Chicken and Broccoli Bake

I absolutely love this recipe, it is healthy and yummy - and most people eat it, whether they like broccoli or not!

Ingredients:
pack of chicken fillets/ quorn 'chicken' pieces
head of broccoli
tin of chicken/ chicken and mushroom or mushroom soup
curry powder - mild or strong
cheddar/ parmigiana, to sprinkle on top
brown rice

Directions:
If using chicken, boil the chicken first. If using quorn/ vegetarian substitute - put directly into oven proof dish. Chop up broccoli, and mix with 'chicken'. Pour in tin of soup, and some curry powder, and mix it up until well blended. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 mins.

If you are using brown rice, be advised that it takes about 30 minutes to cook.
Serve with side salad!

Buon appetito!
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Kale Pesto Pasta

I love making a good pesto, and I recently found a fantastic new recipe. For this special green pesto recipe, you can use any green leafy veg. I used Kale, but you could use Spinach or Cavelo Nero, etc. You can really be quite creative with pesto.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of almonds

about 4 handfuls of kale (only the green leaves)

about 1/4 cup of olive oil

75g parmigiana/ pecorino

2-3 garlic cloves

salt and pepper 

fresh chilli (optional)

Directions:

Blend everything in a food processor, it should be slightly lumpy. The pesto needs to be very moist, so add more olive oil, if it is too dry. Because pesto is in olive oil, it lasts quite well in the fridge. Just put in an airtight container, glass is best, and use within about 2-3 weeks.

For the rest of the dinner

Ingredients:

ham

a handful of cherry tomatoes

pasta

Directions:

Dice ham and cut tomatoes in half. Fry ham and tomatoes until slightly brown. Boil pasta. Drain and mix in the pesto (you only need about half of the pesto batch for 500g pasta). Mix in the ham mix, sprinkle with more parmesan and voilà! 

Buon appetito!

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Chicken, Lentil and Vegetable Curry

One of my talents, if I do say myself, is making a REALLY good curry. I make it mild so that my son can also eat it - and then spice it up for my husband and I.

Ingredients:
olive oil
garlic
1 onion, diced
about Tbsp mild - strong curry powder
salt
pepper
chicken breast fillets
about 2Tbsp lentils
cup of chicken stock
cup of chopped vegetables
3 chopped potatoes
tin of coconut milk
rice

Directions:
Fry the garlic and onions, add the chicken and potatoes. Put curry powder in the pan, and stir until everything is well coated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add lentils and vegetables. Pour in the chicken stock and coconut milk. Cook to your satisfaction. Serve with rice/ salad.

Buon appetito!
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Baby Food

Simple, easy and super healthy. Home made baby food is way simpler than you expect, and you don't need that much time or fancy equipment.

What you need:

a few ice trays
cling film
fruit and veggies
a blender/ food processor

With a 6 month old baby (/a baby that has just started weaning), the idea is that you start them off slowly. You can start with one or more fruit/veggie at a time, and change every week to give them a variety of different tastes and textures. Obviously some they will like and some they won't.

So here is an idea of how I started out. In the beginning I started with about two 'ice blocks' for meals and then add more as his hunger increased. I puréed carrots and peas, for one weeks veggie tray; and apple and pear for the week's fruit tray. Then for the next week, it was carrots and potatoes and pumpkin for veggie tray; and apple, mango, and pear for the fruit tray. Slowly adding different vegetables and fruits. Try everything. My little guy loved asparagus, even though we didn't.

When they are a little older, shred some chicken, fish and meat into the weekly vegetable trays. And add some yoghurt in the fruit trays. And don't purée so finely. This is how you can experiment with textures and tastes.

The best thing about putting the purée into ice block holders, is that you pop out how ever many cubes you need, warm them up (preferably on the stove) and it's ready.

So how you actually prepare the purée: Boil chopped veggies/ fruit - you can season, if you like. Remember your child is used to tastes that you like, they ate what you did for nine months. Once the fruit and vegetables are soft, strain them and blend until they are the desired texture. Then teaspoon into ice trays, allow to cool and cover with cling wrap. Put in the freezer.

This is also a great thing to have in your fridge when you have a toddler, you can pop puréed vegetables into their dinner without them knowing. Or they have 'yoggie pops' in the fridge when it's hot. Or if they bump their mouth, they have a yummy ice pack!

Hope this helps!
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Corn Fritters

Best thing ever created, if you have kids that won't eat veggies... They look just like mini pancakes, but are packed with yummy veggie goodness! Plus you could use any other vegetable, or a few even. One of my absolute FAVOURITES is butternut fritters - hmmmmm yumness!

Ingredients:
300g tin of corn
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
tsp baking powder
1/4 cup grated cheese
some oil or butter
salt and pepper

Directions:
Drain the corn, and discard the liquid. Mix eggs, salt and pepper; then add flour and baking powder. Add corn and grated cheese. Heat a pan, add a bit of butter or oil, and cook the fritters. (Don't use too much oil!) When they start bubbling, or can be moved easily, flip them over and make sure they are cooked through. Put them on absorbent paper, and serve with dinner.

Buon appetito!
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Savoury Rice

My little one has been sick lately, and has not been very keen on eating - so we decided we'd try some new recipes that incorporate everything - he loved it and ate two bowls.

Ingredients:

onion, chopped

1 tin of chopped tomato (you can get passata, if you don't like chunky tomato)

about 4 cups of cooked rice

about 2 cups of fresh. tinned or frozen veggies

a splash of oil

salt, pepper and mixed herbs, to taste

a pinch of sugar

tsp of mild curry powder

feta or cheddar

chicken or tuna or bacon or tofu

tsp stock

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C, and grease oven proof dish. Fry onion, then add tomato, curry powder, salt, pepper, herbs, sugar and chicken stock.

Mix rice and finely chopped veggies, and choice of meat/fish/poultry/tofu and place in oven proof dish, add tomato sauce. Grate cheese or crumb feta over rice and bake for 30min. 

Buon appetito!

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