Parsnip Mash

I came up with this recipe for Parsnip Mash on my new blog but thought I'd would share it here as well because it would be absolutely fantastic for babies too.

Very simply made and even easier to eat, this would be great for adults or first weaners.

Check out the recipe for Parsnip Mash by clicking on the link!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms are one of those foods people think are difficult to make.  "Life is too short to stuff a mushroom" a phrase apparently coined by Shirley Conran.  Stuffing a mushroom does sound difficult, or fiddly but I promise it's not.

 

This super simple stuffing also makes it easy (and delicious).  I just had this as an adult meal for one but my son, a fan of both mushrooms and cheese would love these.  Do include the herbs, after all, without them they'd be a two ingredient recipe and that feels a little bit lame!

Stuffed Mushrooms - Serves 1 Adult or 1-2 Children

Ingredients

5 White Mushrooms (I didn't use large open capped ones, just ones around 2-4 cm across.  The bigger they are, the fewer you'll need.)
A few sprigs of fresh herbs, I used parsley, thyme and chives
60g, 2oz Feta cheese, crumbled

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, gas mark 7.

Take the stalks out of the mushrooms just leaving the caps.  If you like the stalks can be chopped up and used in another dish, like Bolognese or vegetarian lasagne.

Chop up the herbs and mix with the feta.

Put the mushrooms in a baking dish and fill the caps with spoonfuls of feta.

Bake for 20 minutes or until browned on top and the mushrooms are cooked through.  Great served with a simply dressed tomato salad.

Make it thrifty

It is possible to buy "Greek Style Salad Cheese" which is often less than half the price of feta which I sometimes do when short of money.  The quality of it is very variable though.  Certainly if having in a salad I would always buy authentic feta but in this recipe the alternative is fine for stuffed mushrooms.

Cauliflower Pakoras; great finger food for kids

Cauliflower pakoras are something I'd never made before until recently, but as part of my 7 a day challenge I made some vegetable pakoras using peas and loved them.  When I moved house a few days back and restocked my cupboards (including buying some gram flour), the helpful assistant in the shop suggested cauliflower was pretty good and, in fact her favourite.  She also said that fresh spinach was, in her opinion much better in Indian food than frozen.

I always like a bit of advice when it comes to cooking so I gave it a go.  The jury is out in the spinach.  In my opinion frozen is just as good but the great thing about baby spinach is you can use it as a salad vegetable or cook with it and it just so happened I had some in my fridge so I went with it.
Traditionally I don't think the cauliflower is precooked but although I don't like soggy cauliflower, I'm not overly keen on cauliflower which bites back either so I partially precooked mine.

 

Caulflower pakoras - serves 2-3

 

Ingredients

 

7 Small cauliflower florets
30g, 1oz Fresh spinach, finely shredded
100g, 3.5oz Gram flour (chickpea flour, garbanzo bean flour, besan)
2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp Madras curry paste (or more if cooking for adults if liked)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp Baking powder (use gluten free if avoiding gluten)
75 - 150ml Cold water
Oil for frying
 

Method

Part cook the cauliflower by boiling for approx 4 minutes so still firm but almost cooked.  Cut into halves.

Heat up approx 1 inch of vegetable oil in a deep saucepan.  Never leave hot oil unattended.
 

Mix the flour, curry paste, lime and baking powder with enough water to make a batter like consistency.

Add in the spinach then add in the cauliflower.  Try a drop of batter in the oil, if it sizzles immediately, put a coated piece of cauliflower and see how it cooks.  If it browns too quickly but the batter is still runny inside, lower the heat.  If it takes a long time and seems greasy, increase the heat.

Cook in batches of 3-4.  Leave to drain on kitchen roll then serve as a starter, a side dish or as I did for my son with some rice cooked with peas and some mango chutney mixed with plain yogurt to dip.
 

Reheating:  Once cooked, keep in the fridge and either eat cold (although they do go a bit soft) or much better, reheat in a preheated 180oC / 350F oven for approx 6-10 minutes or until warmed through and crisp.  It's almost worth making extra to have the leftovers with no effort the next day!



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.

Amazingly I've been shortlisted for the Britmums Brilliance in Blogging awards.  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 seconds!

 

 

Spinach and Carrot Cannelloni

Cannelloni is a surprisingly easy dish to cook for one.  I had made some tomato and pesto soup the other day and the leftovers were in the fridge.  It occurred to me that it would also make a really good pasta sauce. 

But I had no cream cheese, no goats cheese, no mince, nothing traditional for a cannelloni filling in the house.  So why not vegetables.  Why not?  You know what, it didn't just work, it was delicious!

A great idea for fussy kids not keen on vegetables (or even adults!)


Spinach and Carrot Cannelloni - Serves 1 adult or 2 children

Ingredients

1/2 a carrot, peeled and grated
20g, 2/3oz Fresh spinach, finely shredded
2 tbsp Single cream (light cream) but any cream could be used
30g, 1oz Extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar
200-250g 7-9oz of homemade tomato and pesto soup
4 tubes cannelloni.  Mine were quite small, weighing 45g, 1.5oz.  Make sure you choose the dried kind which can be cooked without precooking

Method

Mix the grated carrot, spinach, cream and grate in a third of the cheese.

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F.  With your fingers (the messy bit), shove the filling inside the tubes.

Pour a spoonful of the soup into the base of the baking dish, put the cannelloni on top, finish with more soup and then the rest of the cheese grated on top.

Check pack instructions but it should take about 30-40 minutes to cook until bubbling, browned and the cannelloni are cooked through.

Make it Thrifty

A completely different dish from leftovers.  What could be thriftier than that?

Only a few days to vote for the Brilliance in Blogging awards.  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 seconds!

 

 

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.

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.

Cheesy Bean and Mushroom Crumble - Great for babies, toddlers and the whole family

My son loved this, a great way to get beans into your child without resorting to the ones in tomato sauce.  I think I might try it with a more garlicky sauce next time and mix up the beans and vegetables.

People forget that beans can be one of your five a day and a great source of fibre.  Mash it up for babies not capable of lumps yet.

Cheesy Bean and Mushroom Crumble - Serves 2-3

Ingredients

180g, 6oz (drained weight) tinned mixed beans
180g, 6oz Mushrooms, chopped
2 Cloves of garlic
1 tsp Olive oil
200ml, 7 floz, 2/3 cups milk
2 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
60g, 2oz Extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar
30g, 1oz Breadcrumbs
Sprig parsley

Method

Preheat the oven to 175oC, 350F, Gas Mark 4.

Fry the mushrooms and garlic in the oil until softened.

Drain the beans and mix with the mushrooms and put in a bowl.

Heat up the milk in a microwave until bubbling.  Mix the cornflour with cold water and mix into the milk.  Heat for a further 30 seconds or so (keep an eye on it, it can boil over).

Grate the cheese and add half to the sauce.  Mix the sauce with the bean mix.  Pour into a baking dish.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining cheese and chopped parsley and put on the top of the bean mixture.  Bake for 15-20 mins or until hot through and browned on top.  Add a little seasoning if liked for adults.

The MAD blog awards are open, please nominate me if you have a chance.  I do this blog for fun not money so any recognition would be great!

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

Make it Thrifty:

Whenever you have bread going stale, make into breadcrumbs and freeze.  A great way to prevent waste.

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

Baked Vanilla Custards - suitable for babies, children and adults

A very simple and not massively unhealthy pudding.  Less than 2 tsp sugar per serving.  Pretty thrifty ingredients too!

Baked Vanilla Custards - makes 2

Ingredients

1 tbsp sugar
2 Egg yolks
150ml, 5 fl ounces, 2/3 cup Semi skimmed (2%) milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract or paste

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC / 350F

Mix all the ingredients together, pour into two ramekins.

Put in a bain marie (a baking dish with water from the kettle in it which you set your dishes inside).  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until set with a slight wobble.

Leave until only just warm or cold to serve.  If serving later, store in the fridge.

Make it Thrifty:

The best way to save money while making this recipe is to make sure the oven is fully used so cook alongside other things although this is a pretty thrifty recipe as it is because it uses no cream.  

A way to use up the egg whites (although it's a pretty naughty treat) is to make a pavlova.  You can easily reduce the size of my pavlova recipe and make a smaller one or use the two egg whites make mini pavlova recipe meringues (cook for the same time as the original recipe.)  Alternatively use the egg white in a recipe where egg is only there to 'bind' ingredients or as a 'glue' like in chicken nuggets as that way you don't miss the flavour of the missing yolk.

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.

Vegetable fritters - great for babies and toddlers on finger foods

After making my sweetcorn fritter recipe; I was determined there must be a good vegetable fritter recipe in me.  Look, I know courgettes (zucchini) aren't terribly seasonal at this time of year but they are still available in the shops and I'm sure you could substitute for another ingredient if you prefer.

This made a lovely, soft, pancake like texture which would be great for babies first finger foods, either alongside traditional weaning or as part of baby led weaning.

Vegetable Fritters - makes approx 10

Ingredients

40g, 1.5oz Self Raising flour (or plain, all purpose flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder)
1 egg
3 tbsp Milk
40g, 1.5oz Grated extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar
40g, 1.5oz Grated courgette (zucchini)

Spray oil or oil to cook.

Method

Mix the egg, milk and flour together to make a batter.  Whisk out any lumps.

Add in the courgette (zucchini) and cheese.

Preheat a non stick pan on a medium heat and oil lightly or use spray oil.  Fry tbsp of the mixture, probably about 3-4 max at any time until the bases are brown (better to cook too slowly rather than too quickly to ensure they cook through.)

Flip and cook the other side; maybe 2-3 minutes each side.

Serve with an assortment of vegetables.  My son really liked these.  The cheesiness is unexpected but really comes through.  This would be a great way to get some veggies into children who are a bit more fussy.

It just so happens that January's Family Foodies challenge is all about 'hidden goodies'.  Is there a more appropriate challenge for Mamacook?  I think not!  So I've submitted this along with a few other recipes to Bangers and Mash and Eat your veg's challenge:

Onion Bhajis for Toddlers and Grown ups

Onion bhajis or pakoras; is there a more convenient finger food?  They are so ridiculously easy and cheap to make yourself too and you can mix up the type of vegetables in them.  Here I've included a bit of carrot.

My son liked them but only the bits with smaller onion pieces, he found the long bits a bit stringy.  Next time I might make them with more finely chopped or grated vegetables.  He was a big fan of the spicy yoghurt dip though which surprised me.

Onion Bhajis - makes plenty for one adult and one child

Ingredients

100g, 3.5oz Gram (chickpea) flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp Garam masala
1-2 tsp Medium or mild curry paste
110g, 4oz Onions, sliced
Half a carrot, finely grated
Juice of half a lemon

Oil to cook

Spicy yoghurt dip (optional)
1 tbsp yoghurt
2 tsp medium curry paste
1 tbsp mango chutney

Method

Mix the garlic, spices and lemon juice together.  Add the gram flour and mix to a thick paste with approx 10 tbsp water, add it slowly until it's a thick batter only just thinner than a paste.  Add in the onions and carrot mixing to coat.  Make it thicker rather than thinner.

Heat a couple of cm / an inch or so of oil in a deep frying pan until a small amount browns in 2 minutes.  You don't want it too hot.

Drop dessert spoons of the mix into the oil and fry on both sides until browned.  Drain on kitchen paper while you cook the rest.

Serve as a starter or a side dish with dhal or as I have here as a simple lunch with a spicy yoghurt dip and some rice cooked with peas.  For younger kids or ones less keen on spice they might just prefer to dunk into mango chutney.

If just making for grown ups or for kids who are more keen on spicy foods, add some chilli or use a hotter curry paste.  If your child is less keen on spicy foods, you could miss out the curry paste completely so they are flavoursome without being at all hot.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a pretty cheap recipe as it is but I believe you could make them with plain flour rather than buying chickpea flour but I've never tried it.  Another way to keep costs down is to use a wok to fry them as they often have a narrower tapered base so you use less oil.  Also keep an eye out for large packs of Indian spices in supermarkets.  They're often cheaper than the small branded supermarket ones.  If you share a big bag of garam masala with a friend it will cost you far less.

I've linked this up to the wellness weekend.

Spinach and Potato Bites, great for babies and toddlers

I was out running this morning, as you do, and thought about something my Mum used to cook for us sometimes.  In retrospect I suspect it was a way to use up excess mashed potato but it was something I loved.  If I'm honest I was never a big fan of mashed potato on it's own and this mixed it up a bit.

So I made them smaller, added spinach and made these.  They were a big hit with my son.  I gave him 6 and he ate them all first off his plate, even before the fish fingers I served them with and he does love fish fingers (well we all need some time off).

This would be great as a first finger food.  They're still soft when baked.

Spinach and Potato Bites - Makes about 8 small swirly bites

Ingredients

40g Spinach, chopped finely
Spray oil
1 clove of garlic
100g Mashed potato
10g Extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar
1 tsp Milk
A few gratings of nutmeg

Method

Preheat the oven to 220oC, 420F, gas mark 7.

Fry the spinach with the whole clove of garlic in the spray oil until it's wilted, it only takes a couple of minutes.  Put in a bowl taking out the garlic and mix in the mash, cheddar, milk and nutmeg.

Line a baking tray or swiss roll tin with non stick baking paper.  Spray the paper with spray oil or brush with oil if you prefer.  Use a piping bag or piping syringe to pipe swirls onto the paper.  Spray or brush with oil and bake for 12-15 minutes or until hot through and brown.

It just so happens that January's Family Foodies challenge is all about 'hidden goodies'.  Is there a more appropriate challenge for Mamacook?  I think not!  So I've submitted this along with a few other recipes to Bangers and Mash and Eat your veg's challenge:

Vegetarian Cottage Pie for all of the family

Sometimes you just need vegetables.  My son loved this!  He'd had a week of nothing really home made and was a touch bunged up if you don't mind me being crude so I was determined to get him a full on meal of delicious vegetables without either of us noticing we had no meat.





Vegetarian Cottage Pie - Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 Onion
1 tsp Oil
1 Clove of garlic
1 Carrot, chopped
150g, 5oz Butternut squash, peeled and chopped
400g, 14oz Tin of tomatoes
125ml, half a cup Red wine
A couple of sprigs of rosemary
Black pepper
100g, 3.5oz Green lentils
1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1 Potato
2 Sweet potatoes
50g, 1.5oz Extra mature (sharp) cheddar - miss out or use vegan cheese substitute if avoiding dairy

Method

Cook the lentils following pack instructions until pretty much cooked (although keep an eye on them, they often cook a little quicker than the pack suggests).

In the meantime, chop the onion finely and fry in oil.  Add the squash, carrot, tomatoes, rosemary (chopped) and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are softening.  Add the lentils, simmer for a further 10 minutes.

While everything is simmering, peel and chop the potato and sweet potato.  Simmer until cooked.

Preheat an oven to 200oC / 400F.

Once the vegetables and lentils are cooked.  Take three different spoons and put into a food processor.  Return to the saucepan.  Mix the cornflour with a little cold water and mix in with the hot vegetable mixture.  Stir to thicken.

Put into a baking dish.

Drain the potatoes.  Mash them (a ricer is great for this).  Top the vegetables with the mash then top with the cheddar.  You can let it all cool down then chill until ready to cook if liked.

Bake in an oven for approx 25-40 minutes (shorter time if cooking directly from hot).

This would be great even for babies on soft lump stage upwards.  So many veggies you gotta love it!  I've linked this up to the wellness weekend.

Make it Thrifty:

The ingredients of this area already very thrifty but if you like you could just use regular potatoes for the topping.  Bake directly from hot and you'll reduce the cooking time.

Even if you prefer meat cottage pies, include some cooked lentils in the sauce and you will not notice while reducing the fat, the calories, reducing the cost and increasing the fibre.

Cheese and Onion Stuffed Jackets for the Whole Family

This was an improvised dish after I'd got some potatoes in the oven and I was determined to squeeze a small amount of vegetable into my son's diet (it had been 'one of those' days food wise) and I was a bit lacking in things 'suitable' for filling a jacket spud.

What is it as well that salad feels right with a regular jacket spud but if you then stuff it, boiled or steamed veg suddenly seems ok?  Not sure but I wanted to go down the boiled vegetables accompanying route so this is what I came out with.

Normally I make more 'interesting' food for my son but this was pure comfort food which somehow feels right for the autumn which seems to have come in with a bang rather than a whimper this year!

Cheese and onion stuffed jackets -  serves 1 adult and 1 toddler easily

Ingredients

2 baking potatoes
1 onion
Spray oil or a tiny bit of olive oil
Very small knob of butter
50g of extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar, grated

Method

Bake your potatoes, or better still, use ones you'd baked earlier when the oven was on already to save energy.

In the meantime, put the onions and spray oil in a frying pan.  Heat then cover with a large lid (I use the one off a casserole dish, it doesn't fit perfectly but it works), lowering the heat stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.  This gets them super soft.  Once the 10 minutes are passed, add in a smidge of butter and up the heat, frying until they colour slightly without burning.  Put to one side.

When the potatoes are cooked and cool enough to handle or cold, halve the potatoes and scoop out the flesh.  Mash, (see comments below) and stir in the onions and approx 30g of the cheddar.

Refill the shells.  Put in a baking dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Bake for 15-20 minutes at approx 180oC or until hot through and cooked.

The filling would be great for babies on the soft lump stage of weaning.

If you're nervous about mashing potato and lumps, get yourself a ricer.  They are so easy to use.

Make it Thrifty:
Cook jacket potatoes in the oven when cooking other things, especially a roast.  You can make stuffed jackets like this or just use the centre as mashed potato.  You can also make jacket potatoes cook in the oven quicker by skewering through the centre with a metal skewer.  This helps conduct heat to the middle.
Alternatively cook the potatoes in the microwave before scooping out and finishing in the oven (but it's not quite the same.)

Porridge for Babies, Toddlers and Grown Ups

Why don't more people eat porridge?  I think part of the reason is people think it's difficult.  It's not at all but if you make it on the hob it makes no sense to cook it for 1 and the pan ends up pretty mucky.  Making it in the microwave solves all of that.

Until March this year, I was commuting for up to 90 minutes morning and night.  I'd been working at the site for several months before I realised they served porridge in the canteen.  Seeing as I had to leave before 6am to be at work on time; I never had breakfast before I left home.  It was such a joy then when the canteen opened and a steaming dish full of thick porridge went onto the counter.

The portions were huge as well.  Way too big for me really but I normally finished it anyway and ended up having the smallest snack at lunchtime.  That's the great thing about oats, they fill you up.

So, this is a more sensibly sized portion for me but my son (at the age of 3) being a lover of oats would probably eat the same amount.  Increase or decrease accordingly (and you might need to change the microwave instructions too.)

Microwave Porridge Oats - Serves 1

Ingredients

1/2 cup, 40g, 1.4oz Porridge Oats - use confirmed wheat free oats if suffering from a gluten allergy*
1 cup, 220ml, 8 fl oz Milk (use full fat for under 2 year olds)

To serve
Honey (over 1's only), brown sugar, cinnamon, golden syrup (optional)

Method

In a large jug, mix the oats and milk.

Microwave on full power for 2 minutes, stir then microwave for 3 more minutes.  You might need to decrease or increase the cooking time depending on the power of your microwave and how old it is (they tend to lose power over time).  Make sure it's bubbling and thick before serving.

Allow to cool, even for adults a little cooling time is needed (it somehow ends up molten!)  Add a little cold milk if needed to children's portions to speed this up or if you like it a bit thinner anyway.  Just add the milk and whisk it in.

Serve with one of the topping options if liked!  (No honey for the under 1s though please.)

This is great for babies who are starting to be on more coarse and mashed foods, i.e. from the age of 6 months.  Also because it's pretty sticky, it's a great food to start self feeding with, either with hands or with a spoon.  Messy but lots of fun!

After my posts about food thrift last week, it's well worth remembering that you can buy a kilo of porridge oats for 75p and 4 pints, 2.27L of milk for £1.  Microwave cooking is very low in energy usage so the total cost of this breakfast, even topped with a tsp of golden syrup (at an additional 2 pence) is less than 15p.  Even if you're not choosing to be thrifty, that's surely a good thing!

Keep an eye out on my posts for a "Make it Thrifty" comment at the end.  I'm going to start this with new and old posts so anyone on a limited budget can see how to adapt a recipe to make it cheaper to make.

*Note, although oats are naturally gluten free; there is inevitable cross contamination in the field between different grains.  You can get some oats which are confirmed as gluten free.  If you are on a gluten free diet, look out for these specifically.

I've linked this here.

Soba Noodle Salad

I've not tried this with my son yet but he has similar dishes with hot noodles so I see no reason not to try.  Certainly a meal for adults though or older kids and despite the humble ingredients it's substantial enough to make you feel you've really eaten something.

Soba noodles are made with buckwheat.  They are often served chilled in Japan so having them in a salad isn't a big leap.  Buckwheat if pure, is gluten free.  If you are following a gluten free diet, make sure your noodles specifically say 'gluten free' and also check the sauces you're using.  Soy sauce would be more authentic but I only had fish sauce which makes this non vegetarian.  Substitute for Soy Sauce (or wheat free Tamari) if you prefer.

Soba Noodle Salad - serves 1 grown up

Ingredients

Sauce

2 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 tbsp Fish Sauce (or Soy Sauce)
1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Smooth peanut butter

For the Salad

90g, 3oz Soba Noodles
5cm / 2 inches of Cucumber
Half a Carrot
Approx 10 Sugar snap peas (Snap peas)

A small handful of unsalted, chopped peanuts to garnish (optional, exclude if giving to younger kids due to the choking risk or substitute for sesame seeds)

Method

Cook the noodles following pack instructions.

While the noodles are cooking, mix the sauce ingredients, it will be fairly thick so you might need one of those dinky whisks.

Cut the carrot and cucumber into julienne strips and the sugar snap peas into thick slices.

Drain and cool the noodles under running water.  Mix the drained noodles with the sauce and vegetables.

Put into a bowl and top with peanuts if using.

Make it Thrifty:
To save money as unsalted peanuts are always strangely expensive; rinse the salt of unsalted peanuts and use immediately.
Swap soba noodles for regular noodles

I've linked this up to the wellness weekend.

How I got my son eating lettuce

My son is generally a reluctant salad eater.  He will eat coleslaw, occasionally some cucumber but anything leafy is a flat refusal on the salad front.

This got me thinking... what if I chop it smaller?  What I often say to people with fussy kids is to try cutting up the food or serving it in a different way.  I should say here, all parents think their kids are fussy sometimes and they'd be right.  All kids at least go through a fussy stage or have something they flat refuse.

So this was the outcome.  A few lettuce leaves, some cucumber, raw peas... mix this up how you like and you could even add some chopped apple if your child isn't much of a fan of savoury food.  Radish might be nice, as would grated broccoli stem (might sound odd but it tastes cabbagey).

Chopped salad - makes at least 2 portions as a side dish

Ingredients

1/2 a Carrot, peeled
A handful of mixed salad leaves, the crisper the better
60g, 2oz Cucumber
A few raw peas (miss out or substitute for chopped sugar snap peas if out of season)
45g, 1.5oz Frozen sweetcorn
2 tbsp Mayonnaise (use commercial mayonnaise if feeding to under 12 months as it's pasteurised)
A squeeze of lemon juice

Method

Grate the carrot and put into a bowl.  Chop the lettuce up finely, less than 1cm / scant 1/2 inch if you can

Finely dice the cucumber and pod the peas.

Cook the sweetcorn in boiling water then cool immediately using cold water and drain.

Mix the carrot, lettuce, cucumber, peas, sweetcorn, mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve with a sandwich or alongside some sausages or barbecued meat.