Recipe: Sweet Potato Cake

I am feeling super lazy today. We have had a couple of rough nights of sleep.  I think MiniMe is going to take her first steps very soon...part of me can't wait so that she starts sleeping better...the other part of me isn't ready to be running around after a Toddler.  Anyway, I posted this recipe on my other blog and am just being super lazy and posting the link to my write up here. 

This is a great way to get some extra vitamins and nutrients into your little one's diet.  If you are ok with a bit of sugar than this recipe will be fine.  I ended up halving the amount of sugar, 1/4 cup white and 1/4 cup brown but you could probably do all brown if you wanted to avoided more refined sugars.  The brown sugar helps to give this cake a toffee flavour so I wouldn't go with all white sugar.  It is also flavoured and sweetened with Maple Syrup so, again, it is probably sweet enough without the extra sugar...it is your call.  The cake is pretty dense so it does take a while to bake, but it is also super moist so keeps well in an air tight container.  I portioned out 5 slices and then cut them in half to make 10 servings for MiniMe, which I froze.  The rest we have been enjoying over the last couple of days.  

Here is the Original Recipe. 

Recipe: Porridge Bars (snack time!)

These porridge bars are sort of like a soft cereal or granola bar. They mix up really quickly and freeze well.   These bars are adapted from the porridge bites I posted here and also inspired by my pal Fiona, who has her own version of them. I think they are better for slightly older babies (we first gave them to MiniMe at 9 months) who are confident chewing because the bar is much denser than the bites.  

Ingredients:

Makes 8-10 bars

1 cup oats
1 mashed banana mixed with enough milk to make 1 cup of liquid
handful of blueberries

PRE HEAT Oven to 180F
Line a 2 lb loaf tin with parchment paper or foil

In a bowl mix all ingredients together and let rest for about 10 mins, until it starts to look like porridge.
Spread evenly into the loaf tin.

Bake for about 25-30 mins until the top is golden and the mixture feels firm.

Allow to cool completely before removing from tin and slicing.

I would suggest freezing most of these in a ziploc bag once they are cooled and storing the remainder in an airtight container in the fridge.  They don't keep fresh long so it is best to freeze them.  The up side is that they defrost really quickly (like within an hour).

Recipe: Courgette Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are an adaptation of my go-to muffin recipe.  I have adapted it for MiniMe by cutting down the sugar and adding some oats for extra goodness.  They freeze really well, and defrost very quickly.  I usually take one out of the freezer in the morning and she will have it for her snack after her morning nap with some cheese and raisins.

oatmeal courgette mini muffins

Dad isn't a fan of these muffins because they aren't sweet, but MiniMe and I are loving them.  It is another way to get some vegetables into her diet, and the oats have the additional benefit of adding some fibre and iron in too.

Recipe:

Makes 24 mini muffins, or a combination of Regular and mini muffins.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup shredded courgette (or substitute 1 cup of berries, shredded apple, shredded carrot to change them up)
2 eggs
1 cup milk (whatever you use)
1/4 unflavoured oil (veg, sunflower, canola, rapeseed)

PRE HEAT oven to 200C

Grease or line you muffin tins.

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl.
In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients BUT NOT the courgette/fruit.
Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix together gently, it is ok to have some lumps.
Mix through courgette/fruit.

Fill muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full.  I find that it is about 1 TBSP of batter for a mini muffin and 2 TBSP for a regular sized muffin.

Bake 15-20 mins for mini muffins, 20-25 mins for regular muffins or until tester comes out clean.

Cool and enjoy!

Can be frozen in a ziploc freezer bag.

AND WE'RE BACK! A Catch up and some meal ideas

I've been struggling with a Babe who all of a sudden decided that the fantastic nap routine she FINALLY got on was NO GOOD and that she much rather nap on the go, which has meant that between that and 2 trips to Canada in the last couple of months I haven't had much time to sit down and post anything here. 

Over the past couple of months (from 10-12 months) I can't say that I have noticed any big changes in  MiniMe's approach to eating, her likes and dislikes, or her appetite.  She is still excited by food more often than not and even on the days when she isn't feeling well she will still eat most of what we are offering her.  

At 10.5 months her bottom 2 teeth FINALLY came through and we have noticed that she is trying to rip stuff like bread into smaller bites using them, but without the top guys it is still pretty difficult.  She definitely prefers her food in smaller bite-sized pieces. Every day I will offer her something in a bigger piece but she leaves it until I cut it up smaller (strips of chicken, toast, banana...anything).  The bite sized pieces I offer her are still large enough that she needs to gum them though. 

While we were away visiting family in Canada we ate out a lot and most places were very accommodating making us veggies without salt, sweet potato fries without salt, bringing a side of toast and peanut butter, or an extra scrambled egg.  She helped things, of course, with her big smiles and goo goo eyes.  I often ordered something that we could share and then a side of something else to share because the KIDS menus just weren't appealing. 

We are back home now, trying to get over the 2nd lot of jet lag and resume normal service.  Here are a few things we have had over the past couple of weeks to offer some inspiration. 

Breakfast: Corn Flakes softened in milk, banana and peanut butter and jam bread roll ups

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg with cheese, blueberry porridge bar and yogurt

Brunch: French Toast, scrambled egg, beans and yogurt

Snack: Peanut Butter with mashed banana (slices of banana and a coffee for mum) 

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese and broccoli 

I cut the spaghetti strands in thirds so they were easier to schlurp up 

Dinner: Beans, avocado and cheese

Dinner:  Pizza with cheese,ham and mushrooms (I make my own dough so there is no salt) 

Lunch: Minestrone Soup with Alphabet pasta and hummus bread roll ups