Cupboard Wars

There are 4 cupboards and 1 drawer Vienna can get into in our kitchen. I'm not sure whether it was me or Steve, but one of us managed to rip the child locks off one of the cupboards and neither of us have replaced it. Thankfully, it's the cupboard with all the dishwasher tablets and tins in. Yes, I know what you're all thinking- why not just get a new childlock??

It has crossed my mind as the most sensible solution because I have to use all my powers of persuasion to convince her that she doesn't really want to drop the heavy tins on her toes, or hide dishwasher tablets in her toys. But I've been thinking about it and I'm not sure it's a good idea. It took me so long to choose these childlocks only to have my friend's 3 year old walk straight up to them and open them in a second. ¬¬

I don't want ones that go inside the doors because I can see all of us trapping our fingers in them and I'm not moving the one childlock we do have because that cupboard has Steve's mandrawer and my baking bits in it.   So that leaves us with the childlock as it is, and getting a better version of it for the cupboard with ALL THE BLEACH IN THE HOUSE IN IT. Except that won't last, because the dishwasher is next to the bleach cupboard and I just know I'll never remember to open the childlocks before opening the dishwasher and they'll all get ripped off again. And all the time it hasn't got a childlock on it, she's not interested. I don't think she's even realised it's a cupboard.

So here's my plan of action starting from when she goes to bed tonight:

1. Carry on taking Vienna out to the kitchen with me when I cook so I can get her involved in making the meals.
2. MOVE THE BLEACH.
3. Leave the childlock on the mandrawer/baking cupboard for the time being, because even though Amelia can get into it in a matter of miliseconds, Vienna can't be bothered to. Yet.
4. Leave the childlock off the cupboard with the tins in until I can put some toys in the bleach cupboard and make it 'hers'.

Hopefully that'll work. It does mean I'll have to put up with extra distraction techniques tomorrow until I can sort through her toys and put some in the kitchen.

Today Vienna wants uncooked rice and stale jacket potatoes for tea. Mummy disagrees.

Birthday "Oops" Jelly

I'm not going to make excuses as to why I haven't posted in ages because if I told you all my personal ins and outs I'd be ranting til kingdom come but I just wanted to share Vienna's birthday jelly with you quickly. That I've renamed "Oops Jelly" because I forgot about it :/

Ta-dah!!

I remember being really proud of this... but there was some serious structural integrity loss so I'm going to make another one. And making jelly is actually really satisfying because it's so easy and it looks cool. In case you were wondering though, it's made of (from top to bottom):

• lemon jelly
• 1 whole slice of orange
• orange jelly
• slices of oranges
• strawberry jelly
• slices of strawberries
• grape jelly... I used green food dye which is why it looks odd but it was tasty!
• slices of grapes

The Funny Thing about Babies

I'm not one of these to post personal things on the internet, so I'm not going to make excuses as to why I haven't posted in a while. What I will say is that I've lost my camera so you'll have to wait to see Vienna's birthday jelly (well, jelly might be the wrong word...!).

I start training on Tuesday to become a peer supporter. For those of you who don't know what that is (and I'm not trying to sound patronising but I didn't until I met one), it's a mum who breastfed her children for at least 6 months and then goes on to help other mums with their feeding experiences. I had a meeting about it on Friday and it got me thinking about HOW heated discussions about infant feeding can get. Not that I need reminding of that.

If you breastfeed you spend your time fighting people who think it's for posh people or who say it's "unnatural" and who don't want a baby "hanging off their boob". You spend your time fighting your pain receptors when the latch is poor, the baby has a tongue tie or is teething, you get thrush, you get mastitis or they just plain chew. Then when people say you should stop because of all that. You pretend you can't see that people are trying not to look when you feed in weird places (like on the bus and walking through Wilkinson's... yes, I'm talking from personal experience here) or that little old women trying to look doesn't strike you as just a tiny bit odd.
If you formula feed you spend your time fighting lactivists who will loudly proclaim you are actively harming your child by forcing this cack down their throat. You fight your body which tells you that 4am is NOT a good time to be patiently standing for 6-8 minutes while the bottle is warming. People don't give you as many dirty looks, but if you have a lactivist family you will never hear the end of it.

THEN after all that we get onto 'weaning' (because it's feeding now):
Is my baby hungry or is she just sucking her fists?
Do I wait til 6 months?
Do I use BLW or spoonfeed?
What do I feed him?
Should I worry about raw eggs, and salt content, and fat, and red meat, and chicken, and sugar?
Do they need 5 a day?

It's just ENDLESS. God I hope training goes ok. Feeding is SO stressful and I want to do something to ease someone else's stress, I really do. I'm quite a liberal breastfeeder. I think saying "breast is best" like some crazy mantra without explaining why does more harm than good, I think if you want to feed your baby formula then it doesn't make you an evil mother and I think babies would be a lot happier if their mums didn't judge each other.

Prop-feeders aside. I do judge you. Sorry.


By the way, a lactivist is a lactating activist- someone that's very pro-breastfeeding.

My Genius New Plan!

Today I went to the cinema with Steve (have I mentioned him? I probably have, but if not, he's my Slightly Neater Half and Vienna's daddy) and i had.. An Epiphany. Well, I guess it was more of an LED nightlight than a full blown lightbulb moment but I still think it's a very good idea. I'm going to give food critic...ing...(?) a go!

It was kind of Steve's treat today so while we were killing time we went to Tapas Revolution and there were honestly a million and 24 babies in Bluewater today. Hordes of them. Baby queues. I was just wondering where all the mums and dads were going (because there didn't seem to be any in the nearby restaurants) when Steve said in between snaffles of chicken, "that must be the best job in the world... you know, food critics."

See where I'm going with this? I can't start with Tapas Revolution today because I forgot what we had to eat but every time we go out now I'm going to write a review of the restaurant from the perspective of someone who wants to actually eat in public with their children. It is, I think, a Very Good Idea. I'm going to call the food critic posts Empty Plates.

Think we may have to go back to Bluewater... several times...!

Freaky Friday Curry

I'll be honest, this one was a bit Oh Mama, hot hot. You can all blame Dinesh for that. He's my friend Hapi's friend and once made a comment on my deseeding a chilli for a recipe so I thought I'd try it with the seeds this time. Vienna didn't really appreciate it. I could see why.

I've since made it and adjusted the curry thermostat and she gave me a look as if to say "do you think I'm daft, mummy?" but she did eat it. I've kept the original pictures though because the updated one looked the same.

Ingredients

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander, ground
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 chilli (seeds in if you're mad, deseeded otherwise)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 large potato (as in, a normal potato)
• 1 large sweet potato (as in, a knobbly mutant potato)
• half a suede
• 3 salad tomatoes, chopped
• 1 parsnip
• 1 carrot

Method

1. Parboil the parsnip, carrot, potatoes and suede (a posh technical term I learnt from my mum which means partly boil... or for about 10-15 mins).
2. While that's doing, fry the spices, then the onion, garlic, chilli and mix in the tomato puree.
3. Gradually stir in the coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes until the root veg is done parboiling away.
4. Add the parsnip, potatoes, suede, carrot and tomatoes, and leave to simmer for about 20 mins.

I gave Vienna an orange with hers and the juices did help ease the spice of the original version a bit (tip there!). Also, teaspoon of cheese spread. Works wonders.

Spiced Fruit Wedges

This recipe makes me wish I'd started my blog at Christmas! I've been saying for a while now I might branch into desserts and this is a really nice, quick recipe that would be really good with custard (not that I would advocate giving a baby normal custard!) and tastes really festive.

Ingredients

• 1 apple, sliced
• 1 spoon unsalted butter (about 50g)
• 1 handful sultanas/raisins (about 75g)
• 1tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsps vanilla essence

Method

1. Melt the butter in a pan and add the vanilla and nutmeg until it starts to smell lovely.
2. Add the dried fruit, stir, then add the apple.
3. Keep stirring until the apple is nice and soft. You don't have to stir constantly, but don't let it stick to the bottom of the pan.

I really like giving this to Vienna as a treat because she loves raisins/sultanas and it makes the apples nice and soft for her to chew through.

Mums of the World- Eat Cake!

I've taken a break voluntarily this time. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow because I've got a lot of updates and I'm going to spread them out over this week so it looks like I've been busier than I actually have (not that that is humanly possible...). First I want to say something that after 4 years of insecurity and having something the size of a cat force its way out of my previously solid innards (think about it, it's true) I have finally come to realise.


Dear Mums of the World (Or Indeed Any Other Person Who Needs It),

I'm not trying to sound like a cliche, and I know that no matter how much I tell you this, you need to realise it yourself.

There are people poorer than you.
Uglier than you.
Fatter than you.
With saggier boobs than you. And more cellulite.

They have worse jobs than you.
They have crappier houses than you.
And their cars always make irritating noises that cost far more than yours to fix.

But they still have husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, children and parents that love them, and something to look forward to at the end of the day. Why?

Because they are lovely, wonderful people. So are you. And don't you dare ever forget it. If you want that extra piece of cake have it. If you want to lose 4 stone and become a lingerie model do it. It's your life. And that's ok- you will be ok.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to sit in my scruffs and eat my curry even though it is past my bedtime.
Care to join?

All my love,
Katherine.

Mexican-style Chicken Soup

Vienna's been feeling a bit sorry for herself this week. Her teeth are coming through and she's had a bad case of the sniffles so I thought I'd make her some chicken soup to feel better and put a bit of a YMHT spin on it.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 red chilli, chopped
• 400g chicken, diced and grilled
• 1 can sweetcorn, drained
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 800 ml stock (see below)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree

For the Stock

• 800 ml water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp oregano
• a pinch of tarragon
• the chicken from the ingredients above

1. Put 800ml water into a saucepan and add the herbs. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
2. Add the chicken, cover, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
3. Don't forget to take the bay leaf out before you use it!

Method

1. Put the onion, garlic and chilli in a large saucepan and cook until soft.
2. Add the tomatoes, sweetcorn and tomato puree. Stir well.
3. Mix in the stock with the chicken in and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

 It's great with a nice bit of buttery toast. Vienna had hers with a jacket potato, broccoli and some kidney beans. I gave her some of the juice in a cup so she could have her own cuppa soup too!

Ratatouille

That's quite hard to spell but to be fair, I was planning on eating it not spelling it so apologies if it's wrong ;) I love ratatouille because it's a nice main meal with some pasta if you've forgotten to take some meat out of the freezer, but it also goes really nicely with fish and garlic bread (like we had it), chicken, baguettes- it's just really versatile and pretty easy to do.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 large aubergine, cut into chunks
• 1 large courgette, cut into chunks
• 1 red pepper, chopped into chunks
• 1 green pepper, chopped into chunks
• 5/6 large tomatoes, blended (feel free to substitute for a can of chopped tomatoes)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tsp oregano

Method

1. Fry the onion until lightly browned and add the garlic. Cook for about 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the aubergine and brown, followed by the courgette and then peppers.
3. Add the tomatoes then mix in the tomato puree and season with oregano to taste.
4. Leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes until soft.

You can get boneless, skinless fish fillets that can be microwaved from frozen and they're so handy for some healthy food in under 5 minutes. The amount of fish you actually end up eating makes these better value than buying from the fish counter and it's just as good for you. I don't eat cod so we always get either salmon or haddock but any white fish would be really tasty.

Aubergine Gratin

That's posh for Aubergine and Lentil Bake.

Ingredients

• 1 large aubergine, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 150g red lentils (dried)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 50g grated mild cheddar (mature has more salt in it)

Method

1. Give the lentils a rinse and put them in a pan with twice as much water. Bring to the boil and simmer until all the water has evaporated.
2. Stick the aubergine slices under a low heat grill until they're nice and browned.
3. Fry the onion  in a small saucepan until soft, then add the garlic and cook for about 3-5 minutes before mixing with the tomatoes and oregano. Add the lentils and simmer until they're really nice and soft.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C.
5. Take a casserole dish (ceramic/pyrex dish) and layer the aubergine on the bottom. Cover with the sauce, then repeat until you run out of both.
6. Cover with the grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

Tell you what, this was really nice on top of a toasted bagel. Vienna said so too.

(Well, actually what she said was "ning ning" but I'm assuming that means yum.)

What is this "Spice" Nonsense?

I have a few updates tonight so I'll get to them in a minute, but this has been on my mind this week. I want this blog to be a bit more than just a list of recipes, I want it to be helpful to people (mainly mums and dads, obviously, but not just parents) who want quick but nice food, and, like me, don't speak "chef".

Tonight, I'm going to decipher the mysteries of the spice rack! Sort of...

I kind of take after my mum, who thinks you NEED herbs and spices in a dish, except not quite as strongly. I think people that say they "transform a dish" are going a bit overboard, because no amount of coriander is going to make chicken taste like fish, you know? But on the other hand, if all you've got in the cupboard is a couple of carrots and some coriander then there you go! Carrot and coriander cuppa soup. Just makes life a little bit less beige.

So here's the YMHT guide to essential herbs and spices it might be a good idea to stick in the cupboard:

1. Coriander (dried, leaf)- lots of recipes ask for this, it's one of the most useful herbs there is, you can use it in soups, curries, stews, salsa, mexican food, thai food, indian food and it's really nice in stuffing
2. Oregano (dried)- this is also really useful, the best way of describing its flavour is 'italian' and it's great with tomato dishes and meat stews
3. Cumin and Turmeric (ground)- if you only have cumin, you don't necessarily need turmeric and vice versa, but they work really well together in curries and asian dishes- I use a lot because I love moroccan food and these two give a nice, bit more exotic flavour
4. Nutmeg and Cinnamon (ground)- these are lovely in cakes or rubbed into grilled apple wedges but they give sweet dishes a little bit more of a pudding-y flavour; if you get cinnamon sticks these are nice in asian stews as well but they aren't all that essential
5. Flat leaf parsley- parsley's quite easy to grow and it is nice fresh but it's just as easy to buy dried. There is actually a difference between curled and flat leaf but flat leaf is a bit more common for cooking and curly is more of a garnish- it has a nice clean flavour that goes with fish, pork, soups, salads and vegetables on a sunday roast
6. Basil- this is like oregano in that it has a nice italian flavour that goes really well with tomatoes and meats
7. Chives- really easy to grow, it has an onion-y type flavour because it comes from the same family so it's great with cheese, salad, dips and sauces
8. Mixed Spice, Mixed Herbs- right now this can be a bit confusing because mixed spice and mixed herbs are pretty obvious, but allspice lives near mixed spice in the supermarket and it's not the same- technically it's ground pimiento berry but you can make an allspice substitute by mixing 1 part cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves

If you only want a REALLY basic stock I'd go with cumin, coriander, oregano and mixed spice, but that's no fun at all.

Granny's Proper Pancakes

My mum taught me this last week after only, oh... 20 years. They're really tasty and I did promise you the recipe last week!

 Ingredients:

• 1/2 a pint of milk (whole for babies, any kind for you)
• 4oz plain flour
• 1 egg

Method:

1. Blend the egg and milk together (in a blender, we don't go for inefficiency on this blog!).
2. Gradually add the flour.
3. Let the mix rest in the fridge for half an hour.
4. Heat some oil in a frying pan (no more than a tbsp olive oil for a baby) then pour a ladleful (about 4 tbsp) in and swirl it around until the base is completely covered.
5. Leave it on the heat until the sides of the mix begin to come away from the edges of the frying pan (like you would an omelette).
6. Flip it (the fun part!) and let it cook for about half a minute.

Vienna has a thing about blueberries at the minute. They're great for practicing her pincer actions (using your thumb and forefinger to pick things up). I think this would also be nice if you stuck the raspberries and blueberries in the blender then spread the moosh inside the pancakes and rolled them up.

Here's Steve's with strawberries and fruit sugar. I stole half of it and did not feel guilty.

Snaffoo Sauce

Part of me really did not want to share this with you because if you knew how easy it is to do it would make me look a lot less clever ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 can kidney beans (in water)
• 1 can sweetcorn (in water)

Method:

1. Mix in a pan until warmed through.
2. Don't tell anyone how easy it is.

We had this for tea last night with a poached egg, meatballs, pasta, courgette and beans. Yum.

PS. 3 of your 5 a day. Just saying.

Planning for Parties!

Well what a day! It was Vienna's christening today so Steve and I had quite a lot of planning to do. 

That's as far as I got last week before I realised I still had to clean up after the do ;)

Planning a party with a baby was, for me, fairly stressful. It was our first time hosting a do so that in itself was something to be aware of, plus it was me that came up with the whole menu, did the shopping, the cooking, etc etc... THAT was the easy part. The hard part was coming up with a menu that would (I hope) please everyone- Steve's dad doesn't eat anything spicy, only plain food (my brain, which runs off garlic and chilli, finds this concept totally alien)... Vienna doesn't eat any salt/sugar/nuts/junk food... AND I knew there'd be at least one person there who would be wheat intolerant. You get my drift.

I really wanted there to be something for everyone, but at the same time I knew there was quite a high chance that Vienna would look at all the food and assume it was all for her so I wanted to make as much of it baby-friendly as possible while still keeping the costs down. I hope you find this post useful because it was actually pretty straightforward to do all the shopping and cooking.

In the end, here is what we came up with. I didn't manage to take any pictures because I was a bit busy dunking Vienna in oil and water ;) so you'll just have to take my word for it that it all went off without a hitch. Except the spaghetti. More about that later...

Note: I did the sandwiches salads and garlic breads sunday morning for the afternoon so they wouldn't go stale, the rice salad saturday night and the hot dishes friday night but I froze them so they'd still be good for sunday. Mum did hers the same morning but then she's annoying skilled at that. I don't normally like to talk about money, but this whole menu fed 20 people for £65 and we had food left over.


Drinks
Pretty easy as babies only need water so it's standard jug of water, juice, wine (for the grown ups), tea (for me and mine), coffee and cider (my uncle david is quite manly and lives off these) and lemonade.

Food

• Sandwiches- cheese and ham; cheese and meat are pretty much the worst ones for salt so you really have to read the nutritional value properly but don't panic about these because babies can eat them
• Salad- plain greens with Steve's dad in mind, then one I mixed up for everyone else which had lettuce/radishes/beetroot/spring onions/tomatoes/cucumber in
• Rice salad- I wouldn't give this to a baby, but I would give it to a toddler that had teeth and it's really nice for using up rice without the risks of reheating it: 
• 1 cup of rice (not an american cup, just a standard mugful)
• 1 handful of peanuts
• 1 big dollop of melted butter
• 1 handful sultanas
• 1 handful peas
• 1tbsp chopped herbs (chives and parsley are nice with this)
• Yes, all very technical ;) and here is the highly complicated recipe: mix!
• Spaghetti bolognese- I thought this would be ok for Vienna right up until my mum told me there was well over half a bottle of red wine it it... hmm... I'm a bit loathe to try spag bol because I'd be MASSIVELY disrespecting my mum but I would really recommend it at a do this time of year
• ah, note about the spag: keep it warmed. It cools like sticky schlop.
• Chicken supreme- again, mum's famous for her chicken supreme but it was baby-friendly so I might try and wangle the recipe off her ;)
• Chilli con carne- the one I made! It actually got all eaten, too!
• Moroccan-style slow cooker beef stew- yes, I know. Another moroccan dish. I LOVE moroccan food, it's my favourite. I'll do a post about this recipe later.
• Garlic bread and doughballs- shop-bought but suitable for babies, and from what I've gathered speaking to people at the baby groups, they do like their garlic!

Desserts

• Lemon tart- not for babies, only mummies ;)
• Fruit salad- 3 bananas, 3 oranges, 3 apples, a punnet of strawberries, half a punnet of blueberries, 5 plums, apple juice (half as much as the fruit, it keeps it fresher)... mix!
• Cakes and cupcakes- Steve's mum organised some really, really tasty cakes for us- I do have pictures of these so I'll show you how lovely they were but no credit claimed here, unfortunately!

I am a bit jealous, they were amazing. This is the aim, people! Watch this space, baby desserts...!

The Good Stuff

I took a bit of a short pause from blogging this week because I've had Vienna's christening (more about that later) plus a lot of italian studying to catch up with. I'm trying to teach myself Italian so I might even try a post in italian ;) I've got lots to tell you about so be prepared for a post-a-thon tonight, folks!

I've got a few recipes to share with you, plus I've been down to the library and decided that every now and again I'm going to go through various cookbooks and brush up on cooking lingo and share more yummy treats with you!

The Many Uses of Chilli... and Pancakes!

I have to show you this- it's the first time I've ever made pancakes! I did singe them a little but they were really tasty. Later on (not tonight!) when I remember, I'll tell you all about Granny's Proper Pancakes, but for now:

I filled them with the chilli con carne I made last night and they got wolfed down, which I was pretty pleased about because it did have a bit of a kick and I wasn't sure whether Vienna would like that. She did. They taste sort of like an enchilada, so I think they'd be really nice with some grated cheese on top.

Chilli con Carne

We eat a lot of chilli con carne so I thought I'd give it a go. It was really yummy, I'm dead proud :) It was actually meant to be for a do on Sunday but Steve got home before I could hide it in the freezer and commandeered it. Probably just as well because I polished off Vienna's stew yesterday and she'll want something nice and hearty after swimming tomorrow. It's really easy, but if you have a bit of time the night before I'd probably do it then. By the way, this counts as 2 of your 5 a day. I  know, I didn't believe it either.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 red chillis, deseeded and chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 500g mince
• 1 1/2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 can kidney beans
• 2 tsp oregano
• pinch of black pepper (to taste)

Serves: 3

Method:

1. Fry the onion until soft, then add the garlic and fry for 3 minutes. Add the chilli and cook for another few minutes, stirring constantly (you don't need oil because the mince is fatty enough and it will make it a bit too oily if you do)
2. Add the mince and properly brown. Drain the excess fat then stir in the tomato puree until the mince is all evenly coated.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, kidney beans, oregano and season with pepper to taste.
4. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Notes:

• made me feel a lot less poorly after snaffooing this...!

Poorly Tummies, Here...

Today we are having cheese on toast for tea with baby carrots, sweetcorn, beans and mangetout because Mummy is feeling very poorly and, to be honest, cannot be bothered to braise mutton or fillet fish (not that I would anyway). Good thing I will never ever have to use the phrase "here comes the aeroplane!" because frankly I don't know how people with fussy children have the energy. Vienna's quite happily munching on a bean at the minute, so I thought seeing as I've finished mine, this would be a good time to talk a bit more about why she eats the way she does.

By the way, the weather is really nice today. Thought I'd mention.

As you might have guessed, I have a massive thing about "baby" food. The problem I have is that I can't eat it (well I can but I'd rather eat glass to be honest) so if I bought it out of a jar I'd spend on average 80p per meal for something that will get smooshed everywhere except in my daughter's mouth.  I'm not good at maths but that works out to be... a lot. And I'd have to do separate meals for her and us which takes time I don't have. When I was pregnant I said I'd just blend up proper food that we'd cooked and give her that, but then she started teething fairly early and the lady who runs my baby groups suggested baby-led feeding.

Don't get me wrong, I know I talk a bit posh and I know the difference between a quince spoon and a soup spoon (and I know what quince is) but I'm not one of those posh mums with a fancy new travel system, all the latest gadgets and high-tech toys, and a wardrobe full of Maman Jo Bebe. And I don't think I'm an "attachment" parent either because I don't actually know what one of those is.

I just like the idea that if you give your baby whole solid food then it makes mealtime more fun (because they eat the same food as you so they get to join in), helps their speech and hand-eye coordination, reduces the chances of them being obese as a child, makes them 10 times less likely to choke, helps with teething (not in our case...) and encourages them to make choices and preferences. And it works out cheaper. Win-win.

Stuffed Marrow with Pepper

My grandad does the best marrow with shepherd's pie filling inside it, so you could try that too. Here's what I do:

Ingredients:

• 1 large marrow
• 250g mince
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

Serves: 2 adults (not on its own), 1 baby (on its own, unless you're Vienna)

Method:

1. Slit the skin of the marrow, pop it on a baking tray and put in a preheated oven on 160C for 50 mins.
2. After the 50 mins, turn the oven off and leave the marrow in the heat for half an hour.
3. Brown the mince in a frying pan (you don't need any oil because mince is really fatty) then drain the fat away and add the tomato puree and pepper until the pepper is nice and soft.
4. Take the marrow out of the oven, scoop out the seeds and stuff with the mince/pepper mixture.
5. Put the whole thing back in the oven (on 160 again) for 20-30 minutes.

It's nice with Worcestershire sauce but I wouldn't recommend giving that to a baby. This recipe takes time, but it's really easy, and if you leave the mince in little clumps it's easier for a baby to pick up (although you need to take extra care to cook it).

Tutti Fruit-y Smoothie

This was an idea I had to add a bit more breastmilk to Vienna's diet now that I only feed her when she wakes up first thing. If you don't fancy drinking my milk (although why you wouldn't is beyond me as it's delicious AND nutritious!) you could substitute it for natural yoghurt.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 3 strawberries
• 1 large orange
• 1 plum
• 180ml/6oz breastmilk

Blend the fruit until smooth, then stir in the breastmilk. If you're making this then I'm assuming that you know what to do with your own milk, but it'd be a bit remiss to not add the massive warning about blending your milk so here it is: Massive Warning. Don't blend breastmilk. It (definitely) kills the cells, breaks down the proteins and (apparently) can churn it to butter.

Breastbutter sounds a bit weird.

Moroccan-style Chicken and Chickpea Stew

So here's to the first of many, hopefully! This is that stew I was telling you all about in my last post about chicken (see, it's all interconnected here!). It has chilli in it but it actually isn't spicy at all:

Ingredients:

• 300g chicken fillets
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 can chickpeas (in water, not dried)
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks (makes it easier for your baby to pick up)
• 1 parsnip, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp caraway seeds (in with the jars of spices at the supermarket)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander (dried, not leaves- although you could use 1tbsp fresh)
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
• pinch of black pepper (optional)

Serves: 

Well it did me for two lunches, Vienna for tea and lunch and there was some left for Steve so I'm going to say 2 adults and one baby.

Method:

1. Grill the chicken (feel free to see "The trick to chicken" for this ;) ) until cooked all the way through.
2. Boil the carrots and parsnip in water for about 15 mins until fairly soft.
3. Put all the spices in a large pan and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the chilli and fry that for a further couple of minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, carrots, parsnip and chicken. Leave to simmer until the chickpeas are really soft.

Notes:

• Dad said after I made this that it needed a touch of garlic. If anyone makes this before I get a chance to give it a go with some onion & garlic see what you think and let me know but otherwise I was pretty proud.
• when frying the spices, two things here: one, this is not really a job you can leave because spices burn quite quickly which makes them taste horrid and sets your fire alarm off in a matter of seconds, and two, most recipes will say to grind/crush the caraway seeds... I don't know if you've ever tried this but I wouldn't recommend it. It's nigh impossible. And they taste nice whole. They aren't big.
• most importantly, the chickpeas need to be very soft when you give them to your baby- the rest it doesn't matter quite so much because carrots/tomatoes you can eat raw, and you've already cooked the chicken and parsnips right the way through anyway

The Trick to Chicken

I've just made a pretty decent stew for lunch today which I'll probably post later. It had chicken in it and I have such a love-hate relationship with chicken that I thought this would be a good place to kick things off with.

I love chicken. I don't eat red meat so it's one of my only sources of protein. Vienna likes it too, but I really hate actually COOKING the chicken because whenever I've done it in the past it comes out black on the outside and pink on the inside. Ach. Mainly that's because I get impatient, turn the heat up full then blast the stuffand wonder why it hasn't cooked properly (btw because the heat cooks the outside... or chargrills in my case...but hasn't had time to cook the inside yet- like when a recipe says to 'seal' the meat, that's kind of the same thing) but it's come to the point where I've had to work out a system to cooking chicken. You can't give a baby uncooked chicken, that's just daft. I think it would be a useful thing to share because it comes out really nice each time now. Yeeaahh :D

What you do is stick the grill on a low-medium heat (mine's an integrated one so if you have one of those I'd stick it on 150C). Let it warm up for a bit then pop the meat in the grill and make sure it's right under. Cook it for 8 mins, then turn it and cook for another 8 mins, turn it back to the first side and cook for 6 mins, then do the second side for another 6 mins. Done.

When you test it I don't find it helpful to "pierce it and see if the juices run clear" because I can never tell so I just pull it apart in a few places and check for pink bits. Much more accurate.

Well, hello!

Right, it's midnight so I'll make this brief. My name is Katherine. I do not have an unlimited supply of time to spend on honing gourmet, cordon bleu meals. I do not have a disposable income to spend on tiny pots of baby food. I also do not know how to use blogspot.

What I DO have, after 10 months of breastfeeding a tongue-tie baby and then standing firm on baby-led feeding, is a rather dogged "keep calm and carry on" approach to life, a new-found love of cooking, and a need to feed my daughter proper healthy food that I would be prepared to eat as well.

Brace yourselves, people!