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 - MID WEEK MEAL

So thank you to all those that left comments or links in my last food post. Actually since writing that post we've done much better with branching out in the food world - maybe me fessing up to you guys helped spur me on to being more creative. Anyway I did try out Lia's amazing Butternut Squash Jamba stew, and actually me and Ben LOVED it, but Stan found it too spicy for him. However he did give it a good go, so I think if I lessen the spice he will eat it up. It was a great mid week number too, not too complicated. Thank you Lia! Sarah from Archie's left two great Aubergine ones which I have done both before.......however Stan didn't enjoy the meatballs, but it was a while ago now, so maybe time to have a go again. And I think I want to try the mild curry on Alexis blog, as that sounded good too.

So onto my easy mid week meal that Stan seems to like at the moment, and it doesn't in the least shriek toddler food so you can all enjoy as a family. It is adapted from this Nigel Slater recipe and it is on the table in about 30 minutes.

This is what you need 

While the linguine is cooking soften the fennel and onion in olive oil

add feta (About 100g) , basil leaves and some pasta cooking water if it is sticking.

get your helper to add pepper, the juice of a lemon and then add the cooked linguine

and voila! dinner is ready.

Now you can decorate the top with the leftover fennel frongs if you're feeling fancy. Stan wasn't keen on basil in his but loved the feta sauce and the fennel. I didn't add any salt as the feta is already quite salty....but you know do what ever is right for you. We added more lemon at the table because we do love lemon, and Ben always pours olive oil over pretty much everything...so again add what is right for you. Enjoy!

 

BOOM!

We of course ended the meal like most with me feeding him the last bits and him being a cheeky chap on my lap. But hey ho, small steps, small steps...

And again, please do link below with any easy mid week meals that the toddler might like below. It really was so helpful before. Many thanks!

PYO

 

The other week I met up with a friend and her little one to go strawberry picking. It was at a lovely little farm just 10 minutes away. They only have strawberries, but as it was Stan's first PYO (and mine for such a long time) it was easy to do. Their crop was already running low I think due to the amazing 3 weeks of glorious sunshine, but what they did have left was gloriously plump and red. They ask you not to eat before you pay, which is just about easy enough for me to manage, but for the toddlers it was too much temptation!

sneaking in a strawberry

We managed a pretty good haul and celebrated with a picnic in the field nearby. A really nice morning. Most of the strawberries we ate with meringues and cream, but I blended the rest up with a mango to make the most intense ice lolly mixture. So good. Makes a real difference when you pick your own and don't buy shop ones. Even the best supermarket strawberries are never red all the way through!

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!

TWO FOR ONE! {Honest Food}

So recently I've been whipping this up in the kitchen for Stanley to save me time and to give him several yummy and healthy meals for when he is not eating with us. It is a great way to cook as you start with the same base and make at least two different dinners with it. It is also fully adjustable depending on what your kiddos like to eat, and what you have kicking around at the back of the fridge!

So to start chop up all the veg you are using. For this recipe I think it is best to stick to similar vegetable themes if that even makes any sense! So this version I guess was more mediterranean. But you could totally do this with more Autumnal root veggies.

You want to cut up the veg fairly small as although one will be blended the other remains as it is so it is better if they are bite size. This is what we had and what Stanley likes. I have also used Aubergine and prefer red onion but we only had white. Stanley doesn't like broccoli and can spot those floret heads a mlie off so I stay clear!

Mix well with olive oil, coconut or rapeseed and season with some pepper if you like. Make sure your pan is nice and full as the veg will shrink down when roasted. My pan measures 34cm by 28cm.

Then pop into an oven at about 200-220C and roast for about 40 mins, or until your veg looks like this...

Now as this post is quite long and photo heavy you can click below to read the rest!

HONEST SNACKS

Ok so to follow on from my recent food post inspired by Hattie at Free Our Kids, I'm listing the more inspired snacks we've (both) been munching on this week out the house and in. Most of these are fun to prepare for Stanley too, so it also provides an activity to do together rather than just ripping open a box or him finding his way into the old snack draw...

More breakfast type biscuits

this time no seeds, less sugar and added apricots and dessicated coconut

Trail Mix (sweet version)

Apple *fancy style*

seriously, get that child working for his snacks

eh voila. fancy apple.

Frozen banana 'icecream'

the anticipation of the magic happening

frozen banana blended with yogurt. next time i might add cocoa powder, honey or peanut butter. but perhaps not all at the same time...or maybe I should?

Natural (full-fat) yogurt with honey and cinnamon

could not get enough of this one...

I know none of this is actual rocket science, but I think it is always handy to share and to prompt ideas back and forth in this friendly community! So please feel free to comment below with any genius snack ideas you might have been feeding your little ones. One month in and we are doing well. No flavoured rice cakes or over priced mini yogurts here. Thank you Hattie for inspiration....feels great!

HONEST SNACKS {Breakfast Biscuits}

Ok so I am so the guilty party sometimes when running late to shove one of those oaty type bars into Stan's hand as I've strapped him shrieking "more twains, more twains" into the buggy and leapt out the door like a mad lady. Well this time all that will be the same except this time I will be shoving into his hand something just as delicious and oh-so-(mainly)-organic-yadadadada expect this time we will have made it with our own fair hands. And if you are mister S, eaten a fair old amount of it as we've gone along. Following on from the success of my last honest snacks post I decided to give these a go. They were so easy and cheap too. Plus I had everything in the house already and they seemed super easy to adapt to what your little likes...

BREAKFAST BISCUITS (adapted from Abel & Cole Veg Box Companion book)
125g wholemeal flour
150g porridge oats
½ tsp bicarb of soda

¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
80g brown sugar
5 tsp honey (or agave syrup if you are doing this totally vegan)
1 large carrot, grated
100ml olive or coconut oil
100g dried fruit  chopped (we used apricots, dates and raisins)
100g nuts/seeds chopped (we used hazelnuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds plus a bit of ground almond thrown in for good measure!)

Preheat oven to 180˚C

Mix flour, oats, bicarb and salt in a big bowl.
Add remaining ingredients, (keep replacing dates and hazelnuts as Stanley eats them.) mix well.
Scoop it up by the tablespoon and press onto rounds on an oiled baking sheet. Tidy up the edges.
You can freeze half the mix if you want to use for another day, but I wouldn't bother. We've managed to plough through about 10 in two days! (I ate two with a cup of tea whilst writing this. Ooops.)
For chewy cookies bake for 10 mins, longer if you want them crisp.
Makes about 20-24.

FOOTNOTE: Top Baby Blogs has been re-set. It would be marvelous if you could take a minute and click to vote for me. I haven't paid much attention to it recently but I have met some lovely new readers through it, so for the while I'm going to ask you to keep on clicking! Thanks so very much ♥ S&s

HONEST FOOD

So to be honest (hehe) things are pretty much good on the food front. I think this will be my last post on this topic dealt with in my normal moany manner. On the whole it looks like young Stanley is giving most things a go and eating much of it. Yes he'll never quite be up to the level of young Marlowe, but hey that kid is spectacular. It may still take us the best part of an hour to finish a meal, but mostly I'm happy to report I'm relaxed. I've realised my kid aint ever the type to sleep in to 8am. He's an early riser and I just need to deal with it (and maybe go to bed a little earlier...) No amount of food, protein or not, late at night is going to keep that child in bed past 6am, if I'm lucky!

So hey ho, suck it up mama. You signed up to this, and really things could be a whole lot worse. In the future I think I'll stick to posts about nice recipes or surprising things Stanley has eaten. Not show the world how many mouthfuls he managed to eat this week. Thanks for being there for me though, and without the food trouble I never would have met the lovely Ashley. So there is always a silver lining.

chickpea, tomato and roasted veg with couscous

green beans, filled pasta, egg

(lazy) fish fingers, 5 beans mix, green beans

roasted veg, passata, red lentils and halloumi 

daal and rice with mange tout. (he ate none, I made a second meal...)

tortilla with cucumber and olives (no tortilla eaten)

marmite sandwich, pea humous, red & yellow peppers

carrot cashew and orange salad, quiche and olives (so he'll eat quiche, but NOT tortilla?)