Zucchini and Parmesan Quinoa Balls

makes approx 12 quinoa bites

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa
• 1 zucchini (courgette), grated
• 60g of parmesan
• black pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 egg white
• 240ml of no added salt chicken or vegetable stock
• olive oil in a spray bottle

Directions

Thoroughly rinse the quinoa under cold water and then add to the  chicken/vegetable stock and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer on a low heat until stock is absorbed. Turn off heat, but leave lid on to continue to steam for approx 5-10 mins. Then using a fork, fluff up the quinoa. Each grain should have what looks like a little hair when cooked.

Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 180c or 350f (gas mark 4)

Grease a mini muffin pan with some olive oil

Squeeze excess moisture from the zucchini (courgette) and add this into the quinoa along with the parmesan.

Season with some black pepper.

Add the beaten egg and egg white and thoroughly mix ingredients together.

Spoon the mixture into the holes in the muffin pan and gently push down with the back of a spoon. Spray over the top with a little olive oil.

Place in the oven and bake for approx 20-25 mins until lightly golden.

Allow to cool slightly in the pan and then gently ease out each quinoa bite with a small spoon.

If you prefer, you can scoop the mixture onto a greased baking tray and make the mixture into thin patties, by flattening down with a fork and baking until crisp and golden. Gently flip half way through cooking time.

Oatmeal, Carrot and Raisin Cookies

Makes approx 15 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup of butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce, warmed
• 1/4 teaspoon of all spice
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/3 cup of grated carrot
• 1/4 cup of raisins
• 2 teaspoons of fig butter (I used Trader Joes ones)

Directions

Preheat oven to 180c or 350f (gas mark 4)

In a bowl, mix together the flour, oatmeal, all spice and cinnamon.

In another bowl mix together the butter, apple sauce, fig butter.

Add butter mixture to the oatmeal and flour until ingredients are well combined and ten stir in the carrot and raisins.

Line a baking tray with some parchment paper and spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture onto the tray, flatten it down with the back of a fork, so that you have a rough oval shape. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

Place in the oven and bake until biscuits are nice and golden approx 18-20mins, transfer to a wire rack to cool.

If your kids are like mine, these won’t last very long at all. But otherwise store in an airtight container.

Creamy Vegetable Pasta Bake

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 250g of uncooked pasta (I used tri-coloured farfalle)
• 1 small onion
• 1 small courgette
• 100g of mushrooms
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed
• 1 cup of passata
• 1 cup of no salt chicken stock
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup of sweetcorn
• 1/4 cup of peas
• couple of fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of mixed Italian herbs
• 70g of cream cheese
• 1 medium sized ripe tomato, sliced
• 120g of mozzarella
• olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 200c or 400f (gas mark 6)

Drizzle a frying pan over a medium high heat with olive oil, add the onion, garlic, mushrooms and courgette and cook until softened.

Add the passata, chicken stock, basil, herbs and balsamic vinegar.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for approx 10 mins. Add a little more water if needed, if the sauce reduces too much.

Add the cream cheese to a bowl and add to it a few spoonsfuls of the sauce. Whisk until smooth. Pour this back into the sauce and stir until it is all mixed in.

In the meantime, add your pasta to a saucepan of hot water and cook till Al Dente (avoid overcooking, you want the pasta to still have a bite to it).

Add the pasta to the sauce, along with the peas and sweetcorn and mix all ingredients together

Transfer pasta mix to a oven proof dish.

Top with the slices of tomatoes and the mozzarella cheese.

Bake in the oven till cheese has melted and is golden. Approx 20-30 mins

Mini Tuna Cheddar Melts

Serves 2 Children

Ingredients

• 1 small 170g tin of tuna
• 3 heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise
• 2 slices of whole wheat bread toasted
• black pepper
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced
• unsalted butter
• grated cheddar

Directions

Preheat oven to 200c or 400f (gas mark 6)

Using a 48mm cookie cutter, cut out 8 circles in the toasted bread.

Lightly spread each circle with some butter and place the on a baking tray.

Drain the tin of tuna and then add the mayo and a little black pepper and mix until ingredients are well combined and any big lumps of tuna are broken up.

Spoon a little bit of the tuna mix onto each circle and flatten down, then top with a little grated cheddar.

Place in the oven and bake until cheddar is melted. Top with some sliced spring onion.

With the rest of the tuna, you can make an adult sized tuna cheddar melt sandwich.

Enjoy!!

Vegetable Soup

Makes a big pot, so will be plenty left over for freezing

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 leek, sliced finely
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 300g of potato, peeled and chopped into small cubes
• 1 litre of no added salt chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• couple of sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tablespoon of dried)
• black pepper to season
• olive oil

Directions

Drizzle some olive oil in saucepan over a medium heat  and add the onions, garlic, leek, carrot, celery and potato. and cook until slightly softened. Stir in the thyme and Bay leaves

Add stock and bring to a boil

Reduce heat and simmer for approx 1 hour.

Roughly blend some of the soup with a hand blender, (or half the soup to a traditional blender). If your kids are really fussy, then you may want to blend this until completely smooth for them.

Season with black pepper as needed and serve. For young ones who can’t yet use a spoon, ladle some of the veg out for them with a slotted spoon into a bowl and watch them enjoy the soft flavorsome vegetables.

Enjoy!!

Sausage, Balsamic Tomatoes and Onion with Orecchiette

Serves 4 (2 kids and 2 adults)

Ingredients

• 8 good quality sausages
• 1 red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 400g of grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons of good quality balsamic vinegar
• 250ml of no added salt chicken stock
• 300g of pasta (I used orecchiette)
• 2 level teaspoons of brown sugar (optional) – it takes away some of the acidity, but I tasted prior to adding too and it would still be delicious without
• black pepper
• olive oil

Remove the casing from the sausages and roughly chop the meat.

Drizzle  a frying pan with some olive oil over a medium high heat.

Add the sausage meat, season with a little black pepper and fry until lightly golden.

Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the onion and fry on a medium heat, until lightly caramelized.

Add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and sugar, and fry for a couple of minutes, till tomatoes have softened.

Add the sausages back to the pan, along with the stock and simmer, until stock reduces down.

In the meantime add your pasta to a saucepan of boiling hot water and cook until al dente.

Drain and then add to the sausage mixture and stir to combine.

Top with some fresh chopped Parsley.

Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Muffins

Makes approx 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 cup of pumpkin puree (fresh or tinned) *not the pie filling stuff, as that is packed with sugar etc
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar (optional) – if not using sugar I suggest adding about the same quantity of apple sauce just for a little sweetness.

Directions

Preheat oven to 200c or 400f (gas mark 6)

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg into a bowl.

Mix together the eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, oil and vanilla extract.

Fold mixture into your flour until all ingredients are combined.

Spoon into twelve muffins cases and  bake in the oven until slightly golden (approx 20 mins). A wooden skewer entered through the centre should come out clean.

Allow to cool in muffin tin and then transfer to a wired rack.

For variation, you could also try adding some raisins to the mixture.