Pg Tips The Rich One

My monkeys are busy with BoyG at nursery and BabyG asleep in his bed so I am having a tea break with Monkey. We have been looking for a rich one ;0)

A quick trip to the park with the boys

As it was so nice out yesterday, I walked to the park with the boys. I thought we would go to the big park with lots of toys, and ducks. But BoyG insisted on going to the small playground in the park at the end of our road because he wanted to play on the helicopter!

It was windy and cold once we were out so we didn't stay long, but BoyG loved it anyway. He played on everything, including the helicopter! BabyG was tired and just stayed laying down in the buggy this time.

Hopefully the sun will come with us next time!

Fish is the dish - healthy heart challenge

Here is another of the recipes I have done for the healthy heart challenge. A really simple but very tasty prawn curry. Even DaddyG gave it a thumbs up!!

I love this kind of recipe. Very few ingredients, meaning low cost, little preparation time, and delicious!

The ingredients:

1 tsp each of mustard seeds, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and red chilli powder
1 onion
200g prawns - I used Tesco Finest king prawns from the frozen section, simply because that was the cheapest option I found.
400g tin of chopped tomatoes - I used the ones with garlic and herbs in.
The method:

Mix the spices with some water to make a paste and set aside. Fry the onion. Add the curry paste and then add some water and stir in. It needs to just be enough water to let it simmer for a minute. Add the prawns and the tinned tomatoes then simmer until it is all warmed through. I served this with boiled rice.

The photos:

Simple! :0)

Avent combined steamer and blender - the ultimate in home cooked baby food

I like to make my own baby food for BabyG. He prefers home cooked food to jars, it's healthier, and I believe it helps get children used to a wider variety of flavours. BoyG didn't really eat home cooked food as a baby and he is a very fussy eater now! I do try to get healthy food into him and he will eat lots of fruit, but dinners really have to be pasta, or sausages for him to clear his plate. This has made me even more determined to give BabyG food that I have prepared rather than a bland jar of baby food.



My sous chef



I have been putting aside a few bits from our dinners and blending it up to make food for BabyG. This is OK, but it is very hard to blend small amounts of food and I have found myself getting lazy and just buying boxes or jars of branded food.

I have been sent the Philips Avent combined steamer and blender. As I described it in the title of this post, it really is the ultimate in home cooked baby food! I only wish I had bought one of these when BoyG was weaning. I thought I would give it a go today to see how it worked, how easy it is to use, and how long it takes to prepare meals for a hungry baby. I even had a little help putting the food in to steam by BoyG as he loves to be my little helper in the kitchen.



Apple, cinnamon and raisin



It is very simple to use (even DaddyG can use it!!) and easy to wash up afterwards. Included in the box is the steamer and blender, full instructions, quick start instructions for eager people like myself, a measuring jug, a spatula, and a recipe book.

I had been thinking of some recipes to try out before the steamer and blender arrived, but the recipe book included is easy to follow. The meals are quick to prepare, and there are recipes for each stage of weaning.

I have tried out a few recipes. Some my own, some from the book and some that are from the book but I have adapted them to suit the ingredients I had in the fridge.

This is pork, carrot, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, served with mashed potato.

I tried the sweet pepper sauce from the recipe book. I am going to freeze it in small pots and make some baby pasta shapes to go with it when I am ready to use it for a quick supper.



Carrot, mushroom and butternut squash



This has been so much fun to use that I kept going until I ran out of storage pots! My fridge and freezer are now very well stocked! Hopefully dinner time will be a little bit less stressful now that I have one less meal to prepare or think about.

I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone who is looking to make their own healthy and tasty baby food. It makes the world of difference!

I was sent this by Philips Avent, but you can purchase this in Avent stockists or on their website.

Make cake not waste! Banana bread

I love bananas, but only when they are exactly perfect. Yellow skin with no green and definitely no brown! But i hate waste and if the bananas are left too long I will not eat them! Yuk!

So we make banana bread with them!

I use me Nanny's recipe that was passed down to my mum and then to me. Its so quick and simple and it tastes great!

This one is not for me as I am dieting, and I have been promising this one to a friend for some time.

So I am finally fulfilling my promise of this tasty treat :0)

Saleen place mat - Product review

Another package for BoyG! He loves it when he receives post! This time it is a lovely place mat from Saleen.

Our place mat got a 'wow!' from BoyG as he opened the package. We like the simple but pretty design. In this house, with two children plus any friends that come over for tea, a place mat gets put through its paces and needs to be durable. I find some are wipe clean on one side but if the back gets to wet it will ruin it. This is good because it can just be put straight in to the sink with the other dishes and washed properly to get all the food off it so it is nice and durable. It can even withstand temperatures of up to 70*C! It's safe to use in the dishwasher, and it is hygienic, which I do worry about with BabyG!

This item has kindly been sent to me by Saleen but is available on line through the link in this post.

Contigo cup - Product review

BoyG has received a package to try out. He had two cups from Contigo.

BoyG has been using the Striker cup which he has loved since he first saw it. Its a brilliant design, and BoyG calls it his 'Super Boy' cup! Its easy to open and close the straw and has chunky pieces for little hands. The best bit is that it hasn't leaked for us! We took it along on a recent break to Butlins and it was really put to use! The handle is a great idea as little ones love to carry something and feel grown up!

 

I have kindly been sent these items from Contigo but they are available on line through the link in this post.

Aah Bisto!

Ive been given some Bisto to try. I have two fussy eaters (BoyG and DaddyG!!) so I thought I would try out some of the Bisto recipes and see how we got on.

The first recipe we tried was chicken wrapped in bacon. I have to admit that I didn't cook it. My mum was staying with us and wanted to blog about the same recipe so I handed over the ingredients and my kitchen, then waited for the results :0)

It looked very easy to do. And it looked and smelled delicious! I couldn't help tasting some before it was on the plates (and yes I did get my hand smacked!) but the chicken and the vegetables tasted so good! My mum then made the gravy using Bisto beef flavour gravy granules and we poured that over before eating. It was good before the gravy, but the gravy definitely made the dish even tastier!! We will definitely be making this one again. And as usual when we have a nice dinner, DaddyG took the left overs to work the next day for his lunch!

I also tried a recipe for the boys. I got some silicone muffin cases and put two pre-cooked mini sausages in each case. I made up some batter and poured it over the sausages then put them in the oven for half an hour. I gave them to the boys for tea, with Bisto beef gravy poured over them, and with some baked beans on the side. This went down well with both boys but BabyG still only has 2 teeth so couldn't quite manage the sausages!!

I made enough of these so that I could freeze some for a quick tea on a busy day!! I even had some left after DaddyG came home and found them!