HONEST FOOD - LUNCH TIME

So this is something we have been having a lot for lunch recently. It is super quick to make and a good one for veggies. It could be vegan too if you left out the cheese or added something else. It travels pretty well too if you don't overfill it, so it is a handy one for packed lunches. It is a recipe adapted from Ottolenghi's black bean paste, made easier for me and the kiddo. We often have the full recipe at the weekend if Ben is about, but the salsa is too spicy for S so he only ever has plain avocado, and he loathes cherry toms!

This is what you'll need:

We normally use a tin of black beans, but we had so many dried and I remembered for once to soak overnight and cook that morning. A tin, makes much more sense though for a quick lunch! 

Heat the cumin and coariander seeds in a pan and then crush in a pestle and mortar. You will want a teaspoon of each, depending on your taste.

Then add the black beans and whizz. When we have it we add fresh coriander and the juice of a lime too.

This is how I make them up, I added paprika to mine for a kick. Fold in half and whack on a griddle or in a dry hot frying pan for a few minutes, and then turn over.

Cut and enjoy!

HONEST FOOD - TODDLER PROOF

"FRUIT ROLL UPS"

A while ago I posted on IG that I had made fruit roll ups and lots of people wanted to know the recipe so I thought I'd do a little post on here. It really was super easy and Stan is throughly in love with them! We have normally bought the Bear Nibbles fruit yoyos which Stan likes and makes for a great treat if I'm out and about with him. I still wanted to make my own though and have full control of what went in and try and lower the cost a little...

The recipe I used is from The Green Kitchen which I've used a lot. They have some really good healthy and delicious veggie recipes in it...I recommend it. Their recipe can also be found on their blog here.

So easy, such a simple list of ingredients! I do think it is worth getting the organic apricots. The others are a pretty colour, but contain sulphur which is something I don't think we should be eating too much of!

Put everything in a blender. I put the apricots in first with the orange juice to help soak them a bit and make them easier to blend as our blender is so old and crap. On the blog recipe it says to warm the fruit in the pan to make a puree, but I use the recipe from the book which just says to blend everything.

When it is fully blended pour onto a baking sheet, or plastic one is even better. It should pour, but not move about. You need to spend time getting the mixture even so it dries out evenly. I also made a raspberry one with blackberries and raspberries and a banana. As long as you get the consistency right you can use pretty much any fruit you fancy.

 

Put in the oven on the lowest setting for between 5-8 hours. Yes it takes a while! I tend to make a lot so it doesn't feel like a waste of energy. Open the oven every hour or so to let the moisture out. They keep for a month so there is no problem storing them. Stanley prefers the orange ones, I think they have a better texture...I think I might sieve out the seeds next time I use raspberries or blackberries. Just cut the with scissors and roll them up while they are warmish. You can leave the baking parchment on if it is easier and then just peel and eat when you need to.

Yum! Let me know if you've done this before and any recommended fruit combinations. I'm thinking you could sneak veg in too?!

HONEST FOOD - TODDLER PROOF

"The Go-With-Anything-Sauce"

So I've cracked it. Now this following recipe may seem like teaching your Grandmother to suck eggs, but I'd thought I'd share anyway. I have made a pasta type sauce pretty much every week for Stanley so I always have something in the freezer that he will eat if he is having a fit about whatever I've served him up for dinner. At last however I think I have found the perfect one. It freezers really well and is so simple to make you don't have to pay it any attention and can get on with other things round the house, illustration work, hoovering up cat dander, entertaining the child, stopping the cat peeing inside the house - why cat WHY? It's not even raining.... You know, glorious domestic housewifey things....

I'm hoping to get back into blogging a little more, and would like your help. I am so in a rut with food with Stanley, and so I would like to do a monthly 'Toddler Proof' recipe swap between us Mamas (& Fathers). Every month I will post a recipe that Stanley loves that is easy to make and healthy, and would be so happy if you wanted to link up with yours. I have installed the special Inlinkz tool below. So this is my recipe, you have a month to add yours and then I will post another. Anything goes, breakfast, lunch, snacks - so long as it is healthy and easy(ish) to whip up!

The root veg is the key! I have used carrots, but some squash or sweet potato would work equally as well. It gives a thickness to the sauce that is very appealing.

 Mix well, add olive oil and some pepper. Leave the garlic in their skins to roast.

Roast at about 200-220C for about 45 minutes, or until your veg is soft and the pan looks like it will never come clean again.

Then blend. I have an immersion blender so I transferred all the veg to another container, squeezed the garlic out of the skins and then blended it to within an inch of its life as S seems to be able to spit out 'bits' even when I swear there isn't anything in there. Add some stock or water if you feel it is too thick. From this amount of veg I can get about 6 portions frozen in glass ramikins. My pan size was approx 30 x 24 cm.

So once you have your basic sauce you can serve it with pasta, adding a spoonful of pesto, cream cheese, cheddar cheese to vary it, it is very nice added to white fish, meatballs or sausages (veggie or meat), couscous, or cooked chickpeas. You can add paprika to spice it up or pretty much any herb you like too. Plus it really is the most awesome orange colour!

Be so great if any of you feel like linking back to here with your toddler proof recipes. I could really do with the inspiration, and it is handy to get it all in one place for me and others! SO if you have something tucked up your virtual blog sleeve please do leave your link below. I will then endeavour to make at least one of your recipes in the and let you know the verdict with Stan!