Ethan seems to have been enjoying the fruits of my labour. He has loved chewing on the homemade breadsticks which last a lot longer than shop bought ones as they are more chewy. He's also had quite a lot of fruit today. He had one slice of orange but then made protesting noises on the high chair so I offered him a banana and he smiled and munched that like there was no tomorrow. It was funny to think he was getting so grizzley cos Mummy had given him the wrong type of fruit, little diva!
I ended up making cheese and carrot pretzels this afternoon after I'd made a carrot cake...can you tell carrots are in season here?!!! Apart from bananas (which are great for Ethan and he loves so they are staying!) we eat very seasonably in this house. In the fridge we have a bit of swede leftover, parsnips, carrots (yes even more...!) and we did have a butternut squash. On my list of links I have a site where you can check what's in season and what's at it's best so you can decide what to eat. It's fun to do it and stops you eating the same fruit and veg all the time and getting stuck in a rut. It's all great experience for baby too...I still get very excited when Ethan Bear tries something new although he just takes it all in his stride.
Tomorrow Ethan is going to get some of Stevo's gorgeous curry leftover from today. That's the thing with our meal plans for the week, they normally go a bit all over the place but Stevo offered to cook dinner tonight to give me a break so I wasn't gonna argue! It's good to have a rough idea how the week is gonna pan out but the mood can take me completely off on a tangent...organised chaos I call it :)
Alfresco dining the BLW way!
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Cheese & Carrot Pretzels
Ingredients: 250g/9oz plain flour, 25g grated cheese, 1 grated carrot, 25g/1oz butter, diced, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 100ml/3 fluid oz whole milk.
Preheat oven to 200'C/400'F/ Gas Mark 6 .
Mix flour, cheese, carrot, butter and baking powder in a bowl with your fingers until well combined. Add milk gradually mixing with a metal spoon until a dough forms.
Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead for a few minutes.
Roll dough out to form a rough rectangle about 25cm x 18cm (10" x 7"). Cut dough into 12 - 14 strips about half an inch wide and roll between your palms. Tie into a pretzel shape. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 10 - 12 minutes until a crusty layer forms on outside.
These keep well in an airtight container but are very moreish so probably won't last that long! Ethan loves them and the funny shapes fascinate him. You could substitute grated carrot for grated parsnip, courgette, apple or bung in some poppy or sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Preheat oven to 200'C/400'F/ Gas Mark 6 .
Mix flour, cheese, carrot, butter and baking powder in a bowl with your fingers until well combined. Add milk gradually mixing with a metal spoon until a dough forms.
Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead for a few minutes.
Roll dough out to form a rough rectangle about 25cm x 18cm (10" x 7"). Cut dough into 12 - 14 strips about half an inch wide and roll between your palms. Tie into a pretzel shape. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 10 - 12 minutes until a crusty layer forms on outside.
These keep well in an airtight container but are very moreish so probably won't last that long! Ethan loves them and the funny shapes fascinate him. You could substitute grated carrot for grated parsnip, courgette, apple or bung in some poppy or sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Monday, 1 November 2010
Meal Plan For This Week
Monday
Breakfast - Creamy Apricot & Apple Oats
Lunch - Butternut Squash Soup and Breadsticks
Dinner - Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognase
Snacks - Homemade Breadsticks & Orange Slices
Tuesday
Breakfast - Boiled Egg
Lunch - Banana
Dinner - Stevo's Gorgeous Curry
Snacks - Homemade Breadsticks & Apple
Wednesday
Breakfast - Cheesy Bread Balls
Lunch - Carrot & Swede Pieces Steamed
Dinner - Cauliflower Cheese
Snacks - Homemade breadsticks & Banana
Thursday
Breakfast - Banana Bread
Lunch - Cheesy Bread Balls
Dinner - Roast Duck with Roast Potatoes, Parsnip and White Cabbage
Friday
Breakfast - Sausage Pieces
Lunch - Apple & Breadsticks
Dinner - Carvery
Snacks - Sultanas
Breakfast - Creamy Apricot & Apple Oats
Lunch - Butternut Squash Soup and Breadsticks
Dinner - Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognase
Snacks - Homemade Breadsticks & Orange Slices
Tuesday
Breakfast - Boiled Egg
Lunch - Banana
Dinner - Stevo's Gorgeous Curry
Snacks - Homemade Breadsticks & Apple
Wednesday
Breakfast - Cheesy Bread Balls
Lunch - Carrot & Swede Pieces Steamed
Dinner - Cauliflower Cheese
Snacks - Homemade breadsticks & Banana
Thursday
Breakfast - Banana Bread
Lunch - Cheesy Bread Balls
Dinner - Roast Duck with Roast Potatoes, Parsnip and White Cabbage
Friday
Breakfast - Sausage Pieces
Lunch - Apple & Breadsticks
Dinner - Carvery
Snacks - Sultanas
Beef Casserole
400g lean beef cut into chunks (can be substituted for any other meat or butter beans)
Olive oil
1 Onion sliced
1 tsp of Paprika
Bouquet of Garni (or bay leaf, thyme, majoram, basil and oregano)
3 Carrots sliced
200g of new potatoes (or whatever you have in) cubed
125g of butternut squah (or pumpkin or sweet potato) cut into large chunks
150g of cabbage shredded
1 tin of plum tomatoes (400g)
Preheat oven to 170'C/325'F/Gas Mark 3. Fry onions in olive oil in casserole dish until soft. Toss meat in flour and paprika before adding to casserole dish and browning. Add tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, squash, cabbage and just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil. Add bouquet of garni. Remove from heat. Cover and place in oven for 1and a half - 2 hours.
Ethan loved getting stuck into this and had a banana for dessert!
Olive oil
1 Onion sliced
1 tsp of Paprika
Bouquet of Garni (or bay leaf, thyme, majoram, basil and oregano)
3 Carrots sliced
200g of new potatoes (or whatever you have in) cubed
125g of butternut squah (or pumpkin or sweet potato) cut into large chunks
150g of cabbage shredded
1 tin of plum tomatoes (400g)
Preheat oven to 170'C/325'F/Gas Mark 3. Fry onions in olive oil in casserole dish until soft. Toss meat in flour and paprika before adding to casserole dish and browning. Add tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, squash, cabbage and just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil. Add bouquet of garni. Remove from heat. Cover and place in oven for 1and a half - 2 hours.
Ethan loved getting stuck into this and had a banana for dessert!
Creamy Apricot & Apple Oats
2 tbsp porridge oats
3 tbsp of whole milk
3 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of natural yoghurt
75g of sliced dried apricots (or sultanas or other dried fruit)
1 small eating apple
Combine all ingredients except for apple in a bowl and cover and store in the fridge overnight.
Just before serving, grate the apple and stir into the oat mixture.
Serve cold or if the weather is a bit chilly (like it is now in England) warm gently.
3 tbsp of whole milk
3 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of natural yoghurt
75g of sliced dried apricots (or sultanas or other dried fruit)
1 small eating apple
Combine all ingredients except for apple in a bowl and cover and store in the fridge overnight.
Just before serving, grate the apple and stir into the oat mixture.
Serve cold or if the weather is a bit chilly (like it is now in England) warm gently.
Homemade Breadsticks
Flour is a great source of calcium and iron. It is also a source of B vitamins, protein and carbs.
200g Strong White Bread Flour
1 tsp fast action yeast
half a tsp sugar
half a tsp salt
150ml warm water
Measure flour into mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix until dough is soft, smooth and comes away from sides of bowl. Turn dough on floured worktop and knead for about 2 minutes, adding more flour if need be. Return to bowl. Cover bowl with a damp tea towel, plate or clingfilm/gladwrap and leave at room temperature until doubled in size (around an hour). Turn dough onto floured surface, knead for about 2 minutes and divide into approximately 30 small plum sized pieces. Roll each one into a long thin stick using the palms of your hand. Cut into smaller sticks if you like. Place sticks on a baking sheet (silicone or greased or floured) and leave in a warm place for 20 minutes. Bake in the oven at 200'C/400'F/Gas Mark 6 for 15-20 minutes until they start to brown. I think a small child could probably make their breadsticks look more professional than mine but they taste pretty yummy and I like the fact they are all odd shapes and sizes. If you store these in an airtight container (once cooled) they will keep for a week.
200g Strong White Bread Flour
1 tsp fast action yeast
half a tsp sugar
half a tsp salt
150ml warm water
Measure flour into mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix until dough is soft, smooth and comes away from sides of bowl. Turn dough on floured worktop and knead for about 2 minutes, adding more flour if need be. Return to bowl. Cover bowl with a damp tea towel, plate or clingfilm/gladwrap and leave at room temperature until doubled in size (around an hour). Turn dough onto floured surface, knead for about 2 minutes and divide into approximately 30 small plum sized pieces. Roll each one into a long thin stick using the palms of your hand. Cut into smaller sticks if you like. Place sticks on a baking sheet (silicone or greased or floured) and leave in a warm place for 20 minutes. Bake in the oven at 200'C/400'F/Gas Mark 6 for 15-20 minutes until they start to brown. I think a small child could probably make their breadsticks look more professional than mine but they taste pretty yummy and I like the fact they are all odd shapes and sizes. If you store these in an airtight container (once cooled) they will keep for a week.
These are more chewy than your average breadstick so you might want to break off a bit at a time to give baby to avoid them ending up with a big ball of dough in their mouth that they have to spit out! Ethan loved them :)
Day One of the Homemade Challenge
Ethan Bear loves breadsticks so I thought I would make them for day one of the homemade challenge. Only problem being the recipe I have calls for a whopping two and a half teaspoons of salt. The first batch I made blindly following the recipe but when they were done I had a nibble and was shocked at how salty they tasted. If they are almost too salty for me Ethan Bear won't be having any! So I changed the quantity to half a teaspoon of salt to see what would happen (with much trepidation after being told salt is important in bread making as it stops the yeast going crazy) and the answer is...the dough was more stretchy and I needed loads more flour when shaping it into breadsticks. The low salt ones stretched out a bit more in the oven which resulted in slightly fatter breadsticks, not much of a problem there then! The lower salt ones did not look as pretty as the high salt ones (mind you the high salt ones were not works of art either!) but the benefits of losing the salt outweighed any problems. It feels good to know exactly what is in Ethan's breadsticks this week and I am amazed at the simplicity of it. It's mainly flour and water. Flour is a great source of calcium and iron so a very healthy snack for little bears.
For breakfast tomorrow Ethan is having creamy apricot and apple oats. Photos will follow but for now here's the recipes...
For breakfast tomorrow Ethan is having creamy apricot and apple oats. Photos will follow but for now here's the recipes...
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