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.

 





THE Lunch Box Alternative

Cheese Scones

 

Yes, sandwiches get boring in those lunchboxes and there are only so many different sandwich fillers about. I got stuck in the rut of ham then marmalade then cheese then chicken then cheese with spinach then jam then back again... and bread just isn't very exciting for our little one's is it?

So, I took a simply sweet scone recipe and modified it to be baby friendly and savoury. Simples, and it is going to be simple for you too. The recipe should take 10 mins prep time, 10 mins cooking time and 10 mins cool down time plus it should cost no more than £2.80 to produce roughly 8-10 of these little munches.

 

Mine turned out a wee bit smaller because I used a small pastry cutter.

 

Ingredients

 

• 8oz sifted plain flour (99p, Lidl)
• 1 tsp cream of tartar (£2.80, Asda)
• Half tsp bicarbonate of soda (£1, Lidl)
• 1 tbsp. parmesan cheese (the powder type) (£3.50ish, Asda)
• 2oz diced, unsalted butter (£1, Iceland)
• Approximately 4floz whole milk (£1, Asda)
• 2 slices mild cheddar cheese (£1.38, Lidl)
• 2 triangles of spread cheese (£1.64 for 18, Lidl)

 

The Not-So Nitty Gritty

 

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and grease a baking tray and put to one side.
2. Sift the plain flour into a mixing bowl and stir in the cream of tartar (this can be left out if preferred).
3. Add the bicarbonate of soda and parmesan powder.
4.  Rub in the diced butter until a breadcrumb texture is achieved.
5.  Add enough milk (by eye and hand) to make a soft dough, this is usually around 4floz, maybe more.
6. Place the dough on a floured surface and kneed lightly as if doing bread. Then roll the dough until its is approximately thumb thick. Use a medium size cutter to make the dough circles and put onto the baking tray.
7. Add small squares of mild cheddar cheese to the tops of the rounds and glaze with milk.
8. Put into the oven for roughly 10 mins or until a golden colour, but not too golden because they get tough. leave to cool for about 15 mins and slice in halves and add spread cheese.
9. Ready to eat, now get stuck in!

 

 

What Little Monster Thought

 

   Well there are no pictures to this one, simply due to the fact that LO ate them so quick. He was intrigued when we opened his lunch box. There were no sandwiches in his foil and when I offered him the scones he was very cautious but once he tried it, he loved it! I couldn't keep up with him crawling around with his scone showing nanny and granddad the new golden food he had discovered!

  All in all? Fabulous! Definitely trying again soon but maybe cheese and spinach or cheese and ham? I found them quite tasty too. But I doubt very much they did my waistline any good at all.

 

 

 

  Well, there you have it , nice and simple and a bit different. Please let me know how you get on with this one and pictures are always, always loved! By the way, you may have seen this before if you have been reading Jessica Veltman's blog, Mom's the Word. If you haven't you should give her mommy blog a check, she covers all manner of mommy-related things and I enjoy reading it, so the chances are you might too!

 

http://momstheword2012.blogspot.co.uk/

 

and don't forget to give us a like on facebook!

 

http://www.facebook.com/feedingforthefuture

 

 

Til Next time mummy and daddy's :)

Catering with those little mouths with GOR & GORD

GOR & GORD

 

   GOR and GORD are the two types of acid reflux that people can suffer with, and it is a lot more common in babies and children than I initially thought. So, here's where I find myself, I'm putting together a couple of recipes that rule out all the 'forbidden' food that could trigger reflux. Everyone's reflux has different triggers so to do something ruling out each one would have took forever! And as a busy mummy, I do not have forever, as I'm sure none of you lot do either! GOR is more common than GORD and can go on it's own. However, GORD is more serious and often needs monitoring and medication, even in babies. GORD is when the stomach acid leaks out of the stomach and into the oesophagus (the long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the stomach).

   What I have picked up on my personal research into GORD is that most sufferers should avoid a high fat diet, avoid fizzy drinks, citrus fruits and choose white lean meat such as chicken, fish and turkey over red meat such as pork, beef and lamb.

 



Picture taken from a post on the living with reflux facebook page.

 

Farmhouse Pasta

 

Tyler is chowing down.

Ingredients:

• 30g turkey breast (£1 per pack, Iceland)
• 50g frozen baby carrots (carrot batons may be better) (£1 per pack, Iceland)
• 4 baby spinach leaves (£1 large pack, Asda)
• 20g dried penne pasta (69p, Asda)





The Not So Nitty Gritty Bit

 

1. Add the carrots and pasta to a pan of boiling water and leave for approximately 8 minutes.
2. I used pre-cooked turkey breast (lazy mummy day) so I sliced the chunks and cut the spinach and added to Tyler's favourite bowl (the pink one of course).
3. Drain pasta and carrots and add to the bowl.
4. Mix the bowl round a bit so your little one can't just see one block colour, they need stimulation to keep them interested.
5. Serve, too easy? Yeah I agree but Tyler liked it.

 

 

And what little monster thought.....

 



Yes mummy very nice but I personally would much prefer eating it off my legs right now.

 

Loved it, ate a bit of everything but had a lot left over, but this unfortunately is due to his health at the moment not the poor cooking standard, however, let me know how you get on with your little ones. No pasatta was included in this recipe as it's for GORD sufferers and tomato can aggravate reflux sometimes, so feel free to add it if your child is happy with the tomatoes.

 

Against the Grain Chicken and Roast Veg

 

 

It looks like a hot salad!

 

What You Will Need

 

• Quarter of a red pepper (on offer at 29p each, Lidl)
• Quarter of an aubergine (89p, Lidl)
• Quarter of a courgette (49p, Lidl)
• 5 green beans (99p for a large net bag, Lidl)
• 20g (can use less or non if vegetarian) of sliced chicken breast (£1 per pack, Iceland)

 

 

The Not-So Nitty Gritty Bit

 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, add a 1 calorie oil spray (as little fat as possible used for GORD sufferers) to a roasting tin or add oil if your baby is okay with it. Place the roasting tin in the oven to heat through. This allows the veg to cook quicker.
2. Wash all your vegetables thoroughly. Slice the pepper into thin strips, leave the green beans as they are and slice the courgette and aubergine into rounds.
3. Add to the roasting tin and leave in the oven for five to ten minutes, do not leave any longer as they can go very dry and if you wouldn't eat dry and hard veg, why give it to the little ones?
4. Make sure the chicken is not in pieces that are over-sized, adjust to your baby's stage of eating.
5. Add all to a plate and serve!

 

 

And What Did The Little Monster Think?

 

 

Well, as you can see from the pictures, orange squash was added to the recipe by Master Blakemore himself! I would not recommend.

 

Well, he liked what he actually ate but he is even more off his food today then he was yesterday. Although, he was not keen on green beans but he eats them in a stir fry? I don't understand my sons logic very much.





 

Other Recipe Ideas:

 

No pictures available for these, but when they are they will be on the feeding for the future facebook page.

www.facebook.com/feedingforthefuture

 

• Little Hands Stir Fry: 20g chicken breast, 1 nest of plain dried noodles, 5 green beans, 2 tbsp. of peas, 2 tbsp. chopped carrots and 10g of chopped red pepper. All in one big wok. Takes 5 minutes to cook. Shouldn't cost more than £1 per portion!
• Moroccan Style Chicken: 40g chicken breast, 15g roasted courgette, 5g Red Pepper and 3 tbsp. sweetcorn. Chicken should be cooked at 180 degrees for 40-50 minutes and always cover in foil to stop it going dry. This should cost no more than £1.50 per portion.
• Bread & Fish Dippers: white bread soldiers, white fish (cod, haddock, Pollock) steak cut into chunky strips (cooked according to instructions on packet or from fish monger) and a blended avocado dip (blend half an avocado with 1 tbsp. of butter).

 

Let me know how you get on with your little ones and send in the pictures, I like to know how you do yours differently too :)