Crispy Mackerel Salad

So this was a meal for one and a delicious one at that.  It can be difficult to motivate children to eat well but I find my own diet can sometimes be lacking, especially when I'm eating alone.  This is a source of omega 3, tasty and delicious, even if you're a touch reluctant when it comes to oily fish.  Most importantly though, after a long day, it's quick.

Crispy Mackerel - Serves 1

Ingredients

2 tbsp Sweet chilli sauce
1 Mackerel fillet, defrosted if frozen
15g, 1/2 oz Rice Krispies
15g, 1/2 oz Plain flour / all purpose flour
Spray oil

Salad, rice and sweet chilli sauce to serve.

Method

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

Crush the rice krispies and mix with the flour.

Skin the mackerel if liked.  Cut into thick strips about the width of a finger.  Dunk each strip into sweet chilli sauce and then into the flour mix.

Put onto a tray lined with non stick baking paper spray with oil and bake for approx 15 minutes or until crisped on the outside and cooked through.

Serve with salad and / or rice with a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce.

The MAD blog awards are open and although I do feel embarrassed to ask, 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 love, love, love to be considered for the "best food blog" category.  My blog URL is this:  http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk

Thank you.  x

Make it Thrifty:

Frozen mackerel fillets are a great way to keep costs down.

Hidden vegetable pasta sauce

Even the most enthusiastic vegetable eater has their off days.  This was an invention when my son had one of those but it would be great for those more confirmed vegetable avoiders!

Hidden veg pasta sauce - serves 1 to 2

Ingredients

1 small clove garlic

45g, 1.5oz Courgette (zucchini)

30g, 1oz Carrot

45g, 1.5oz Bacon

1/2 tsp Olive oil

Approx 250g, 9oz passata

1/4 tsp mild, sweet paprika

Method

Grate the courgette, carrot and garlic.  Fry this in the oil, adding the chopped bacon.  Fry this all together for approx 5 minutes.

In the meantime put the pasta on to cook.  Either you could serve this with a small amount of pasta to make it something like a stew or with lots of pasta so it's more like a sauce.

Add in the passata and the paprika and bubble for approx 5 minutes.  Serve mixed through with the pasta and sprinkled with cheese if liked.

Make it Thrifty:

Look out for packs of 'cooking bacon' which are offcuts of bacon sold cheaply for cooking.  You also don't need to peel carrots for this recipe, just wash off any dirt and trim the end before grating.

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.

Fish and Cauliflower bake, great for all ages

I had thought for a while about making something which was like a fish pie meets cauliflower cheese.  Fish pie is great but it would be great to include some more vegetables.

This recipe has two vegetables and is a source of omega 3.  My son described it as 'delicious'!  Although he didn't eat as many peas on the side as I would have liked, can you tell there are four different vegetables on this plate?  Nope?  Neither could he!


Fish and Cauliflower Bake - Serves 2

Ingredients

120g, 4oz Fish, I used a mixture of pollock and smoked haddock
200g, 7oz Cauliflower
400ml. 14floz Milk
1 rounded tbsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
60g, 2oz Chopped frozen spinach
80g, 3oz Extra mature cheddar (extra sharp)

Method

Poach the fish in the milk until cooked.  Take the fish out with a slotted spoon reserving the milk.

In the meantime, boil the cauliflower in boiling water for 3-4 minutes or until almost cooked.  Drain.

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

When the fish is cooked, reheat the milk, add in the spinach and cook until fully defrosted and cooked.  In the meantime mix the cornflour with cold water then gradually mix into the milk mixture to thicken.  Bring to the boil and add a little extra if you would like it thicker.

Mix in approx 20g of the cheddar into the milk mix and take off the heat.

Flake the fish and mix the fish, cauliflower and sauce together.  Pour into a baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.

Bake for approx 15 minutes or until browned and bubbling on top.  Younger babies could have some of this mashed or pureed depending on their age.  Avoid the cheese on top if feeding to under 1's to limit the salt intake.

Make it Thrifty:

Try using frozen fish to keep costs and risk of waste down.  Pollock is often sold as 'white fish' in freezer compartments and, although in a lot of ways it's better than cod because it's a source of Omega 3 and cod isn't, pollock is often far cheaper and more sustainable.  Look out for smoked pollock too which is becoming more common.