4 Healthy and Nutritious Recipes for Toddlers from Fiona Faulkner and www.growingupmilkinfo.com:
Parenting on Female First
Fisherman’s Jackets
Serves: Three toddlers
Prep Time: Five minutes
Cook Time: Varies
INGREDIENTS
3 small-medium baking potatoes
20g unsalted butter
50-100ml Growing Up Milk (ready-made or made up from powder form)
100g hard cheese, grated
130g tin salmon / tuna, drained
2-3 tablespoons beetroot juice, taken from pack of cooked beetroot (not in vinegar)
To decorate: olives (pitted), baby tomatoes, sugar snap peas….or whatever you think!
METHOD
1. Bake the potatoes as you wish – either in the oven, the microwave, or cook in the microwave and then crisp up the skins in the oven for a final 15 minutes or so.
2. Once you’ve baked the potatoes, allow to cool sufficiently enough so you can handle them, then cut away the tops, scoop out the cooked potato into a large bowl, leaving the skins in tact. You’ll need about 350g cooked potato.
3. Add the butter, cheese and fish (tuna or salmon) to the potato and mash together, with the beetroot juice and enough Growing Up Milk to create a smooth consistency of mash. Taste it so you know you’re happy with it.
4. Place the mash back in the skins and re-heat if necessary. If not, create a funny face with the veg and olives…. Serve immediately.
Twisted Macaroni Cheese
Serves: Six toddlers
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS
300g dried pasta twists
400ml Growing Up Milk - ready-made or made up from powder
40g plain flour, sifted
40g unsalted butter
150g grated hard cheese – plus extra to sprinkle
100g frozen peas
100g frozen sweetcorn
100g cooked chicken, cut into small pieces
1 crust of bread
1 medium tomato, sliced
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C / fan 180 / Gas Mark 6. Get the pasta cooking as per the pack instructions.
2. Place the Growing Up Milk in a medium non-stick saucepan with the flour and butter. On a medium-high heat keep stirring with a whisk. As it comes to a boil, it will thicken to a sauce. This will take 5 minutes or so – be patient and don’t stop whisking!
3. Add the cheese and stir to melt. Add the peas, sweetcorn and chicken. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it off and tip into a casserole dish. Stir through the sauce.
4. Tear up the crust of bread to make crumbs (or put in the food processer for a few seconds) and use to cover the pasta. Finally top it all off with the slices of tomato and any extra grated cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes until crispy and golden. Allow to cool a little before serving.
FIONA’S TIP:
- This sauce freezes easily: simply pour into a freezer bag and defrost in the fridge when you need it, adding a little more Growing Up Milk when you reheat in a pan.
Magic Carrot Soup
Creates: 4-6 toddler portions
Prep Time: Five minutes
Cook Time: Approx 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
50g unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
500g carrots, chopped
500ml reduced salt vegetable stock
100g dried red lentils
300ml water
½ tsp salt – plus a good twist of pepper
3 tablespoons growing up milk - ready-made or made up from powder form
METHOD
1. Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan on a medium heat and sauté the onion for 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the carrots, stock, lentils and water and rapidly simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally towards the end, until the carrots are tender. Stir through the salt, pepper and Growing Up Milk.
3. Allow to cool for a few minutes then blitz in a blender (or similar) until it’s smooth. Test for temperature and then serve.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
- Add some gentle spice by adding 1 tsp ground cumin at stage 1 of the method. You could also use ground ginger.
- Add a tin of drained butterbeans instead of the lentils.
FIONA’S TIP:
- Serve with chunky bits of bread (or even cooked pasta shapes) thrown into the soup, to soak it up.
Banana-Blueberry American-style Pancakes
Creates: Approx 20 toddler sized pancakes
Prep Time: Five minutes
Cook Time: Approx 20-30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
125g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 dessertspoons caster sugar
100ml Growing Up Milk (ready-made or made up from powder form)
1 egg
1 tbsp melted butter
2 large ripe bananas
150g blueberries
Vegetable oil to fry
METHOD
1. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the sugar, Growing Up Milk, egg and butter and stir to combine.
2. Mash the banana and add this along with the blueberries. Gently stir through.
3. Heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan (just enough to cover) on a medium-high heat. Once you see a little smoke coming off the pan, add a generous tablespoon of the mix. Then add another one or two alongside (don’t overcrowd the pan or make these too big).
4. Leave them to fry off for a good minute or so before using a spatula to turn them over and finish off until golden brown on each side.
5. Leave to drain on a plate with kitchen roll and finish off the mix until it’s all cooked, adding more oil as you need. Alternatively, cook as many as you want and then leave the batter, covered, in the fridge for up to 24 hours (the banana will go brown – but this wont affect the taste).
SERVING SUGGESTION:
- Add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon / nutmeg to the batter for added flavour.
FIONA’S TIPS:
- Don’t worry if the first batch goes wrong - for some reason chefs often find this to be the case with cooking pancakes! Just try not to have the heat either too hot or too low.
- Contrary to popular belief, pancakes can be made in advance (well, I do this anyway!) Simply make up a batch and leave in the fridge, covered, laying them on top of each other. Then place on a non-stick baking tray and reheat in an oven.
- I tend to cook pancakes in oil - so the butter doesn’t burn.