Sweetcorn and Chickpea Fritters

I like to have the freezer full of portioned out easy lunches and dinners for Miles. Handy for when we have something for tea which isn’t suitable for the little dude, or when there is just NO TIME!

This made 8 small patties. I was originally going to make falafel but, little dudes dad brought back a small tin of chickpeas, not a large tin from the supermarket. (Tsk, you just can’t get the staff these days!)

1 small tin of chickpeas, drained

2 kernels of corn or a large tin of sweetcorn

2 heaped tbsp of plain flour (and flour to dust)

Spices and herbs to your liking (I used some ground coriander, smoked paprika and parsley)

Oil to fry

1. boil the kernels on the hob for around 15 minutes. Slice from the cob and chuck in the food processor along with the chickpeas.
2. Whizz until you get a grainy lumpy consistency. Stir in the flour, herbs and spices.
3. Take a tablespoon of mixture and form into a flat disk. You’ll want to flour your hands and the surface before you do this.
4. Fry for about 4 minutes on each side in 1 mml of oil at a medium heat.
5. Drain on kitchen paper before allowing to cool and serve, or portion into the freezer.

the excitement of about to flip the fritters…

Golden brown and tasty

When it comes to offering these to Miles, I’d probably fill a pitta with them and some grated veggies. You could even make them as mini veggie burgers, with a little bun some cheese and some avocado. They are currently in the freezer, so haven’t got the obligatory Miles stuffing his face photo, so instead, here is a photo with a tupperware on his head. Enjoy. 🙂

Miles working a very powerful look.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

mmmm, pie. This is actually a surprisingly quick dinner, and went down a treat. This served a mum, dad and baby, but they were pretty big portions and could have easily fed more.

4 skinless and boneless chicken thighs (you could use breast, but thighs are cheaper and more tender.)

a bunch of spring onions

2 handfuls of mushrooms (we used button. You could use something like portobello, or another big flat mushroom if your baby is just starting out, so you can do a few massive slices.)

a sprig of lemon thyme

1 tbsp of plain flour

1 tbsp creme fraiche or double cream or philly

200ml of chicken stock (I used a quarter of a chicken stock  cube to make it less salty.)

1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1. Chop the chicken into nice chunks and fry for about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, finely chop the spring onion, and chop the mushrooms. Add to the frying pan with the flour. Allow to fry for a minute or 2.
3. Add the creme fraiche, mustard and stock and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, with the lemon thyme.
4. Pour into a pie dish and top with the pastry.
5. Bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes (or until the crust is golden and puffed up)

Hello everyone!

Being distracted by Daddy

We served it as it was with some green beans on the side. You can always keep the chicken in really big chunks, or even do a few strips to make it easier for babies to hold.

SOCKS!

Apple and Oat Bake

 

Firstly, apologies, I forgot to take a picture of the food! So instead here is a photo of Miles with a Quality Street tin on his head.

Tin man

This would be great as a pudding, breakfast or snack.  It’s beautifully sweet, but is sugar free. I’ve  used butter when cooking the apples, but a splash of water or apple juice would do the job if you need it to be dairy free.

1 Large cooking apple, cored and halved

A few knobs of butter, or a splash of apple juice/water

A handful of dried fruit (we used raisins, any dried chopped fruit would work)

250g of oats

(a note on quantities: I made this up as I was going along, and used quite a small dish.  What you want is enough apple and enough oats to create a flapjack type mixture)

1. Place the apple in an ovenproof dish, along with the butter or juice, and bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes,  or until the apple is completely soft.  I baked them as the oven was on for something else, but you could cook them down on the hob if you prefer, or even use up some apple puree that might be hanging around.
2. Allow to cool slightly and scoop the mushy flesh out of the apple. Thoroughly mix with the oats and dried fruit. Spoon into a greased ovenproof dish and bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes.

I served some warm with a little creme fraiche as a dessert, and the next day took some out with us as a part of Miles’ lunch.  I kept them in the fridge overnight and they really firmed up to a flapjack like texture. He really enjoyed them, and would definitely make them again!

 

Breakfast ideas…

Breakfast is a fantastic time for finger food and self feeding as it’s sometimes the best time to eat together. I think its easy to forget that baby led weaning isn’t just “finger foods” but about sharing your mealtime and your food with each other. If I get it right, I can normally sit with a cup of tea and relax at the table while Miles is finishing his breakfast himself, which is a lovely start to the day.

a plum at breakfast time with a 6 month old Miles. No idea why the fridge is open…

I also found when we were first starting weaning he was more receptive in the morning, so more willing to pick things up and have a go… not sure where he gets that from. Totally not a morning person! I’ve listed a few ideas for breakfast…

Eggy bread – try with cinnamon, banana and creme fraiche.

yoghurt and fruit dippers – plain full fat fromage frais with banana, peach, plum, anything really.

Porridge fingers – Add milk and oats in equals parts to a small ovenproof dish. Mix in fruit of your choice (chopped peaches and raisins are a favourite) Bake at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. Cut into slices. I wouldn’t want to eat this myself though, I’d probably stick to normal porridge, but it’s a nice pick-up-able introduction to oats.

American style pancakes – make a huge batch at the weekend, and freeze between layers of greaseproof paper. You can then heat up when defrosted under the grill.

crepes and fruit

weetabix – for a spoon free breakfast drip a few tablespoons of milk onto the biscuit so it turns into a soft rusk type texture. Slice in half lengthways to make 2 grabbable fingers.

apple and cheese on toast – grate an apple and some cheese, pile on a slice of toast and grill.

rarebit – make a spreadable mixture out of a beaten egg, grated cheese and some wholegrain mustard. Toast one side of bread, and pile the mixture on the untoasted side and grill.

Scrambled egg

hard boiled egg

incredibly well done fried egg

toast and… hummus, cheese, cream cheese, mushy banana, white bean spread, pate… While I’m on the subject of bread, other baked goods make good breakfast food, but be mindful of salt! Children under one should have no more than 1g of salt per day.

Omelet

leftovers – frittata makes a good breakfast leftover.

porridge fingers with peach… they’ve been man handled a bit here so have broken up into little pieces. The little dude likes to squish them all together.

Summer Veg Lasagne

I really like lasagne. However it takes too long, and Miles has had an allergic reaction to tomato 😦 Which was really scary, so we’re avoiding it until he’s 1. As soon as you can’t cook with something, that is literally all you can think of, and I didn’t realise how much tomato we use in cooking! This is a nice recipe because you can just chuck in anything that you want to use up.

1 pack of fresh lasagne

a small bunch of finely chopped spring onions

summer veg (whatever you have in the house or you can find in the grocers really. We used a bunch of asparagus, about 500g of peas and a bunch of green beans. Spinach and broad beans would work well)

half a tub of cream cheese

enough stock to cover your veg

the zest of a lemon

cheese to top (we used mozzarella and some parmesan)

Peas!

1. Fry the onion in a little oil and add the summer veg. If you are using aspargus, snap the woody ends off, finely chop the rest, but leaving the tip whole. Peas can be left as they are, and green beans chopped finely.
2. Add the cream cheese, zest and stock, and leave to simmer for a few minutes. The consistency should be of single cream.
3. Pour some of the veg mixture in the bottom of an ovenproof dish, add a layer of lasagne. Spoon some more veg, grated parmesan and then a layer of lasagne and continue until the veg is used up.
4. Finish with some cheese, and cook at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

We served this as it was to Miles, and he really enjoyed separating the sheets of pasta and chasing the peas around the plate. They were well cooked enough to not be a choking hazard, and there was enough left to fish out some of the veg mixture and make it into a spread for him to have on rice/corn cakes the next day.

 

 

Baby Jacket Potatoes and Kind of Coleslaw

We did this as a lunch, so not strictly a little dude dinner, but tasty! This served one mama and one baby.

6 Large new potatoes, skin on

1 carrot

a thick slice of celeriac

2 tbsp soured cream

half a lemon

1. Coat the potatoes in olive oil and roast at 200 degrees for around 25 minutes. Turning halfway through. You can always cook them in a microwave if you’re pushed for time, but you won’t get that nice shiny skin.
2. To make the coleslaw, grate the carrot and celeriac and add the soured cream, juice of lemon and  pinch of pepper.
3. When the potatoes are ready, split and fluff up a little like you would with a normal jacket potato, and add the coleslaw.
4. Serve as they are for baby. I chopped my potatoes up and added them to the coleslaw to make a new potato salad, and ate mine with bread and cheese.

coleslaw, pesto and cheese

Miles really enjoyed it, and it made a change from the bread rut you can find yourself slipping into at lunch time. You can really use anything to top the potatoes with… pesto, cheese, beans, guacamole, cream cheese, chilli con carne, sour cream and chive… anything!

yummers

potato… somehow hilarious

If you make the coleslaw with the celeriac you are going to find yourself with alot of celeriac left over, so have something in mind to use it up. If you’ve never had it before, it is basically across between a potato/parsnip/fennel. They made really good wedges, you can add it to mash, you can use it in a potato/celeriac dauphinoise. I’m going to use it in a curry.

Mackerel Pâté

God it’s hot, I mean really really hot. Miles must feel the same, as the sweaty little cherub is a lot less interested in his food. I’ve tried to offer lots of fruit and water and more snacky type food. I read this in the Guardian and thought we’d give it a whirl. He’s had fish before, Salmon stir fry and mackerel pasta, and he seemed to like them. I thought this would be good because I can just spread it on a rice/corn cake and it would make a good snack. I’ve used jarred horseradish instead of fresh because it’s easier to get hold of, and replaced the lemon with a lime to make it a bit more, jazzy. I also don’t like dill, so I’ve replaced it with chives.

Serves 4

3 smoked mackerel fillets
150g cream cheese
100g crème fraîche
2 tsp of horseradish
Lime, to squeeze
Small handful of chives, finely chopped

1. Skin the mackerel fillets and do a quick check for any bones – they’re not unknown. Flake three quarters into a food processor with the cheese, crème fraîche and horseradish and whizz until smooth.

2. Add a good grinding of black pepper (more than you think you need), and lime juice to taste, then fold through the chive and the remaining fish.

The recipe apparently serves 4, but it made shedloads! We had to really make a concerted effort as a family and pitch in to make sure we ate it all! Miles had it on toast for breakkie, and the next day on some corn cakes for a snack. You could use it stirred in to pasta as it is, or turn it into a pasta bake. It would be lovely as a lunch with some pitta and veggies for dipping.

apologies for the rubbish photo. It was taken before the morning coffee, that’s my excuse!

Mark’s Lamb Burgers with Halloumi

The little dude is a huge carnivore. When we offer a meal, he will always go for the meat first. So I know he would love these! Mark offered to cook, and he likes to just throw stuff in and see how it tastes… and these were beautiful. The recipe makes 2 fair size burgers, and 2 mini baby ones. You could always make more and freeze.

300g Lamb Mince

a small handful of chopped coriander

2 finely diced spring onions (you can use ordinary onions if you like. We were just trying to use them up! But I liked the flecks of green in the burger)

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp of yoghurt ( you can always use a little beaten egg as a binder instead, but I never need a whole egg, and it just seems a waste to crack a whole egg.)

2 thick slices of halloumi

A few slices of tomatoes

3 burger buns

a few salad leaves (we used spinach because it needed to be used)

Mama’s burger

1. Combine up the mince, onion, spices, coriander and yoghurt in a bowl. Shape in to burger rounds.
2. Grill under a medium heat for  5 minutes on either size, but obviously this depends on the thickness of the burger you’ve made, so open one up to test before serving.
3. The baby burgers will cook quicker, so remember to take these out first, and you can allow to cool while you finish off Mama and Daddy dinner.
4. Grill the halloumi along with the burgers for the last few minutes of cooking time.
5. For the adult burgers serve on a bun spread with a little yoghurt or mayonnaise, sliced tomato, lettuce and the halloumi. For the baby burger serve with a little bread, yoghurt for dipping,  some grated cheddar cheese (halloumi is too salty and chewy for Miles) and some green veggies.

The saltiness of the halloumi means you really don’t miss the salt which is not added to the burger. Mint would also work well in this recipe, and you could shape the mixture into little kofte kebabs and serve with pitta.

Really going for it!

How Do I Start Baby-Led Weaning?

We started gently when Miles was around 5 months, because he was an early sitter, and ace at getting things in his mouth. The new NHS guidelines recommend waiting until 6 months, as research shows that the gut is not mature enough to handle solids. There is some good advice from the NHS no rush to mush campaign here:  http://www.nhs.uk/start4life/pages/no-rush-to-mush.aspx But we weren’t too concerned as nothing was actually being eaten.

He started showing an interest around 4 months, so we put him in his highchair at mealtimes with a toy and a spoon. It was so much nicer than what we called “tag team teas”, which is daddy holds Baby while Mama eats, Mama holds baby while daddy eats. Other tactics included eating as quietly and as quickly as you can while baby sleeps, and eating one-handed. We found we spent more time at the table, because he was happy to play and watch us.

We chose BLW because a) I’m incredibly lazy and don’t want to puree things and spoonfeed b) We’re big foodies and just couldn’t wait to introduce the little dude to our food c) its cheaper! No buying baby food. He just eats what we eat.

5 month old dude with a pre loaded spoon of yoghurt

What makes good first foods? His first foods were steamed and boiled veg from our plates. We found that they were just too slippery for him to hold, so moved on to roasted veg, which was a big hit! We roasted sweet potato with spices and garlic, and he loved it. Keep food big and grabable, and flavoursome! The more flavorful, the more intrigued they will be. Other first favourites were broccoli, green beans, parsnips and toast.

What about gagging and choking? A lot of people ask about choking, and I think it puts a lot of people off BLW, and its a genuine concern. I found looking at you tube videos of BLW babies eating was a big help, so I could see gagging before it happened. Babies have a much more sensitive gagging reflex than adults, and it is much further forward in the mouth. I could sometimes see him bite off a bit of food, and he would gag even though it was just resting on his tongue. He’d spit it out straight away and we’d get a huge smile afterwards. Gagging is a safety mechanism to prevent choking, and it didn’t seem to bother him at all. Avoid whole nuts, and cut up grapes, cherry tomatoes and similar shaped foods in half or even quarters. Fruits like blueberries usually get a good squish before we offer them. And most obviously, supervise them! Don’t let your baby eat alone, as choking is normally silent, so you wouldn’t hear them if something happened. Find out what to do if your baby did choke, it will increase your confidence. http://childrenfirstaid.redcross.org.uk/choking/

What about milk? Just keeping offering breast/bottle as you have been doing, as the first few weeks will just be about exploring food and not about getting calories on board. It’s also important to make sure your baby is not hungry when you start offering solids. This sounds so counterintuitive, but they need to be alert and content to want to pick up and experiment. It takes a lot of brain power! When they get the hang of it, milk intake will gradually reduce.

What about support? It can quite daunting when your baby is sat nibbling on a green bean, when all his friends are eating big bowls of food. You might be lucky enough to have a friend who has BLWeaned. If you don’t there is lots of support online. www.babyledweaning.com is fab and there are lots of active groups on Facebook, not to mention books on the subject. Baby-Led Weaning, and the Baby-Led Weaning cook book by Gill Rapley are great. I think there is no right or wrong way to wean a baby, just different ways. You need to do what is right for you, your baby and your family.

What about THE MESS?! Aw come on! It’s only mess! Babies are meant to make mess. As long as you anticipate it, then it’s really not that bad. Get a cover all or crumb catcher bib, get a super duper simple wipe clean high chair. Eating out is super fun too. Being able to order from the menu for a 6 month old is the most exciting thing ever. Good snacks on the go include cheese sticks, pitta strips or other bready things, big salt free rice cakes, big pasta shapes, left over homemade pizza – not all food has to make an almighty mess 🙂

don’t worry, he’s washable

ENJOY!

Red Pepper Frittata

I have a confession – I’ve never been a massive fan of eggs. Then I went to uni and realised I had no money. I spent many an afternoon wandering around Fallowfield Sainsburys with £2 trying to find something for tea. Eggs are cheap, easy, and you can make loads of different things from them, so I made myself like them.

This dinner really screams “mid-week tea”. If you use leftover potatoes it can be on the table in 15 minutes.

Frittata and green beans

1 diced red pepper (I’ve kept the ingredients diced as it helps the fritatta keep its shape)

1 chopped spring onion (you can use regular onion, but spring onion is quicker to fry, and adds some nice colour)

1 chopped rasher of bacon (The more processed a meat is, the more salt it is going to contain, which is obviously a bad thing for a young baby. I think its fine to offer things like bacon, as long as you only offer very low salt food for the rest of the day)

Some boiled, cooled and sliced potatoes (However many you want to add really! I used new potatoes, but you could use any really. Using leftover potatoes would make this a very quick tea. Always cook excess potatoes so you can make potato salad/fish cakes/this)

6-7 large eggs, whisked

a generous sprinkling of grated cheese

a few dollops of cream cheese.

1. Fry the onions, pepper and bacon in a little oil until cooked.
2. Add the potatoes and fry to give a little colour.
3. Pour in the eggs, give everything a stir and leave on the hob at a low to medium heat.
4. When you can see the fritatta has nearly cooked through, sprinkle with grated cheese, and a few dollops of cream cheese. Finish off under a  medium to hot grill.
5. Cut into wedges and serve with salad/green vegetables.

There is a limitless number of variations to this recipe. How about for a vegetarian italian style add some cherry tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and pesto?

All gone! very much enjoyed 🙂