A Poor Girl's Eaton Mess

A Poor Girl's Eaton Mess

 

Raspberries, biscuits and instant whip. Mmmm, lovely! And it is a lovely fun messy pudding for baby led weaning and it gets an extra bit of calcium into the little ones! Oh, and fruit with the raspberries that I picked up from Lidl last week for £1 a pack! This recipe makes 3 servings and costs around £2.

Raspberries

Raspberries are fantastic BLW finger food for summer and autumn. They contain loads of fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K and magnesium. They are a refreshing change to the usual strawberries and are often slightly cheaper! And at only 63 calories per 100g, they are perfect for mummy and daddy snacks too!

Ingredients

• 100g Raspberries
• 1 packet of light instant whip
• half a pint of whole milk
• 6 rich tea biscuits (2 for crushing, 4 for breaking)

The Not-So Nitty Gritty

1. Break up four biscuits and put them in the bottom of the bowls.
2. Wash the raspberries and place them on top of the biscuits.
3. Make up the instant whip with the milk in a separate bowl then pour evenly over the other bowls.
4. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.
5. Put the remaining biscuits in a food bag and seal. First smash with a rolling pin then continue to roll over with the rolling pin and leave to one side.
6. Remove the bowls from the fridge and sprinkle the crushed biscuits over the top.

 

What Little Monster Thought...

 



At first he used his fingers and got in a right mess, despite liking it, he preferred to be spoon fed towards the end. Daddy wasn't keen but mummy and Tyler thought it was brilliant!

 

 

Links:

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

 

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



Toad in The Hole

Toad in the Hole

 

 

   Toad in the hole has always been one of my favourite dishes and proves to be a firm family favourite. Right, I have a confession, I cannot make homemade batter to save my life so I use Asda smart price batter mix and at only 7p a packet and you only have to add a beaten egg and 200ml cold water, it is a great time and money saver. Yes I am aware of added ingredients, but it won't hurt every now and again if you are short of time and money.

  

 

   This dish will provide, protein, carbohydrate, vitamin C and fibre amongst other things.

 

 

 

Tyler's Personal Portion

 

 

 

Ingredients

• Battermix (7p, Asda)
• 6 Sausages  (89p, 12 pack, Lidl)
• Oil (89p, Lidl)
• 1 can Baked Beans (17p, Aldi)

 

 

The Not-so Nitty Gritty

 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees
2. Drizzle oil into a small roasting pan and place in the oven
3. Fry sausages until a light brown
4. Make up your batter mix, or your homemade batter if you have greater apt for these types of things
5. Remove the pan from the oven and pour in the batter mix.
6. Put the sausages in the pan too and space out evenly.
7. Start cooking the beans 5 minutes or so before the end of the oven cooking time
8. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes.
9. Take out and cut up and serve with baked beans

 

 

Mummy size portion, daddy wouldn't let me take a picture of his, he thinks it's unhealthy for me to be obsessed with photographing food. I majorly disagree.

 

 

 



What Little Monster Made of it

 

Well, well, well! I have never seen his plate clear so quick. Ate the batter first, sausage second and beans last. All by hand as we are having some fork issues at the moment. A nice strawberry rice pudding to follow and all was well. Not much else to say really, was eaten, seemed to be enjoyed, cheap and quick enough for success!

 

 

 

 

Sweet Chicken, Rice & Peas

Sweet Chicken, Rice & Peas

 

A twist on a traditional Caribbean recipe going back generations of families. This version is not spicy in the slightest and it is very, very tasty! It is also low in fat so perfect for mummy getting that pre-baby figure back, in a filling and tasty way!

 

You Will Need

• 3 tbsp Tinned pineapple inc. 3 tbsp. juice (79p, Lidl)
• 3 heaped tbsp. of white rice (£1, Iceland)
• 3 tbsp. frozen petit pois (£1.50, Iceland)
• Chicken Breast (£3.99, Lidl)

For mummy and daddy portions increase the pineapple to half a can, white rice to two and a half handfuls, 3 chicken breasts and 10 tbsp. of petit pois. Brilliant family meal.

The Not-so Nitty Gritty Bit

1. I used frozen chicken so put the chicken in a roasting tin and cover with foil and put in the oven at 180 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
2. In the mean time, boil a pan of water and add the rice and peas. Simmer for 5 - 9 minutes.
3. When the chicken is cooked, uncover and add the pineapple and juice. Slice the chicken and stir the pineapple in, make sure the juice covers the chicken and leave for five minutes.
4. Drain the rice and peas. Stir in to the chicken and pineapple.
5. Serve and enjoy.

Little Monster's Opinion

 

Who needs a fork?

 

As you can guess from the caption, Tyler found it easier to use his hands not his fork which isn't really a bad thing at his age. My sons loves pineapple so this went down quicker than air! The pineapple makes the chicken really sweet and with the different textures, little ones won't get bored. Mummy and daddy love this one two and we have always eaten this pre-baby so it was an absolute joy to be able to include Tyler in yet another one of our favourites.

 

Also, try adding sweet corn or peppers for even more texture.

 

Happy eating :)



Crispy Bacon Noodles

Crispy Bacon Noodles

 

Well, what can I say? Quick and easy tasty food, which is you use bacon medallions instead of streaky bacon, is syn free on the slimming world extra easy plan! Result! This meal will cost 70p for a baby portion or £2.30 (approx.) for a baby portion and a mummy and daddy portion. Increases for mummy and daddy portions will be stated at the end of the initial ingredient layout.

 

Yes it does taste as good as it looks!

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 1 piece of smoked streaky bacon
• 1 slice of dairy lee 'plastic' cheese
• 3 level tbsp. of frozen sweetcorn
• Half a nest of medium dried egg noodles
• 1/6 of a grated onion

 

To make mummy and daddy portions increase the amount of bacon to 5 pieces, the amount of dairy lee to 4 slices, the sweetcorn to 6 heaped table spoons, use two and a half noodle nests and half an onion.

 

The Not-so Nitty Gritty

 

1. Cut the bacon into chunky squares and fry with no oil or fat for 5 - 10 minutes. 3 minutes into this, add the grated onion and stir in.
2. Add the egg noodles and sweetcorn to boiling water and leave on the boil for roughly 7/8 minutes.
3. Cut the 'plastic' cheese into squares and leave to one side.
4. Put the bacon and onion onto kitchen paper and fold in two to absorb excess fat and grease that has come out of the bacon during the cooking process.
5. Drain the noodles and sweetcorn but put back in the pot.
6. Stir the bacon and onion into the noodles.
7. Serve onto plates (the bowl did not go down well... see below) and add the squares of cheese on the tops of the noodles.

 

What Little Monster made of it

 

 

Well after playing with the noodles... stretching, throwing and of course twirling..... Tyler realised he loved it! I would not serve in a bowl as they slip out rather too easy as I have found on previous noodle ventures with the LO. He gobbled up most and mummy polished off the crumbs he left, such a considerate child thinking of mummy's tummy too! I would not used smoked meat in a baby's diet too much as they are naturally higher in salt, and streaky bacon is higher in fat. For a low fat option use bacon medallions, as stated in the intro. If your LO likes spices try adding some to the noodles once cooked, rather yummy! Definitely hand eating task though, the fork was not much use to be quite honest with you.

 

 

Let me know how you all get on, as always I love feedback, it helps me improve!

Happy cooking ladies and gentlemen.

 

 

What Can You Expect Next Time?

 

Well, in the next two blog posts I am covering Sweet Chicken, Rice and Peas as well as looking into what nutrients babies need at different stages. We get such a lot pushed on us in the first two years, don't do this, make sure you do that... it gets so confusing. I am going to try make things as basic as possible (it has to be basic otherwise I won't be able to understand!).





Ham & Mixed Veg Omelette

Ham & Mixed Veg Omelette

 

Well, there is a story behind this recipe! My little monkey had refused to eat fruit and veg for approximately 3 days and I was not impressed. So this was one of those I threw together out of pure desperation, but it worked and Tyler hasn't had a problem with his 5 a day since! This recipe will take 15 minutes to prepare, cook & serve - great for you busy parents AND will not cost more than 50p! What is not to love?

 

The final product.

 

Ingredients

 

• 1 medium size egg (pack of 6 free range, 89p Lidl)
• 3 heaped table spoons of frozen mixed veg (£1 a bag, Iceland)
• 1 slice of wafer thin breaded ham (£1 per pack, Iceland)
• 2 chopped up baby spinach leaves (£1, Lidl)
• 50ml whole milk
• 1 teaspoon of butter

 

The Not-so Nitty Gritty

 

1. Beat the egg until a smooth consistency is achieved.
2. Add the milk and butter and whisk by hand.
3. Add the veg, spinach and chopped up ham to the mixture.
4. Add the mixture to a very hot frying pan with just a drizzle of olive oil in.
5. Cook for five minutes, until the bottom appears to solidify.
6. Place under the grill on a high heat for 7 minutes or until the top is no longer runny.

 

Now serve, how easy was that?

 

What Little Monster Made of It.....

 

Tyler was thoroughly impressed as per usual, he loves this recipe, one of his favourite meals and he gobbled it all up. This is how he started learning how to use his fork. Mummy had one too and loved it. Perfect all round for our lunch.

 

Munchkin enjoying his dinner!

 

IMPORTANT NOTE

Do not give your child ham until they are at least one year old. And do not use much in your child's diet as ham is a processed meat and as it will contain a high amount of salt. Using ham in my son's diet is a personal choice, I'm not saying it is right or wrong but my son eats what I eat but in smaller doses. It is important your child has a balanced diet with calcium being key at 1 year or over.