Playdough or pasta?

These long winter afternoons are the perfect excuse to get back to my much-ignored blog. The girls and I have been making just as much mess in the kitchen, but somehow the photographs and writing seemed to get put on hold as the chaos of Christmas took over. Why do we do it to ourselves? I only just feel like I've recovered from the annual stress-fest. If I'm really honest, I don't enjoy Christmas as much now that I have children. Not until the day arrives, when the last present is wrapped, the last homemade, glittery and still sticky card delivered, and I can finally sit back and enjoy my children enjoying Christmas. I shouldn't be complaining as this year I didn't even have to do the cooking as my lovely friend Tors invited us, along with my Mother-In-Law, for Christmas Day. She cooked up a storm, and I bought along a few puddings, including a chocolate log which took me 3 attempts to get right ( I think the last time I made anything similar was a swiss roll at school, which I found equally tricky).

I thought I'd start off my 2011 blogging with something much simpler - homemade pasta. I couldn't have told you what was in pasta until I first made it with a group of children and realised just how easy it is to make.  Plain egg pasta is made from 2 ingredients, flour and eggs.  Much quicker to make than homemade playdough, twice as tasty and not nearly so messy. If your children are anything like mine pasta is a regular visitor to your table, so making your own is well worthwhile.

1. Weigh out 100g flour with your child (this amount will serve 2 children for lunch). I use Doves Farm Pasta Flour, but plain white flour will do the job.

2. Help your child to break 1 egg into a small bowl.

3. Get your child to scoop out a well in the flour.

4. Let your child pour the egg into the well. Ask them to start stirring, and the dough will start to look like big breadcrumbs.

5. Gather the dough together and give it a quick knead, then hand it over to your child and let them have a go at kneading.

6. If you get into making pasta it is well worth buying a pasta machine, the one in the photographs I bought for my husband as a not very subtle hint last year - it worked, he's made us some great pasta.  However there is no need for a machine.  For tagliettelle simply roll out the dough with your child, as thin as you can, fold over, then roll again. Once you have got it nice and thin, cut it into long strips. It doesn't matter what it looks like, it matter how it tastes, and it will be delicious - especially with the homemade pesto I wrote about last year on the blog.

7. You can hang the pasta to dry it, I had to keep ours up high  as the children kept coming along and trying to steal it to eat raw. I'll never see what children see in raw pasta, mine happily crunch away on the packet stuff like its a bag of crisps.

Two little cooks

My little girl had one of her favourite friends over to play recently and they had great, messy fun together cooking bread. It got me thinking about friendships and cooking, and remembering some of the lovely times I have had preparing food and eating with friends and family. There is something about making food with someone that bonds you, especially if it is a new aquaintance - and being roped in to help prepare something can often make someone feel welcome.

 I worked on a Kibbutz whilst I was at University, and had to prepare breakfast for hundreds of hungry workers. There was a woman of 80 who still worked in the kitchens. The Kibbutz ideology means that people work until they drop, which considering the amount of very able older people there were on my Kibbutz, is probably a sound one. This old lady couldn't speak a word of English, and my Hebrew didn't stretch much further, but somehow, sharing the experience of boiling hundreds of eggs and cutting up countless red peppers (yes, for breakfast!) gave us a bond and somehow let me enter her world a little bit.

She had a tattoo on her arm that she had gained in a concentration camp, and had been one of the early immigrant settlers in dusty, difficult Israel - our worlds could not have been further apart in so many ways, but I will never forget her (perhaps also because she almost burnt down the dining hall down by spraying an electric toaster with a hosepipe, but that, as they say, is another story!)

Anyhow, this is the 'after' picture  - lots of fun, flour and bonding!

Quick bread

This isn't so much a bread as a giant scone. Its so easy and quick, a perfect wet afternoon activity.

Ingredients for 2 'loaves'

225g self raising flour

50g cold butter, cut into pieces

150ml milk

25g  dried fruit - apricots, raisins, currants, blueberries,

A handful of seeds - pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, sesame or linseed

 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C / 400f and tell your child that it is hot.

2. Weigh out 225g flour into a bowl.

3. Weigh out 50g butter together and cut into small pieces.

4. Show your child how to gently 'squeeze' the butter and flour together until it resembles breadcrumbs.

5. Weigh out 25g mixed fruit and add to the mixture.

6. Let your child pour 150ml milk into the mixture, then stir. If its dry, add a little more.

 7. Show your child how to make a ball from the dough and let them have a play with it.

8.  Break the dough into 2 pieces and then make into 'footballs'

9. Put the balls on a baking tray.

10. Give your child a pastry or paint brush and a little milk, let them paint the top of the balls.

11. Now let your child decorate the balls with the seeds

12. Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

To market to market...

We've been to the famous Stroud Farmers Market this weekend. A cold, crisp autumnal morning somehow feels like the perfect backdrop for a British market. I came away wondering why there aren't more places like this to buy food - somewhere to hang out, to bump into friends, to listen to music (our lovely neighbour John was there playing his fiddle).

 

Anything that makes the shopping experience more fun is a winner in my book. I don't know about you but since I have become a parent I have found that shopping and thinking about what to buy and cook is a relentless task, one that I often dread.

The smells, the colour, the noise - you don't get that in a supermarket, and I can't remember the last time Tescos was handing out free organic carrots for children to chomp on.  We had a (second) breakfast of bacon baps - stuffed with a lot of delicious bacon, not just the odd measly grey strip. The children were a bit chilly to start, but once I had bought some hats (what an unprepared mother!) they started to enjoy themselves, and were soon loving the sights and sounds of the market and running around chasing their little friend Rufus.

We bought some quinces for Grandma to make some Quince jam, then it was back to Matt and Sarahs' house for a lovely lunch, entirely sourced from the market.

The market is now being held every Saturday morning from 9am, get there early for the best produce, and DO try one of the bacon baps.

http://www.fresh-n-local.co.uk/markets/stroud.php

Let me know if you buy your food somwhere unique. Also, do your children enjoy the supermarket experience, or do you dread every trip? I'd love to have your comments.

Mermaid tea party

I'm not one for making pizza faces or hedgehog bread. However a little bit of imaginary play with food can come in very handy. My eldest daughter has never allowed a piece of tuna to pass her lips, and has declared many a time that it is 'be-gusting.' Luckily she has a very active imagination, so when we had a mermaid tea-party recently, she joined in with gusto and tried her tuna pasta first time - even finishing the bowl. When I asked her if she liked tuna now, she said 'only mermaid tuna'!

It's about time we had some babies on here, and my friend Lara's triplets make the perfect models! Gwennie, Mae and Leo are just over a year and are very busy little bees, investigating everything in their path. Its the ideal time to get babies exploring ingredients and it can help keep them busy whilst you are doing the cooking.

The more familiar children get with food and start to recognise what it is, the happier are to try it.

Choose strange shapes or funny textures, or fruits and vegetables that have a strong smell.

I don't need to tell you not to give them anything they could choke on - they will probably have a go at putting the food in their mouths, so give it a quick wash before you let them loose.

Superjam!

I was over the moon last week to learn about the publication of 'Superjam'. The author, Fraser Doherty, started selling jams as a teenager in Scotland, and now sells a range of delicious Superjams made with fruit juice instead of sugar and using nutritious ingredients such as blueberries and cranberries.

I've been wanting to make jam with the girls but was put off by the huge amount of sugar necessary. So, copy in hand, and in anticipation of a wet afternoon with my children and 2 of their friends to entertain, I decided to launch our jam making careers with the Stawberry and Pomegranate jam.

The children had fun preparing the ingredients and I boiled up the jam whilst they were having a bounce on the trampoline (luckily the rain stayed away). We did the test recommended by Fraser of running jam onto a cold plate to see if it set, and then I poured it into jars with labels decorated by the chidlren.

I couldn't believe how easy it was, even with 4 children. The book explains all the stages, in simple terms. The hardest bit was finding grape juice, but we tracked some down to Tescos who keep it in stock.

5 first-time jam makers were very pleased with their achievement and the jam tastes delicious. I can't wait to make the lemon curd, the orange and passion fruit marmalade and the plum and elderberry jam using the berries from our garden. Watch this space!

ROCKETS (Sweetcorn)

Sweetcorn cobs make a great 'toy' for young children, especially on a wet day like today. You could explain that as it's been a lovely hot summer the corn has grown nice and juicy and fat and ready to eat, and that this is the best time to eat sweetcorn as it is in season. Hopefully the video gives you an idea of how much fun can be had with 2 children and a couple of cobs.....

If it's still raining after lunch, you could teach your children about the other ways sweetcorn is eaten. A tin from the cupboard, frozen corn (mine love eating it like little yellow lolly pops) and the old favourite, popcorn.


Rainy day popcorn

Popcorn is so simple to make at home, you don't need a fancy popcorn maker, just a saucepan with a lid.

You will need:

100g popping corn
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
50g butter
50g honey

1. Heat the oil on a medium temperature, and drop in one kernel as a tester. When it pops, the oil is ready.

2. You will want to keep your child well back for the popping, but explain what you are doing. Tell them to listen out for when the popping stops. Pour all the corn into the saucepan, put on the lid, and shake occasionally to keep the corn popping.

3. When the popping has finished, get your child to help you weigh out the honey and butter, and then put it in a saucepan and melt together.

4. Pour the honey and butter over the popcorn and divide into 4 bowls. You'll have at least 10 minutes peace whilst happy children munch.

For a delicious savoury version, melt 50g of butter with 10g of marmite (use more marmite if your children like a strong marmite taste.) Stir through popped corn.

p...p...p...Pesto

I recently heard Pesto described as the new ketchup. This is due to it's ability to encourage even the most reluctant child to eat-up as long as it is smoothered in the green stuff. It couldn't be simpler to make your own with your child, and it will mean that you are avoiding the extra salt and additives that the branded jars contain.

You will need

25g of basil (washed)

1 clove of garlic

50g of pinenuts

50g parmesan

100ml of olive oil

1. Let your child pick the basil leaves and put them into a bowl.

2. Now show your child how to peel off the garlic skin and let them have a go. Add to the bowl.

3. Weigh out the parmesan together and then let your child grate it into the bowl.

4. Weigh out the pinenuts together and add to the mixture.

5. Measure out the oil together and add to the other ingredients.

 

6. It's as simple as that. Now, using a stick blender or mixer, whizz everything together. Explain to your child that mixers are dangerous but you could let them turn the button on themselves.

Store in the fridge, it will keep well for about 10 days.

We eat pesto with everything, smeared on a chicken breast, stirred into basmati rice or baked on top of a salmon fillet. When you make your own it will be bursting with vitamins, store some good protein in the pinenuts and there are antioxidants in the garlic . So, stirred into pasta with a couple of peas thrown in for good measure, it's a meal in itself. Round of applause for the green stuff!

Beach biscuits

The holidays are here, so its time for easy-to-cook-food. Slow energy sources like oats are the perfect snack for children running around at the park, on the beach or whizzing around on bikes.

These biscuits are easy to make with your child and will last for several days in an airtight container. The ingredients are measured in mugs (just use a standard size coffee mug) so they are ideal for making in a caravan or self catering cottage.

And if the weather breaks...these are equally good eaten in a den under a quilt on a rainy day. Enjoy!

You will need:

125g butter (½ a packet)

¼ mug of runny honey

2 mugs of porridge oats

½ mug of self raising flour

zest of 1 orange (or 1 tablespoon of orange juice)

Preheat the oven to 180C and tell your child that it is hot

1. Help your child weigh out the butter and honey, then melt them in a saucepan over a low heat - let your child watch the melting but warn them it is hot.

2. Weigh out the oats and flour into a bowl with your child, then stir in the butter and honey mixture.

3. Show your child how to zest the orange, then let them have a go, watching they don't grate their little fingers. Add to the mixture.

4.  Show your child how to make the biscuits – form little balls of mixture and then squash gently onto a baking tray. Then let them do it - don't worry if there are lots of different shapes and sizes!

5.  Bake for 8 -10 minutes and cool before eating.

Dinosaur Dough (Rrrrrrr!)

I had lots of fun cooking at our local preschool this week - their theme was dinosaurs, so I made some 'dinosaur dough'. I shaped the dough  into dinosaur eggs and the children rolled it out and then cut out Tyrannosaurus and Stegosaurus shaped biscuits.

For decoration there were pumpkin and sunflower seeds for the spikes and pomegranate seeds for scary red dinosaur eyes. Lots of the children enjoyed tasting the seeds as they decorated the dinosaurs, and the finished biscuits looked great.

Dinosaur Dough

You will need:

115g butter

200g honey

Self raising flour

1 tablespoon of ground ginger

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 160c and tell your child that it is hot

1. Melt the butter and honey together in a saucepan over very a low temperature.

2. Weigh out the flour with your child into a mixing bowl and let them measure the ginger into the bowl.

3. Let your child make a 'well' in the flour and ginger, digging with a tablespoon.

4. Now help your child to break an egg into a bowl and whisk it.

5. Let your child watch your pour the butter and honey mix and the egg into the well, then stir a few times yourself before handing over to your child.

6. Bring the dough together and then turn out onto a surface with a little flour.

7. Show your child how to gently knead the dough until it comes together into a nice ball.

8. Get your child rolling and cutting out shapes.

9. Decorate with pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds - encourage them to try the dinosaur spikes and red eyes as you go, its amazing what they will try when it is play!

10. Bake for 15 minutes until golden

Easy squeezy

We've been making some little muffins today, using one of our favourite ingredients, an Ellas' Organic kitchen squeezy pouch.

The muffins are so easy to make, have no added sugar, and use olive oil instead of butter or sunflower oil. Delicious - and healthy too.

I cooked these with my toddler, who loves sqeezing out the goo from inside the pouch - it's a great way of improving dexterity, and satisfying for them to see the purple mush worm out.

She loved counting out the muffin cases into the tray, weighing out the flour, and putting sunflower seeds ontop of the muffins - although she is a bit impatient like her mother and decided that pouring was more time effective than sprinkling!

The finished product is a perfect snack for a hungry little person!

Easy Squeezy Muffins (makes 12 in a cupcake tray)

You will need:

150g self raising flour

Big pinch of cinnamon

1 large egg

60ml olive oil

90ml runny honey
120g fruit pouch (my favourite is Ellas' organic Sweet Potato, pumpkin, apple and blueberry

Handful of sunflower seeds

Preheat the oven to 200C and warn your child that it is hot.

1. Help your child crack an egg, and then let them whisk it.

2. Measure out 60ml olive oil and let your child pour it into the egg and whisk it.

3. Measure out 90 ml honey and let your child pour it into the egg and oil, and whisk together.

4. Give your child the squeezy pouch and encourage them to squeeze it into the bowl with the egg, oil and honey and then whisk together.

5. Weigh out 150g flour with your child into a bowl and let your child pinch in a little cinamon.

6. Pour the oil/egg/fruit into the bowl with the flour and let your child mix briefly until the lumps disappear - you might want to give it a quick stir yourself at the end to make sure that it is all mixed in.

7. Let your child help you spoon the mixture into cases - scoop up any spilled mixture back into the cases.

8. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a few sunflower seeds

Bake for 12 minutes until golden.

Cooking alfresco

We had some friends over this afternoon and we did some cooking in the garden - always a good idea as mess seems less important when we are outside! I had some sweet potatoes so we made sweet potato squares by cutting them up, drizzling olive oil over them, sprinkling a little rosemary and roasting them.

We had fun investigating some purple carrots from our veg box today - turns out the outside of the carrots are purple, but the insides are orange. The children weren't convinced about trying them as they don't look that attractive when cooked, but when they did they decided they tasted just like normal carrots and tucked in.

For tea the children had sausages from the local farm shop, the sweet potato, purple carrots and sweetcorn - (although there wasn't much sweetcorn left after they had nibbled on the frozen sweetcorn, I think they think it is like little yellow lollipops.)

Apparently its supposed to be a gorgeous weekend, lets hope this weather lasts!

Sweet potato squares

You will need:

1 Sweet potato between 4 children

Some olive oil

A little rosemary

Preheat the oven to 200C and tell your child that it is hot.

1. Before you cook together, peel and cut the sweet potato into slices about 1/4 inch thick, and then cut the slices into small cubes.

2. Let your child drizzle some olive oil over the cubes, just enough to coat them. I use a ketchup squeezy bottle which stops too many spills.

3. Show your child how to pick the rosemary and squish it between their fingers to release the oils before sprinkling it over the top of the sweet potato - you don't need much but a little bit will give it some flavour instead of salt

4. Cook in a baking tray for 45 minutes

These are also delicious with chicken and white fish.

Fishtastic

Helping to make their own food should get most children trying fish. This recipe is so easy and children from toddlers up can get involved with crunching the Weetabix and dipping the little pieces into the flour. Hope you have fun!

Crunchy Salmon

You will need:

2 fillets of salmon

1 egg

2 Weetabix or Oatabix
A little flour

Preheat the oven to 190 and tell your child that it is hot!

1. Before you start cooking with your child cut your salmon into small pieces and put it in the fridge.

2. Now get your child to crunch 2 weetabix into a bowl.

3. Help your child to crack an egg into a bowl and then let them whisk it.

4. Put a little plain flour into a bowl.

5. Let the production line begin!

Show your child how to dip the salmon piece into the flour first, then into the egg, then into the weetabix. Put the finished pieces into the fridge until you are ready to use them.

6. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and serve with potatoes and vegetables for a really balanced meal.

Cooking party for 2 year olds

Today was my baby's birthday party, I can't believe she is 2!  She loves cooking so we had a cooking party and her little friends came along and all got a little messy.

They made pizzas by cutting out puff pastry in lots of shapes - dinosaurs, planes and hearts were popular. Then they had fun exploring the toppings - pesto, tomato, orange peppers, mushrooms, parsley, ham and cheese to grate themselves - there were some lovely creations, each one different.

For pudding I made an 'icing' out of Greek yoghurt and honey. They spooned it on top of homemade cupcakes and then decorated them with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, a few chocolate stars and pink sprinkles. Everyone seemed to have fun, and it was lovely to see them all practising their cooking skills.

 

To make the icing, mix together 125ml of Greek yoghurt with 1 tablespoon of runny honey. Put in a bowl with a teaspoon and let your child get spoontastic with it - it's very easy for them to spread, much easier than normal icing and much healthier too! Any fruits go well on top and if you want to make it even more nutritious let your child sprinkle on some chopped nuts.