A tour around Mamacook

For those of you new to my site, I thought I would give you a brief tour and point out some of the things I'm proud of on my website and why I do what I do.

Wholemeal Apple Pancakes

My blog is completely for the love of it, for the passion for food.  I work in the food industry as a food safety / technical interim manager and consultant but this blog does not make a penny for me.  I'm not saying that some day I wouldn't like to take up food writing as part of my career but as I write I have not made a bean.

Why do something that makes you no money?  I did consider this earlier this year.  My business has taken off and I'm very busy nowadays but as I said, this is my passion in life, it's what brings me happiness so if you only measure life in £s, I suppose that might seem strange but if you value living what drives you and what makes you happy then the £s don't matter.

Baked Chicken with Garlic and Rosemary

A simple piece of chicken, cooked with some flavour and it is guaranteed that anything with breadcrumbs is more likely to be eaten by a child.  No added salt, not reformed chicken, just simple, proper food.

The amounts below are for one chicken breast.  I would happily share this with my son and certainly it would be enough for two kids.  For adults you might want to serve one chicken breast each.  If you do make more, just make sure your dish is big enough so there's a bit of space around each breast so it cooks evenly and the crumbs go crispy.  Sliced up this makes great finger food for younger children or older babies too.

Beef, Mushroom and Chestnut Stew for the Whole Family

I've never really used chestnuts apart from making chestnut stuffing but when seeing a pack of vacuum packed cooked chestnuts reduced after Christmas, I felt the urge to try something new.

Chestnuts, unlike other nuts are fairly low in fat but also have a lovely sweetness and are surprisingly high in vitamin C, folates and lots of other trace nice stuff.  The great thing too is they have a fantastic texture which makes you feel like you're eating more meat than you are.  This is a great thing for our health and for the environment and if something tastes as delicious as this, trust me, you really won't mind padding out 330g of beef to serve lots of people!  What's more the sweet chestnuts makes this an easier sell to kids.

Pear and Almond Pancakes for Babies, Toddlers and the Whole Family

Pear and almond is a traditional combination, I love a good frangipane tart but can never be bothered to make one!  Well this recipe uses things you might have to hand and can just about manage to whip up on a snowy Sunday morning in January!

Slow Cooked Sausage and Lentil Stew for the whole family

Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention.  This recipe was invented because of the boxing day excessive quantities of garlicky sausages due to my family cassoulet for 24 being cancelled.  It's a long story, take a look at my post for the Britmums site.

Anyway, however much I love cassoulet, man (or woman) cannot live by cassoulet alone.

The best of Mamacook 2012

Hi All of you,

2013 is here, for months I will be changing the 2 on the end to a 3 by adding a bit onto the bottom!

It's been a busy and exciting year including making it to the final of Britmums Brilliance in Blogging awards as a finalist in the Tasty category.  It made me immensely proud to get there.  I've also started my own business and frankly I'm pretty happy if mad busy.

I only hope 2013 brings as much good stuff but preferably a little less of the bad stuff.  Resolutions?  Well my first is to learn to ride a bike, my second is to get more clients for my business closer to home, my third is to work a bit less and my fourth is to follow my heart more in life.

So, in my mood for reflection, here are the top ten posts of 2012 as decided by you kind readers...

Broccoli Nuggets

Despite posting this on April Fools Day, I was completely serious and from the stories I've had, this is the recipe which has got more kids and adults eating their greens than any other (9000+ at last count).  You can't say fairer than that!