Category Archives: family

Quick Chicken Nuggets

Posted on July 4, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

This is another recipe from Annabel Karmel’s new book, ‘Quick and Easy Recipes for Toddlers’, which I recently reviewed. These are a much quicker and easier version of the Chicken Nuggets which feature in her ‘Top 100 Finger Foods’ book. This time she uses store-bought red pesto sauce and smashed up cornflakes.

What children don’t like chicken nuggets? Well I’m sure there must be some, but put a plate of nuggets with some tomato sauce for dipping in front of fussy eaters and you’re most likely going to have a stress-free meal. Now if only we could get some veg in there too…

To be honest, I wasn’t sure about the use of ready-made red pesto, which is a pesto made from sun-dried tomatoes rather than the traditional green basil pesto (it can also be made from roasted red peppers/capsicum). But I’ve made these nuggets a few times now and this recipe’s speed is definitely a winner! It’s also easy enough for your little ones to help you make them. They can have lots of fun bashing up the cornflakes and it’s also fairly mess-free.

If you have a bit more time or if you’d prefer not to feed your little one ready-made sauce, red pesto is quite easy to whip up, basically throwing the ingredients into a blender and whizzing them to a paste. Marthe at The Baking Bluefinger has a very easy recipe. The pesto will keep in the fridge for about a week, but it also freezes very well (freeze it in ice cube trays so you only need to defrost a small portion when you need it).

The original Annabel Karmel recipe adds seasoning to the chicken pieces before covering them in the pesto, but for me there’s well and truly enough seasoning in the pesto itself without adding more, even if you’re serving these to older family members. I’ve also added the preparation time as unfortunately this is lacking for all of the recipes in Annabel Karmel’s new book (that’s a super important piece of information to know for busy mums and dads!.

The nuggets are best eaten immediately as the coating loses some of its crunchiness as they cool down. However, they’re still yummy cold and leftovers can be popped into the next day’s lunch box.

I’m still thinking about how to get some vegetables into a chicken nugget. I’m eyeing up some pea puree left over from a scallop and chorizo starter I made hubby and wondering if it would work instead of pesto. Hmmm… I’ll get back to you!

QUICK CHICKEN NUGGETS

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Makes about 25 nuggets

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp red pesto
50g cornflakes
15g Parmesan, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan and line an oven tray with baking paper.

Slice the chicken breasts into small cubes (you should get 10-12 pieces from each breast). Put the chicken into a bowl and mix in the pesto to coat the chicken.

Put the cornflakes into a plastic food bag and bash them with a rolling pin to make fine crumbs. Add the cheese and half of the chicken to the bag. Shake the bag to coat the nuggets, then transfer them to a plate. Add the remaining chicken to the bag of crumbs and repeat.

Lay the nuggets on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 10 minutes.

What foods do your fussy eaters always eat?

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Posted in cooking with toddlers, dinner, family, lunch, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged Annabel Karmel, chicken nuggets, finger food, Quick and Easy Toddler Recipes. Bookmark the permalink.

Ham, Cheese and Veggie Muffins

Posted on July 1, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

I was very happy to discover this new blog (The Diary of a Fussy Eater). Amy’s a working mum of a fussy eater who’s taking a stand to get her boy to eat more healthily. If, like me, you’re struggling with your own fussy eater, I’d definitely recommend checking out Amy’s recipes and techniques.

Amy’s Ham and Cheese Mini Muffins are super easy and quick to make. I made them with Nicholas pretty much immediately after seeing the recipe and my fussy eater scoffed three of them as soon as they were cool enough to eat for his afternoon snack. Win!

I made a couple of little changes to her wonderful recipe. I used wholemeal self-raising flour (she uses plain flour with the addition of a couple of tablespoons of wheat bran) and I added some veg (I just couldn’t help myself!). I think you can easily get away with adding some grated vegetables as the overall flavour is still ham and cheese which kids usually love.

Like me, Amy isn’t a fan of hiding vegetables as it doesn’t help little ones learn to enjoy eating their veg. BUT that certainly doesn’t mean I don’t do it. I think the important thing is to keep offering them an assortment of vegetables, cooked in different ways to keep trying to pique their interest.

I make these muffins with Nicholas and point out all the ingredients as we add them, so I don’t think the veg can be called hidden! Our favourite grated vegetable to add is carrot, but courgette (zucchini) has gone down well and also parsnip.

This recipe is also great in that it’s very ‘forgiving’. The amounts don’t have to be exact and we’ve also made them successfully tipping everything into the bowl together (egg unbeaten), mixing until combined, so perfect for getting your munchkins involved (which is also a good way to encourage them to eat).

The muffins freeze very well and are also great in lunchboxes. And I’ve scoffed quite a few myself!

Thank you Amy for helping me get more vegetables into my own fussy eater 🙂

HAM, CHEESE AND VEGGIE MUFFINS

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 10-15 mins
Makes 12 small muffins
Freezable

1 cup of wholemeal (or plain) self-raising flour
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
100g cooked ham, sliced
1/2 cup milk
60g butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup finely grated vegetables such as carrot, zucchini or parsnip
Salt and pepper (optional)

Preheat your oven to 200C. Lightly spray or grease a 12-hole muffin tin.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, cheese and ham.

In a jug or small bowl, whisk together the milk, butter and egg then stir through the grated vegetable. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (mixing too much can make your muffins dense and chewy).

Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin tin holes. Bake for 10-15 mins until golden and cooked through when tested with a skewer.

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Posted in cooking with toddlers, family, lunch, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged cooking with kids, family, finger food, freezable, fussy eaters, lunch, recipe, savoury muffins, snack, The Diary of a Fussy Eater, toddler. Bookmark the permalink.

Orange and Soy Sole

Posted on June 20, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

As promised, here is one of the recipes I tried from Annabel Karmel’s new book, ‘Quick and Easy Toddler Recipes’, which I reviewed in a previous post and which is out today.

I’ll definitely be making this again. It’s very quick (under 10 minutes!), very tasty and perfect to make for the whole family. Even if your little one isn’t a huge fish fan, give this a try as the sweetness of the orange juice might change their minds. You could cut the fish into more manageable ‘fingers’, before dusting with flour, for little hands to feed themselves.

Serve with a side salad for adults and some raw vegetable sticks for toddlers (prepare a stash of these to keep in the fridge for a few days to save you some time).

Annabel’s recipe says two lemon sole fillets makes 1-2 portions which is confusing to me as the serving sizes throughout the book seem to be a toddler portion. For me, allow at least one fillet (one half of the fish) for each adult and 1/2-1 fillet for each child.

You don’t just need to use lemon sole with this orange and soy sauce; any white fish (cod, plaice, haddock, etc) would go well with the sauce. Next time I’m going to try it with salmon chunks for Nicholas.

ORANGE AND SOY SOLE

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 3 mins
Feeds 1 adult and 1 toddler

2 lemon sole fillets, skinned
Salt and pepper
Plain flour, for dusting
A knob of butter, for frying
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp soy sauce

Season the fish fillets and coat them on both sides with the flour, shaking off any excess.

Melt the butter in a frying pan until foaming, add the fish and fry for 1 and 1/2 minutes. Turn them over and fry for 1 minute more.

Mix the orange juice and soy sauce together, pour it over the fish and let the sauce bubble away for 30 seconds.

Serve immediately.

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Posted in dinner, family, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged Annabel Karmel, dinner, family, fish, lemon sole, orange and soy sauce, Quick and Easy Toddler Recipes, recipe, toddler, whole family. Bookmark the permalink.

Quick and easy chicken and vegetable satay

Posted on June 13, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

When I stayed with my childhood best friend during our trip to Australia six months ago, I had a good peruse of her handwritten recipe book (isn’t that what you do when you’re catching up with friends you haven’t seen for years?!). It’s where I ‘stole’ her mum’s delectable recipe for lemon slice and then was delighted to see this recipe sourced from me many years ago.

I used this make this recipe a lot when I was first venturing into the world on my own after university (probably sourced from a magazine), but over the years had forgotten about it. It’s certainly not an authentic satay recipe, but the great thing is it’s packed with flavour without having to marinate the chicken beforehand therefore saving you time. I also love you throw all the sauce ingredients into a pot and stir and that’s it!

You could easily make this just with chicken, leaving out the vegetables (perhaps have some stir-fried or steamed vegetables on the side instead) or you can reduce the amount of chicken (it is quite a lot) and add more vegetables. Nicholas is a huge fan of satay sauce and will happily eat vegetables he normally refuses to just look at simply because they’re covered in satay sauce! And you really can use pretty much any vegetable you want (I’ve successfully used combinations of cauliflower, carrots, peas, beans, mushrooms, potato, sweet potato, baby corn, peppers/capsicum and broccoli). Now if only I could get Nicholas’ papà to like satay sauce…

QUICK AND EASY CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE SATAY

Prep time: 20-25 mins
Cook time: 25-30 mins
Makes 4-6 adult servings

1/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lime or lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup hot chicken stock or water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1kg chicken thigh or breast fillets, sliced or chopped
1/2 cup plain flour
500g assorted vegetables, chopped into stir-fry size

In a medium-sized saucepan combine the peanut butter, honey, lime juice, soy sauce, crushed garlic, curry powder, cumin and stock. Stir over a medium heat and gradually bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly.

While the sauce is simmering, heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan.

Put the flour in a large bowl and stir through the chicken pieces until coated. Tip the chicken into a colander or sieve and shake off the excess flour. (Coating the chicken pieces in flour helps prevent them from overcooking too easily and the flour will also help thicken the sauce later.)

Stir fry the chicken in several batches until browned. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.

Stir fry the vegetables for 2 minutes ot until they’re just soft. Return the chicken to the pan and add the sauce. Stir fry for about 3 minutes or until heated through.

(If the sauce isn’t thick enough for your liking, add a teaspoon of cornflour or plain flour dissolved in cold water and mix it thoroughly through the sauce, cooking for an extra minute or two.)

Serve with your preferred cooked rice.

Variations:

use thin strips of beef or turkey instead of chicken.
substitute the stock or water with coconut milk for a creamier sauce.
instead of stir frying the meat and vegetables, thread them onto skewers and cook over a grill, then pour over the satay sauce to serve.
for a vegetarian version, replace the chicken with tofu or paneer (a cheese commonly used in Indian cooking that you can actually make yourself!).

Other uses:
Use the sauce as a dipping sauce for sticks of raw vegetables such as celery, capsicum, carrot (perfect for toddlers who love to dip)

Please note: Peanut butter is high in nutrition and a good source of protein, but peanuts are one of the most common food allergies. If you have a family history of allergies of any kind, you should talk to your GP or health visitor before giving your baby any peanut products. In the UK it’s suggested not to give peanut butter to babies under 6 months; it’s also recommended not to give children below the age of five whole nuts because of the risk of choking (either crush or break them into small pieces).

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Posted in dinner, family, recipe, toddler and tagged chicken satay, dinner, family, hidden vegetables, peanut sauce, quick satay sauce, recipe, satay, satay recipe, toddler. Bookmark the permalink.

Dairy-free chocolate cupcakes

Posted on June 6, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

Here in the UK the weather is glorious (and what a difference that makes to everyone’s mood!). Although I’ve lived here for (hang on while I count…) almost eight years (EIGHT YEARS – where did that time go?!) and I’m half-British, I find it really difficult to do the very British thing of stripping down to summer clothes the instant the sun drags itself out. My head just needs time to adjust (and often by that time, ‘summer’ is over!).

But, what my friends and I are very good at is having barbecues to make the most of our limited sun exposure. Thankfully Nicholas, growing up in the UK, isn’t missing out on seeing the men folk standing around a sizzling barbecue, stubby in hand (how many of you are going to have to look that one up?!), tending the flames, while the women folk do pretty much everything else (and I wouldn’t have it any other way!).

I made these cupcakes last weekend for our friends’ barbecue. I’ve been wanting to try Nigella’s Chocolate Olive Oil Cake for a while, especially as the barbecue-tending half of our dearest friends is lactose intolerant. The original recipe makes a dense and squidgy flourless cake (well it’s Nigella after all!) which I’m sure is amazing, but for a sunny day, after eating loads of meat, I wanted to make something a bit lighter. I also thought by the time we’d want dessert we’d be lazily enjoying the sun, not wanting to move, therefore ‘pop-in-the-mouth-without-effort’ cupcakes would be better than a whole cake 🙂

If you followed Nigella’s original recipe, using all ground almonds and no flour, these would make fabulous gooey individual puddings. They’re also easy enough, with lots of measuring and mixing, to get your little ones to help you make them.

DAIRY-FREE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15-20 mins
Makes 12 cupcakes
Freezable

150ml olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil)
50g good quality cocoa powder, sifted
125ml boiling water
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
75g ground almonds
65g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch of salt
200g caster sugar
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 170C and line your cupcake tray with paper cases.

In a small bowl or jug, whisk the sifted cocoa powder with the boiling water until you have a smooth paste. Whisk in the vanilla and leave to cool.

Cream the sugar, olive oil and eggs quite vigorously (about 3 minutes) until you have a pale creamy texture. Turn the speed of your beater or mixer down a little and pour in the cocoa paste, beating until combined.

Slowly add the flour, ground almonds, bicarbonate of soda and salt, and gently mix until combined.

Divide your mixture evenly between the paper cases and bake for 15-20 minutes (when you stick a skewer in to test, it should come out mainly clean possibly with some chocolate cake crumbs attached).

Eat warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar or not.

Variations:

for a gluton-free squidgy cupcake, substitute the flour with more ground almonds (140g in total).

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Posted in cooking with toddlers, dessert, family, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged chocolate cupcakes, dairy-free, dessert, freezable, ground almonds, lactose intolerant, Nigella, olive oil, olive oil cake. Bookmark the permalink.

Cooking with Tea – Spicy Black Tea Cookies

Posted on May 28, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

A few months ago I happily reviewed two tea flavours from the Tea India range which had recently launched in the UK. And, just quietly, my period of drinking Vanilla Chai hasn’t stopped; I still love it.

The gorgeous award-winning chef Ravinder Bhogal is now working with Tea India, creating exclusive recipes using their wonderful premium tea blends and I’ve been given a sneak peek of some of them! Keep reading after the recipe to find out how you can get free tea from Tea India as well as all of Ravinder’s recipes.

I have to say that using tea for something other than a cuppa intrigues me. I once tried smoking steaks with lapsang souchong tea leaves (which already have a very strong smoky aroma); the steaks picked up very little extra flavour, but the house smelt like we’d had an indoor barbecue for several days!

Now I can say I’ve been successful in cooking with tea thanks to Ravinder’s recipes. Her spicy black tea cookies are a very interesting take on the humble oatmeal cookie. While I don’t think anyone would guess the ‘secret’ ingredient of black tea, its addition, together with some other more common spices, gives the cookies a lovely and very rich warm spice. I’m nibbling on one as I type 😉

When I made them I was in a hurry when shaping the logs (Nicholas woke up early from his nap) and so made them much wider than the recipe. This meant the log was more difficult to slice cleanly later (I had to squish some broken off pieces of dough back into the cookie shapes). Even so, I ended up with 15 cookies, cutting the slices about 2cm thick, so Ravinder must be cutting her cookies quite thickly. Maybe slice a couple of different thicknesses to see which you prefer, or just leave it up to your kids to decide if they’re helping you make them.

Ravinder suggests eating the cookies warm (who doesn’t like a cookie almost straight from the oven?); they’re just as moreish and yummy cold.

SPICY BLACK TEA COOKIES

Prep time: 12-14 mins
Cook time: 15-20 mins
Makes 12-15 biscuits
They will keep in an airtight container for up to four days

2 Tea India black tea bags (leaves only)
125g butter, softened
100g soft brown sugar
70g self-raising flour
120g oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and line two baking trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and soft brown sugar.

Add the oats, flour, tea leaves and spices, and mix until well combined.

Roll the cookie dough into a log shape approximately 5cm in diameter. Wrap in cling film and chill for 5 minutes.

To bake, remove from the fridge, unwrap and slice into 12 even sized pieces. Place on the prepared trays.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are just golden brown.

Allow to cool on the baking trays before serving warm.

Tea India has a Facebook promotion (until 3 June 2013, so be quick!), You & I and a Cup of Chai, where it’s giving you the chance to share a free selection of its finest Tea India blends with your friends and family. Find out more here.

Tea India will be releasing Ravinder’s recipes on their Facebook page over the next few months, including mouth-watering Cardamom Kisses using their Cardamon Chai tea. I’m lucky to be able to try these very soon, but you’re just going to have to keep checking back 😉

Disclosure: I was sent two boxes of tea to sample and cook with. My opinions are honest and my own.

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Posted in cooking with toddlers, family, recipe, review, snack, toddler and tagged biscuits, black tea, cookies, cooking with kids, cooking with tea, oatmeal, Ravinder Bhogal, recipe, Tea India, tea recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

The Easiest Bread Rolls

Posted on May 20, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

If you love bread then you must check out my friend Barbara’s blog, Bread and Companatico, whose passion for baking bread and its accompaniments is infectious.

These are her foolproof overnight rolls (which she adapted from a Swedish baker, Martin Johansson), with just the slightest adaptation from me in terms of the flours used. They’re the perfect combination of a crunchy crust surrounding a light and airy crumb. By the way, if bread is your thing, I don’t think you can do better than Martin’s bread ‘porn’ on Instagram!

These bread rolls really are the simplest thing I’ve ever baked and (very-critical-when-it-comes-to-food) hubby was amazed at the taste saying they were the best homemade bread he’d ever tasted. Not bad for something that basically makes itself!

While this recipe is simple as well as quick to cook, it does take a lot of time for the dough to rise (once overnight and another 45 minutes the next day). I didn’t think I’d be able to emulate Barbara and make these for breakfast (I love freshly baked bread, but getting up an hour earlier just to get these on the table?). But thanks to hubby having an extended lie in with Nicholas Sunday morning, I did manage it. Hurray!

I’ve also made these adding 30g each of pumpkin and sesame seeds. I liked the different texture through the bread, but I felt the seeds took away from the wonderful flavour of the bread.

Take a look at Barbara’s step-by-step photos if you’re unsure of any step.

THE EASIEST BREAD ROLLS

Prep time: 10 mins, plus 1 3/4 hrs rising
Cook time: 20 mins
Makes 8 bread rolls

1g instant yeast (or 3g fresh yeast)
300g (1 1/5cups) cold water
200g (1 1/2 cups) plain bread flour
120g (4/5 cup) plain flour
72g (1/2 cup) wholemeal bread flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Extra plain flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water then add the rest of the ingredients except for the extra plain flour. Mix together (it’s easier with your hands) until combined.

Cover the bowl (Barbara has a great suggestion of using a dinner plate) and leave at room temperature overnight.

The next morning the dough should look bubbly in texture and at least doubled in size.

Tip out the dough onto a heavily floured surface. Take each of the four ‘sides’ one by one, stretch and fold each back into the centre of the dough.

Cover with the mixing bowl and leave for 45 minutes to rise again.

While you’re waiting, preheat the oven to 250C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

After 45 minutes, uncover (it should have grown again) and sprinkle with plain flour.

Without moving the dough, cut into eight pieces. Carefully transfer them to the baking tray (I found it easier to use the knife to scrape underneath the dough to take it off the work surface, then delicately tip the piece of dough from the knife to my other hand and finally on the tray).

Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 210C and bake for another 5 minutes. To test if they’re cooked, tap the bottom and you’ll hear a hollow sound if they’re done.

Have you ever tried baking bread?

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