[thelittlemenu]

Avoiding the sauce

Anyone else's toddler or child do this? Try to eat as much of the spaghetti that hasn't touched the bolognese sauce? Surely my cooking isn't THAT bad??! I find sauces a challenge and I think it's because it's not clear to the little one what's in it especially when there's suspicious lumps. They like to know what they're eating and love to make the choice themselves. Tonight my 4 year old ate around the sauce in the middle and my 2 year old simply picked the sauce up and chucked it on the table! Charming!! What fun! More for me!! :)

[thelittlemenu]

See it from their point of view!

I'm taking about food refusal here and I know most likely all of us with kids have experienced it. It hurts! It really really hurts when you've made a delicious healthy meal for the family and the little one says 'NO!' Sometimes you just want to hold their mouth open and put the food in there yourself but you can't. You just can't do that. All you can do is suck it up and try not to worry about it. I know it's hard, trust me I've been there but try seeing it from their point of view. Imagine you went to a new friend's house and they made you dinner, told you to sit at the table and produced this enormous plate of food you have never seen in your life. (Remember kids stomachs are not very big which is why they need regular small meals and snacks). As an adult you are most likely politely going to eat it but what you really want to do is push it away and get yourself something you like. Now imagine you were already feeling full from a big lunch and you had a big plate of food put in front of you. You might pick out a couple of bits you know and love but no way are you going to clear the plate! This is how I imagine babies, toddlers and kids feel at each food offering. That's why I only 'offer' food to my kids and trust them to eat what and how much is put in front of them. We can have a good idea of how hungry they'll be feeling based on snacks they've had in the day but we don't know for sure, only they know how hungry they are. Only they can decide how much to eat, only they can feel their stomachs rumbling or filling. So see it from their point of view, offer regular nutritious food and accept their decision on what and how much if it they consume.

[thelittlemenu]

It's all in their heads!

This morning we (my 4 year old son and I) made a smoothie with spinach, banana, frozen strawberries, frozen pineapple and chia seeds. I regularly make these for my husband (great wife alert!!!) to take to work and offer a little cup to each of the kids. My 2year old daughter always says yes and licks the cup clean. However my son always rejects the offer sometimes pulling a disgusted face and sometimes with an added 'ewwww yuck'. Fair enough if someone presents you with a purply brown drink it probably doesn't look too appealing! But today when I had given one to my daughter he said 'where's my smoothie?' So I gave him a straw and the pair of them had drunk the lot in seconds!! So here he is proving the point that if you get them involved in prepping and cooking their food they are more likely to eat it! Ta-dah!! Try it!

The Little Menu :)

[thelittlemenu]

He just sucked the gravy off..

Tonight, to go with their roast dinner I made the kids chicken balls (a recipe I am most proud of).. The ingredients are: breadcrumbs, minced chicken breast, milk, sweet corn and basil.. all of these items are good to go (normally) for my 2 and 4year old but hey... mix them together in the shape of a ball - YUK 'I don't like it!' 😩 urgh this is the worst thing to hear after feeling so proud with the outcome!! I tried telling him what was in it, that he liked it last time, that it was very yummy, would you like more gravy on it? (He just sucked the gravy off). So I had to give in and say 'ok fine don't eat it' and pretend it doesn't matter. Luckily my husband said they are very tasty and ate a few. My 2 year old copied her big brother after eating a little bit before deciding she also did not like it 🙄

So, what's my plan from here? I'm going to pack them to take to grandads tomorrow and see if they'll eat them there and I will keep offering them every now and again along side food they DO like and try not to get too hung up about it. Kids will be kids and I will continue to be THAT mum who keeps putting good food in front of them until they realise how good it is for them!! WISH ME LUCK 🤞

[thelittlemenu]

Lazy dinner and using what you've got..

That's what tonight was all about. We had friends and their under 5s over after play group this morning so once everyone had had their ham rolls and fruit the crisps and cookies and cakes etc etc came out and I am all over that kind of food when it's about! I think it's because we don't usually have it in the house so when we do I stuff as much if it in as possible! Maybe it's 'survival method'? 😂

Anyway by the time everyone had gone it was coming up to 3pm which means only an hour before I need to make a firm start on dinner for the kids..... hmmm what to make? As I am not hungry, I can't think about a recipe! What I do have though, is left over ham roll and fruit! There's also some strawberry soya yogurt in the fridge and carrot sticks so there you go.. aaaaaand they loved it! Job done 👍 no pots or pans to be seen..

Is there anything wrong with having rolls and fruit for dinner? I don't think so.. As long as it's a balanced nutritious meal I'm all for it!

Go on the leftovers!!

[thelittlemenu]

💚CHEESY VEGGIE BITES 💚

An easy cheesy snack to make from home. Most ingredients can be swapped around for different flavour and texture but these ingredients worked for us. It’s a thumbs up from The Little Menu tasting team 👍 … see the recipe below ⬇️

Ingredients: • 75g / 3 heaped desert spoons each of wholemeal and plain flour • 1 tbsp baking powder • 25g butter / veg oil spread • 1 medium carrot peeled and grated • 3 defrosted spinach balls • ¼ pre fried onion (optional) • 25g grated cheddar • sprinkle of chopped parsley • splash of milk • ½ tbsp nutritional yeast

Method: • squeeze excess water out of spinach then finely chop or blitz • mix everything else in by hand or food processor • make into balls with two spoons (too sticky for hands) • bake for 30 mins on 200c • serve with Greek yogurt dip, cracked black pepper on top

The Little Menu :)

[thelittlemenu]

A little about me :)

Hi I'm Kat! Mum of 1 boy and 1 girl (3yrs and 18 months).. After commencing the weaning journey for baby number 2 I was starting to feel a bit lost, with no new ideas and was just making the same things over and over again. I wanted to feed my kids healthy happy meals without salt or sugar (plus a friend on her first weaning journey asked me for some ideas) so I set about recording my own meals and recipes, which meant I found lots of similar blogs inspiring me.. Although some recipes and plates may seem simple and straight forward the idea is that anyone preparing meals for little ones can do it from their own home probably with what they've already got in stock! I wanted to share my food ideas with mums, dads, nannys, grandads, aunts, uncles, childminders and budding kid chefs to encourage healthy eating around the clock.. and this is why ⬇️ Childhood obesity is a global public health challenge. It is estimated that 42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight in 2015 worldwide. In the UK 22% of 4-5 year olds and 33% of 10-11 year olds are overweight or obese!! If healthy food blogs can help change these statistics then I'm all for it! I'm no food professional but I enjoy real healthy food and feel very passionately about passing on my love of good food onto my kids and anyone else who's interested.. I was brought up on a vegetarian diet and am officially pescatarian but I'm happy to cook my kids meat and let them decide their own food choices in their own time! So for anyone who's taken the time to read this - thank you! I hope the pics and recipes can inspire and change more chefs of little ones to encourage good, wholesome, healthy diets. It doesn't need to be complicated, fussy or fancy - just healthy, fun and yum!! The Little Menu (Stats from Nursing Children & Young People journal, June 2017 ed)

[thelittlemenu]

Parmesan & Basil Chicken Nuggets

Here's the recipe and it's very simple.. enjoy!! We used: • 1 egg • 1 & 1/2 slices of Wholemeal bread • a few Basil leaves • a handful of grated Parmesan • 385g chicken breast chunks How we did it: • toast bread then leave to cool • blitz in a food processor or hand blender and mix in the Parmesan and Basil • whisk egg in a separate bowl with a fork • line baking tray with baking paper • dip chicken chunk by chunk into egg then coat with breadcrumbs then onto baking tray • bake on 200c for around 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through Tip - if you get ready chopped chicken breast you don't have to get your hands dirty at all you can just use your fork to dip the chicken in the egg and breadcrumbs!! Voila! The Little Menu :)

[thelittlemenu]

Banana, Coconut & Chocolate Muffins - - no butter and no refined sugar but still super tasty!!

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Spinach & Butternut Squash Quiche

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Spinach & Butternut Squash Quiche

Spinach is the original green SUPERFOOD and it does not disappoint in this recipe! It’s a firm family favourite for all ages, even ‘carnivore, not a big veggie fan daddy’ loves it 😍.. You can add almost any vegetables as long as you chop or grate them nice and small to make sure they’re cooked 👍

Here’s how you can recreate this circle of green yumminess 🍃

Firstly you’ll need to make (or buy if you prefer) the shortcrust pastry - see our 'easy shortcrust pastry’ recipe for instructions.

INGREDIENTS: 🍃 8-10 frozen spinach balls defrosted/ a bag of fresh spinach cooked and chopped. 🍃 2 eggs 🍃 A handful of butternut squash peeled & chopped into small cubes 🍃 Grated cheddar 🍃 Black pepper 🍃 Chopped cashew nuts 🍃 Pinch of chilli flakes

METHOD: 🍃 Line a small round baking dish with rolled out pastry 🍃 Mix spinach, eggs, butternut squash and pepper in a mixing bowl 🍃 Place into pastry lined dish 🍃 Sprinkle nuts and chilli flakes on top 🍃 Bake at 200c for 25-30 minutes 🍃 Serve with mashed potato and boiled or steamed veg of your choice.

[thelittlemenu]

MINI BEAN BURGERS

What do I need?

* ¼ tin of butter beans * 1 slice of toast blitzed * ¼ onion chopped * Garlic clove crushed * 1 mushroom chopped * Chilli flakes * Cumin (sprinkle) * Water * Nutritional yeast flakes * 1 egg

What do I do? * mash the beans with a fork

* Add to a food blender with onion, garlic, mushroom, toast, chilli, cumin, nutritional yeast and egg and blitz

* Add water a tbsp at a time to create a thick mouldable mixture

* Make into patty shapes

* Fry a few minutes on each side in a little olive oil

* Bake in the oven for around 15minutes on 200c until crispy and cooked

* Toast another slice of bread and cut out circle shapes to make your burger buns

* Slice cucumber and cherry tomato to garnish

* These could also be cooked on the BBQ

The Little Menu:)

[thelittlemenu]

MINI BEAN BURGERS

[thelittlemenu]

Homemade Chapati..

This was so easy to make even on our first attempt so we had to share! Perfect served with a tasty curry.. Ingredients: • Plain flour • Wholemeal flour • Olive oil • Water Method: • Mix together an equal amount of plain and Wholemeal flour depending on the amount of chapatis you want • A large tbsp of each flour will yield about 3 medium size chapati • Mix in a drop of olive oil then a spoonful of water at a time mixing with your hands to form a spongy but not sticky dough • Add more flour if it gets too sticky, add more water if it's too floury • Mould into balls • Heat a pan (lightly grease if you wish, I think it works better without as long as it's non stick) • Roll balls into flat shapes on a lightly floured surface until desired thickness achieved • Place into hot pan for around 30 seconds each side or until brown spots appear • Serve hot or cold and enjoy! The Little Menu :)

[thelittlemenu]

HOMEMADE CHAPATI..

[thelittlemenu]

These are the three ingredients you’ll need to make your own shortcrust pastry. It’s very simple and means you know exactly what your little ones are eating..

INGREDIENTS 👉 9tbsp/70g plain/ wholemeal flour 👉 2 tbsp/15g unsalted butter 👉 3 tbsp warm water

METHOD 👉 Mix the flour and butter in a food processor to create a breadcrumb consistency 👉 Add more butter if it still looks like flour 👉 Add water 1tbsp at a time and mix 👉 The mixture should eventually bind and form a lump of pastry 👉 Dust a clean surface with flour and roll out pastry to desired thickness turning and rolling 👉 If it’s sticky sprinkle more flour on each turn and roll out 👉 There you have it ☺️

[thelittlemenu]

Carrot & Raisin Rock Cakes..

Great as a take away snack to keep the little ones happy while you're out and about but also perfect for mummies and daddies too!! Here's what you need to make a batch of these naturally sweetened tasty treats.. Ingredients: • 4 tbsp olive oil • 180g self raising flour • one medium carrot finely grated • 1 egg • 4 tbsp maple syrup • handful of raisins Method: • Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and pop into cupcake cases in a muffin tray.. • bake on 200c for around 20-25mins until baked and delicious! The Little Menu :)