Category Archives: recipe

Soft butternut squash cakes

Posted on October 9, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I’ve been more focused on toddler-friendly meals lately, natural since Nicholas is getting bigger, but I don’t want to stop experimenting with recipes that are also good for your smaller little ones.

These little vegetable cakes are very soft inside so great for babies without teeth. They are a simpler (and slightly quicker) version of my Butternut Squash and Chickpea Cakes, which are easily adapted to feed the whole family.

I made some medium and small-sized ones, but because of their softness the small ones (about 4cm in diameter) are easier for small fingers to hold and also easier to flip over when you’re cooking them.

If you’re making these for toddlers you can add some seasoning and also some spice (I used a teaspoon each of paprika and cumin for a warming spicy flavour). If you’re introducing a little spice to your munchkin, start with 1/2 teaspoon each of spices.

Use your preferred method of cooking the butternut squash, remembering that the quicker you cook it, the more nutrients remain. For toddlers you can leave the peel on as it will get chopped up in the food processor when you combine it with the other ingredients.

This recipe makes a large batch of cakes – perfect to have in the freezer for days you don’t feel like cooking.

SOFT BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKES

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Makes about 40 mini cakes (or 26 medium cakes)
Freezable

Approx. 400g cooked butternut squash
1 medium courgette (zucchini), coursely grated
1 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup plain flour
Drizzle of olive oil or cooking spray

For toddler version also:
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper

Put the butternut squash into a food processor and blend until smooth. If you’ve left the skin on, check that it’s broken up into small pieces.

Add the grated courgette, chickpeas, egg yolk and flour. Blend until combined (the mixture will be quite runny almost like a pancake mixture).

If making for a toddler, add the paprika, cumin and season to taste.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a med-low heat, spray with cooking spray or use a drizzle of olive oil.

Drop small spoonfuls of mixture into the pan (don’t overcrowd the pan to make turning them easier), flipping them after a few minutes when they’re golden brown and cooking the other side. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Leave to cool a little (they’ll firm up a bit as they get cooler). Serve with yogurt to dip them into.

Variations:

Use sweet potato instead of butternut squash
For toddlers, try some different spices such as ground coriander
Add some fresh coriander to the mixture

What other soft foods do you like to make for your little ones, especially when they don’t yet have teeth?

13 Comments

Posted in baby, dinner, lunch, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged baby-led weaning, butternut squash, finger food, freezable, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

Vegetable Korma

Posted on October 3, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I’ve talked before about not being very adventurous with spice in Nicholas’ food, but I’ve been trying to extend his tastebuds by adding different spicy flavours. Last week we went to our local pub for dinner and chose a mild chicken curry off their good children’s menu. When I tasted it I was surprised by the level of spiciness (closer to medium than mild), so was very curious to see Nicholas’ reaction. He loved it! Here’s to more spice then.

You can find some interesting and easy Indian-inspired baby and toddler recipes on the Homemade Baby Food Recipes site. My vegetable korma is a very slight adaptation of one they say you can give babies from 7 or 8 months (please use your discretion and your expert knowledge of your baby to decide when to introduce some aromatic spices to their food, and it’s always best to only introduce one new spice or food at a time).

This has a mild level of spiciness, more warming than hot, so perfect for even young tastebuds. Next time I’ll double the quantities of spice (so 1/4 tsp of each) and add some chopped or crushed garlic at the start for some more oomph.

You can really use any vegetables you have on hand for this korma. Sweet potato, green beans, bell peppers (capsicum), mushrooms and broccoli would all work well. Don’t worry too much about measuring exact quantities; trust your instinct to add more or less of each vegetable. It takes a bit more time, but cutting the vegetables into quite small pieces means they cook quicker and keep more of their nutrients.

Toddlers can eat the korma as is with some rice. For babies, blend the vegetables after it’s cooked or, if your munchkin is fine with some lumps, roughly mash it with a fork or potato masher.

VEGETABLE KORMA

Prep time: 10-15 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Makes 3-4 toddler portions
Freezable

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 cup cauliflower, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup peas
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 tbsp unsweetened dessicated coconut
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 cup water
1/8 tsp (or a large pinch) ground ginger
1/8 tsp (or a large pinch) cumin
1/8 tsp (or a large pinch) turmeric
1/8 tsp (or a large pinch) ground coriander
Salt to taste (optional)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook for a few minutes until the onion is translucent and the carrot is starting to become softer.

Add the tomato puree and spices. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously.

Add the remaining vegetables, coconut and water (and salt, if using). Stir, turn up the heat to medium-high and bring it to the boil.

Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked.

If serving to a baby, either blend the mixture until a smooth puree, or roughly mash with a fork or potato masher for a lumpier puree.

For a toddler, serve with cooked rice.

Variations:

Use different vegetables such as sweet potato, broccoli, bell peppers (capsicum), green beans or mushrooms.
Add chopped or crushed garlic to the onion and carrot.
Add grated fresh ginger to the onion and carrot.
Add a spoonful of coconut cream at the end.

Have you introduced spice to your little one’s food? Do they like it?

1 Comment

Posted in baby, dinner, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged baby, dairy-free, dinner, Indian, introducing spices, korma, lunch, recipe, toddler, vegan, vegetable korma, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

Blueberry pancakes (sugar-free)

Posted on October 1, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Hubby and I are following the Dukan diet to lose the spare tyres that have appeared over the years helped by us loving food and really not liking exercise. So far it’s working well and hasn’t been too hard to follow (you have foods you can eat, and you can eat as much as you like of them, and foods you can’t eat). You also have to eat oatbran and it’s easier to eat this in the morning (it also keeps your tummy full until lunchtime). I make Dukan’s galettes which always smell divine because of the cinnamon and vanilla I put in, but they taste very similar to cardboard!

Nicholas sees us eating our galettes and, of course, wants some too. For the moment he doesn’t realise that his galettes are usually banana pikelets or apple pikelets. My stocks in the freezer of these were running low so I thought I’d try a new flavour – blueberry.

I’m calling these pancakes, probably mini pancakes are a better description, because I left the blueberries whole and therefore made them thicker to surround the berries. Whether you call them pancakes, mini pancakes, pikelets, drop scones or dropped scones, make them, they’re yummy!

BLUEBERRY PANCAKES

Prep time: 5-10 mins
Cook time: 10-15 mins
Makes about 10 mini pancakes
Freezable

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
100g blueberries
1 tbsp honey
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
Small piece of butter, melted, to grease the pan

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into a medium- sized bowl.

Add the honey and egg then gradually pour in the milk mixing until you have a fairly thick batter (you might not need to use all the milk).

Gently mix in the blueberries.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and brush with melted butter. Use a tablespoon to drop spoonfuls of mixture into the pan. Cook in batches, turning when bubbles appear on the surface (1-2 mins). Cook the other side until golden brown (about 1 min). Lift out and cover with a clean tea towel to keep warm.

Variations:

Use nutmeg or ginger instead of cinnamon
Add vanilla essence for more sweetness

Tip: Wipe your pan clean with a piece of paper towel after each batch and then brush with some more melted butter.

Wholemeal wheat thins

Posted on September 27, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

One of the food blogs I religiously read is Smitten Kitchen. I love Deb’s laid-back approach to family cooking and the wonderful creations that come out of her small New York kitchen. I particularly love her homemade versions of snacks you might secretly buy at the supermarket checkout.

Her whole wheat goldfish crackers have been on my list of recipes to try for a while, but when her homemade wheat thins popped into my inbox I was running to the kitchen immediately!

With a food processor you can make these mini crackers super fast (if you don’t have one, follow Deb’s instructions to mix the dough by hand). Most of your preparation time will be rolling and cutting. If you’re a bit short of time, only roll out half of the mixture and keep the rest of the dough in the fridge to make the next day (or even freeze the remaining dough). You don’t need to make the dotted pattern on each cracker, but it does look cute!

I adapted Deb’s recipe slightly. I replaced the sugar with honey. I know, I have this thing against sugar when making things for Nicholas. Actually there’s very little sugar in the original recipe, but I still prefer substituting something a bit more natural and less refined. Honey’s also sweeter so you can use less, and after using it for a while now, I actually prefer its richer more mellow flavour to the harsher stronger taste of refined sugar. Anyway, enough of my honey rant!

As Deb says, you can use white flour and the result will be a lighter texture. I also can’t wait to try these again adding some onion or garlic powder, or some dried herbs. You could also make them cheesy.

I cut my thins smaller, mainly for Nicholas’ tiny hands but also so I wouldn’t feel guilty if a couple of them just happened to find their way into my mouth 😉

WHOLEMEAL WHEAT THINS

Prep time: 15-20 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Makes about 130
Keep in an airtight container for a week
Freezable (both the cooked thins and the uncooked dough)

1 1/4 cups (155 grams) wholemeal plain flour
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
Additional salt for topping (optional)
1/4 tsp paprika
4 tbsp (55 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup (60ml) cold water

Heat the oven to 200C and line an oven tray with baking paper.

Put the flour, honey, 1/2 tsp salt, paprika and butter into a food processor. Blend the mixture until it’s combined and the butter is evenly disbursed.

With the motor running, slowly pour in the cold water and blend until the mixture comes together into a ball.

Take the dough out of the processor and divide it in half. Roll out one half of the dough as thin as you can (rolling the dough out over a piece of cling film makes sure it doesn’t stick to your bench and be generous with the flour on your rolling pin). The thinner you can roll it, the crisper your thins will be.

Cut rectangles about 2.5cm by 2cm using a knife, a pastry wheel or even a pizza cutter. Place them close together on your prepared tray and use a skewer or toothpick to poke some dots into each one (I poked three dots from top to bottom on both sides and two dots in the middle). Sprinkle with extra salt, if using.

Bake for 7 – 10 mins until golden brown and crisp (keep a close eye on them as they cook quickly).

Variations:

add onion or garlic powder to the mixture
add some dried herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary, etc.) to the mixture
add some grated cheddar or parmesan to the mixture
use white plain flour for a lighter texture

Tip: if your thins start getting soft, pop them back into the oven to crisp up for a couple of minutes.

4 Comments

Posted in family, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged family, finger food, recipe, Smitten Kitchen, snack, sugar-free, toddler, vegetarian, wheat thins, wholemeal. Bookmark the permalink.

Fish fingers with wedges and mushy peas

Posted on September 25, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

After a week of cupcakes, it’s definitely time to return to healthier meals!

Nicholas has been at the stage where he wants to eat what we’re eating for a while now. Most of the time that’s fine, and it makes my job easier only having to prepare one meal each time instead of two. But sometimes he doesn’t like what we eat or I want him to eat a more balanced meal than we’re having.

I’ve started taking more care in how I present food to him, trying to include different colours of foods, making cute patterns, building towers of food (cheese works well!) or just putting it on colourful plates. This has really worked and has stopped him throwing tantrums when he wants to eat our dinner instead of his own.

Giving him a few different choices on the same plate also works. His developing independence means he’s happier when he’s choosing what goes into his mouth. It means meal times are longer as he decides what he should try next, but everyone is more relaxed.

My fish fingers and wedges are baked rather than fried to be healthier. The fish takes only a few minutes to cook so the breadcrumbs don’t turn that brown; you could add some turmeric to the breadcrumbs for a more golden colour.

FISH FINGERS WITH WEDGES AND MUSHY PEAS

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25-30 mins
Makes 1 toddler serving

1 medium potato, unpeeled
Drizzle of olive oil or cooking spray
1/2 skinless fillet of white fish (haddock, cod, plaice, etc.)
3-4 tbsp plain flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
3-4 tbsp breadcrumbs
4 tbsp frozen peas
Small sprig of mint, finely chopped
Small piece of butter
Salt and pepper (optional)

Heat the oven to 200C and line an oven tray with foil.

Scrub the potato clean and pat it dry. Without peeling it, cut it into wedge shapes. Put them into a small saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil. Boil for about 5 mins until they start getting softer.

Either drizzle a little olive oil on the lined oven tray or spray with cooking spray. Place the partly cooked wedges on the tray, and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper if using. Cook for about 20 -25 mins, turning them about halfway through, until crisp and brown on the outside.

Put your frozen peas into a small microwave-safe bowl and add 1/2 tsp water and the chopped mint. Cover and cook on medium for 1 min. Stir and cook for another 30 secs on medium. Drain any excess water, add a little butter and roughly mash for a fork. Cover and keep warm.

Cut the fish into thin strips, checking for any bones. Lightly season if you wish.

Prepare your three bowls for coating the fish: one bowl with flour, one with the beaten egg and the other with the breadcrumbs. Dip the fish strips into the flour shaking off the excess, then dip into the egg and let the excess drip off before dipping into the breadcrumbs to coat.

Put the fish onto the same oven tray as the cooking wedges. The fish fingers will only take a few minutes to cook, but the time will depend on the size you cut them. Take one out after 3 or 4 mins to check, remembering they will keep cooking for a little bit after you take them out of the oven.

Once the fish fingers and wedges are cooked, serve them with the mushy peas and some creme fraiche or yogurt for dipping (or ketchup if you really have to!).

Variations:

add some grated parmesan to the breadcrumbs for a cheesy coating
add a pinch of turmeric to the breadcrumbs for a more golden colour

Tip: to make your own breadcrumbs from leftover bread look at my previous tip.

1 Comment

Posted in dinner, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged breadcrumbs, dinner, finger food, fish fingers, lunch, mushy peas, recipe, toddler, wedges. Bookmark the permalink.

Cupcake inspiration

Posted on September 23, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

It’s the last day of National Cupcake Week. I haven’t managed to make any more worth blogging about, but wanted to share some inspiring ones (and they’re super cute too!) that I can’t wait to try when Nicholas is just a teeny bit bigger.

The Mini Mes and Me – Space Cupcakes

Check out lovely Emma’s blog (I love the title!) for her fizzy flying saucers and edible glitter sitting on chocolate ganache. What kid (little or big) wouldn’t love these?!

Cindy Littlefield’s Squirt Happy Turtles

A few jelly sweets turn ordinary cupcakes into something super cute.

Annabel Karmel’s Piggy Cupcakes

A few marshmallows and some writing icing are all you need to create some piggies (and don’t forget the curly tails!).

Baking Bites – Rainbow Cupcakes

By dividing up the batter and colouring it different rainbow colours, you can easily create the happiest cupcakes.

Daily Dish Blog – Mummy Cupcakes

Shari at Daily Dish Blog found the perfect cupcakes to make for Halloween (there aren’t any directions, but a few lines of white icing and some mini MandMs are all you need).

Update (22 Nov 2012): I finally found the original source for these cute mummy cupcakes and what’s even better is they’re low-fat! Gina at Skinny taste has detailed instructions, so now there’s no excuse not to make them!

Martha Stewart’s Toasted Marshmallow Cupcakes

Melting a marshmallow into the top is a super simple and super yummy way to finish your cupcakes.

2 Comments

Posted in dessert, recipe, snack, tip and tagged Annabel Karmel, Cindy Littlefield, cupcake, Martha Stewart, National Cupcake Week, recipe, Skinnytaste.com, The Mini Mes and Me. Bookmark the permalink.

Gingerbread cupcakes with cream cheese icing

Posted on September 21, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

National Cupcake Week is drawing to an end, but I didn’t think I could let it pass by without trying to make some gingerbread cupcakes. While they’re probably more appropriate for Christmas (at least I’m getting ahead!), their warm spiciness and dark sugariness are perfect as the weather gets colder.

You could easily ice these with normal icing or vanilla buttercream icing; I just love the flavour combination of gingerbread and cream cheese. I also didn’t want to make a very firm icing because then the sugary flavour would overpower the cream cheese flavour, but if you want an icing you can pipe high on top of the cupcakes, then just add some more icing sugar to the mixture.

GINGERBREAD CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

Prep time: 20-25 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Makes 12 cupcakes
Uniced cupcakes can be frozen for up to a month

Gingerbread cupcakes

125g self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
125g butter, softened
125g dark muscovado sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp golden syrup

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan).

Sift the flour, baking powder and ground ginger together.

Sprinkle the muscovado sugar over the butter, breaking any lumps up as much as you can. Beat the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer, or in a food processor, until creamy.

At a slower speed, add the eggs (one at a time) and golden syrup.

Carefully fold in the flour mixture, being careful not to overmix it.

Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake cases and bake for 12-15 mins until cooked through when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire rack.

Cream cheese icing

90g butter, softened
150g cream cheese, softened
400g icing sugar, sifted
A sprinkling of cinnamon to serve

Beat the butter until creamy and pale in colour.

Add the cream cheese and lightly beat together.

Mix in the icing sugar, lightly beating until creamy.

Once the cupcakes are cool, spread or pipe the icing on top. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.

Tip: the cream cheese icing is quite soft; if you want a firmer icing that holds its shape better for piping higher, add more icing sugar to the mixture.

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