Annabel Karmel Quick and Easy Toddler Meals - Book Review

In a move to make mealtimes more manageable for busy mums and dads, the UK’s number one parenting author and expert on baby and child nutrition Annabel Karmel MBE launches the first in her ‘Quick and Easy’ series: Quick and Easy Toddler Recipes.

With mealtime meltdown a daily occurrence across thousands of busy UK households, Annabel has cooked up a 144 page full colour recipe book to help hard-working families feed their children a healthy, balanced diet – in quick time!

With recent research deeming British toddlers to be the fussiest in Europe and with 42% of parents admitting to a repertoire of just seven meals they cook for their children, it’s no surprise that parents regularly become locked in a battle of wills.

But mealtimes are about to get tastier for tiny tums – and easier for mums – with over 100 delicious and nutritious time-saving recipes packed full of natural flavour. And it’s not just little ones who will love them; combining everyday kitchen ingredients with simple-to-follow instructions, Annabel’s recipes can be whipped up for the whole family too.

What did we think?

We have road-tested the book and the kids have enjoyed what we've made so far. We have two very fussy and headstrong kids and they have a very small repertoire of meals that they will eat without considerable badgering from us. First up I made Meatballs in Goulash Sauce. We served these with pasta, not rice. I know I should have gone with the rice but I wanted to avoid any aggro that night and I felt that rice would make the kids not eat any of it. They loved the meatballs and so did me and the OH - proof that although the book is aimed at cooking for toddlers it works for the entire family. Next time I make it I will man-up and serve with rice, after all the more times kids are served a food, they will become familiar with it, and become more likely to try it. 

Next up we tried Quick Chicken Nuggets. These were delicious. The coating was crushed up cornflakes and it was Isla's job to smash them all up - she enjoyed doing that! I much prefer chicken nuggets that are freshly made but it is easy to fall into that trap thinking it's more convenient to buy them but these are so easy to make and you know what chicken you're eating. Look at them, they look so golden and crispy. Yum.

And our final road test was a bit of a disaster (at first) as while I was trying to concentrate on the recipe (Isla was helping me again) I had Noah having the most EPIC tantrum in the kitchen, demanding to be picked up. I started off making Tomato and Basil Risotto but I ended up with a bit of a cross breed of that and the recipe on the opposite page! I got so distracted that I put Creme Fraiche in the Risotto, which wasn't part of the plan, but actually ended up being a fortunate accident as it was really tasty. Again, Isla helped me to make dinner and I think it gave her a sense of pride and I also believe prompted her to eat more of it than she would have otherwise. 

So there you have it, 3 very successful dishes and a desire to make more from this lovely little book. We give this book a big thumbs up and would recommend it to any time poor, frazzled mum of fussy eaters. 

Quick and Easy Toddler Recipes (RRP £9.99) is published by Ebury Press on 20^th June and will be available from all good book shops and Amazon.

We were sent the book free of charge but all opinions in the review are honest and my own.

Bacon and Red Pepper Risotto Recipe

This evening we were a bit stumped on what to cook for dinner so I threw a few things together that I had in the fridge and store cupboard and came up with this Bacon and Red Pepper Risotto and it was delicious! Here goes:

Serves 2 very hungry parents!

Ingredients
200g Risotto Rice
1 red onion
1 red pepper
2 cloves or garlic
2 chicken stock cubes
1 litre of boiling water for the stock cubes
Good glug of white wine
Glug of Olive Oil
Knob of butter
Black pepper to season (we didn't need salt as the bacon was lovely and salty!)


Method
Fry the bacon, onion and red pepper in olive oil and butter for 5 minutes

Add the garlic to the pan and gently fry for a further 5 minutes until all nicely golden and soft

Add the risotto rice to the pan and make sure it gets coated in all the oily buttery loveliness and it should hiss for a bit.

Make the stock and then start adding the stock a ladle at a time and keep stirring the risotto and keep adding stock as it gets absorbed. Splash the glug of white wine in too. If you need more liquid just add a bit more water, but I found that was enough. I can't tell you how long this process took but I could see that the rice had swollen up nicely, I tasted it and it was cooked!

Serve with a nice fresh salad and Bob's Your Uncle, a delicious quick meal! Enjoy.

Plum Baby Cookery School - Stage 2

Here's the next Plum Baby Cookery School Weaning Video - Stage 2! Enjoy!

Sausage, Sweet Potato & Lentil Casserole

I was a bit stuck for what to make for dinner last night and I decided to make something up as I went along. It turned out absolutely super yummy and so I thought I'd share it here. I hope you like it as much as I did. I had seconds, therefore depriving my husband on his return from playing a late round of golf!

Ingredients:

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Caramelised Red Onion and Pork Sausages
3 medium sized sweet potatoes - peeled and diced into 2cm cubes
Tin of Puy Lentils - (this had been in my cupboard for over a year!)
1 leek
1 clove of garlic- squished and chopped
2 small carrots - chopped fairly small
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 beef Oxo cube - I used the Puy lentil tin to measure the water added - 1 and half tins full
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Couple of dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
Salt and pepper

Method:

Roast sweet potato pieces in the oven for around 30 minutes at 180C

Brown the sausages on the hob and then remove from the pan

Next soften leeks and carrots, add the garlic after 5 mins and then the tin of Puy Lentils and cook for another 5 minutes

Once all the above is done add all those ingredients together, along with the tin of chopped tomatoes, stock cube with water and season with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.

Transfer the whole thing with a lid on to the oven and cook for around 40 minutes so that all the lovely flavours combine

Remove from the oven and there you have a really delicious dinner. Admittedly this sounds a bit of a wintry dish but to be honest we're not having the best of summers and last night was a bit chilly and I relaxed with a glass of wine and a big bowl of this and went back for more! Obviously you can use any sausages you like but I found that these were so delicious that I'd definitely use them again. I'd also say that you could bung in other veg, a few mushroom would be nice, maybe some red pepper, and an onion would be as good as a leek. Enjoy!

Baking Biscuits with Isla

We made this really simple recipe from Rachel Allen's book Rachel's Favourite Food.

6oz Plain Flour
4oz Butter
2oz caster sugar

Pre heat oven to 180Celcius

Rub the butter into the flour. Then add the sugar. Bring mixture together to make a dough. Roll it out to half centimetre thickness and then cut away! Cook for 6 - 10 minutes or until golden brown.

I love Rachel Allen and have all of her books. The food she makes is so simple and these biscuits took no time to make and Isla loved making them. I got some fab gingerbread men cutters and she cut them out and decorated them herself with red and blue icing, silver balls and sprinkles. I really want to continue cooking and baking with Isla as she seems to really enjoy it. The only thing that sometimes puts me off is the time it takes to clear up all the mess! Oh and she also has a tendency to want to eat mouthfuls of flour and butter, that isn't so great either!

Here's the end result (excuse the haziness of the photo - think I got butter on the lens!), I think she did a pretty good job and they were tasty!