Category Archives: recipe

Cute Lunches: Pizza Minions

Posted on September 17, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

‘Despicable Me’ is one of Nicholas’ favourite films (especially the ‘Banana’ short film), and one or more of his beloved toy minions are regular guests at his tea parties. We have yet to see the sequel, but in the meantime I made some pizza minions.

These are really just a variation on my recent pizza bears, using my Super Quick Cheat’s Pizza recipe.

I cut out oval shapes from tortilla wraps (using kitchen scissors is much easier than cookie cutters), drizzled them with olive oil, added homemade tomato pasta sauce with some hidden veg, and a sprinkle of grated cheddar. I cut the minions’ features from a small piece of courgette/zucchini: thin strips, small circles and various mouth shapes. I added small pieces of grated cheddar for the eyes.

While the pizzas were cooking, I used an edible ink pen to draw another couple of minions on to yellow cherry tomatoes (difficult and messy!).

4 Comments

Posted in cute lunches, lunch, snack, toddler and tagged cheat's pizza, cute lunches, Despicable Me, lunch, minion, minion pizza, pizza, snack. Bookmark the permalink.

Back to school

Posted on August 28, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

It’s ‘back to school’ time for many families and after the summer holidays it can be difficult getting back into a routine. To make sending your munchkins out the door with some good food in their bellies a little easier, I wanted to remind you of some ideas I came up with for Mindful Mum last year.

My favourite is still the sunny bread. Click on the photo to see my other ideas.

What’s your favourite school day breakfast for you and your family?

Cute Lunches: pizza bears

Posted on August 19, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

I haven’t posted a cute lunch in many months. I try to pack Nicholas a cute lunch when he goes to nursery twice a week, but usually only manage to take a quick photo of them (if I remember!) with my phone.

I’m sure it will get easier, but it stills takes me lots of time (and thought) to come up with a cute meal idea, although investing in some cute cutters and edible ink pens make even the most boring sandwich instantly better. I’m constantly in awe of the cute lunch makers whose blogs I follow.

My inspiration for these pizza bears came from a photo Bento, Monsters posted on Instagram. Finally something I could attempt! Unfortunately when I got our jar of black olives out of the fridge they had to be thrown away so I had to come up with another idea instead of having Bento, Monsters’ lovely shiny black noses, but I think they turned out quite well.

I used my Super Quick Cheat’s Pizza recipe as a starting point, cutting out bear shaped-heads from a tortilla wrap (much easier to use kitchen scissors rather than a knife). I then added homemade spinach pesto (recipe coming soon), some cooked ham and grated cheddar and popped them into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese was melting and the bases starting to turn golden.

As they cooked, I cut out circles of cheddar for the bears’ muzzles, and cut out noses and eyes from a slice of tomato. I added them to the pizzas and then cooked them a little more (only about a minute).

Now the only thing we’re missing is Goldilocks!

Any other ideas, apart from olives, as to what to use for the bear’s features?

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Posted in cute lunches, lunch, snack, toddler and tagged bear pizza, cheat's pizza, cute lunches, lunch, pizza, snack, spinach pesto. Bookmark the permalink.

Persian lamb skewers

Posted on August 15, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

We’re trying to squeeze in as much use of the barbecue as possible as the English summer quickly fades, and trying to be as varied as possible with what we throw on it. These lamb skewers were inspired by ones we had at friends’ barbecue which were from their village butcher (thank goodness village butchers stil exist).

I added a small amount of breadcrumbs to my mixture which is not authentic at all. I found a pure meat mixture very difficult to easily shape around the skewers and it also fell off the skewers during cooking, so decided to add the breadcrumbs as an additional binder. Feel free to go with a competely meat mixture.

While these are perfect for a barbecue, especially when you need to feed lots of people, it would work just as well cooked on a griddle pan over the stove. The amounts are also easily halved to make a smaller amount for a family main course.

You can prepare the meat mixture the day before and leave it in a bowl in the fridge, or shape the meat around the skewers and leave them in the fridge overnight ready for the next day. Remember if you’re using wooden skewers that could burn on the barbecue, soak them for about 30 mins before putting the mixture on them.

Nicholas loves meat anyway, but particularly loved these “meat lollipops”. Of course be careful of skewers with children. You could also add some grated vegetables to the mix to get some more veg into your little ones.

Wonderful served with grilled vegetables, or with Greek yogurt with a squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped mint added.

PERSIAN LAMB SKEWERS

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15-20 mins
Makes approx. 15 skewers

600g minced lamb
1 onion, grated and excess juice squeezed out
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (optional)
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together (easier if you do it with your hands).

With wet hands to avoid the mixture sticking to them, take a small handful of the meat, shape it into an oval shape and then mould it around the skewer.

Cook on a preheated very hot griddle pan or barbecue, turning regularly to cook evenly, until cooked through (about 15-20 mins).

Variations:

Use a mixture of minced beef and lamb.
Add some grated vegetables to the meat such as carrot or courgette/zucchini.

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Posted in dinner, family, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged barbecue, bbq, dinner, family, kebabs, lunch, minced lamb, Persian, recipe, skewers, toddler. Bookmark the permalink.

Super quick cheat’s pizza

Posted on August 5, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

I’ve already talked about hubby’s quest to find the perfect pizza dough, and my Anglo-Saxon efforts and cheats. Here is my biggest cheat of all which hubby happily eats – use a bought tortilla as the base!

For those evenings or weekends when you have no desire or energy to cook, these are perfect and yummy. Use what you have in the fridge, get your littlies to help or just get everything out, turn on the oven and go back to the sofa while the rest of the family make their own!

I always have a tube of tomato puree in the fridge and this is perfect for spreading on these pizzas. You could also use pasta sauce or leave it out entirely and have a ‘pizza bianca’. Then the other toppings are completely up to you and your fridge/cupboard. For fussy veg eater Nicholas, I often add some finely grated carrot and he loves it. If you have your own fussy eater, cut the ingredients up small, focus on the lovely colours and use some veg to ‘draw’ pictures on the pizzas.

A drizzle of good olive oil over the top of even the most mundane ingredients makes everything taste better. I like to add a drizzle before cooking and also after ;)

Tortillas come in different sizes. The ones I used for the photo were slightly smaller than a dinner plate and usually enough for one adult or two toddlers. It never hurts to make too many though as they’re also tasty the next day in lunchboxes.

Why not try using some other type of flat bread for your base?

SUPER QUICK CHEAT’S PIZZA

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: approx. 5 mins
Makes 2 adult and 2 toddler servings

3 tortilla wraps (plain or wholemeal)
3 tsp tomato puree
Extra virgin olive oil
Your choice of cheese (eg. shredded fresh mozzarella, grated cheddar, crumbled feta, etc.)
Your choice of toppings (eg. sliced cooked ham, diced cooked chicken, sliced tomatoes, grated carrot, sliced mushrooms, fresh basil, etc.)

Line an oven tray (a heavy-based one if possible) with baking paper. Heat oven to 220C and put the prepared tray inside to heat up (this helps crisp up the bottom of the pizzas).

Put your tortillas on a cutting board. Drizzle each with a little olive oil and 1 tsp of the tomato puree. Use the back of a spoon to spread the puree and oil fairly evenly over each tortilla.

Add your other desired toppings and finish with another drizzle of olive oil.

Open the hot oven and pull out the tray enough so you can slide the pizzas on to it.

The time it takes to cook your pizza will depend on how many toppings you added, but they shouldn’t take much longer than 5 minutes (just keep a close eye on them).

Finish with another drizzle of olive oil and some torn fresh basil if you have it.

What ingredients do you normally have in your fridge or cupboard that would be great on this pizza?

7 Comments

Posted in cooking with toddlers, dinner, family, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged cheat pizza, cheat's pizza, cooking with kids, dinner, family, lunch, pizza, quick pizza, recipe, toddler, tortilla. Bookmark the permalink.

Dairy-free one-ingredient strawberry ice cream

Posted on July 30, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

Since discovering how easy it is to make banana ice cream by simply blending frozen banana until it becomes creamy, I’ve wanted to try other fruit flavours. However, living in the UK doesn’t usually lend itself to eating much summery food. But this glorious summer, yes!

Banana is the perfect fruit to use in a one-ingredient ice cream because it’s naturally creamy and high in sugar. Strawberries on the other hand have a high water content (that’s why frozen strawberries become mushy after defrosting) so can easily produce an icy consistency when blended. But I thought I’d give strawberry ice cream a go seeing as it’s Nicholas’ favourite ice cream flavour.

The frozen strawberries blend at a very similar speed to frozen banana and you need to regularly scrape down the sides of the bowl. The result using strawberries was definitely less creamy with a texture of ice cream verging on icy sorbetto. It was sweet enough for both Nicholas and me, but hubby (being Italian and therefore believing strawberries are never sweet enough on their own!) wasn’t so sure. If you’re not sure either, you could add a little honey, agave nectar or icing sugar while you’re blending.

I’ve since read adding a handful of frozen banana slices to the frozen strawberries adds creaminess and sweetness without taking away from the berry flavour. That’s definitely something I’ll try next time.

Like the banana version, it’s easier to blend the pieces of frozen fruit if they’ve been left to defrost for a couple of minutes. If the resulting ‘soft serve’ texture is too soft for you, put the blended mix into the freezer for 15 minutes or so for it to firm up.

If there’s any leftover ice cream, put it into a freezer-safe container for another day (letting it defrost for a couple of minutes and then reblending it before eating, or mush it up with the back of a spoon if you’re lazy like me). I’ve also poured leftovers into ice lolly moulds (sometimes also adding a layer of plain yogurt).

There are lots of other fruit I want to try this with. Jamie Oliver does a similar thing with mango in his 30-Minute Meals although he also adds yogurt, honey and lime juice.

DAIRY-FREE ONE-INGREDIENT STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM

Preparation time is cutting up the strawberries, waiting for them to freeze and then blending them.
A 300-400g punnet of strawberries makes about 4 adult servings.

Cut your strawberries into quarters (or halves if they’re small) and lay them on a tray covered with baking paper. Put in the freezer for a few hours until frozen. If you’re not going to use them immediately, put them in a bag after they’re frozen and keep in the freezer.

Put your frozen strawberry pieces into a food processor. Blend and blend, scraping down the sides, until it becomes creamy (about 5 mins). Don’t worry if you think it’s not going to get creamy, just be patient and keep blending.

Variations:

add a handful of sliced frozen banana for a creamier texture
freeze a variety of berries, not just strawberries
add a little honey, agave nectar or icing sugar for extra sweetness
add a little rose water as you’re blending

Other uses:

pour leftovers into ice lolly moulds, alternating with layers of plain yogurt

What fruits would you love to try making into healthier ice cream?

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Posted in baby, dessert, family, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged banana, dairy-free, dairy-free ice cream, dessert, frozen strawberries, ice cream, lactose intolerant, one-ingredient, strawberry, strawberry ice cream, sugar-free. Bookmark the permalink.

Smoked Bacon and Courgette Pasta

Posted on July 25, 2013 by TheGingerbreadMum

This quick and easy pasta dish, ideal for the whole family, is another recipe from Annabel Karmel’s latest book which I reviewed a little while ago.

The original recipe uses macaroni, but any short type of pasta such as penne or farfalle would work well. It also uses crème fraîche, which can easily be substituted with Greek yogurt or even soured cream if you don’t have it on hand.

The book says this dish is suitable for freezing. It’s not clear if it means you can freeze the whole dish or just the sauce. Either way I’m always dubious about freezing crème fraîche or yogurt when mixed with other ingredients as they have a tendency to separate (the water from the dairy product separating when frozen). I’ve never thought about freezing pasta (and I think Italian hubby would be horrified!). Has anyone tried it?

Nicholas is thankfully going through a slightly better period with vegetables (fingers crossed it lasts!), but he still picked out a lot of the courgette/zucchini. If you’re feeding this to a fussy eater, dice the veg as small as you can.

SMOKED BACON AND COURGETTE PASTA

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Makes 1 adult and 2 toddler servings

150g pasta (any short type like penne, macaroni, farfalle or orecchiette)
3 thick sices smoked bacon, diced
2 small courgettes/zucchini, diced
1 tomato, deseeded and diced
2 tbsp snipped fresh chives
3 tbsp crème fraîche (or Greek yogurt)
50g parmesan, grated
salt and pepper (optional)

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling lightly salted water according to the packet instructions. Drain, reserving 150ml of the cooking water.

While the pasta is cooking, dry-fry the bacon for 2 minutes in a non-stick frying pan. Add the courgettes and fry for another 5 minutes until they are soft and lightly golden, then add the tomatoes and chives.

Add the pasta to the frying pan with the reserved water, crème fraîche and parmesan. Toss together over the heat for 2 minutes (be careful not to let the crème fraîche split by heating it too much).

Add seasoning if desired, then serve.

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