Sweet Farmhouse Chicken

Sweet Farmhouse Chicken

 

Another fabulously low-fat recipe suitable for Rosie's and Slimming World followers! Tyler also wolfed this one down, I was very surprised, he couldn't get enough! I served mine with mashed potatoes but you can try something different such as jacket potato, wedges or potato rosti.

 

The nutrition is brilliant, lean meat providing a low fat protein, fibre, vitamin C etc. Very healthy for little ones and us older ones!

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 2 Large Chicken Breasts
• 250ml Chicken Stock
• 6oz Frozen Sliced Carrots
• 4oz Frozen Petit Pois
• 1 tsp Mixed Herbs
• 4 Sprays of Low Calorie Cooking Spray
• 2 tbsp. Cornflour

 

 

The Not-So Nitty Gritty

 

1. Add the cooking spray to a hot casserole dish (on full heat on the hob), followed by the mixed herbs.
2. Once the herbs start to smell aromatic, dice the chicken breasts and add to the dish immediately. Keep turning the chicken with a wooden spoon so the chicken is evenly coated with the herbs.
3. When the chicken has started to colour up and loose it's pinkness, add the stock to the dish, followed by the carrots, peas and cornflour.
4. Reduce the heat and stir well. Place the lid on top of the casserole dish and leave. Stir every five minutes or so to prevent it sticking to the dish. After 20 minutes, serve with a carb based side.

 

 







Extra Lean Minced Beef Hash

Minced Beef Hash

Serves 4

 

6 simple ingredients, ready in half an hour tops, warming, filling, nutritious and low in fat (free from syns on slimming world and compatible with Rosemary Conelly's).

 

 

Lovely on a cold evening!

 

This meal provides, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Protein, Carbohydrate and Fibre, amongst other vitamins and minerals.

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 2 white onions peeled and finely diced
• 450g extra lean minced beef (£2.79 at Lidl)
• 4oz Frozen Sliced Carrots (£1 for 750g at Co Op)
• 5 Fl oz Reduced Salt Beef Stock
• 5 'Twists' of Black Pepper
• 10oz White Potatoes Peeled and Diced

 

 

The Not-So Nitty Gritty Bit

 

 

1. First peel and dice the potatoes and onions. Put the potatoes on to boil along with the sliced carrots.
2. Fry the onions and as soon as they start to brown, add in the minced beef. When the mince begins to brown, add the stock.
3. After the potatoes and carrots have been boiling away for around 10 minutes, drain them and add to the minced beef, stock and onions. At this point, add in the 'twists' of black pepper.
4. Leave to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

 

 







Black Peppered Chicken

 Black Peppered Chicken

 

with sweet corn and sweet potato wedges

 

 

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts
• freshly ground black pepper
• 9 tbsp. sweetcorn
• 1 large sweet potato
• drizzle of lemon juice

The Not-So Nitty Gritty

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the chicken breasts in the roasting tin, drizzle lemon juice over the chicken breasts and season with black pepper. Cover over with foil and place in the oven for around 40 - 50 minutes depending on weight (see packaging for details).
2. Peel the sweet potato and cut in half, half again and into 3's. Put in boiling water for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the sweet potato from the pot and drain. Place into a pan with hot oil and cook at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.
4. Boil the sweet corn for 3 minutes. Then serve all together.

What Little Monster Thought....


 Loved it very much! He did pull his face a bit at the chicken but he soon changed his mind and ate all of the chicken breast before the wedges and sweet corn! Mummy and Daddy loved it too! A sweet winter warmer. Relatively cheap to produce, around £5 with a left over chicken breast and the majority of a bag of sweet corn. The best Place I have found for frozen chicken is Aldi!  The sweet corn was £1 for a medium sized bag at Iceland and the sweet potato I picked up from Lidl for around 70p for a massive one. We didn't even eat all the wedges!

 

 

Next Time: A Poor Girl's Eaton Mess

 

Links:

• www.facebook.com/feedingforthefuture
• www.aldi.co.uk
• www.lidl.co.uk
• www.iceland.co.uk



Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkins

 

So, it's getting close to Halloween and there are loads of pumpkins on offer but what can you do apart from carve them? Make a soup for seasonal meal times!

Pumpkins provide 170% of your daily vitamin A needs and 15% of your vitamin C needs. Impressive per 100g really, especially as it only contains 26 calories.

Pumpkins are great for adding fibre, colour, texture, taste and variety to yours and your family's diet.

The recipe I am about to show you makes 4 servings or so and cost me around £3 as I bought a very small pumpkin.

 

 

 

Pumpkin Soup

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 250g Pumpkin Flesh
• 200g Peeled and chopped carrots
• 300ml Chicken/Vegetable Stock (chicken stock turns out better)
• 300ml Blue Top Milk
• 4 Twists of Freshly Ground Black Pepper

 

 

The Not-so Nitty Gritty

 

1. Carve the pumpkin and chopped/peel the carrots first as this bit takes the longest. Remove the top and bottom of the pumpkin first and remove the excess 'stringy' flesh and seeds. Seeds can be dried as used later on as snacks. Remove the outer skin of the pumpkin and cut the flesh into thumb-size chunks.
2. Add the carrots, thumb size pumpkin chunks, stock, milk and pepper to a large pot. Bring to the boil and remain on the boil for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Reduce heat slightly and wait until the pumpkin and carrots are tender. This should take an extra 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Put in the food processor or blender until a smooth consistency is achieved.
4. Pour the soup out of the food processor and back in the pot to heat up, stirring well and serve!

 

 

It should go from this...

...to this....

...to this!

 

What Little Monster Made of it....

 

 

Well, first time with soup, didn't go as planned. The soup ended up the walls, over the toys, over me and the carpet ended up a new shade! But, He thoroughly enjoyed the bread dipped in the soup and was gobbled up quickly. We need soup practice!Very tasty and mummy and daddy really liked it too.

 

 

 

 

 



TTFN from Mummy's sleeping pumpkin!!!



Snacks for The Kiddies

Snacks

 

 We all know out little ones need snacks between meals to keep their energy up, but is healthy, quick and convenient and what do these snacks provide? Quick idea list for all you parents and please comment your snacks to help everyone else.

 

 

PS - do not snack on cameras. Parents are not amused.

 

 

Fruit

 

Figs - A great source of potassium, fibre, vitamin B6 and a small amount of magnesium. These are also low in calories for losing that post-baby weight. Figs are best stored in the fridge and to be brought back up to room temperature before eating as it brings out the flavour really well. Figs can be eaten whole or peeled. Tyler loves them. Also try adding to an apple crumble for extra flavour and something differently.

 

 

Apricots - Provide vitamin A, vitamin C, fibre and tryptophan. They are very sweet so will appeal well to those natural sweet taste buds of babies. However, the texture may be a bit off putting for older children, but keep trying as you never know when preferred tastes can change. Also, low in fat and only contain 16 calories per 35 grams of fresh apricots.

 

 

Bananas - Always popular with babies and children as they are soft and easy to eat with no preparation! Bonus for mummy and daddy too then! They are also relatively cheap and available all year round as they are imported. Bananas are high in vitamin B6, vitamin C, magnesium and potassium. Super fruit alert! They also provide fibre to keep you regular but not as much as other fruits.

 

 

Raisins - fibre, carbohydrates, sodium and a trace of protein as well as being rich in antioxidants. Raisins are so easy to throw in your child's diet, they even come in snack packs for lunch boxes. And they do count as one of your 5 a day. As well as using for snacks, you can use in puddings, porridge, biscuits, on bagels, practically anything. As you can tell, I am a fan of the raisin!

 

 

Pineapple - Pineapple is so high in vitamin C and magnesium. Also providing vitamin B6, fibre, vitamin B1 and folates. Super Fruit alert. I have always loved pineapple and it is the first thing Tyler used a fork with. Great as a snack or pudding. For a snack I just put some pineapple chunks in an air tight container with a little bit of the juice and Tyler just picks at it throughout the day. I also use pineapple in my chicken, rice and peas dish. Strange but tasty. A great fruit to get your kids into but keep the wet wipes handy as it gets sticky.

Pears - Tyler had difficulty with pears at the start and has only recently developed a taste for them (he's 14 months now, been trying pears since 7 months!). Initially at six months, some babies may need them cooked or peeled, my son still has them cut small but not cooked or chopped, I suppose it was just personal taste. Pears are high in vitamin C, Vitamin K and fibre. Not a super fruit but still very good for you and very sweet with a nice, different texture.

 

 Grapes - Juicy and available in three different colours, green, red and black. I like the black ones best and so does Ty. These little beauties are high in magnesium, vitamin K, vitamin C, fibre, vitamin B1 and vitamin B6. You may find with younger children or babies, cutting them in halves or quarters in easier for them, Tyler even had his peeled up until 10 months because he found the skin too tough on them. Soon got him out of that habit, juice everywhere!

Strawberries - summers finest English berry! These were the first fruits my son actually liked, along with blueberries, and I am very disappointed now the season has come to an end. Strawberries provide a hell of a lot of vitamin C, like completely off the scale. Fabulous. They also give you a lot of magnesium, fibre, folate, iodine, potassium and vitamin K. Hello super fruit! As snacks or puddings, these are winners, well for the summer anyway, because the imported ones are never as nice in my opinion. Oh well, till next year!

Blueberries - Hello another super fruit! High in fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and magnesium. AND they are a grabbable size already and the skin is nicely soft for gummy ones or new toothy ones!

Blackberries - Late summer / early autumn fruit. Juicy and messy so get the stain remover ready!!! I recommend ace bleach sensitive, gets everything out and you can buy it from £land.... result. Very tasty, high in vitamin C, vitamin K and fibre.

Vegetables

Carrot Sticks - Yet another super food? Wow. Grabbable, good for teething, good for starter foods and good for dinner party entrees! Carrots are a natural source of many things including: vitamin A, Vitamin K, vitamin C, fibre, potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6, vitamin B3, folate, vitamin B1, phosphorus, vitamin E and vitamin B2. Only 50 calories per 122g for you snack hungry dieters too. Appeals to your little one's sweet tooth too.

Celery - great for introducing youngsters into different textures. And it is crunchy and cool for those little teething monsters. Tyler loved it, aided dribble though so get the bibs out! Also provides many health benefits to baby and you including lots of fibre, folate, vitamin A, vitamin K, potassium, magnesium, calcium, vitamin B2 and vitamin B5! Super duper. I like the teething idea best.

Dairy

Custard - smooth, sweet and can be bought ready made. Cheap and time saving and providing a shed load of calcium as well as vitamin D? Bonus points for custard! Keeping the calcium levels up during a breast to formula or formula to cows milk or which ever way you are doing things is important and this one was suggested to me by a health visitor and Tyler des loves it and satisfies his sweet tooth marvellously.

Rice Pudding - cheap and quick, can be ready made or home made, both as good! Both providing a great amount of calcium and vitamin D. Perfect for our growing monsters for their teeth and bones.

Fromage Frais - small, sweet, often fruity, cheap, quick and great blw mess! Much fun. Provide calcium, vitamin D and are often fortified with extra vitamins and minerals so are great for growth and development.

Cheese - is great as a small snack as it like the other dairy snacks provides vitamin D and calcium but in larger amounts can cause constipation which is very painful for our little ones. As Tyler used to suffer from constipation badly as a newborn, I am very careful with cheese. I advise trying babybells as they are very mild and soft when broken up. Tyler likes them but I do not give him cheese as a snack very often.

Other

Try rich tea biscuits, goodys fruit bars, boots organic carrot corn snacks and cocktail sausages.


Have fun mummies and daddies!

 

TTFN

 



Meat & Two Veg The Healthy Way

Turkey Dinner

 

If you know me, you will know that I am big on eating white meats as they are leaner and offer great health benefits! Turkey is 70% white meat and 30% dark meat, so what's not to love?

This meal offers a filling and warming evening meal without spending the whole morning roasting meat. This meal has only 15 minutes prep time and 30 minutes cooking time. So that's the time issue solved, and the warming issue? What is not to love about potatoes, meat and two veggies? Traditional and it fills you up with goodness.

The meal will provide protein, carbohydrate, fibre, good fats, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, vitamin A, folates and vitamin K.

Wow. I did not realise how good this meal actually was for you until I started researching what each ingredient provides.

 

Key Fact: Most of the vitamin C in potatoes is in or close to the skin. So, when  peeling, avoid excessive de-skinning. Basically don't take chunks out of the potatoes at the same time.

 

 

Benefits of Eating Turkey

 

 

• High in protein
• Low in Fat
• Good source of iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorus and vitamin B6
• Can lower cholesterol if eaten regularly
• Contains the amino acid 'Tryptophan' which produces serotonin and this strengthens the immune system

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 3 Turkey Breast Steaks (£1.29 on offer, Lidl)
• 5 tbsp. Peas (£1, Iceland)
• 5 tbsp. Carrots (£1, Iceland)
• 3 Medium White Potatoes (£3 bag, Iceland)
• Chicken Gravy Granules (£1, £land)

 

The Not-so Nitty Gritty

 

 

1. Peel and chop potatoes into quarters and leave on the boil for half an hour.
2. Prepare your turkey steaks by removing excess fat and pre-heat the grill to full power.
3. After the potatoes have been boiling for 15 minutes, put the turkey under the grill and leave there for 15 minutes and turn half way through.
4. Boil the peas and carrots.
5. Use the vegetable water left from the peas and carrots after cooking, add gravy granules as the packet tells you. This will add more goodness to the meal as some key vitamins get lost during the boiling process.
6. Serve when everything is ready.

 

 

What Little Monster Thought

 

   He loved it so much, really got his appetite going again. Even consumed a whole custard pot. He ate the turkey that had been cut up first, he does love meat but soon moved onto his potatoes and veg. He seemed to enjoy the gravy too.

   Mummy and daddy really enjoyed this meal, no idea how I pulled it off as I had a slight bit of concussion from where that little monkey smashed a vase over my head! But all went down well and mummy and daddy had raspberry steamed pudding afterwards, really should have cut Tyler in on this but he got his custard out the kitchen for me so, I let him have custard instead.

 

 

Coming up Soon..... homemade banana custard, spaghetti bolognaise and more, keep up to date by liking the facebook page www.facebook.com/feedingforthefuture or simply add your e-mail address to the subscribe box above.

 

Happy eating and don't forget I love to see the pictures and hear feedback. Apologies for no pictures this time but we sat down to eat straight away and I was starving as I hadn't had an appetite all day. 



The Many Wonders Of Bagels

The Day of The Bagel

 

I love bagels! As does Tyler, more the pitty, means less for mummy :(

Anyway, I fully believe bagels can be used as a breakfast and a sandwich alternative for dinner times! I buy a different type of bagel depending on which shopping week it is. Cinnamon and raisin, sesame seed topped or just a lovely plain bagel. I have found bagels are easier for Tyler to eat if toasted under the grill, if I don't, he finds them a bit chewy and gets bored quickly.

 

 

Breakfast: Cinnamon & Raisin Bagel

 

 

   Yes, cinnamon and raisin bagels are lovely just toasted with a bit of butter,  but don't forget we need to get those tiny mouths interested in fruit. So after slicing a bagel in half, (Tyler had half and I had the other), I toasted the bagels outside up first then the other. Then just simply butter the insides and add a couple of raisins to the tops.

 

 

   Tyler loved his (and mummy did too) and promptly picked and ate the raisins off the bagel first! As this was the first time I had tried them with him I was surprised but delighted at the same time as they are an easy and healthy lunchbox snack when he's at school.

 

ps. no photo of consumption as Tyler had breakfast in bed with daddy and as daddy was only wearing his pj bottoms, he felt a wee bit self-conscious!

 

Result: SUCCESS!

 

 

Lunch: Sesame Seed Bagel with Pink Salmon & Green Beans

 

 

 

   Sesame seeds are great for our diets as they provide a bit of roughage for our digestive systems. I will not explain in finer detail what that means, I'm sure your imaginations can work out some sort of image. No, no image. Don't imagine.

   Anyway, getting carried away with me little self there! I used canned pink salmon on this occasion, with chopped raw green beans (perfectly safe to eat, just wash thoroughly). Oh, and spread cheese on the bagel to help things go down a little more smoothly.

   This idea you get calcium, protein, fibre, vitamins and maybe omega-3? Unsure about the last one to be honest but fish is good for you anyway, and is leaner than red meats. Also, low in fat (if you use the light spread cheese for mummy and daddy's bagel, use full fat for babies).

 

   As with the last bagel idea, I sliced the bagels in half and toasted the outsides first, then the insides. Spread a thin layer of spread cheese on then drained the salmon and place evenly around the bagel. Next, chop the green beans, I removed the ends of mine because they were quite stringy for some reason! Scatter then green beans on top of the salmon and you have a healthy and delicious lunch!

 

 

 

   Ty ty was rather wary of the sesame seeds once he had put the  bagel into his mouth. He took it straight back out for inspection, as normal - but it still makes me laugh! After picking a few seeds off and realised they were so tiny they wouldn't make a difference, he continued eating and polished the lot off! He did eat the salmon and green beans first, but he likes to take apart his food.

 

Result: SUCCESS!

 

 

 

 

Breakfast/Lunch: Cheese, Sausage & Tomato Bagel

 

 

 

   It is like a cooked breakfast on a bagel, what's not to love? It is also substantial enough for a lunch! Brill! Oh, and did I mention what this little beauty provides? No? Well, Vitamin C, Calcium, Vitamin D, Fibre, Protein and good fats from the cheese! Lovely jubbly.

 

NOTE: unfortunately when I came to do this recipe, I had ran out of tomatoes and sausages! So it is an egg bagel... Tyler still loved it.

 

   I used a plain bagel for this one,  and as with the other two, halved and toasted in the same way. I did this before cooking the sausage and heating the tomatoes. So, yes, I fried the sausages while heating tinned tomatoes on the hob. You can use, fresh tomato if you prefer obviously. Oh by the way, Lidl do some great sausages that are around 78% meat which is brilliant, and only £1.89 a pack. Well worth the money compared to cheaper sausages that can contain as little as 5% meat. I diverted again, ah, anyway! I use the slices of dairy lea cheese and place on the bagel while it is still warm so it melts slightly.

  Once the sausage and tomatoes are cooked, add them on top of the bagel and serve to that little monster. This tastes amazing by the way!

 

 

 

   Tyler loved this one. But I can't help but think he wouldn't have enjoyed it even more if I had the sausages, tomatoes and cheese! Dosey mummy didn't do the shopping right and now there is no more money in the shopping pot until Friday! Let me know how you lot get on.

 

Result: SUCCESS

 

Idea? Maybe try bacon medallions.

 





Cottage Pie

Cottage Pie

 

I know you all probably have cottage pie mastered to a fine art now you are a fully fledged family, but here's how I did it if there is anything you would like to take from it.

Also provides carbs, fibre, protein and key vitamins. Oh, and only cost me about £2 to make for me, Nick & Tyler!

 

 

Pre-oven. And already looks fab!

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

• Half a Pack of Lean Mince Beef (Lidl)
• 4 Medium-Size White Potatoes (Iceland)
• 5 tbsp. Baby Carrots (Iceland)
• 5 tbsp. Petite Pois (Iceland)
• Half a Diced Onion (Lidl)
• 1 tbsp. Butter
• 1 tsp Beef Gravy Granules
• 5 tbsp. Beef Gravy Granules

 

The Not-So Nitty Gritty

 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Peel and chop potatoes into 8 pieces each, the smaller the better. This will allow them to cook faster as the starch is broken down easier in the centres.
3. Boil the potatoes and leave them for approximately 15 minutes.
4. Brown the mince and as just colour is just about to change, add the onion and 1 tsp of beef gravy granules.
5. Add the carrots and peas at this point too. (I used frozen veg as I had no plans of reheating)
6. Cook the mince, regularly turning and stirring, for a further 5 - 10 minutes.
7. Put the mince and veg in a Pyrex (or similar) dish. Make up the gravy with the 5 tbsp. of granules and add boiling water, make it quite thick. Then coat the mince with the gravy.
8. Drain the potatoes, add the butter and mash.
9. Spread the mash over the mince then run the prongs of a fork over the top of the mash and when it goes in the oven it will crisp up and add to the texture,
10. Place in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes.
11. Serve.

 

 

 

Side View

 

 

Tyler's personal portion.

 

 

What Little Monster Thought

 

Well this dish was a success all round. Daddy said the only problem was, was that there wasn't enough. He does have a big appetite though! Tyler loved using his hands and getting messy. I did encourage him to use his spoon but it didn't go to well when he flung it at mummy! But, he ate the lot. And as he has been teething, I am more than happy with that result!

 

 

 

Mummy, Tyler and Daddy Portions!