Barbeque bananas

By Cathy James on June 11th, 2010%

A delicious and easy receipe when you’re barbequeing, and just right for children, is:

Barbeque Bananas

Take one banana per person and slice down the centre. Fill the slit with chocolate chips.

Wrap each banana in a tinfoil parcel and place on the barbeque after the main courses has been cooked. The remaining heat from the coals will bake the bananas and melt the chocolate.

Unwrap* your banana parcels, add a scoop of icecream and enjoy.

*This is going to be hot of course, so leave it to a grownup who’s wearing oven gloves.

Why not use a disposable barbeque and head off for a picnic in the great outdoors?

works for me wednesday at we are that family

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Ciabatta pizza recipe

By Cathy James on May 3rd, 2010%

For an afterschool tea, expecially when you have several children to feed, I find you can’t go wrong with this recipe for ciabatta pizza. For large families or childminders providing afterschool care it can be difficult to find something everyone will eat. With this recipe you can easily vary the toppings on each ciabatta base so everyone is happy – and even let the kids make their own pizza, choosing the toppings they like best.

Start by switching your grill on and slicing your ciabatta loaf in half lengthways to make your base. Pop the ciabatta under the grill to lightly toast, so you don’t end up with a soggy pizza. Then you just need to add 3 layers on top:

Layer one is some kind of sauce: tomato puree, chopped tomatoes (from a tin is fine) or pesto

Layer two is some flavour: sliced ham or bacon, peppers, onions, olives, sweetcorn, oregano,  whatever you have in the fridge

Layer three is some  cheese: mozarella or cheddar works well

Pop under the grill until the cheese melts and is everything is nicely toasted.

Then let the kids tuck in and enjoy.

One comment   family dinner    

Tea Loaf recipe

By Cathy James on April 19th, 2010%

This tea loaf recipe is easy to make, tastes delicious and with a fairly low butter and sugar content, combined with dried fruits, it’s a healthy pudding choice to give to your kids. It freezes well, so you can slice it, wrap the individual slices and then take them out of the freezer when you need them to add to lunch boxes.

Here’s the recipe:

Healthy Tea Loaf Recipe

Ingredients:
300g dried raisins, cherries and/or mixed peel
225ml hot tea (we use Earl Grey)
50g butter
100g brown sugar
1 egg
225g self-raising flour
sugar to sprinkle on the top (optional)

1. Soak the fruit overnight in the hot tea.
2. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together, then beat in the egg.
4. Sift in the flour and mix in.
5. Add the fruit and any remaining tea.
6. Spoon into the loaf tin and level off the surface.
7. If you have a sweeter tooth you can sprinkle 1-3 teaspoons of sugar on top of the loaf at this point.
8. Bake for 1 hour at 180C / 160C fan / Gas 4.
9. Check it’s cooked through by sticking a skewer in the centre – if it comes out clean, the loaf is ready.
10. Leave to cool completely in the tin. Then slice and enjoy.

Like some more recipes?

How about:

Banana Yoghurt Cake

Raisin Oat Cookies

Classic Gingerbread

The Best Birthday Cake Ever

Car Sandwiches and Traffic Light Jelly

6 comments   Recipes    

Magic sauce recipe – get your kids eating vegetables

By Cathy James on January 13th, 2010%

This post is happily shared with wearethat family’s Works for me Wednesday.

I have lots of children around my kitchen table during the week and boy are some of them fussy eaters. It can be really difficult to find a healthy meal they will all enjoy as there’s no way I’m cooking more than one meal a night (this ain’t no restaurant!). This is my recipe which they will ALL eat – it’s easy to make, it freezes really well and it squeezes in seven types of vegetables without them even knowing. It definitely works for me.

You’ll need:

1. a onion
2. a clove of garlic
3. a stick of celery
4. a red pepper
5. a carrot
6. half a small fennel bulb
7. a tin of chopped tomatoes
8. a little olive oil
9. a teaspoon of sugar (optional)

Optional extras are herbs such as basil and oregano (but my kids will object to any tell-tale green bits) and a slug of balsamic vinegar.

To make it, chop up ingredients 1 to 6 and fry in a little olive oil. Add the tomatoes (and the sugar, if you’re using it) and leave to cook for 20 minutes (or until all the veg is softened). Now you need to whizz this with a blender and all those little bits of vegetable magically disappear to leave a delicious tomato sauce which you can eat as soup, as a pasta sauce or as a pizza topping. That’s it – seven veggies inside your child with no fussing!

I’m always looking out for recipes like this that are easy to make and child-friendly, so if you have any to recommend I’d love you to post a comment.

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