One thing The Boy loves is pizza and although he does have supermarket pizzas I also try to make them from scratch if I can. He has just got interested in cooking so frequently helps me in the kitchen and I find he’s more willing to try new things if he’s had some input into making them. The other day we decided to experiment in the kitchen and see how many pizzas we could make with different bases. We had so much fun and ended up eating quite a lot of pizza!
These fun pizza ideas are so quick and easy to make and if you have a homemade pizza sauce (like my Microwave tomato and vegetable pasta sauce) they are very nutritious too. Give them a go and see what you think!
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I am a member of a large parenting group on Facebook and two common questions are “what calcium rich snack can I give my child instead of their afternoon bottle” and “what healthy desserts can I give that aren’t full of sugar”. I love rice pudding and I wanted to give my kids some but all the ones in supermarkets are loaded with sugar and any recipe I have seen also contains sugar. That called for me making lots of mess and doing lots of tasting in my kitchen (Mr MyMiniMeals is now calling our kitchen “the experimental kitchen” – a la Heston) and – Voila! – I came up with something really rather tasty. Continue reading →
Since starting this blog people are constantly asking me what I feed my kids. They presume that I never give them anything processed and that every meal is full of couscous, quinoa and vegetables! I tell them they are very much mistaken and my kids, like most others, happily chomp on fish fingers, oven chips, ready made pizzas and peanut butter sandwiches. However I do try to limit the amount of processed food they eat and ensure that the majority of their food is home cooked. Continue reading →
There are certain ingredients that just seem scary to use and polenta is definitely one of them. Whenever I see it on cookery programmes I always say I am going to make some but to be honest I have had a box of it sitting in my cupboard for a while and just haven’t got round to using it. I was cleaning out the cupboard the other day and found it so thought I would give it a go and see what I could make. I had some spinach that I needed to use up too so figured I could somehow make something tasty for Little Lady using both ingredients. Continue reading →
I frequently am trying to get The Boy to eat vegetables but he pretty much only eats cucumber, broccoli and the odd carrot here and there. I have tried with most other veggies but more often than not he feigns a stomach ache or makes such a face that I just give up and give him the usual suspects. I do sneak vegetables into most stuff I make him and he is aware of this and still eats it up but when faced with anything looking like a vegetable its generally a complete disaster. So this recipe is purely for Little Lady (and Mr Mini Meals just wolfed down half a batch too) as I know she loves her veggies and will eat anything as long as it has some green stuff somewhere. Continue reading →
Being a Stay at Home Mum I really value the times that Little Lady naps whilst The Boy is at school as its “Mummy time”!! Normally while Little Lady sleeps I do a bit of cooking or cleaning then I always make sure I sit down with my lunch and watch some TV. One of my favourite things to watch is Masterchef Australia and I absolutely love Matt Preston’s recipes as, like me, he uses hardly any ingredients and, like me (!!!), ends up with delicious things. One thing he made in the last series stuck with me as a great thing to make for the kids but as it contains lots of sugar I didn’t make it. Then recently I had a brainwave and amended the recipe and I created a completely (refined) sugar free yummy snack. Little Lady gobbled them up and as usual I have yet to tempt The Boy to try them. Mr Mini Meals also said they were yummy.
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In my household breakfast (especially on weekdays) is a really rushed experience and I have been giving my kids the same thing every day as I know a) they will eat it and b) I haven’t got time to think of different things to make them. The Boy tends to have the same cereal every day and Little Lady (who eats once we are home from school run) has toast or a different brand of cereal. But I have recently started (especially for Little Lady as she is my guinea pig and eats most things) giving them different things. At the weekend we all eat as a family and have more time to make different things (I frequently make 4 different breakfasts!) but I am slowly starting to give everyone the same thing that I have made from scratch (much to The Boy’s horror!).
Here are a few things I have been making recently that have gone down well with my kids and Mr Mini Meals and they really are ridiculously quick to make!
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This is another recipe that I found online but made some slight amendments and I have to admit I think it tastes better than the original. Its a carb filled, protein packed pie that is, yet again, so easy to make.
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Neither of my kids eat fruit puree anymore but I still use it on a regular basis to make my “Baby Flapjacks” . I have recently discovered that it makes a great addition to other recipes. I am experimenting with various ideas using puree so watch this space but one thing I have made that goes down well with Little Lady and The Boy (and Mr Mini Meals too!) are fruit puree muffins. I have added raisins as I like to get as much fruit into my kids as possible but they aren’t necessary – and you could susbtiute for other dried fruit too, like dried cranberries or chopped apricots. I use ready made fruit puree pots (honestly I have neither the time or energy to puree my own fruit but if you want to please go ahead!) which are readily available in all supermarkets in the baby food aisle. They are a really yummy breakfast idea or a snack.
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Salmon is so good for children but it’s not the easiest thing to get them to eat so this recipe is a great, quick and easy way to hide such a healthy food. Like many of my recipes I make good use of my microwave! It’s also great as can be adapted to suit spoon fed or children who can feed themselves.
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