Moroccan Lamb Stew for Toddlers and the Whole Family

I fancied trying out a recipe with Ras el Hanout and wanted to cook something where the flavour would be out front and clear.  I always associate North African food with lamb so it seemed an obvious choice.

If you've not come across it, Ras el Hanout means "head of the shop" or "top of the shop" and that's because it contains lots of the best and most fragrant spices.  Depending on where you source it from will depend on how many different spices are in the mix.  To me it reminds me of an even more fragrant version of garam masala, it often contains sweet spices and even roses.

Toad in the Hole for the Whole Family

Toad in the hole is such comfort food, thrifty too.  How mean would it look if you were served up with two and a half chipolatas for your tea as an adult?  It would be ridiculously mean but when cooked with the batter, it makes a dish suitable for Sunday lunch out of the cheapest of things.

I have no idea why it's called Toad in the Hole, nothing to do with toads.  Normally it's a dish of sausages and batter, sometimes chicken or bacon is also put in but this is much less common than the traditional dish.

My son loved this.  Admittedly he picked out the sausages and ate them first then moved onto the batter (all eaten with ketchup) but as he was also eating the broccoli, I felt ok with the whole thing.

I'm not 100% happy with how the toad in the hole looked, I think part of the problem was I poured the batter over the sausages but gosh, darn it, it tasted fantastic!  How can flour, milk and eggs taste soooo gooood?!!

Might be an option for you baby led weaners out there to serve some of the vegetables and batter.  For younger toddlers, I'd cut up the sausages for them before serving as it's a common food for wee ones to choke on.

Low Sugar Trifle for Babies and Toddlers

This has been something in the ideas bank for a while.  I did originally want to make it no added sugar but it was a tricky task.  I also found by using traditional custard powder, the amount of sugar I was adding was pretty low and I'm not as strict as I used to be!

Root Vegetable Mash for Babies, Toddlers and Adults

A great recipe for the whole family this and an awesome recipe for the reluctant vegetable eater in your life (baby, toddler or *ahem* adult).

Prawn and Potato Soup for the Whole Family

It is soup season.  Although the snow has gone, it's still brrr.  That said, I don't want all of my soups to be stodgy and heavy, this is a sunshine of a soup.  Also my poor little man needed some cheering up and he loves prawns.

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.