Cooking - Banana Bread

So this week we decided to use up our abundance of bananas by making a yummy loaf of banana bread. Sugar free so perfect for a snack or as picnic food. Why not give it a go and let us know what you think!

 





Ingredients:

2 cups of flour

(we used one of plain and one wholemeal)

Squeezing the orange

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon cinnomon

2 large ripe bananas

Handful of raisins

1 egg

Juice of 1 orange









Adding raisins

Put the flour, baking powder, raisins and cinnomon in a bowl and mix. Mash the bananas well and mix them together with the egg and orange juice then add to flour mixture. Mix together then put into a bread tin and cook for around 30-50mins on 180oC.

 

Simple and yummy, enjoy!

Cooking - mini quiches

Today we got busy in the kitchen making mini vegetable quiches. A simple recipe which can be adapted to suit any taste. Makes a great snack or meal.

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
Large chunk of butter
cup of flour
milk to bind
For the filling:
2 eggs
grated cheese
finely chopped vegetables
(we used onion, broccoli, spinach, tomato and red pepper)
a drop of milk
oregano and pepper to season

For the pastry we added the ingredients together, mixed them well then made a ball with the dough. We rolled it out and cup out six small circles then put them into the tray.
For the filling we added everything together, mixed it well and spooned it into the pastry circles.
Then we popped them in the over for around 20 minutes and sat down to enjoy them!

Cooking - cheese straws

What better activity than cooking a yummy snack on a cold and wet winter's day?
Today we made cheese straws.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
tablespoon baking powder
1 cup grated cheese (we used mozzarella)

Add all the ingredients together, mix well and make straw shaped sticks. For variety you can add different herbs such as basil, oregano or thyme. Also older children may enjoy making different shapes or animals to eat!

Cooking - cookies

We love cooking here so thought we'd share our fun cookie recipe. Our little boy still doesn't eat sweet food but he loves to join in the preparation (and it's a great treat for mummy when he's gone to bed) and I'm sure they will go down wonderfully at birthday parties and on special occasions.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar 

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 packet chocolate - smarties (UK) or Lakka confetti (Brazil)

Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the egg, fold in flour and baking powder and add the chocolate. Make small balls (I usually get 8 cookies from the recipe), cook on medium heat (180oc) until they are brown underneath. Cool and enjoy!

Practical Life Activities - cooking

Today's activity looks at cooking with your toddler.

When I say cooking I really mean combining the ingredients and (if your toddler is anything like mine) having a good taste!!!

Making Scones

Firstly, this activity takes quite a bit of preparation on your part. It's best to have ingredients measured out and in easy to pour containers. You also have to leave the recipe to one side and hope for the best!!!

So, we use flour (about a cup full), butter (a small chunk), milk (to combine the mixture), baking powder (a tablespoon), a grated apple and a handful of raisins. Then allow them to mix until they are happy! Bear in mind you will probably have flour overboard and loose a few raisins to your toddlers tummy!!! If they can manage, help them to blob the mixture on to a baking tray. If not you can do this later (that's what I do for now).

With all these activities it's important to allow the child to have freedom to carry out the activity without interfering too much. When they have finished and gone off to play you can mix it better. Try not to get into the activity too much unless they ask for help or it's getting out of hand. If need be, take the bowl away and ask them to help you clean up either wiping the surface of washing a spoon!

Other things we have tried when we need to get on and make dinner is: washing vegetables (yes, you will have to wash them again after), helping to put chopped veg into a pan, pulling leaves off the spinach and grating cheese (although he's a little bit small for this but it did keep him occupied until he'd eaten all the cheese)!

Got an idea for us to try out? Leave us a comment below.