Food

Parmesan and pumpkin gnocchi with sage

Recipe for pumpkin gnocchi

We learned this recipe from Francesco Mazzei as part of our experience with Slow Food Kids Ingredients (serves 4): 100g                       mashed potatoes (use 2 large potatoes) 100g                       pumpkin mash (1 butternut squash) 100g                       Grana Padano 21 Months (or good quality parmesan) 100g                       00 flour Pinch of                Nutmeg 1                              egg yolk 50g                        butter 1                              teaspoon shallots 20g                         Sage (4 leaves) Method: 1)      Cook the potatoes and pumpkin in boiling water for 20-25 minutes, or until soft, then drain. 2)      Mash well and place in a large bowl. …

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Oven roasted vegetables with fresh hazelnuts

This is one of the delicious recipes we learned whilst cooking with Slow Food Kids and Grana Padano (Recipes by Francesco Mazzei) Ingredients (4 servings): 200g     Beetroot 200g      Fennel 200g      Butternt squash 200g      Purple Aubergine 2              Red onions 2              teaspoona tomato paste 50ml      Extra Virgin Olive oil 50g         Fresh hazelnuts or cobnuts Salt & Pepper 2              Tablespoon honey 500ml    Raspberry vinegar 50g         Grana Padano 21 Months shavings Fresh Herbs for decoration (Chervil, Basil, celery cress)  Method: 1)      Place the beetroot in a pan of cold water; bring …

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Slow-cooked smoky beef casserole: 5 WeightWatchers ProPoints

Slow Cooker Beef Casserole 7 WeightWatchers ProPoints

This weekend Mummy served this slow-cooked smoky beef casserole instead of roast dinner. I was inclined to kick-off, because Sunday roast is my favourite meal of the week. But I found myself sneaking into the utility room to check on the slow-cooker, because the smells wafting out were just so tempting. Once again, Mummy cooked for about 10 minutes and then produced this rich, smoky-scented dinner about 8 hours later! Serves 6: this recipe has been created by us, using the WeightWatchers ProPoints system. It is not a WeightWatchers recipe. You will need: 8oog lean casserole steak, cubed 20g plain …

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The food in Brittany – not just your usual crêpe!

Devouring a plate of “Citron Chantilly” (that’s lemon and sweet whipped cream to the likes of you and me) didn’t take me long, and the Bug wolfed down his Apple and Caramel version with equal gusto. But whilst M&D enjoyed their savoury versions (galettes, if you need to know) they marvelled at the 199 possible compositions of this mealtime staple and dessert treat of Brittany on offer at the Crêperie Mariniere in Trévignon. But the food in Brittany is not just about these gorgeous pancake confections. Oh no no no no noooo…… There is more! And here is just a …

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Banana fudge muffins recipe: the Bug’s favourite

Following my first attempt at hosting Listography for Kate Takes 5, with my Top 5 Yoghurts, the Bug has been pestering Mummy for a post of his own. I may have mentioned that Daddy likes to bake muffins on a Sunday, and has become something of an improvisation expert with his random flavours. Chilli chocolate muffins was not one of his better attempts 😯 The Bug rates the muffin quality each week and came up with his top 5 muffins: Does that make sense? Can you tell what he’s written? Granted, his handwriting is a little primitive. He then took …

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Slow Cooker Red Lentil Curry recipe: 7 WeightWatchers ProPoints

Super simple slow cooker Lentil Curry recipe

What Mummy loves about this red lentil curry, aside from the fact that it has only 7 WeightWatchers ProPoints per serving, is that it genuinely needs no effort at all. Simply chop up all the vegetables, rinse the lentils until the water runs clear, mince the garlic, grate the ginger and chuck everything in the slow cooker on a high setting for about 4 hours. Or you can cook it all on the hob, with some low calorie cooking spray, if you’re in a hurry – about 15 minutes simmering will do it. You will need: 250g red lentils 1 …

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Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Pasta: 6 WeightWatchers Points

This recipe is calculated using WeightWatchers ProPoints. 6 This is Mummy’s staple “been a bad week” recipe – dead simple, really tasty, and you can spice it up or down according to taste. Since the only points values are in the pasta, you can make it as low or high as you need, depending on what you have left. Mummy always makes extra; she claims the roasted vegetables are surprisingly delicious in a wrap for lunch the next day (3 points for lunch if you use Sainsbury’s Be Good to Yourself wraps). For my tastes, aubergines can go swing, not …

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Sausage and Lentil Casserole: 8 WeightWatchers ProPoints

Sausage and lentil casserole recipe

This sausage and lentil casserole is healthy, delicious comfort-food, that even the children relish eating! The recipe is calculated using WeightWatchers ProPoints, and serves 4 hearty appetites. A proper alternative to the Sunday roast.  Sausage and Lentil Casserole recipe You will need:   We served this with steamed savoy cabbage. It all went, and seconds were requested! Result! I’m linking this post to Romanian Mum’s Foodie Friday, where you will find a whole host of meaty recipes!

Split Pea & Ham Soup Recipe with only 3 Weightwatchers ProPoints

Split pea and ham soup

  Filling and hearty split pea and ham soup In the winter time I’m always looking for a new soup recipe. There’s just something about a hot bowl of soup when you come in from the cold that makes me feel whole again – does that make sense? We have based this healthy and filling soup recipe on Delia Smith’s London Particular, giving it the ProPoints treatment to ensure it complies with WeightWatchers standards whilst retaining all the flavour and goodness. It doesn’t look much, but even my children love it. It has quite a high points value for a …

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10 WeightWatchers points: Mushroom & smoked haddock gratin

This recipe is calculated using WeightWatchers ProPoints. 10 This hearty and satisfying main course is full of flavour and doesn’t feel like diet food! Even me and the Bug will eat it! Serve with some green veg such as broccoli spears. Serves 4 You will need: 800g waxy potatoes, sliced 250g smoked haddock 20g dried mushrooms low calorie cooking spray 2 large flat mushrooms, chopped 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced 1 leek, sliced 120g gruyere cheese, grated 150ml skimmed milk 150g low fat creme fraiche dried thyme Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190°C/170°C fan oven. Steam the potatoes, …

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2 WeightWatchers points: Leek & Broccoli Soup with blue cheese

This recipe is calculated using WeightWatchers ProPoints. 2 Mummy eats this stuff, and declares it rich enough in flavour to hold it’s own at a dinner party. Personally I have refused to let it pass my lips, but I am informed I will love blue cheese eventually. I can wait… 😉 Serves 4 You will need: 2 leeks 2 medium heads of broccoli low-calorie cooking spray 500ml vegetable stock 80g gorgonzola cheese Chop the leeks and add to a large saucepan with the cooking spray. Fry on a low heat until softened. Add the stock and broccoli florets, then cover …

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7 WeightWatchers Points: Easy Chickpea Balti

This recipe is calculated using WeightWatchers ProPoints. 7 We get an organic vegetable box every week. Over the winter the selection is fairly unvaried, meaning that we get a lot of chard. It goes very well in an omelette with cheese, but let’s face it, you can’t eat an omelette every day, and we WeightWatchers miss our curries. So here is a really simple vegetarian Balti, complete with protein, serving 3 people adequately, or 2 hearty appetites for 11 points: You will need: Low cal cooking spray 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced One head of chard (or …

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12 Weightwatchers points: Sweet and spicy vegetable noodle stir-fry

This is yummy, cheap, and can be made with any vegetables you have hanging around. It serves 2 adults and contains 12 Weightwatchers points per person: You will need: 2 tbsps sesame oil 1 tbsp lime juice 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp honey 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2-inch piece of ginger, grated Few dried chilli flakes Green leafy vegetable, such as spring greens, cabbage or pak choi, shredded 1 carrot, cut into strips about 2 inches long 1 small courgette, cut like the carrot 100g dried noodles, cooked and drained Whisk together 1 tbsp sesame oil with the lime …

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Cakes for book-lovers

Alien's love underpants cake

Have you ever heard of an Edible Book Festival? No, neither had we, but when Zoe, at Playing by the book announced she was hosting one on her blog, we headed straight over. Up for grabs was an original drawing by Emma Chichester Clark, of Blue Kangaroo fame, and all we had to do was make an edible representation of a favourite book. Well, we didn’t have to be asked twice, and immediately set about baking a cake representation of the Sword in the Stone, having recently enjoyed King Arthur and the Mighty Contest from the Crazy Camelot series by …

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Listography: Mummy’s Top 5 Cookbooks

Listography this week at Kate Takes 5 is Top 5 Cookbooks, and Mummy couldn’t resist. Here are the cookbooks in our house: We have lots. But funnily enough there are actually only 5 that she really uses. Good Housekeeping: it holds all the classic recipes from Sherry Trifle to Boeuf Bourgignon, from a Victoria Sponge to jointing and roasting a turkey. And the best ever orange and almond cake, containing a whole, boiled, puréed orange. It sounds odd, but it is lush! Full of rich casseroles, stodgy puds, and cosy soups – the best of which is Roasted Pumpkin with …

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Apple Gingerbread Muffins Recipe

Daddy is a fan of baking on a Sunday morning, and he has been perfecting  his muffins for a few weeks now. For Mother’s Day he proposed a mesh of all his previous efforts, with the addition of some ginger, and came up with this, his best attempt yet at apple and gingerbread muffins. If you are more of a cupcake fan all you need do is whizz up some butter icing, flavour with lemon, and pop some diced crystallised ginger in there – YUM! You will need: 75g butter, melted 100g dark muscovado sugar 25g caster sugar 2 eggs …

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Inspired! By Edible Books!

Once again I am taking part in the gorgeous Dear Beautiful Boy’s Inspired linky, but this time I am on a mission to create me a cake that could win me an original drawing by Emma Chichester Clark, the illustrator behind one of our favourite books, Blue Kangaroo. All I need is to get inspired to create an edible book! Hmmmm. “What,” you may ask, “is an edible book?” “Quite literally that!” would be my answer! The Edible Book Festival is being held  on the lovely blog Playing By the Book, where we are invited to join in by creating …

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Easy Chocolate Biscuit Cake Recipe Kids Can Make Themselves

"chocolate biscuit cake"

To be eaten under controlled circumstances only. The best chocolate biscuit recipe in the world, ever. According to me 😉   ♥ (With Marshmallows, Cherries, Nuts, Broken Meringues, Glitter, Exploding Candy, and anything else you can think of!) ♥ ** Update! This recipe has started something of a craze! Take a look at the Facebook post and comments on it. Feel free to add your own suggestions – we’re always looking for ridiculous delicious additions to try out! We adapted this recipe from one we found in Sainsbury’s magazine. I say, adapted; what I really mean is doctored, embellished, played …

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A Boxing Day Tradition: Gingerbread House (and Mini Cooper!)

Boxing Day is traditionally when the Actually Mummy household break into our gingerbread house. Lovingly crafted sometime during December, it takes pride of place on Mummy’s counter, suffering mini-burglaries, and minor structural damage until Boxing Day, when we are officially allowed to demolish it, and demolish it we do! Our gingerbread recipe comes from BBC Good Food, complete with template. It makes perfect gingerbread: firm enough to cope with the house structure and onslaught of decorating by young children; not so hard it breaks your teeth when you try to eat it! Use a template to lay on the rolled-out …

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