'Creamy' Mushroom Tagliatelle for Toddlers

This is a very simple and not overly strongly flavoured pasta dish which might be pretty good for the pickier eaters among us.  Similar to my creamy mushroom pasta I posted as my very first recipe post but rather than cream cheese this uses eggs to create a creamy sauce.  This means it's a great source of vitamin D as eggs and mushrooms are two of the few dietary sources.

I say 'creamy' because this contains no cream, and so depending on the severity of the intolerance may be suitable for lactose intolerant kids (as hard cheese is low in lactose but not suitable for people with milk protein allergy); be guided by your medical practitioner.  The eggs are lightly cooked so not for under 12 month olds; use vaccinated 'Lion' eggs if in the UK.

Watermelon Ice Lollies Great for Toddlers

If I can encourage you to do one thing this summer, which is setting out to be a scorcher, is buy an ice lolly mould.  Ice lollies are so expensive to buy and often full of sugar, artificial food colourings and other stuff which isn't all that great for kids.

Much better is to make your own lollies out of fruit or fruit juice with a little added sugar if needed.  Even if you do add something to make it sweeter, it's still far more natural, lower in added sugar and can count towards their 5 a day!  In fact, one of these ice lollies contains 60g of fruit and only around half a teaspoon of added sugar.

So here is my latest ice lolly recipe.  My 3 year old said "I like pink lollies best" when he had one of these and was upset when I wouldn't give him one at 6:30pm because it was bath time!

The Best Salads

I do like a good salad but when I was growing up, "salad" meant some cucumber, some little gem lettuce and a flavourless hard tomato, with salad cream if you were lucky.  Nowadays shops, palettes and awareness of alternatives have all caught up so the humble salad is now not quite so humble even if my son did say recently (while eating a piece of cucumber) "Girls eat salad!"

Salads are a great way to increase the amount of vegetables in your diet fairly easily.  There aren't many of us who manage 5 a day on a regular basis but put a salad in your lunchbag instead of a sandwich and you're well on your way.

Seeing the weather is unseasonably warm in the UK right now, I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite "more interesting" salad recipes.

My favourite has to be Goats Cheese Salad.  Goats cheese is pretty rich but the dressing and slight bitterness of the nuts offsets it nicely.

Also brilliant if you're trying to cut down on carbohydrates with lots of healthy oils in the olive oil and nuts.

Sausage Pasta for the Whole Family

I'd always been really nervous about cooking sausage pasta, too many memories of student meals made with value sausages but I was inspired by the Salsiccia Pasta at my local Italian Caffe to give it a go, this isn't an attempt to copy the recipe and anyway it's not a patch on the pasta Alison D'Angelo sells at Caffe Italia, but I hope she wouldn't be embarrassed by my efforts!

Honey Digestive Biscuits - no refined sugar

I'd been thinking about making a simple, no nonsense, "no bad stuff" biscuit for a while and I'd had some attempts at making some sugar free.  If I'm honest though, I was never happy with them.  Unlike a cake, a sweet biscuit is very difficult to make without sugar.

After a few attempts though I settled on this recipe.  Not strictly sugar free because it contains honey but no refined sugars and pretty low in sugar overall.  Yet it's still sweet but in that sweet / slightly savoury way that digestive biscuits are which make them as at home with a cup of tea or with strong cheddar.

I was impressed and will make them again.  Just keep an eye on them, the temperatures and times are for my oven and after I overcooked a previous batch, I lowered the temperature to what you see below.  You want to take them out of the oven when they're just starting to colour and firming up.

Obviously due to the honey, these won't be suitable for kids under the age of 12 months.

Sausage Squishes for Babies and Toddlers

Hey you, kid who doesn't eat vegetables?  Yes, you!  You know who you are!

We all feel like that sometimes and I swear if you ask any Mum what an acceptable level of vegetables are and contrast it with your average child... I mean, I hate to generalise but "pork" is not a type of vegetable and "sausage" is not a food group!

I jest I jest.  I know not all kids are the same but we all need those recipes where you can squeeze in a bit of hidden vegetable goodness, just once in a while as an insurance policy.

These are kind of burgers, kind of patties or let's just face it "squishes".  Great finger food.

Spanish Chorizo with Haricot Beans for the whole family

This was inspired by a Spanish version of Cassoulet.  It's pretty rich but absolutely delicious as certified by my son loving it and eating all of his portion.

Ok, it's not the healthiest meal in the world but a dish full of haricot beans and garlic has some benefits.  Think small portions perhaps with salad or some fruit afterwards.

Ninja bread men for kids (or Gingerbread men)

My mother is my inspiration in life in general.  Incredibly intelligent she didn’t have the breaks in life nor the education.  At the time giving a woman an education was seen as a waste of time and money.  How much we have moved on.  I was lucky enough to have all the opportunities she didn’t and she encouraged and supported me through everything in life, every bump, every triumph, every disaster and here I am with two degrees a Dr of Chemistry and she still is far my superior.

It’s funny how we learn how to love and be loved first from our parents.  My Mum shows people she loves them through food and I have inherited this from her.  This was the first ever recipe I made with my son and I remember making it with my Mum when I was little.  I also handily got some cool “Ninja” bread man cutters from an online shop which I loved and so did my son but he made some hearts for me too.

This does make a very traditional, crisp gingerbread man with a strong ginger flavour which is how I had them when I was little.  If you prefer them a little softer, take them out a little earlier or it might be an idea to substitute the flour for self raising (they will spread though).  If you like a milder flavour, cut down on the ginger a little.

Tuna 'meatballs' for babies, toddlers and grown ups

Fish can be a hard sell for a lot of kids.  Partly it's flavour, then there's the bones and the look of it.  I was lucky though and for some unknown reason as soon as I had the chance to try fish, I loved it and ate it as much as I could.  I remember peeling prawns at the age of about 6 or 7.  I only hope I encourage my son to do the same because people who say "I don't like fish" are missing out.

We all know nowadays how important Omega 3 oils are in our diets and fish is a great source, especially oily fish like tuna.  Unfortunately unlike some other fish, tinned tuna doesn't have much in the way of Omega 3 but fresh or frozen does.  The great thing is about tuna is it does taste so meaty so if you really do have a reluctant fish eater on your hands, this could be the dish for you!

Sweetcorn Fritters for babies, toddlers and even grown ups!

11:55am, he normally has his lunch at some point between 11:30 and 12.  Panic!  What on earth do I cook?  Considering Grandpa had given him a pack of cheese and onion crisps for his snack (thanks Grandpa) I wanted healthy!

So this is what I came up with from the contents of my fridge and freezer.  Not only did it make a meal out of simple vegetables, (served with peas and broccoli we were racking up our 5 a day) but with a bit of extra sweet chilli sauce for Mummy on top, it officially rocked!

My 3 year old ate two and a half and Mummy had three but the last half of his got dropped on the floor and it led to a HUGE meltdown because he'd lost it.  The sure sign of a well received recipe!

The sweet chilli sauce obviously introduces a bit of sugar and spice so miss out if you prefer for very little ones but it does add some interest.  I reckon this would be a cracking recipe for baby led weaners.

Sweetcorn Fritters serves 1 adult and 1 toddler

Ingredients