Tag Archives: freezable

Banana and butternut squash loaf

Posted on September 6, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

One of the last things I did before running out the door before our holidays (amazingly the first time I wasn’t running like a lunatic due to being so late) was to throw the remaining (very ripe) bananas in the freezer. It gave me a (silly) sense of pride to know we weren’t wasting them. It’s the little things after all!

While we were away I came across an unusual recipe for banana bread from Simon Rimmer with the added ingredient of butternut squash. I’m always looking for different ways to use up bananas and this recipe definitely piqued my interest.

I made some changes to the original recipe. I reduced the sugar and used chopped walnuts instead of pecans. I also reduced the amount of nuts as hubby isn’t a huge fan and it seemed an excessive amount also for me too. The original recipe is topped with a cream cheese icing which would work wonderfully, but I wanted to keep my loaf dairy-free and simple so just drizzled the cooked loaf with honey. It also means I feel no guilt eating it for breakfast 😉

The end result is a lovely dense and very moist cake with a subtle taste of banana. If anyone guessed this cake has a vegetable ingredient, I’m certain they’d never guess butternut squash. Another way to sneak some veg into your children’s diets perhaps? And if you have any pureed butternut squash in the freezer leftover from your munchkin’s earlier weaning days, I can’t think of a better way to use it.

BANANA AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH LOAF

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 50-60 mins
Makes 1 loaf
Freezable

120g sugar
1 egg
150ml vegetable oil
2 bananas, mashed
225g butternut squash, cooked and mashed
275g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g walnut pieces
drizzle of honey to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg and vegetable oil. Fold in the mashed banana and butternut squash.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Fold this dry flour mixture into the wet banana mixture. Stir through the walnuts.

Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Drizzle honey over the top of the loaf before serving.

Variations:

add sultanas or raisins for added sweetness
omit the walnuts if putting into a child’s lunchbox

Tip: If you have the time, it’s much better to peel your bananas before freezing them, as peeling a frozen or defrosted banana takes some skill. Just peel, throw in a ziploc bag and freeze.

3 Comments

Posted in dessert, family, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged banana, breakfast, butternut squash puree, dairy-free, dessert, family, finger food, freezable, recipe, Simon Rimmer, snack, toddler, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

Butter bean pasta sauce

Posted on August 6, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

This is a super quick pasta sauce you can whip up in the time it takes for the pasta to cook, and using tinned beans means no cooking!

The amount of milk is an approximate measure; it depends on how much the beans soak up. If you let the sauce stand before using it, the beans will continue sucking up the milk and the sauce will become drier. Trust your own judgement as to how much milk to add.

You can easily make as much or as little sauce as you want, either using just a couple of tablespoons of beans to make one serving or using the whole tin and freezing the leftover sauce. Why not experiment using other different types of tinned beans?

BUTTER BEAN PASTA SAUCE

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 0 mins 🙂
Makes about 300ml of sauce
Freezable

1 tin butter beans (approx. 400g), rinsed and drained
Approx. 1/4 cup of milk
Pinch of salt (optional)
To serve: 1 tbsp grated parmesan

Put the rinsed and drained butter beans in a small food processor. Add about half of the milk (and salt if using) and blend until smooth. Check the consistency , adding more milk and blending again as necessary.

Mix through cooked pasta and sprinkle generously with grated parmesan.

French toast soldiers (sugar-free)

Posted on August 3, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Breakfast. I’m never that creative with my own so I guess it’s logical that I struggle to be creative with Nicholas’. Mashed banana and yogurt has been our staple since his early days of weaning. He still eats it about three times a week, it never fails (he starts chanting ‘nana!, nana!’ as soon as I pick up a banana), and I can prepare it while still half asleep. But regardless of whether or not he gets bored of it, I get bored preparing it and also feel guilty that I should be giving him more of a variety of food to start the day.

In the early months of weaning I did grated apple, grated pear, grated apple and pear (!), and baby porridge. I don’t know why I never thought of French toast then. Slightly crispy on the outside, and lovely and soft inside, it’s certainly something a baby can tackle with their super strong gums, and a great baby-led weaning food. It’s also a nice way to introduce baby to other flavours like cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

Thanks to Once a Month Mom, I discovered you can freeze French toast after you make it (saves you throwing away the unused egg mixture), make it into kabobs, and, more surprisingly, you can hide vegetables in it (she adds butternut squash puree!). I haven’t tried adding vegetables, but I have tried adding some mashed banana and also applesauce to the mixture before dunking the bread and these additions both work well.

You can dunk your soldiers in applesauce or a warm berry compote, drizzle with golden syrup or maple syrup, or serve them with fruit on the side (raw or stewed). Nicholas seems to like them as I do – plain with a drizzle of honey.

FRENCH TOAST SOLDIERS (SUGAR-FREE)

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Makes 1 toddler serving
Freezable

1 slice of bread, cut into 4 or 5 ‘soldiers’
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg
1 tsp honey (optional)
a couple of drops of vanilla essence (optional)
1 tsp butter

In a bowl large enough for your ‘soldiers’ to lie down in, lightly beat the egg, milk, and cinnamon or nutmeg (and honey and vanilla, if using).

Lay your ‘soldiers’ in the eggy mixture and let them soak on both sides while you heat the butter in a small frying pan over a med-low heat.

Fry the bread for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.

Variations:

add mashed banana or applesauce (or even pureed butternut squash or sweet potato!) to the mixture before dunking
use cute cookie cutters to make different shapes of ‘soldiers’ to surprise your little one

Possibly the best brownies (adult recipe)

Posted on July 17, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

My hubby is a fantastic cook. For the first few years we lived together he did most of the cooking and I was very happy about that! He’s very good at coming up with great meals day after day whereas I’ve always struggled.

Our routine now is that I cook during the week and he takes over at the weekend. Usually at the weekend we catch up with friends and often eat out which suits hubby just fine! When he does cook now, unfortunately there’s not a lot of passion, rather he’s cooking for necessity.

I really miss his passionate cooking so when he asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday I requested a dinner cooked by him. And a chocolate cake! Hubby doesn’t like chocolate so I never make anything chocolately even for guests. Surprisingly it was the chocolate cake request that made him nervous and unsure – he’d never made anything chocolatey before!

Sunday dinner was fabulous. A starter of various salami and cheeses followed by langoustines flamed in whisky sauce with potato cakes, quails’ egg tempura and wilted spinach (this took him much longer to prepare than the recipe stated but it was superb!) and triple-chocolate brownies to finish with. I felt thoroughly spoilt… and full!

The brownies are full of chocolatey goodness, in fact I don’t think you could squeeze in any more chocolate. Hubby said they were very easy to make with clear and precise instructions. Maybe encourage your partner to make them for you as they’re so easy 😉

Hubby used a loaf tin instead of the square square tin (I wouldn’t have guessed) and lined not just the bottom but all the sides with baking paper so there was no chance of sticking. He also had to cook it quite a bit longer than the recipe said (about 15 minutes longer); just keep doing the wobble test!

POSSIBLY THE BEST BROWNIES

Prep and cook time: 1 hour
Makes 16 squares or 32 triangles
Keeps in an airtight container for up to two weeks
Freezable (up to a month)

185g unsalted butter, cut into smallish cubes
185g best dark chocolate (not cooking chocolate!), broken into small pieces
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
50g white chocolate
50g milk chocolate
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar

Put the butter and dark chocolate into a medium bowl. Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them. Now remove the bowl from the pan. Alternatively, you can cover the bowl loosely with cling film and put in the microwave for 2 minutes on high. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.

While the chocolate is cooling, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4. Line the bottom and sides of a shallow 20cm square tin (or similar sized loaf tin) with baking paper, leaving the paper overhanging on all sides.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl, making sure you don’t have any lumps.

With a large sharp knife, chop the white chocolate and milk chocolate into chunks on a board. The slabs of chocolate will be quite hard, so the safest way to do this is to hold the knife over the chocolate and press the tip down on the board, then bring the rest of the blade down across the chocolate. Keep on doing this, moving the knife across the chocolate to chop it into pieces, then turn the board round 90 degrees and again work across the chocolate so you end up with rough squares.

Break the eggs into a large bowl and tip in the caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is, so don’t lose heart. You’ll know it’s ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you’re there.

Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until the two mixtures are one and the colour is a mottled dark brown. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like – you don’t want to undo all the good whisking work you did before.

Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly. Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, but keep going very gently and patiently and it will end up looking gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don’t want to overdo this mixing. Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate chunks until they’re dotted throughout. Now you can let the oven take over.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it. Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 minutes. When the buzzer goes, open the oven, pull the shelf out a bit and gently shake the tin. If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it’s not quite done, so slide it back in and check again in another 5 minutes. When it’s cooked the top will have a shiny, papery crust and the sides will be just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven.

Leave it in the tin until completely cold, then lift out the brownie using the edges of baking paper. Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares and finally into triangles. Enjoy their fabulous rich chocolately goodness!

Butternut squash and chickpea cakes

Posted on July 13, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

While we’ve been quite adventurous letting Nicholas try some foods (at 16 months he’s already tried frog legs, mussels, veal, pink beef and, if you’re not European maybe skip the next word… horse). I have, however, been quite cautious introducing stronger spices. Herbs like basil, oregano, chives, thyme and parsley I had no problem in adding pretty much immediately; they help give flavour when you’re not adding salt. But I’ve been concerned about spices like cumin and coriander and also garlic, possibly irritating Nicholas’ tummy.

If you’re interested in reading some more about introducing spices to your little one’s food as well as the health benefits of spices, this article gives a good overview and it also has links to Indian recipes for babies (suitable from 7-8 months) and toddlers (suitable from 10-12 months).

So in my quest to start introducing some stronger spices into Nicholas’ diet I thought I’d adapt Cook Eat Live Vegetarian’s wonderful butternut squash and chickpea cakes. Have a look at Natalie’s fabulous plating of her creations and I dare you not to drool! In fact maybe just look at her photos rather than my poor efforts!

This is an easy recipe to do two ways – cakes for your toddler and cakes for the rest of the family. I make my toddler version first (eliminating some of the spices and reducing others) then add the missing spices to the remaining mixture before making the adult cakes. I serve the toddler cakes with some yogurt to dip them into (toddlers love dipping!) and the adult cakes with whatever chutney we have in the fridge (will definitely make Natalie’s red onion marmalade soon though).

I don’t peel the butternut squash… I’m lazy. If I was serving this to guests I probably would just to be sure they didn’t find any big bits of peel. I also mix my ingredients in a food processor (the original recipe mixes them by hand). Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients as they’re actually very easy to make.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND CHICKPEA CAKES

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins (roasting the squash) plus 15 mins (cooking the cakes)
Makes 2-3 toddler servings (about 12 mini cakes) and 2 adult servings (6 cakes)
Freezable

400g butternut squash, chopped (unpeeled) into chunks of about 4cm
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Drizzle of olive oil
1 400g tin of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup (40g) breadcrumbs (or polenta or cornmeal), plus extra for coating
1 tsp ground cumin
1 small clove of finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 egg
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of black pepper

To add for family version:
1/2 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 small-medium clove of finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 190C. Put the butternut squash chunks on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Roast for 20-30 minutes until golden and soft when pierced with a knife.

While the butternut squash is cooking, put the rest of the ingredients for the toddler version (chickpeas, breadcrumbs, cumin, garlic, lemon juice, egg, parsley, salt and pepper) into a food processor.

Once the butternut squash is cooked, you can decide whether or not to leave the skin on or peel it off. If leaving it on, you just need to blend your mixture a bit more to ensure the peel is broken up and you can always still check for big bits of skin when shaping your cakes.

Mix everything together until the butternut squash has broken up and the mixture is sticking together. If you have time, cover your bowl with cling film and put in the fridge for at least half an hour so the mixture firms up and it’s easier to shape your cakes. If not, it’s easier to drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the breadcrumbs and shape each one as you’re covering it.

Shape about half the mixture into little balls. Dip into breadcrumbs to cover completely.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a medium frying pan at medium heat. Cook the balls for a couple of minutes each side, pressing them down into cake shapes, until they have a lovely golden crispy coating.

Serve with a dollop of yogurt.

For grown ups:

With the remaining mixture add the rest of the ingredients (garam masala, cumin, garlic, cayenne pepper, and extra salt and pepper) and mix well. Shape into 6 equal balls and dip into breadcrumbs to coat. Add some more olive oil to the frying pan and cook them for 4-5 minutes each side, pressing them flat.

Serve immediately with some fruit chutney and salad.

Variations:

the original recipe uses fresh coriander rather than parsley
replace the butternut squash with sweet potato

How do you feel about giving your little one strong spices?

2 Comments

Posted in dinner, family, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged butternut pumpkin, butternut squash, chickpeas, Cook Eat Live Vegetarian, dairy-free, finger food, freezable, Indian toddler recipes, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

Sugar-free carrot loaf

Posted on July 6, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I don’t know about you, but when 4 o’clock comes around my tummy starts feeling empty. Nicholas is usually napping and I’m ready to sit down, have a coffee and not think of mummy things for a little while. Then my mind wanders to thinking about what chocolate we have in the house! So looking for something healthier for me that could also be a healthier sweet snack or breakfast option for Nicholas, I thought I’d try adapting this Foodista recipe for breakfast carrot muffins.

I used wholemeal flour and used my apple sauce instead of sugar to be healthier. I also substituted the butter with vegetable oil, upped the carrot, added some sultanas and vanilla for extra sweetness, and some spice (cinnamon and nutmeg). I was very happy with the result – a dense moist loaf. Next time I’ll try adding some walnut pieces for some crunch.

This recipe works well both as a loaf or as muffins. Spread with some butter to be indulgent!

SUGAR-FREE CARROT LOAF

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hr
Makes 1 loaf
Freezable

2 cups wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 cup grated carrot (packed in as tight as you can!)

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup sultanas

Preheat your oven to 180C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.

Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg) in a medium-sized bowl.

To the grated carrot mix in the wet ingredients (apple sauce, beaten egg, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla).

Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix fairly quickly to combine. Stir through the raisins and sultanas.

Pour into the loaf tin and cook for 50-60 mins until golden on top and cooked when tested with a skewer.

Variations:

add some chopped walnuts
add some powdered ginger or cardamom for some extra warm spice
make as muffins

Tip: if you have a food processor, check if you have a grating attachment to make preparing the carrot faster and easier.

1 Comment

Posted in breakfast, family, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged adults, apple sauce, applesauce, breakfast, carrot cake, carrot loaf, finger food, Foodista, freezable, freeze, recipe, snack, sugar-free, toddler, vegetarian, wholemeal flour. Bookmark the permalink.

Sugar-free apple pikelets

Posted on July 4, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I’ve now whipped up three batches of apple sauce (or applesauce as Americans seem to use). Like most things, the more times you do it the easier it gets and I now feel like I know what I’m doing!

I thought I’d try it out this time as a sweetener in my banana pikelet recipe, replacing the honey. I still have a few banana pikelets in the freezer so I made apple pikelets this time using grated apple. I also meant to add some sultanas to the batter, but my mind drifted onto other things and I forgot. Oh well, there’s always a next time!

Pikelets are small pancakes and are perfect for children to cook when they’re old enough to start doing supervised things in the kitchen. They’d also be a good way to get kids to experiment with different flavour combinations.

These pikelets, like my banana pikelets, aren’t super sweet. You could add some honey to the batter or serve them drizzled with honey or, if you’re not worried about them being sugar-free, add 1/4 cup of sugar to the batter. And don’t worry if you don’t have bicarbonate of soda, as they work just as well without.

Pop the leftovers in the freezer to have for breakfast or a snack another day.

SUGAR-FREE APPLE PIKELETS

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Makes about 20
Freezable

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 sweet apple, grated
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
small piece of butter, melted, to grease the pan

Sift flour, bicarbonate and cinnamon into a medium-sized bowl. Add grated apple, apple sauce and egg, and mix to combine. Gradually add the milk until you get a fairly thick batter (you might not need to add all the milk).

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and brush with melted butter. Use a tablespoon to drop the 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: