When browned on one side, flip by putting a plate on top then turning out and sliding back into the pan.

Brown on the other side then slide out, cut up and serve.  Grown ups might want some salsa for dunking.

Make it Thrifty

Use up leftovers in quesadillas.  Leftover cooked chicken might be nice.  You can use pretty much anything you want.  I keep meaning to put some cooked sweetcorn in sometime.  The only thing you must include is cheese as it holds it all together.

If you have any tortillas left over, either freeze them or spray with oil, bake for about 6 or 7 minutes at 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6 or until browned and crisp.  Serve with dips.

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Gluten Free Pancakes

Chickpea pancakes might sound like an odd proposition for breakfast but bear with me.  Chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour or 'Besan' has a distinctive, savoury taste but there is something delicious about that served with syrup, just like that salty sweet combo of bacon and syrup is something fantastic, so was this.

The amazing thing about chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour is it has over double the amount of protein compared with wheat flour which makes them amazingly filling so a great start for the day, and, handily for coeliacs (or people choosing to avoid gluten), it's naturally gluten and wheat free.

The verdict was "nice but not quite as good as the normal ones" from the household, I disagreed.  I really liked them and I felt seriously full until lunch.

Gluten Free Pancakes - Makes enough for 3-4

Ingredients

Batter
225g, 8oz Chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour (besan)
2 tsp Gluten free baking powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Apples, grated (including skin but excluding the core)
300ml, a generous half pint Milk
2 Eggs

Butter or spray oil

Butter, honey (over 1s only), golden syrup or maple syrup to serve.

Method

Blend all of the batter ingredients together including the grated apples.  I normally take them and crate them back to the core.

Heat a non stick frying pan and either rub butter over it or spray with spray oil (see my original pancake post for more instructions).

Pour or spoon on a little batter.  Keep on a medium heat and turn when the bubbles start to burst.  It might take a little trial and error to get the perfect heat.

Once ready, put on a plate and top with your choice of toppings.

Make it Thrifty

Look out for big bags of Besan or Chickpea flour in the Indian / South Asian section of your supermarket.  They're also great for making pakoras!

Amazingly I've been shortlisted for the Britmums Brilliance in Blogging awards for the third year running but I've never won and only once made it to the finals.  Making it to the finals depends on a vote from people like you.  Please click on this image below and a survey will open.  It will ask for your email address but they don't spam you, don't worry!  It takes minutes and at the same time, you can vote for other blogs you like the look of or not if you don't read many other blogs (or choose not to!)  I'm listed as "Mama Cook" in the food category.

 

 

Baked Onion Rings

Onion rings, love them but don't love the oiliness.  I'm not some health freak but I can feel my arteries hardening as I eat!  These are cunningly baked so much less fatty!

Baked Onion Rings

Ingredients

1 Small onion cut into 2mm rings
2 tbsp Mayo
1 tbsp Milk
20g, Just over 1/2oz Rice Krispies
15g, 1/2 oz Plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
Spray Oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.  Line a tray with non stick baking paper.

Crush the rice krispies and put in a bowl with the flour and garlic powder.

Mix the mayo and milk together.  Dip the rings in the mayo mix then into the dry mix.  Put on the tray.

Once you've done them all, wash off all the gunk from your hands then spray with spray oil.

Bake for approx 10-15 minutes (12 in my oven, keep an eye on them so they don't burn).

Make it Thrifty

Use the oven for other things to maximise the use of the power while you're cooking these.  Also keep your eyes peeled (excuse the pun) for value or smart price packs of onions.  Often they're much cheaper because they're slightly smaller onions than the premium packs but still make delicious onion rings.

Weetabix Cake

Weetabix cake?  Am I serious?  Well I'd been trying different ways of using cereals quite a bit recently what with rice krispies with mackerel but I'd never found a way of using them in cakes like I had with bran loaf.  Shreddies seemed promising but were a bit of a failure when I gave them a go.  Who knew Weetabix would work?

This tastes similar to my bran loaf, loads of fibre, sweet whilst being low in added sugar, dairy free fat free and lovely with a pot of tea!

Weetabix Cake

Ingredients

2 Weetabix (or own brand equivalent)
350ml, 12 fl oz Decaffeinated tea (just make with one decaf teabag)
110g, 4oz Muscovado or soft brown sugar
280g, 10oz Sultanas (golden raisins)
1 egg
225g, 8oz Self Raising Flour (or all purpose / plain flour plus 2 tsp baking powder)
1 tsp mixed spice

Method

Crush up the weetabix, mix with the sugar and dried fruit.  Soak in the tea for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 160oC.  Mix in the spice, flour and egg and pour into a greased silicone loaf tin or a greased and lined conventional loaf tin.

Bake for about 1hour 10 mins (in my oven anyway) or until a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Eat warm or cool.  Keeps reasonably well despite being fat free.

Make it Thrifty

Keep an eye out for value or smart price packs of self raising flour, breakfast cereal and dried fruits.  They work just as well in this as the more expensive packs.

7 a Day Challenge; Day 3 - Vegetable Pakoras

7 fruits and vegetables a day is a bit harder than I thought.

A few days ago, I set myself a challenge to eat 7 fruits and vegetables minimum in 7 days to see how it affected me, my wellbeing and how hard or easy it might be.

I'm on day 3 now and I need to find ways to liven things up!

Breakfast

I was at work early today so took breakfast of rice crispies and a banana.  This is actually far more than I'd normally eat for breakfast so I ended up saving the banana for mid morning.  I will definitely be stretching myself more from a culinary point of view at the weekend when I have more time!

Lunch

Lunch was Gazpacho again (2 portions of vegetables) due to making a double batch yesterday with watermelon and a satsuma afterwards.  I was up to 5 of my 7 after lunch but felt the need to 'retox' with some chocolate cake.  A girl needs something unvirtuous!

Tea

Ok... this week has been harder (even by day 3) than I expected.  I needed fried.  So wrong.  I know, I had chocolate there was even some sugar on the rice crispies.

But the problem is I'm just so full!  Maybe I don't eat big portions but 7 lots of vegetables, in the portion sizes recommended really limits what else you can eat.

So I needed fried.  I needed something which felt wrong even if it was full of vegetables.  Pakora it is!

Vegetable Pakoras - Makes enough for two

Ingredients

100g, 3.5oz Gram Flour (chickpea flour, garbanzo bean flour, besan)
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp  Curry Paste (as hot as you want it to be, I was cooking for myself so used madras but I'd use korma paste for my son)
60g, 2oz Defrosted frozen chopped spinach
60g, 2oz Defrosted frozen peas
2 Spring onions (scallions)
Juice 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp Baking powder (gluten free is easily available if avoiding wheat)
1 tbsp Fresh Coriander, chopped (cilantro)
70 - 100ml, 2.5 - 3.5 floz water

Oil for frying
Mango chutney to serve

Method

Mix the flour, spice, curry paste and lemon juice.  Mix in enough water to make a batter about the thickness of pancake batter.

Add in the baking powder, spinach, peas and spring onions and mix well.

Heat up about an inch or couple of cm of oil in a saucepan and when it's hot, drop a spoonful into the fat.  Cook until well browned turning a few times.  Use this 'trial' pakora to check that it's cooked through by breaking it open.  If it's a bit runny in the middle chalk that one up to experience and, turn the heat down a bit to cook the others.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve.  Update:  Store any leftovers in the fridge for a couple of days and reheat at 200oC for 6-10 minutes or until warmed through and crisp again on the outside.

I have to admit, I was going to have this with some carrot salad but I just fancied the pakora.  I know but they were delicious.  I could only manage to eat half of the batch which actually means I'm a bit light on my vegetable count for the day...

Or am I?  Under the '5 a day' rules anyway, pulses were permitted for one of the 5 a day... so my chickpea flour counts!  Result!

The pakora might not have been fabulous for the waistline but they were great for the soul.

7 a day done!  Kinda.  Why does it feel I've achieved it via a technicality?  7 portions of 10 different fruits and vegetables; banana, satsuma, tomato, pepper (capsicum), cucumber, watermelon, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), spinach, peas and spring onions (scallions).

I would be absolutely honoured if you would consider nominating me in the Britmums BIB awards, especially the food category.

Spicy Chicken Goujons

After making my crunchy mackerel strips, it occurred to me the same treatment might work pretty well with chicken and, lo and behold, it does!  The sweet chilli sauce lends flavour and a lovely sticky base for the coating.

I've suggested serving with some gingery noodles but this would be just as much at home with salad or as a beer time snack.

I've not tried my son with this yet but I think he'll be a fan.

Spicy Chicken Goujons - Serves 2

Ingredients

250g, 9oz Chicken breast

4 tbsp Sweet chilli sauce

30g, 1oz Rice Krispies

30g, 1oz Plain, All purpose flour

Spray oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.  Prepare a baking tray with a layer of non stick baking paper.

Crush the rice krispies and mix with the flour.

Cut the chicken into strips.  Dunk each strip into the sweet chilli sauce and then into the crushed cereal mix and put on the tray.

Spray with spray oil.  Roast for approx 20 minutes or until cooked through and crunchy.

Serve with your choice of accompaniment.  I've chosen some honey and ginger noodles with vegetables.

Make it Thrifty

Take a look at chicken breasts in the freezer department.  Often they're cheaper than chilled chicken breasts and as long as you remember to defrost them in the fridge overnight, you're less likely to have food waste by buying them frozen as they last for ages.

I would be absolutely honoured if you would consider nominating me in the Britmums BIB awards, especially the food category.

Healthy Fish and Chips for the Whole Family

Healthy fish and chips.  The mark of a good recipe is when you make it twice before posting it!

We should all eat more omega 3.  One of the best sources of it is oily fish but that can be a tough sell to adults let alone kids.  Mackerel can be fantastic and delicious, especially grilled on a barbecue but can be strong tasting and a lot of people aren't all that keen on the bones.

I introduced a way of cooking mackerel recently for reluctant adults, now I thought I'd look at kids.  Mackerel is such a well flavoured fish, it can stand up to some really strong flavours and it goes fantastically well with mustard.

The best ideas come to me at 5:30am when I'm lying in bed wondering why I'm not still asleep!  One morning, I had a bit of a brainwave; why not use mayonnaise as a way to adhere a coating?  If I used mackerel I could also mix in some mustard... and so an idea was born!

As I was starting to prepare this I had a sudden thought, why not make this a healthy fish, chips and peas dish?  Why not indeed!

Mackerel goujons with home made oven chips and peas - serves 1 adult with a big appetite or 1 adult and 1 toddler

Ingredients

1 Mackerel fillet, defrosted if frozen (fresh not smoked)
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
20g, 3/4 oz Rice Krispies or own brand equivalent
20g, 3/4 oz  Plain / all purpose flour
Spray oil

Potatoes
1 medium to large baking potato
1 tbsp olive oil

To serve
Cooked frozen peas
2 tbsp Mayonnaise mixed with 1 tsp dijon mustard (or plain mayo or tartare sauce if you prefer)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.

Wash the potato then cut (skin on) into thin sticks (to your preference).  Toss in the olive oil and put on a baking tray.  Lining the tray with non stick baking paper will help prevent them sticking.

Skin the fish if liked.  Cut the fish into strips about the thickness of your ring finger.

Mix 2 tbsp mayo with 1 tsp mustard.  In another bowl, crush the rice krispies and mix with the flour.

Put the 'chips' in the oven as they need about 5 mins longer than the fish (depending on the age of the potato and the thickness).

Now it's time to get messy.  Line a baking tray with non stick paper, then dunk each mackerel strip in the mayo mix then the rice krispies mix then lay on the tray.

Once done, wash your hands as you probably won't be able to see them!  Then spray the mackerel with spray oil and put in the oven for approx 15 minutes or until the chips are cooked and browned and the fish is cooked through.  Give the chips a bit of a jiggle now and again to make sure they're cooking evenly.

Serve with the serving suggestions above.  I had mustard mayo, my 3 year old son had "white ketchup" (i.e. plain mayonnaise) to dunk into.  He tried but said my mustard mayo made his tongue tingle too much but he did love the fish.  It was a real hit!

Make it Thrifty

Look out for frozen mackerel fillets; they're often in the freezer section for less than £1 a fillet which is fantastic value.  Also try using own brand rice krispies and value / smart price mayonnaise, mixed with the mustard, you'd never know the difference.

Best Pancake recipes

Pancakes; I'm a bit of a fan; in fact, one of my very early recipes was for a sugar free American style pancake recipe so I thought, with Shrove Tuesday (aka Pancake Day or Mardi Gras) looming on 4th March this year, I'd tell you about my favourites!

The point of Shrove Tuesday was to use up all of the rich ingredients in the house like eggs and sugar before the traditional period of fasting and reflection of Lent.  Pancakes though are a fantastic way to make food quickly and easily and make a meal out of eggs (mostly, see below!)  Eggs are a great way to include vitamin D into your diet which is often lacking in our bodies at this time of year (as I look outside to the frosty ground and sun shining weakly on my garden!)

All of my recipes are made without added sugar or are low in sugar unless you add some with the topping with syrups or icing sugar which makes them great even for babies.


Sweet

My original sugar free pancake recipe is here (with step by step instructions).  This is the one I come back to again and again and was a finger food my son absolutely loved as a baby.

A slight extension from this was to include berries into the batter in my berry pancakes (defrosted frozen berries would work well at this time of year.)

I also made some for my new blog using frozen cherries which were lovely pink pancakes!

Savoury

By rights I'm no fan of a savoury pancake recipe, especially when it's a crepe wrapped around something which would work much better if it was inside cannelloni (I'm thinking spinach / ricotta mixes here particularly).

That said, I am a fan of the savoury American style batters, basically vegetable fritter recipes but my absolute favourite has to be my sweetcorn fritter recipe.

Sweetcorn in a slightly spiced savoury batter dunked into sweet chilli sauce.  If you make too many they are even great for lunch, warmed up for a few seconds in a microwave.

You can also make really decent potato pancakes which would be great with a fry up.

Traditional

For the UK anyway this is a traditional pancake recipe, a thin pancake with a filling is the traditional thing (I've chosen strawberries here but I do love lemon juice and sugar).  My recipe includes step by step instructions on how to make a traditional crepe if you're a bit lost.

Special Diets

Not everyone is able to eat every ingredient sadly and food allergies are on the rise.  I work in food safety and I'm aware of how difficult it is to live with these restrictions from day to day.  This is why I often try and find ways to make traditional recipes but avoiding some of the key food allergens.

My egg free pancakes might sound like an impossibility but there's a great thing about bananas that they lend so much structure to the batter.  It started out as an accident when I forgot to add eggs to the batter one time and realised I didn't notice the difference (so much so it took me years to repeat thinking I'd simply got it wrong and put eggs in after all!)

You do notice a slight difference in flavour with the dairy free pancakes but not in a bad way and it's great if you just don't have much milk in but need breakfast!

Unusual ingredients

I've also made a few more twists on the classic by making wholemeal pancakes or even including ground almonds (see top photo; delicious by the way).

Alternatively if you are using syrup or honey, yogurt pancakes add a slight tang which is great against the sweet topping.

I suppose this kind of development on a theme harks back to the days when the pancake was to use what was left in the cupboard before the fasting began.

Sugar Free Apple Scones

I'm sorry, these must be the ugliest scones ever made but they do taste nice.

My son used to have this huge thing about dried apple, then, overnight, with a huge bag left in the cupboard, he decided he didn't like it anymore.

So I tried these for size and I think they're lovely (if extremely ugly!)

Apple scones - makes approx 8 small scones

Ingredients

225g, 8 oz SR flour or plain (all purpose) flour with 2 tsp baking powder
50g, 1.75oz Butter or dairy free margarine
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon (Cinnamon powder)
100ml, 3.3 floz Apple juice
130g, 4.5 oz Dried apple

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC (Fan), 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.

Put the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, butter and chopped pieces of dried apple into a food processor.  Process till the butter is rubbed in and the apple is in small pieces (don't carry on till they disappear though!)

Turn out into a bowl and add the apple juice.  Bring together into a dough and pat out into a thick layer, certainly no thinner than an inch.  Cut using a small, round fluted or straight cutter.  Mine was 6cm (a bit more than 2 inch) diameter.

Put on a floured baking tin and reroll the scraps until the dough is used.

Brush the tops with milk (optional) and bake for 10-12 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Serve with butter and / or apple butter if liked (if you're not worried about them being sugar free) or these would also be equally at home with cheese.  Tasty.  My son looked at them and said "no", I suggested he tried a bite and he loved them.  Just so ugly... Sorry!

Best served on day of baking or freeze, defrost and warm through slightly in a microwave.

Dairy Free Bran Loaf - great for the whole family

People who have been here from the start might recognise this recipe.   Well I've reviewed it, changed it slightly and photographed it.  It is a great one though, loads of fibre from the cereal and dried fruit and very low in sugar so I felt like it needed more prominence!

Bran Loaf - makes one loaf

Ingredients

60g, 2oz, 1 cup All Bran cereal (the regular plain kind)
180g, 6.5oz, 1 cup Sultanas (golden raisins)
60g, 2oz, 1/3 cup Soft brown sugar
250ml, Approx 1 and a bit cups decaf black tea (or chose a fruit tea if liked)
1 egg
1 tsp Mixed spice (apple pie spice)
150g, 5.5oz Self Raising flour (or all purpose flour plus 1.5 tsp baking powder)

Method

Pour the hot tea over the cereal, sultanas and sugar and leave to one side for at least an hour.

When ready to cook, put the oven on to 175oC, 350F, Gas mark 4.

Mix the sultana mix then add in the egg, spice and flour with a little more water if needed.

Line a loaf tin or spray a silicone loaf tin with oil spray.  Scoop the mix into the baking dish and bake for approx 50-60 minutes or until cooked through.

Cool on a wire rack and serve with a nice cup of tea (for Mummy) or a nice cup of warm milk (for my wee man.)

The MAD blog awards are open; I would love it if you would nominate me.

Here is the link:  http://www.the-mads.com/vote/ if you'd get the chance, I would like to be considered for the "best food blog" category.  My blog URL is this:  http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk

I've linked up to Nomday Monday

Egg Free Pancakes - great for all ages

It never occurred to me that you could make American style pancakes without eggs and you wouldn't be able to notice the difference.  The only way I knew was, one time when making my normal sugar free pancake recipe, I made it as normal then got confused thinking I had more eggs in the fridge than I thought.  I was convinced for years I'd miscounted, but, this morning I gave it a go again and I was right, you don't need the egg!

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with eggs at all and they're a great source of vitamin D but they are also a common food allergy and, if you don't have eggs in, you can still have delicious pancakes!  Result!

Egg Free Banana Pancakes

225g, 8oz, (1 and three quarters cups) of Self Raising Flour (or plain / all purpose flour plus 2 tsp baking powder)
Knob (about 30g, 1 oz, 1tbsp) butter or use non dairy spray oil
300ml, 10.5floz, (1 and a quarter cups) Milk 
1 tsp natural vanilla paste or vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas

To serve for adults and older children (optional)
A knob of butter and a drizzle of honey (over 1 year only) or syrup

Method

Weigh out the flour, put in a blender with the milk, vanilla and bananas.  Blend until fully smooth.

Warm a non stick frying pan and either rub with a knob of butter or use spray oil.

Fry in batches; turning when bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes (see here for instructions.)

Serve!  When my son was little I got away with giving him these without toppings.  It wasn't until he was three he noticed Mummy and Daddy were having honey or syrup.  I can still get away with giving them to him as a snack though without a topping as they're naturally sweet.

These are a great first finger food or baby led weaning food for younger kids.  Cold they taste like Scotch Pancakes so are great any time.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas.

No added sugar banana French toast; great for babies, toddlers and adults

This one had been in the ideas bank for a while.  French toast without the sugar, but with added fruit.  It just seemed right and so great as an idea for babies or toddlers on finger foods.  The only reason I added the icing sugar on the photo was to make it look pretty.  I know, I failed.  Without bacon and syrup, French toast photography is surprisingly hard!  Especially in artificial light at 6:45am!

This is surprisingly sweet reward for my early cooking antics though.  I was expecting to serve it with drizzled honey but none was needed.

Texturally this was pretty similar to American style pancakes so a little more floppy than regular french toast but without having to open a pack of flour.  If you keep bread in the freezer; a few slices defrost easily within 15-20 minutes at room temperature meaning this is a great way to avoid waste too.

Banana French Toast - makes 3 slices

Ingredients

1 banana (see 'make it thrifty')
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
3 slices of sliced bread (use wholemeal or 50/50 bread for more fibre.)
Spray oil or butter to cook

Method

Peel and blend the banana with the egg, milk and vanilla.  Make sure it's fully blended with no lumps.

Pour into a bowl.

Preheat a non stick frying pan and spray with spray oil or butter.

Dip each slice into the egg mix then cook in turn until browned on both sides.  A medium heat seemed to be best.

Delicious on it's own or serve with extra sliced banana.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas that you don't fancy eating as they are and by freezing sliced bread and using either straight from the freezer or defrosting, you are much less likely to have wasted bread.  About 40% of bread I bought in this house used to be wasted!  No longer!

If you like this you might like this Vanilla French Toast:

Goats cheese frittata, great for kids

My son eats pretty well, I know what you're thinking, "My kid won't eat goats' cheese and they're certainly not fans of broccoli!".  They can and they might just surprise you.  My 3 year old is a bit of a cheese fan (as am I) and I do love quiches.  The thing is, calorie wise and salt wise the pastry adds loads and, although I'm a fan of crisp, buttery pastry, the filling is where it's at with a quiche anyway and you know what?  I can be bothered to make a quiche about once in a blue moon.  By making it as a frittata, it's mega quick, easy and tasty and the result looks like you've spent ages over something dead simple.  I'd happily serve this to adults and it would make a pretty nice starter with a spinach salad dressed with walnuts and vinaigrette.  Also, cunningly, by excluding the crust, this recipe is now also wheat free as well as being vegetarian.

As a result of this love of the frittata's taste, ease and convenience you might notice I've been messing around with frittatas made like crustless quiches (i.e. in the oven) a lot recently.  I've always been a fan of goats cheese quiches so tried making a frittata along similar lines. It was meant to be beautifully arranged circles of a small goats cheese log, but that didn't turn up on my food order (the perils of ordering food online) so the presentation isn't quite as pretty as I hoped it would be but it was really tasty.  I mean REALLY tasty.  I'm definitely making this again!

Broccoli and Goats Cheese Frittata - makes enough for two but any leftovers are great cold

Ingredients

110g, 4oz Broccoli (see make it thrifty below)
3 Eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
30g, 1 oz Extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar
90g, 3oz Rinded goats' cheese, often called 'chèvre blanc'

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC, 350F, Gas mark 4.

Chop the broccoli into very small florets or pieces (include the stalk, see below) put in boiling water on a hot hob for 4 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water

Mix the egg, milk, cornflour and cheddar together.

Line a 7 inch round cake tin with non stick baking paper.  Spray or grease with oil.  Pour in half of the frittata mixture, scatter on the broccoli then pour the rest over the top.

Thinly slice the goats' cheese and arrange on the top.

Bake for 17-20 minutes (it took 18 in my oven). 

Leave to cool for a bit, it's better served warm or cold rather than hot.  Is the humble frittata the ideal dish for busy parents to cook?  No harm is done if your baby cries out for your attention just as you're taking your first bite.  Even better if you don't get to eat (we've all been there), leftovers are just as good kept in the fridge and eaten the next day.  Don't say I don't think about you busy parents too! 

Make it Thrifty:

Make this recipe cheaper by making use of the broccoli stalk as well as the florets.  Just trim off the end and cut into an approx 1cm / half inch dice and cook with the normal broccoli florets.  

This post is an entry for the #ShortcutEggsperts Linky Challenge sponsored by British Lion Eggs. Learn more and find recipes at www.eggrecipes.co.uk

Roasted roots

You may have seen a slightly unusual accompaniment to my smoked mackerel fish cakes the other day.  Yes, they were roasted carrots and radishes!  Two things we don't often roast but I'd given my son boiled carrots earlier in the day and we were a little low on vegetables so didn't just want to give him the same.  I'd seen roasted radishes in gastropub type menus and thought "why not?"

I often say to parents who have children who are fussy; "try cutting or cooking things differently".  For example, when my son was a baby he went off halved grapes.  I tried slicing them one day and he liked them again!  He went off broccoli for a while so I tried it in my monster mash and he loved it again.  Get the idea?  So although my son loves carrots, I thought I'd try and mix it up a bit.  If your child is less keen on carrots, they might go for this and the radishes lose all of their 'heat' on roasting meaning they end up just tasting of lovely roastiness.  Is that a word?  Probably not.

Roasted roots

Ingredients

1 medium sized carrot
Approx 4-6 small red radishes
1-2 tsp olive oil

Method

Top and tail the carrot and give it a wash.  Rinse the radishes and take off any leaves.  Halve the radishes and cut the carrots into sticks.

Toss in the oil and roast in a baking dish at 200oC / 400F / Gas mark 6 for approx 40 minutes.

My son asked for seconds of the radishes!

These would be great finger foods for babies.  Just check they're cooked for long enough and are cool enough to handle.

Make it Thrifty:

Cook in the oven at the same time as other items, like my fishcakes to cut down on energy costs.

Smoked Mackerel Fish Cakes

I may worry (probably unduly) about my child's nutrition but it can be difficult to encourage kids to eat oily fish. Oily fish is an excellent source of Omega 3 oils.  Omega 3 are a group of oils which, although the jury is out on the specific health effects; it's generally believed they're pretty good things to have in your diet.  Sources include things like salmon, herring, sardines, mackerel, fresh tuna, pollock (at lower levels) etc.  There are other sources but oily fish is the most concentrated.  This might not look like a lot of mackerel in the recipe but there's about five times more omega 3 in mackerel than there is in cod.

So how to get this goodie into your child's diet?  A challenge and I've linked some other oily fish recipes at the end if you'd like some more ideas!

Smoked Mackerel Fish Cakes - made 6

Ingredients

1 Potato (mine weighed just over 200g, 7oz before peeling)
85g, 3oz Butternut squash (peeled weight)
1 tsp mild, grainy mustard
25g, 1oz Hot smoked mackerel (i.e. the type which is ready to eat)
Spray oil

Method

Peel the potato and cut the butternut squash into chunks and then boil together in water for approx 20-25 mins or until fully cooked.  Drain well then mash together using a potato masher.  Allow to cool.

Flake the mackerel into the mash mix and add the mustard.  The mix might be a bit soft but once you get your hands in it should be pretty mouldable.

Mix well then shape into fishcakes and put on a lined baking tray.  Cover and chill until ready to cook.

When ready to cook, preheat an oven to 200oC, 400F, gas mark 6.

Uncover and spray the tops with spray oil.  Bake for 25-30 mins or until brown.

My 3 year old ate 4 of them (he asked for seconds).  I think that's a hit!

Make it Thrifty:

Try using leftover vegetables to make this to keep costs down and why not cook something else in the oven at the same time?  Like sweet potato wedges to have on the side (or roast carrots and radishes like I did if you're feeling more adventurous) or a crumble for pudding?

Here are some other great oily fish recipes for your family:





Tuna Meatballs

Fish Pie











Herb crusted Salmon

Baked Salmon Fishcakes







January's Family Foodies challenge is all about 'hidden goodies' and this recipe has hidden veg and Omega 3.  I've submitted this along with a few other recipes to Bangers and Mash and Eat your veg's challenge: