Bean and Vegetable Burgers for Babies and Toddlers

I've been meaning to try making some beanburgers for a while.  I don't know what had put me off to be honest, perhaps that 'worthy' feeling of a beanburger kind of put me off and also previous attempts when I was a poor student came up short with them crumbling in the pan unless you fried them in loads of oil which kind of missed the point.  Still, after my post on fussy eaters, it got me thinking about different ways to incorporate your 5 a day.  This has onions, carrots, garlic and red kidney beans and is baked.  All good stuff!

I might experiment with crumbing these too.  It's a fact anything in breadcrumbs is instantly more appealing.

Bean and Vegetable Burgers  Makes approx 6-10 burgers depending on size

Ingredients

1 Carrot

1 Small onion
1 Tsp olive oil

2 clove garlic

1 Tin red kidney beans

60g fresh breadcrumbs

1 egg

50g Grated cheddar

Ground pepper

Mild smoked paprika, the mild smokey sort rather than the one with lots of chilli kick (unless that's what you want)

Method

Grate the carrots and onions, saute in olive oil until softened.  Add garlic and saute for a minute or so.  Add the softened vegetables to a bowl with the breadcrumbs, cheddar, paprika, pepper and add the beans.  Get your hands in and crush the beans as much as you can.  Leaving some a bit whole is ok but the more you mash, the better they will stay together.  You might want to use a food processor to do this if your child is very young and you're doing this as a baby led weaning style recipe.  Add in the egg and mix to combine.

Allow to sit for a bit to allow the breadcrumbs to absorb a bit of the moisture then shape into patties or whatever you like and put them on some baking paper or greased greaseproof.  Refrigerate until ready to cook.

Spray with some spray oil and cook in oven at 200oC for 25 mins or until browned and cooked through.  Serve in a bun or with some vegetables.  Potato wedges might be good here.

Unfortunately as soon as I came up with this recipe and as it was resting in the fridge waiting to cook, my son came down with a tummy bug (so it's unrelated before you worry).  It's an inevitable part of growing up, especially as he attends nursery three days a week but still, the last thing he needs right now is something full of fibre.

I have frozen most of these raw and I'll try defrosting and cooking them to see how they go but I did cook one for my husband and I and both of us thought it was successful, even my meat loving husband!

Coping with Fussy Babies and Toddlers

One of the most common things I read on forums is "my child won't eat fruit and vegetables".  I've been really lucky with my son that he pretty much eats all of my creations but he does have days where he shuns the green stuff.  On Tuesday he even decided he'd gone off carrots which is probably his favourite vegetable.  But kids do this, it's normal.  Teething, colds, tiredness, a bad mood; all of these can put a child off track.  I am no expert but I suspect some problems start because parents stop offering.

I took part in a twitter discussion the other day hosted by @TheFoodCoachRD.  I've got no idea whether my suggestions were seen as good ones by a qualified dietitian but one of the suggestions I had was to hide fruit and vegetables.  Now, I don't mean "all the time".  I think it's really important to offer fruit and vegetables in their natural forms to avoid them being shunned forever but I also see nothing wrong with sneaking in a few fruit and vegetables into meals as an insurance policy either.  It's also not a bad idea as you get older.  Meat is often more expensive than fruit and vegetables and you can often get a better overall nutritional balance in a dish by adding some fruit or veg.

So here are a few of my favourite 'hidden' fruit and vegetable recipes which have been a success with my son.  Most of them are hugely adaptable too depending on what you have in your fridge or cupboard.

1.  Mini meatloaves.  I've made lots of variations of these.  Beef and courgette, Beef and Pepper (capsicum), Beef, potato and apple or Turkey and courgette.  I even made some with pork and grated mushroom ones the other day but it was pretty much the same idea so it seemed pointless to post.  Basically they're pretty adaptable, take a look what's in your fridge and get going!  Including some grated or chopped vegetables, they turn out to be a little softer than meat on their own would be which makes them more suitable for younger babies.

2.  Pancakes.  Traditionally not great on the nutritional front but if you include some banana, apple or pear, why not?  If you think about it they're cooked in a smear of butter and I would serve them plain (no syrup for babies or toddlers).  If you ate a slice of toast instead, not only would it have more fat on it but also no fruit so not the worst idea in the world.  I also find they're great as a pudding option too which when you consider you're substituting it for a sugary treat, it makes it a pretty good idea.

3.  Bolognaise.  You can sneak some fantastically nutritious ingredients into a bolognaise.  I normally include livers which are great for vitamin A and iron but courgettes, mushrooms and carrots can also bulk out the tomatoey sauce.

4.  Mini muffins.  There are sweet options like my sweet potato muffins which contain vegetables and dried fruit or why not try a savoury spinach and feta muffin?

5.  Pastry tarts.  There's a tomato and goat's cheese tart or why not an apple 'jam' tart without the jam?  I don't think we should be afraid of stronger flavours like goat's cheese, after all, my 21 month old will happily eat Parmesan on it's own all day if I'd let him (which I don't.)

6.  Pasta.  Kids love pasta.  Generally anyway.  There are loads of things you could try but I find a bit of cream cheese and cheddar makes some vegetables a bit more interesting.  One of the first recipes I posted was for mushroom pasta and spinach pasta but you could also do salmon pasta; great for omega 3.

7. Haricot bean and mushroom gratin.  It's easy to forget that dried pulses (or their canned counterparts) can count towards your 5 a day (for one portion).  Great for fibre content and the mushrooms in this dish mean you've ticked two of the 5 off before you even think about vegetable accompaniments.

8.  Risottos.  A delicious way to sneak in some vegetables and my slow cooker method for butternut squash risotto takes out the stirring.

9.  Bubble and squeak; a great way to use up leftovers and my son spits out sprouts if I serve them any other way.  He is of course wrong.  Brussel sprouts rock!

10.  Savoury welsh cakes a touch of slightly wacky inspiration but pretty successful I feel.

So I hope that's given you some inspiration if you're despairing of your baby or child's lack of love for the fruit or vegetable world.  Keep with it, most kids go through their fussy stages at some point so I'm told.

In other news, I've been featured in a couple of blog carnivals; family budgeting have featured me in their blog carnival on thrift and Mid 30's life featured me in their blog carnival.  It's cool to be featured on other people's sites and I really appreciate other people welcoming me into their internet 'space'!  If you've stumbled over here by way of their sites, thank you for reading further and I hope you enjoy!

Fish Pie for Babies, Toddlers and the Whole Family

There's something about fish pie which is great when it's so cold outside.  It's a warming cuddle of a dish.

The observant reader may realise I've posted a fish pie recipe before but frankly it wasn't a great recipe.  It was too vague.  I have to apologise.  You learn as you go on with blogging and it's always difficult to write a recipe for something you've always carried in your head.

So, I've finally got back round to writing this recipe and I've included some suggestions for babies too if you're going down the traditional weaning route but this is pretty good as a 'mashed' food for older babies too.

Fish Pie - Serves 2 adults and 1 toddler with quantities given

Ingredients

120g Fresh or frozen salmon
150g White fish, fresh or frozen (I use pollock)
3 Potatoes (approx 600 - 700g), peeled
350ml Full fat milk
40g Smoked salmon trimmings (omit for babies as it bumps up the salt)
1 Tbsp Cornflour
70g Vintage or extra mature cheddar
20g Parmesan or Grana padano (or more cheddar)

Method

Cut the potatoes into chunks and boil until soft, approx 22-24 mins.

If you're using frozen fish, look at the pack instructions, chances are you could poach from frozen, if not, defrost them first.  Either way, heat the fish in the milk until it is cooked and flakes easily.

Scoop out the fish.  Mix the cornflour with a dash of water then pour into the warm milk stirring all the time.  Continue to heat until it thickens.  Add in half of the cheddar and take off the heat.

Assemble by mixing the flaked fish, smoked fish and sauce together.  Pour into a baking dish.

Mash the potato (I use a potato ricer as it guarantees it's lump free).  Top the saucy fish with the mash and then put the remaining cheeses on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180oC for 20-30 minutes (my oven took nearer 20) or until the sauce is bubbling, everything is hot through and it's lovely and golden on top.

This is a dish for traditional vegetable accompaniments.  I'm thinking boiled broccoli, sweetcorn, carrots, that kind of thing.  Lovely when you're needing warming up after all that snowman building.

The reason I used smoked salmon trimmings is because they are ridiculously cheap from supermarkets. You can freeze them too and they add a lovely smokey flavour without much cost.  Also it's great to have the mix of salmon and pollock because both are a source of Omega 3 'good fats'.

To make this baby friendly, miss out the smoked salmon.  For young babies who are on pureed food, puree the fish with some potato, sauce, cheese and a floret of broccoli, maybe an extra splash of milk if it's too thick, there's no need to bake it because everything is cooked.  For older babies on mashed food, puree the fish with the sauce then add in the mashed potato and mash up some broccoli.  As they get even better with texture, you can finely flake the fish and do the same.

Yoghurt Pancakes for babies and toddlers

...and parents.

A delicious impromptu variation on my previous pancake recipe.  The yogurt adds a touch of sourness which is delicious against the syrup but they're also delicious on their own.

Yoghurt Pancakes for Babies and Toddlers - Makes loads

Ingredients

225g SR Flour
1 apple, grated (with skin) leaving the core and any stalk
1 pear, grated (with skin) leaving the core and stalk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g yoghurt
150ml milk
A lump of unsalted butter

Syrup (optional)
Light muscovado sugar (or other brown or white sugar as you prefer)
A sprinkling of ground cinnamon
Water
A knob of butter

Method

Add all the flour, fruit, vanilla, yoghurt and milk to a blender and puree until no floury lumps remain (use a knife to scrape up any lumps if there are any and reprocess).

Heat the pan, then scoop up the butter into a piece of greaseproof paper and rub it over the pan.  Pour in some batter until it's the size you want and then cook until the bubbles are bursting on the top before flipping.  It takes a bit of trial and error to get the right temperature but I tend to go a little lower than other cooks would as I find it makes the pancake set better.

While you're cooking the pancakes, you can make the syrup if you're using it.  I have to apologise because I never measure quantities on this.  I normally use white sugar but had none in the house so tried some light muscovado and it was lovely.  I normally add some sugar and a splash of water then heat on the hob, add the cinnamon when the sugar has dissolved and then wait until it starts bubbling up in the pan then take off the heat and whisk in the butter.

It might sound a bit old fashioned but I tend to serve Mr and Toddler Mamacook with these (syrup for Mr, no syrup for toddler) then cook the rest and eat some at the end.  I know my son likes pancakes because he says "ooh cakes" every time I give them to him.  The good thing is they will probably freeze well (not tried them from the freezer yet but all other pancakes I've ever made have frozen well) so you only have to get stuck by the hob once and then have loads in the freezer for snacks, breakfasts and puddings.

I'm really impressed with this recipe.  It's not just the overwhelming sweet, sticky, trashiness that pancakes can be, the inclusion of fruit and yoghurt alongside the sweet syrup brings that contrast.  I loved it anyway and so did my son.  My husband said "yeah it's all good but the syrup overpowers the pancakes".

He is of course wrong.