2 Quick and easy lunchs made with Toast.

 There is nothing that gives me mammy guilt more than when I'm running late when out and about and get home and E is shouting at me for lunch. The last few weeks have been very busy for us and this has happened a few days  so  Ive had very little time to prepare healthy lunches. She is almost 14 months now and gone are the days where I can buy some time with rice crackers! Here's a few of our favorites that can be made in less than 5 minutes.
 
Apple and cheese on toast
This recipe is from the river cottage baby and toddler cookbook . E and I love this and Ive even a mammy  and daddy version too.

2 slice of bread (1 each!)
A little unsalted butter
1 apple- (We prefer granny smith but any desert apple is good also.)
70g Cheddar

~Peel and then grate apple
~Toast bread lightly
~Spread unsalted butter then apple and then cheese on top and pop under grill for a couple of minutes until cheese is golden and bubbling.

For a nice mammy (and daddy) version, spread tomato relish(We love Ballymaloe relish) on toast instead of butter, and make the same way :-)I also sometimes add a few drops of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce too.
                                          
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Simple Guacamole on toast - This amount makes enough to spread on approx 4 slices

Bread
Unsalted butter
1 avocado
Juice of 1/2 a large lemon
tablespoon of tomato purée
finely chopped red onion
black pepper to season(I also like a to use little chilli flakes sometimes)

~simply scoop out avocado, mash with all ingredients and spread on toast.  
 Obviously there are lots of lovely Guacamole recipes but this is one that really couldn't be any simpler but still really tasty. 

Enjoy~ Lolly
 

Chicken Tikka Masala

This Tikka Masala Recipe is a lovely flavorsome but mild tasting curry. Baby E devoured it last night with her yum yum sound which to me is the best praise I can get :-)


 Ingredients serve 2 adults 2 kids

·         4 chicken breasts

·         2 Shallots –finely grated

·         3 cloves garlic- finely grated

·         1 tspn tikka mix

·         ½ tspn turmeric

·         ½ tspn crushed cardamom seeds

·         4 tblsp of passata or ½ tin of chopped tomato-blitzed

·         1tblsp of tomato purée

·         ¼ pint- 120 mls of low salt chicken stock

·         120 g Crème fraiche 

 

~Cut 4 chicken breasts into chunks and place on a tray with some spray oil, place under a medium to hot grill for up to 15 minutes , turning once.
~Heat a non stick pan on a medium heat and use some spray olive oil (leaves the Tikka less greasy)
~Add Tikka mix, turmeric and cardamom seeds and stir for a minute
~Add Passata and tomato purée and cook for 3-4 minutes,then chicken stock and Creme Fraiche and cook for a further 2 minutes.
~Finally add the cooked chicken and  simmer for 3 minutes.

This is lovely served on a bed of brown rice with some salad and lime wedges or alternatively served cold as a salad dish or sandwich filler.

  

Spinach and prawn pasta

This one's a nice light dinner for a hot day, and seriously easy!

You need:
One pack of jumbo prawns, I cooked from raw but you can use cooked ones, just make sure they're hot.
About half a bag of baby spinach, roughly torn.
As many cherry tomatoes as your dear heart desires, halved.
Spaghetti or linguine.
Juice of half a lemon, one clove of garlic, finely chopped, a tablespoon of olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water. Just before it's done, add the spinach. Let the spinach wilt slightly, then dump the lot in a colander. Add in the cherry tomatoes and cooked prawns and stir through.
In a cup mix the garlic, pepper, oil and lemon. You can also add some dried chilli flakes if you like.
Pour the oil mixture over the pasta and mix through.
Serve topped generously with grated parmesan. Parmesan is a little high in salt so if baby is under one or has already had some salt that day you can just leave it out.

As regards the prawns, shellfish is perfectly safe for babies as long as it's thoroughly cooked. If there is any history of allergies though introduce it very carefully. Don't introduce it with any other new foods, and wait three days after introducing it to add more new foods.

Feelin' hot hot hot!

Ireland is having some record breaking weather at the moment, and most of us are loving it! (DH is a bit reluctant to do without his socks just yet but he will!)

D is pottering around in a nappy a lot of the time, and his little belly makes a great little trap for dropped food, it clings there quite nicely 'til he's ready for it!

Meal choices are difficult in this weather. I think it is hidden somewhere deep in Irish DNA that dinner must be a substantial, heavy meal. Apart from salad I'm having trouble coming up with alternatives. It doesn't help that D's appetite is dropping as the mercury rises.

We've been having plenty of chicken, green salad, pasta and rice salads. Maybe fish might be nice tomorrow. I wouldn't worry too much about myself or DH, but I'm very conscious of the need to provide balanced nutrition for D. It's funny how your way of thinking changes when you're providing fuel for a child! I love that about BLW though, it slows me down and makes me think about what I need from food and the best way to get it. As a result, although I'm a lot more wobbly, I'm 9lbs lighter than I was when I got pregnant! And that's even with the fact that the ice cream man stops right outside my house and has been doing a very brisk trade lately!

Enjoy the sunshine everybody, it's never here for very long!

Oh, and if anyone has any good hot weather recipes, pop them in the comments section will you? Thanks!