Saturday 28 April 2007

Muddy Puddle Puddings

This is lifted from mummy's LittleFoodies blog. We wanted to play in real muddy puddles until mummy gave us the option to play with the sort of mud you can eat..... messy and yummy - our two favourite things.

Mummy measured the difficult bits and did the hot bits - we did everything else.




Pudding Mix
65g self raising flour
4 tbsp decent cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
80g butter (at room temp)
80g soft brown sugar
3 eggs

Sauce Mix
3 tbsp cocoa powder
50g soft brown sugar
200ml hot water
First make the sauce - Mix the cocoa and sugar in a bowl, add a little water and mix to a paste. Gradually add the rest of the water.

Butter a 1 litre oven-proof dish (or several ramekin sized pots) and stand them on a baking sheet.

Then make the pudding by mixing all of the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Here's the fun part you can mix it with your hands or you can use a wooden spoon. (Children love doing this with their hands – obviously! If you're going to go for this option I would suggest you do it in just a t.shirt with an apron over.)

Pour and scrape the pudding mixture into the oven-proof dish & cover with the sauce.
If doing individual puddings half fill with the pudding mix, then add just enough sauce to cover. There needs to be enough room for them to rise.

Place the dish on baking tray in the middle of the oven. Bake for 12 minutes. The pudding should have risen well by then.

They're magical as the sauce is on the bottom and the cakey pudding is on the top. Warning - Let it cool before you try or it can scald your mouth! Today we ate these as they are, we have eaten with custard, ice cream or cream. Anywayhow they're delicious!

Sunday 22 April 2007

Little Foodies Big Bad Minted Lambie Burgers

Oh LittleFoodies what a treat we are about to eat....

500g organic lamb mince (or any good lamb mince from the butcher)
half a medium onion, finely grated
1 clove garlic crushed and crushed again if necessary
1 egg whisked lightly
handful of fresh mint leaves
teaspoon of mint sauce from a jar
pinch of salt and a grind or two of pepper

In a large bowl mix all of these ingredients together with your hands
Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and roll into balls
Flatten each ball with your hand to burger shape and size you like (round and squat is best)
Ask a grown up to cook them for approx 5-8 minutes on each side or until cooked through
Serve in soft white baps with lettuce, sliced beef tomatoes and thinly sliced onion
(mummy likes mayo & some chilli sauce with hers - she is from the North East originally!)

Friday 20 April 2007

Little Foodie Noodles

Recipe for quick dinner noodles using leftover chicken

Half a packet of noodles (approx 185g or two biscuits of noodles)
half a yellow pepper (or other colour pepper)
approx 3 spring onions (or salad onions whatever they're called)
1 cooked chicken breast or equivelant size amount of cooked chicken)
2 tablespoons japanese soy sauce
tablespoon runny honey
1 tablespoon oil
(mange tout or green beans also go well added to this)

Cook the noodles and leave to one side (ask a grown up to do this bit)
Cut a yellow pepper up how you want it
Cut the spring onions in to small pieces (or as you like them)
Tear the chicken apart so it becomes shredded
A grown up has to do the next bit. Put the oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the spring onions and cook for 2 minutes, add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes, add the pepper, soy sauce and runny honey, turn the heat up and cook for 5 minutes. Add the noodles to warm through and serve. The onions have been in for a quite a while by now but that's how most children like them.

Thursday 19 April 2007

Cruncy Munchy Poppadom Sandwich

In homage to our lovely aunty - this one is for you... Enough for 2 hungry littlefoodies.

Mummy says that when children are cooking the key is preparation and to have everything together before you start or we get bored and wander off because things are not happening quickly enough.

Get the following...
4 Thick slices of good white bread
Mayo (3 tablespoons)
Mango Chutney (2 tablespoons)
Very very finely chopped small red onion (ask a grown up to do this)
3 to 4 slices of cheddar cheese (depending on how big your bread is)
2 cooked poppadoms

First place bread on plate side by side
Then mix the finely chopped onions with the mayo
Smear the onion and mayo mix on one slice of bread
Smear the mango chutney on the other slice of bread
Arrange the cheddar cheese on the slice of bread with the onion and mayo mix
Put one poppadom on top of the cheese
Place the piece of bread with mango chutney side down on top of this

This must be done in this order or you will be taken outside and shot!
Wrap tinfoil over plate and take to the den in the garden.

Ask brother to take some more cucumber and carrot and cartons of apple juice from the fridge (I added this on behalf of the boys as I know it's what they do. They think I was born yesterday!) Mummy as she types realises that it's not just the youngest who steals from the fridge... So much for little foodies, thieving toads more like.

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Salad for Supers

How to make a salad for super heros when you're nearly 6.

First make sure your hands are clean or mummy freaks that you're spreading germs.

Decide on your ingredients and wash them. We eat salad a lot - our best one is...

Romaine lettuce
Rocket
Cucumber
The biggest juicy tomatoes in the world from our village shop
Red onion (get a grown up to slice it very thinly - it's disgusting in big chunks)
Fresh red, yellow and orange pepper (cut up however you like)
Tinned roasted red pepper (get a grown up to slice it thinly - ours come from Spain)
Cubes of gruyere cheese
Tinned tuna
Green olives (my small brother likes about 20 - I've gone off them)

Tear the lettuce apart and arrange on the plate, add the rocket, then cucumber, then red onion, then all the different peppers, cubes of cheese and sprinkle tuna on top of this and if you're my brother add your olives. Tuck in and know that one day you'll be a super hero.