Healthy kids recipes - banana and honey toast

Healthy kids recipes - banana and honey toast

Both my children refused to eat what I served them last night. Well, my four year old said yuck and my younger one followed suit - great! Not having been shopping for a couple of days and not wanting them to go to bed on an empty stomach, I improvised. I don't usually give in to their fussy eating food whims as this is a recipe for disaster, but I had had a busy day and was exhausted and thought one night won't hurt. I ended up eating some with them.

Banana and honey toast

2 pieces of toast
1 ripe banana
Some runny honey

Method:

1. Toast the bread
2. Spread a thick layer of the ripe banana over the toast like butter
3. Spread a layer of honey over the banana

Delicious and it reminded me of my years at Uni ;-)

Fun kids food - easy gingerbread biscuits

Fun kids food - easy gingerbread biscuits

A friend recently asked me for an easy recipe for children's biscuits, as she wanted to do some baking with her boy. I made these last Christmas and they were a winner in that my daughter loved making them, in a sealed container they stayed fresh for at least a week and are delicious for children and adults alike.

Easy gingerbread biscuits

Ingredients:
100g soft butter
110g caster sugar
225g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
2 tsp ground ginger
A pinch of salt

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for a couple of minutes until pale in colour. Then with a wooden spoon, beat in each ingredient separately - the egg, flour, baking powder, ginger and salt giving it a last good mix to ensure all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
3. Remove from the bowl and form the mixture into two balls, cover in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4. Flour your surface and with a rolling pin roll each dough ball out to a thickness of around 2cm and using any shape cutter (gingerbread man, star, animal, heat, circle) cut out your biscuits.
5. Place them on a greased baking tray or one lined with baking parchment a small distance apart. Use all the dough up by re-rolling it until it is mostly all gone.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and take them out of the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Suggestions:

For a more festive flavour, you could add a pinch of ground cinnamon and ground cloves when adding the ginger. 

Healthy kids recipe - easy sweet potato and lentil puree

Healthy kids recipe - easy sweet potato and lentil puree

A mum recently contacted me via my facebook page asking for recipes for purees for babies from 6 months old. Below is a great little recipe to start your baby off on. In my experience, babies love sweet potatoes as, like their name, they are sweet, very delicious and also extremely nutritious.

Ingredients:

1 medium sweet potato (200g)
50g ready to cook lentils, washed and drained
Chicken/vegetable stock or water

Method:

1. Peel and chop the sweet potato and place it in a saucepan with the lentils
2. Add stock or water so that the potato and lentils are just covered and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes. The potato will cook first so you just need to check that the lentils are soft. Should the stock/water all evaporate add a little more liquid although the final mixture should be quite thick
3. With a hand blender or a folk, mash the potatoes and lentils into a puree and once cooled serve

Kinder Kitchen Suggestions:

If you can't get hold of any sweet potatoes you could use a butternut squash or any other squash

Healthy kids recipe - easy banana cake

Healthy kids recipe - easy banana cake

I posted this recipe on here two years ago and I bake it often, especially when I have some overripe bananas in the fruit bowl. This recipe is a winner with babies, children and adults alike. Great for an afternoon snack or dessert and so quick and easy to make.

Ingredients:

4 oz butter

2 oz sugar (the original recipe has 4 oz but I feel this is too much for babies and small children - the ripe bananas add a lot of sweetness themselves)

7 oz self raising flour

2 eggs

2 large or 3 medium, very ripe bananas mashed with a fork

2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4; 160C and grease a loaf/cake tin

1. Mash the bananas with a fork
2. Whisk the butter and sugar together for a couple of minutes and then add in the eggs, vanilla essence and bananas and whisk for another minute
3. Now add the flour and when fully mixed scrape the mixture into the loaf/cake tin
4. Bake for 70 minutes on gas mark 4; 180C. 
5.  Once cooked, remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

 Yummy additions:

If there is no history of a nut allergy in the family, you could replace 50g of the flour with ground hazelnuts or almonds. For chocolate lovers, you could add 50g of finely chopped bits of chocolate to the mixture.

Kinder Kitchen weaning help

I really enjoyed weaning my first child although I know a lot of my friends found it stressful - partly because they did not know where to start or enjoy cooking for themselves let alone the responsibility of weaning their baby onto solids.

There is so much in the press about a healthy lifestyle. 5-a-day, we must eat green vegetables, no salt, etc etc. Our mothers and fathers brought us up very differently and I know I was given what my parents were having although it was blended up into a puree. Sometimes I feel that because of all the so called 'good' advice we are losing our instincts as parents and fear that we may do something wrong - when 99.9 times of 100 we are not. When my second child came along I did not have the time to cook separately for him all the time so he did get a lot of what we were eating - he is a healthy toddler who enjoys his food although I do need to hide the odd veg or two!

A great way of your little baby getting its nutrients is to mix baby rice or baby pasta with vegetable stock (from 6 month or earlier if you wish) or chicken stock (recommended from 7 months). I made one stock a week, kept some of it in the fridge and stored the rest in the freezer in small pots that I could take out when needed. On the issue of steaming, I believe that if you are cooking some fresh vegetables for your baby/child that is good enough and not to worry too much about steaming them.

Cooking for your children should not be stressful and if you need any advice or help with any aspects of weaning I am here to help so please get in touch.

Healthy kid's recipe - easy blackberry and lemon sorbet

Well, since I started making my own sorbet, I can't stop. It is not only tastier and healthier as there are no additives, I can't believe how easy it is. Some of my friends say - 'well you say it is easy' - but it is like anything, once you have had a go a couple of times it becomes second nature. This recipe is great as it gives the kids an extra boost of vitamin C because of the lemons.

Blackberry and lemon sorbet


Ingredients:
1 punnet of blackberries, washed
Juice of 2 1/2 lemon
150g sugar
150ml water

Method:
1. Start by making the syrup. In a saucepan, place the water and sugar and simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved
2. In a blender or with a hand blender, blend the blackberries and lemon juice together. (you can pass this mixture through a sieve should you wish to have a smoother finished sorbet)
3. Once the syrup has completely cooled, place in a plastic tub with a lid and place in the freezer. With a folk, every hour or so give the mixture a stir to get rid of any ice crystals until the sorbet has fully frozen.
4. Serve and enjoy

Suggestions:
If you feel the sorbet is a little too lemony, just add less of the juice.

Healthy kid's recipe - easy banana and carrot muffins

Well, believe it or not I have never been much of a baker. Yes, I make cakes and apple pies and have made the odd biscuit and brownie, but savoury cooking has always been my strength. I want to change this now, although my waistline may disagree. A fellow mum Louise gave me this recipe which I have lightly tweaked. And yes, there are more than 6 ingredients but all needed here!

Easy banana and carrot muffins

Ingredients:

75g melted butter

125g caster sugar

1 egg

2 large ripe bananas, roughly chopped
2 large peeled, grated carrots
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
200g plain flour

Method:

Preheat oven at 180 degrees

1. Place 12 muffin cases into a muffin tin
2. In a food processor or a bowl and an electric whisk, beat the sugar and egg for a minute or two.
3. Next add the butter, bananas and grated carrot. Beat well.
4. In another bowl sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and baking powder. Slowly incorporate these ingredients into the banana mix.
5. Once thoroughly mixed, distribute batter evenly into muffin cases (max 2/3rds full) and cook for 25-30 minutes until they are firm to touch

Suggestions:
These are great for breakfast, lunch boxes, a tea time snack or for a children's party. These can be also great for babies from 9 months. You could replace the sugar with one or two grated apples. Enjoy!