Happy Recipe Tuesday!

I recently did a blog post about the lovely little book Cooking With Kids. As I mentioned in the post if your little one isn’t old enough to help out with the cooking then this book is still great just to give you some often needed inspiration from sausages and the good old spag bol! Taking on my own advice this week I used one of the recipes and made it into a toddler and grown up friendly version. Both Goldilocks and myself woofed it down at separate times of the night and were delighted with the results!

Just as a pre-note, I didn’t measure anything as listed below. I just went with what looked right!

50g fresh bread (about 2 medium slices)…..we don’t have a machine to whizz it up into crumbs so I used packet wholemeal crumbs

500g minced chicken (you could also use pork or turkey)

1 egg

2 spring onions

1/2 ground coriander (if this wasn’t a staple in your pantry, I don’t think you’d miss it’s inclusion)

Small bunch of coriander leaves

1 tsp soy sauce

Sweet chilli sauce for dipping (we used tomato sauce!)

In an effort to add a little more flavour I added a clove of finely diced garlin and one small tin of corn kernals to up the vege quota.

Preheat the oven to 200

Blend bread to form crumbs or throw some of the packet stuff into a bowl. Add chicken, crack the egg in (a great job for a ‘helper’).

Add finely sliced spring onions, sliced coriander and soy sauce (and any extras that you are adding like the corn and garlic). Mix well with hands. Another great job for a ‘helper’. And roll into balls

Lightly grease an oven tray (I lined mine with baking paper) and arrange meatballs on the tray. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes turning once.

I served mine to Goldilocks with some fluffy white rice, which at the last minute I added a handful of frozen peas too.

Adults version!

Once I had made enough for Goldilocks I added some grated ginger and finely diced chilli to mine. Next time I think I also might add some sliced green beans for abit more veg.

One that all the family can enjoy. Mmmmmmmmmmm

Happy Recipe Tuesday!

Happy recipe Tuesday. Today, a review of one of our delightful little cookbooks Little Kitchen.

Little Kitchen contains…as the cover says ’40 delicious and simple things that children can really make’. The philosophy behind the book is that author Sabrina Parrini feels passionate about teaching children to learn to cook real food. That is, food in a recognisable form, not a powdered form from a packet off the supermarket shelf. And so the 40 recipes contains delicious fresh ingrediants that will introduce your children to different cooking techniques (if they are old enough to help out) but also a variety of flavours. There’s also a delightful note to parents stating how to be patient with your little ones when they are cooking, allowing them to experiment and make a little mess whilst also setting ground rules and ensuring safety comes first.

Each recipe clearly states the ingrediants needed and has images of the utensils required to make the recipe. At first glance I thought the recipes were quite long. But they clearly lay each step out step by step. Making it easy for little ones to comprehend and also because the recipes listed are ‘real food’ they’re not just biscuits, cakes and snacks, but real recipes so little ones get a chance to learn to cook proper meals.

If your little one is too young to help out just yet, don’t be turned off. There really are some great recipes that you can start preparing for them now and they can join in down the track when they’re ready. My pick of the bunch? Fried Rice, Tuna Pinwheels, Crunchy Chicken Fingers, Little Egg and Bacon Breakfast pies, Cinnamon Apple Fritters, Apple Tea Cake and cause we’re only 6 weeks out till Christmas…Christmassy Punch (see recipe below).

Christmassy Punch!

We just test drove this punch and will definitely be including it in our Christmas Day feast. I think Goldilocks’ cousins and adults alike will enjoy this festive tipple. It’s refreshing and the rose blush colour will match your Christmas colour scheme!

1 litre lemonade

500ml Cranberry juice (the recipes suggests Bickfords)

2 tsp rosewater (you can get this from most specialty food stores or delis)

1 lime thinly sliced

1/2 punnet raspberries

6 fresh mint leaves

If making this with your kids. Ensure a grown up pours the lemonade into a punch bowl. (What I love about Little Kitchen is that it really teaches your kids basics – its suggests ‘to stop it fizzing too much, pour it down the inside of the bowl instead of just sloshing it in).

Add the cranberry and rosewater, lime and mint.

Serve immediately on ice.

Delish! Happy Recipe Tuesday.

Happy Recipe Tuesday. Today not one but many a kid friendly recipe with this great little book Cooking With Kids.

The Blue Eyed Chef unfortunately, due to the nature of the business is not around alot at toddler meal time and I fear Goldilocks is tiring of my sausages and veges, spaghetti bolognaise and fish finger repertoire so this bright and colourful book has given me just the inspiration that I need to jazz up her meal times.

Clearly divided into 5 sections it includes recipes for ’Little Snacks’, ‘Light Suppers’, ‘Baking Afternoon’, ‘A Proper Meal’ and ‘Lunchboxes’. The aim of the book is get children involved. The recipes are simple and targeted at being a child and adult activity that can be shared together. The authors encourages one to read the recipe together with their child, get the ingrediants out together and decide together who will do what. Of course if your little one isn’t quite as advanced as this just yet then the recipes can provide great inspiration, bringing a bit of zing to your regular repertoire whilst also importantly introducing your little one to new flavours. It’s important to remember from an early age children can get involved with preparing food, even if it’s just getting the butter out of the fridge or schmooshing round a bit of yoghurt on a plate – all this helps with their understanding of helping, being involved and hopefully enjoying food preparation. Remember what might seem messy now may lead to one day you recieving breakfast in bed – so I say get them to master the art of pancakes and freshly squeezed orange juice from an early age!!!

My pick of the recipe bunch that you well may see replicated here on another recipe Tuesday included: Cinnamon Toast, Fresh Raspberry Lemonade (I’m already planning this for the next hot day we have!), Pink Dolly’s Pasta (a creamy pasta sauce with smoked salmon!), Toad In the Hole, Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake, Thai meatballs with Chicken and Little Strawberry Tarts!

Cooking With Kids is illustrated with bright photographs and I promise will provide hours of enjoyment for both grown ups and little people alike! Remember cooking is something the whole family can enjoy so have fun with it and….happy recipe Tuesday!