Emme absolutely devoured this. Her chubby little hands were clapping together in glee as she tasted the buttery concoction with the very mild curry flavour.
Little lunches for little people - healthy. easy, delicious.
Monday, 25 March 2013
Baby bites
Hard boiled egg with 1/8 avocado and six leaves of the curry bush, finely chopped, topped with chemical-free sesame seeds. Fancy-pants shape optional.
Emme absolutely devoured this. Her chubby little hands were clapping together in glee as she tasted the buttery concoction with the very mild curry flavour.
Emme absolutely devoured this. Her chubby little hands were clapping together in glee as she tasted the buttery concoction with the very mild curry flavour.
Friday, 22 March 2013
The week in our kitchen
I just love that my two year old is a keen cook. I would like to take responsibility for this. He has, after all, literally grown up tugging at my apron strings, watching me make bread, cakes, passata pomodoro, roasts. He was indoctrinated to gastric adventure-seeking whilst in utero. He truly is a baby foodling. However, I think most kids, given the opportunity, love to have a play in the kitchen.
Firstly, it is something they regard as being particularly grown up, and therefore excessively desirable as an activity. But beyond this, it involves measuring, stirring, rolling, destruction (well, cracking eggs). It is child's play. Maybe that's why we like it so much? Maybe it appeals to the Big Kid jumping around inside of us?
The Pamela Druckerman book I mentioned a couple of weeks back, "French Children Don't Throw Food", explores the concept of patience. French children, Druckerman explains, engage in a ritual that sees them baking a yoghurt cake every Sunday morning, which they don't eat until that evening. It is a great national tradition, but also an exercise in patience, for children. What better way to gently introduce little people to the concept of delayed gratification than with baking- which, by its very nature, requires a period of clock watching and waiting?
Last week, we made a cake for my daughter's nine month birthday (no surprises- we are big celebrators in this snug) and last night, it was ravioli. Sure. He kept calling the pasta dough "play-doh" but he was fastidious in his rolling efforts and I love that he helped make the family's dinner. That he WANTED to help.
I think one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids is a good relationship with food, and by that, I mean good food. I want my kids to love flavour, to love texture, to seek quality, to question production techniques and ethics, and to see food and food preparations as cornerstones to a healthy and rich family and social life. Thankfully, I think they're already well on their way.
Firstly, it is something they regard as being particularly grown up, and therefore excessively desirable as an activity. But beyond this, it involves measuring, stirring, rolling, destruction (well, cracking eggs). It is child's play. Maybe that's why we like it so much? Maybe it appeals to the Big Kid jumping around inside of us?
The Pamela Druckerman book I mentioned a couple of weeks back, "French Children Don't Throw Food", explores the concept of patience. French children, Druckerman explains, engage in a ritual that sees them baking a yoghurt cake every Sunday morning, which they don't eat until that evening. It is a great national tradition, but also an exercise in patience, for children. What better way to gently introduce little people to the concept of delayed gratification than with baking- which, by its very nature, requires a period of clock watching and waiting?
Last week, we made a cake for my daughter's nine month birthday (no surprises- we are big celebrators in this snug) and last night, it was ravioli. Sure. He kept calling the pasta dough "play-doh" but he was fastidious in his rolling efforts and I love that he helped make the family's dinner. That he WANTED to help.
I think one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids is a good relationship with food, and by that, I mean good food. I want my kids to love flavour, to love texture, to seek quality, to question production techniques and ethics, and to see food and food preparations as cornerstones to a healthy and rich family and social life. Thankfully, I think they're already well on their way.
Salmon Spaghetti
A great way to get those vital omega 3s into fussy eaters, as well as some sneaky veg, this pasta is a sure-fire hit.
You will need
A handful of spaghetti, snapped in half and cooked according to packet instructions
100g butter
2 tablespoons spelt/wholemeal flour
1 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup grated or finely sliced veggies (cabbage, zucchini, eggplant, carrot all make great additions)
Large tin pink or red salmon
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh herbs (I used parsley and Dill)
Melt the butter in a saucepan over moderate heat. Once it begins to bubble and has turned a lustrous gold, add flour and stir until you have a ball. Add milk in very small quantities, starting with a tablespoon, and stir continuously.
Once you have a nice, thickening white sauce, add the veggies and cheese. Strain off the salmon and incorporate, mashing down so that there are no large chunks. Add the drained, cooked pasta and the parsley, stir over low heat, then serve. This is a firm favourite for us- the white sauce mix cooks in the time it takes to boil pasta. From start to finish this is a fifteen minute dinner.
You will need
A handful of spaghetti, snapped in half and cooked according to packet instructions
100g butter
2 tablespoons spelt/wholemeal flour
1 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup grated or finely sliced veggies (cabbage, zucchini, eggplant, carrot all make great additions)
Large tin pink or red salmon
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh herbs (I used parsley and Dill)
Melt the butter in a saucepan over moderate heat. Once it begins to bubble and has turned a lustrous gold, add flour and stir until you have a ball. Add milk in very small quantities, starting with a tablespoon, and stir continuously.
Once you have a nice, thickening white sauce, add the veggies and cheese. Strain off the salmon and incorporate, mashing down so that there are no large chunks. Add the drained, cooked pasta and the parsley, stir over low heat, then serve. This is a firm favourite for us- the white sauce mix cooks in the time it takes to boil pasta. From start to finish this is a fifteen minute dinner.
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Artificially sweetened Easter chocolate? No, thanks.
An open letter to the Children's Hospital Foundation Australia:
I have to preface this letter with a statement of strong support and admiration for the work that you do. As a fundraising effort spanning the five most prominent children's hospitals in Australia, I can only imagine the number of families you have helped navigate unbearable scenarios.
That being said, I am motivated by a strong sense of outrage to question your Easter fundraising efforts.
I am a mum to two small children and I struggle daily with making the right food choices for them- weighing up flavour with organic ingredients and food miles and production wages, additives, colourings, carbon footprint of packaging. The modern mum's foodie conscience is fraught with pot-holes. Easter isn't just a pot-hole, it's a major crater. Let's face it, most kids love chocolate, and lots of it, and it's an up-hill battle to control their lust for it.
When I was perusing my local supermarket and saw your charity offerings, I was immediately swayed to them. Here was a chocolate that supported a local charity. Nay, a local kids' charity! Sweeter than sweet. I picked up three bunnies and stashed them in my basket, before a bright orange label on your box packaging caught my eye. "No added sugar!", it proudly proclaimed.
That can't be right.
I have type 1 diabetes and I've learned to be sceptical of anything sweet that has no added sugar. I turned one of the bunnies over and read, with depression, the listed ingredients. The first, "Carbohydrate modified chocolate". Doesn't that just sound like something nature wanted to dish up to your school-aged child? Next? Maltitol. That's an artificial sweetener of the sugar alcohols variety. It has no nutritional benefit, it's highly processed and manufactured, and excess consumption may lead to intestinal discomfort and bloating and diarrhoea.
Which brings me to my third point. Underneath the ingredients list, there's a bold, capitalised warning to unsuspecting parents: "EXCESS CONSUMPTION MAY HAVE A LAXATIVE EFFECT".
In all seriousness, who thought this was a good idea? Children are, undeniably, excessive consumers of chocolate. Parental watchfulness aside, children are wily little beings, and they *will* find a way to over-indulge on chocolate. Particularly at Easter.
I really do admire the great work the foundation does, but this product is sheer madness. Why not an Easter card? Calendar? Cook book? Bunny ears? Or, a bonafide dark chocolate bunny, at the very least? What a shame.
I'd prefer to not give my kids the unpleasant gastric side effects and just donate straight to your cause...and I'd urge every other mum I know to do the same thing. Www.childrenshospitals.org.au
Best wishes
LittleLunching
I have to preface this letter with a statement of strong support and admiration for the work that you do. As a fundraising effort spanning the five most prominent children's hospitals in Australia, I can only imagine the number of families you have helped navigate unbearable scenarios.
That being said, I am motivated by a strong sense of outrage to question your Easter fundraising efforts.
I am a mum to two small children and I struggle daily with making the right food choices for them- weighing up flavour with organic ingredients and food miles and production wages, additives, colourings, carbon footprint of packaging. The modern mum's foodie conscience is fraught with pot-holes. Easter isn't just a pot-hole, it's a major crater. Let's face it, most kids love chocolate, and lots of it, and it's an up-hill battle to control their lust for it.
When I was perusing my local supermarket and saw your charity offerings, I was immediately swayed to them. Here was a chocolate that supported a local charity. Nay, a local kids' charity! Sweeter than sweet. I picked up three bunnies and stashed them in my basket, before a bright orange label on your box packaging caught my eye. "No added sugar!", it proudly proclaimed.
That can't be right.
I have type 1 diabetes and I've learned to be sceptical of anything sweet that has no added sugar. I turned one of the bunnies over and read, with depression, the listed ingredients. The first, "Carbohydrate modified chocolate". Doesn't that just sound like something nature wanted to dish up to your school-aged child? Next? Maltitol. That's an artificial sweetener of the sugar alcohols variety. It has no nutritional benefit, it's highly processed and manufactured, and excess consumption may lead to intestinal discomfort and bloating and diarrhoea.
Which brings me to my third point. Underneath the ingredients list, there's a bold, capitalised warning to unsuspecting parents: "EXCESS CONSUMPTION MAY HAVE A LAXATIVE EFFECT".
In all seriousness, who thought this was a good idea? Children are, undeniably, excessive consumers of chocolate. Parental watchfulness aside, children are wily little beings, and they *will* find a way to over-indulge on chocolate. Particularly at Easter.
I really do admire the great work the foundation does, but this product is sheer madness. Why not an Easter card? Calendar? Cook book? Bunny ears? Or, a bonafide dark chocolate bunny, at the very least? What a shame.
I'd prefer to not give my kids the unpleasant gastric side effects and just donate straight to your cause...and I'd urge every other mum I know to do the same thing. Www.childrenshospitals.org.au
Best wishes
LittleLunching
Homemade organic baby rusks
I can't believe I used to religiously buy baby rusks for my son. This is the first time I have attempted making them, without a recipe, and they were SO easy. Not to mention healthy and quick (well, a quick preparation time), and budget friendly. The best thing though is how much both of my children enjoyed them.
Ingredients
1 cup organic wholemeal spelt flour
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/2 vanilla pod
1 tablespoon cashew paste (so long as you know your baby isn't allergic)
1/3 cup filtered water
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients (scraping the seeds from the vanilla pod) until it forms a firm dough ball. Dampen your hands and roll the dough into rusks size biscuits.
Bake in a really low oven (around 110'c) for 3 hours, until they are hard. Leave to cool and dry and then store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Once you can get over their more-than-passing-resemblance to turds, you will love making these.
Ingredients
1 cup organic wholemeal spelt flour
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/2 vanilla pod
1 tablespoon cashew paste (so long as you know your baby isn't allergic)
1/3 cup filtered water
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients (scraping the seeds from the vanilla pod) until it forms a firm dough ball. Dampen your hands and roll the dough into rusks size biscuits.
Bake in a really low oven (around 110'c) for 3 hours, until they are hard. Leave to cool and dry and then store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Once you can get over their more-than-passing-resemblance to turds, you will love making these.
Monday, 18 March 2013
Peach, pea and goats cheese "risotto".
Ingredients
1/2 cup organic brown rice
2 peaches
1/3 cup frozen organic peas
3 tablespoons goats cheese
Parmesan/cheddar to serve
Prepare to cook the brown rice according to packet instructions, using the absorption method. Add the peaches in and cook, though check a few minutes earlier and top up water as required. At the last minute, add in the peas and goats cheese and stir.
Everyone loved this, from my husband to my son to little miss fussy nine month old. I froze the leftovers in perfect-for-one tubs and was so thrilled with the nutritional value of this delicious and easy meal.
1/2 cup organic brown rice
2 peaches
1/3 cup frozen organic peas
3 tablespoons goats cheese
Parmesan/cheddar to serve
Prepare to cook the brown rice according to packet instructions, using the absorption method. Add the peaches in and cook, though check a few minutes earlier and top up water as required. At the last minute, add in the peas and goats cheese and stir.
Everyone loved this, from my husband to my son to little miss fussy nine month old. I froze the leftovers in perfect-for-one tubs and was so thrilled with the nutritional value of this delicious and easy meal.
Friday, 15 March 2013
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