Yoghurt dessert

Variations on this theme are always a hit for dessert. Tonight, it was raspberries, yoghurt, manuka honey, acai berry powder and 1 square of dark chocolate, finely chopped and scattered throughout.

My favourite time of Mondays

Once a week my son trots off to daycare, where he spends his time being cared for by a delightful group of very nice ladies. You would have to be amongst the nicest people in the world to sign up to work in your Childcare- talk about a tough job! The day he is in care gives me some valuable time to do the jobs that are just too boring for a two year old to sit through, or too tricky for me to do with him by my side. But, even though I know he is happy, I miss him, and the sound of his sweet little feet chasing around after me. So pick-up time is one of the highlights of my day (and, I flatter myself, his!).

He is often a bit too busy Investigating and Being Two to eat properly at daycare, so I like to bring him a light afternoon tea. Today, it was fruit skewers. Because, who doesn't love delicious fresh fruit arranged like bright little soldiers?

Baby brekkie: baked peach, organic yoghurt & puffed quinoa

I love to have baked stone fruit on hand. It's quick and easy to make- just slice any stone fruits, lay on a baking tray and pop into a low heat oven (about 150'c) for approximately 45 minutes, then add liquid (water or wine or apple juice) and finish for another 20 minutes or so. No need to add extra sugar. So this is half a peach with the skin removed, a tablespoon of organic full fat geek yoghurt and a teaspoon of puffed millet stirred through and a little extra on top. My absolutely gorgeous seven month old loved this today!

Three cheese pasta

All kids seem to love those types of stodgy foods that we think of as comfort foods. My little guy will frequently go into the pantry, pull out the pasta jar and request it for dinner.

This is absolutely the quickest dinner in my repertoire- it takes about ten minutes to prepare and is always a hit.

In the lead up to Christmas, I discovered a great wholegrain organic pasta in the shape of little elk heads. Reindeer pasta- how festive! Where else for this delicious little product but ikea? While normally we try to buy more local (!) I couldn't resist this Christmassy pasta.

Ingredients

1 cup dried pasta
1/2 cup grated cheese- mix vintage cheddar and Parmesan
1 tablespoon ricotta or chèvre
1 free range egg, whisked

Prepare the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain once cooked, add the cheese and egg and stir constantly over low heat until melted. This should be enough for at least two meals.

I like to make sure I follow this serve of stodgy goodness with some fresh fruit for dessert, but this is such a good dinner for those days when you're just too tired to do much more than boil water!

NB, of course you can stir through some tinned tuna or sliced chicken breast, frozen peas or herbs to keep your little one's taste buds guessing.

Treat street- special doughnuts

As I've said in previous posts, my little son has quite the sweet tooth. I read a book recently (Pamela Druckerman's "French Children Don't Throw Food"- a fantastic exploration of the differences in child-rearing practices between American/Anglo and French families) and in it she explores several points relating to child nutrition. Childhood obesity rates in France are lower than all other OECD countries, and Druckerman speculates there are several reasons for this. Particularly, she says that she never sees French parents feeding their children as a form of entertainment, whereas, on visits to her native America, she has become aware that babies and toddlers in prams almost always tote a compensatory biscuit or juice box. I am so aware of this, here in Australia.

Druckerman also makes a point that French children don't grow up in a culture of forbidden food. Does removing the taboo and allure of sugar laden treats, and allowing children to enjoy small treats without guilt, lead to better self-regulation in adults?

I love this theory. I want my children to grow up with a healthy attitude to food, and, to me, that doesn't mean prohibiting them from all things junk. To me, it just means substituting the best treats possible, where possible, and fostering their love in nature sweets, like strawberries and bananas (two of my son's favourites!).

With this in mind, I wanted to make a special snack for Jonno to enjoy that wouldn't fill his developing body with refined sugars and flours and fats. Enter this lovely little baked doughnut. I'll post the recipe later- but they had only organic spelt, manuka honey, milk, yeast, a little butter and a sprinkling of sugar to finish, and being baked they were so much less grease laden than their deep-fried counterparts.

Club Sarnies

Jonno's lunch yesterday: organic chicken breast, free range bacon ( sadly not nitrate free- I am on the hunt for that), spinach from the garden, vintage cheddar, and ricotta thinly spread on just baked wholemeal. Of course, he loved the fruit stacks and flags best of all!

Dried YUCK-ricots

Have a look at the difference in colour between organic dried apricots (brown) and commercially produced dried apricots (orange). It is quite remarkable.

The bright orange dried apricots (and any other dried fruit that retains its 'just picked' colour) has most likely been treated and preserved using sulphur dioxide (SO2 - check the label). Its purpose is to extend the shelf-life of the product and to make them more aesthetically appealing. The brown, organic dried "cotticots", as my husband grew up calling, them are still loaded with natural sugars so have a life-span of around 3 months. Like so many other things, aren't we better to resist the convenience of bulk buying and opt instead for smaller quantities of fresh produce?

My two year old son loves these, and calls them "sollies"- an abbreviation of special lollies. I still like to curb his enthusiasm though- if left to his own devices with an open jar, he would absolutely decimate the entire bunch in minutes.