Pancakes

I think this is originally taken from the Annabel Karmel weaning book. It's one of the few things I can make with the children that isn't cake or biscuit based that they simply adore so I do it from memory now. This is a great one to make with children, measuring flour, sieving, mixing in eggs and milk and then they are really quick to cook. Fluffy American-style pancakes may be all the rage but mine prefer these and you can make bakes with them too! My oldest two have them with maple syrup, the baby has bits with butter and my husband has golden syrup. I'd love to say we have them with bananas and blueberries but that would be lying.

Chocolate Chip Brioche Pudding

I've lost count of the number of times I've vowed that my eldest (nearly 4) will eat less chocolate and yet he's so completely in it's thrall that I can get him to do pretty much anything for a chocolate croissant. I'm sure there are mothers out there who are stronger willed than I am but try as I might the mix of a biddable child and the sheer pleasure it gives him is just hard for me to resist. He's a fussy eater so to see him tucking into something new is wonderful, even if that new thing is chocolate brioche.

In many ways the french have parenting sorted. Their baby food aisle isn't that big and the food unappealing to anyone over 18 months. If you have ever had pleasure from eating you are going to move on from the green sludgy puree as soon as you can waft past the cheese section (usually about three times bigger than the kids pouch aisle). They also do mini chocolate brioche's in pocket size individually wrapped so I can have bribery to hand wherever I go.

I packed as many of these as I could in my suitcase when we returned, only to discover a week later that their use by date had been the day the we got back. What to do? As an Englishwoman on the brink of Autumn I am filled with thriftiness. No food can be thrown out of my house at the moment. Yet, even I was going to draw the line at watching the little chap stuff in 5 mini chocolate brioche's in one sitting so I thought I'd create some sort of bread and butter pudding that he and his brother could have.

Weaning

Most people spend the entire 40 weeks of your second pregnancy telling you how hard it is with two, much like they spent the whole of your first telling you about all the women/babies they'd know who have died or been seriously disabled by childbirth and in my case, all the major fuck-ups your hospital have made. Now I don't want to sound awful but apart from the first-six-weeks-eating-every-hour-and-a-half fiasco Jim has been a really lovely baby. Yes sometimes he sleeps through, sometimes he doesn't and he throws-up. A lot. All the time. But he smiles, and he sleeps and he's funny and he laughs and his big brother adores him. So I'm pretty smug and lucky over here.

I was told I'd forget how to breastfeed. I didn't. Told that Ned would hate him. He didn't. Told that I would never wash again. I do, even if I have to listen to one of my children being cross with me while I do it. I have, however, completely forgotten how to wean.

Ned was known to be a bit of a screamy baby. Hours were spent bouncing in front of the speakers blasting out Motley Crue, Refused and Jay-Z which was one of the few ways to stop him shouting. But man that boy would eat. Anything in a bottle was downed like a darts player on a tight schedule and when it came to weaning after the initial week of not actually knowing what to do with his mouth he would eat whatever came near him on a spoon. Or in an Ella's pouch. My friends marvelled at my wonder baby and his eating.

Not Jim. He eats. But not all his bottle all the time, not all in one go and I keep forgetting to wean him. Some days he has something then I'll forget for a week. I've had to become really focussed on it and I'm thankful that I signed up to an Abel & Cole delivery box years ago which means that, due to my terrible eating habits, there is always something around to puree. I just can't remember what to feed when, what to do with the bottles, when to aim for dropping one. It's as if all knowledge of how to get your child from liquids to solids has fully left the building. It's like it was never there. So of course, it's back to the books. Re-reading the trusty Annabel Karmel's New Complete Baby & Toddler Meal Planner feels like the first time. It's amazing Ned is not just walking round with a bottle of formula.

I've also bought, on recommendation from a friend, River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook, I'm hoping will give me ideas for things that Ned can eat (whether he will or not...) that I can puree for Jim further down the line. So far Jim's had pear, baby rice and porridge. This afternoon we're having parsnip. Fingers crossed something will come back to me soon.

Ned's Eat-Your-Veg Tart

Ned is a typical almost-two-year-old. He loves something one day, won't countenance it the next, will eat kale and broccoli but rejects most other vegetables, won't look at fruit and is most happy with sausages and chips (as long as some 'chup' is present). It sort makes you lose your mind a little - not only the problem of 'are they getting enough fruit and vegetables?' but the sheer waste of food. Thank god for my dogs. But we went to hang out with my friend Laura and her twin boys and she had been to her friends house the week before who had produced this tart that had been eaten by all the children. Laura made it for our boys and again it all went in and it's been a huge hit in our house ever since.

I now make sure that I have pre-rolled, puff pastry that I've cut into one child sized portions in the freezer so I can just pull one or two out and make one of these tarts to feel I'm getting enough goodness into the boy. It was also incredibly useful on holiday in France. We could get puff pastry sheets and the vegetables there are fantastic so it was a sure fire baby friendly hit... in fact I ended up making it for the whole family for lunch one day, it was so in demand.

This is incredibly versatile - you can use what vegetables you have in the house and leave off anything you know your child will reject (Ned will not countenance a mushroom). I'm putting Ned's favourite options below but you use what you like. I would say that a pesto base and cheese topping are always winners but anything seems to go in between! 

I was reluctant to post this because it seems very obvious but it's very hard to get stuck in a rut when cooking for children and this has been a real savior for us. It would also be a great option for if you had a vegetarian child for lunch or supper, though obviously leave off the tuna/ham. You can add red peppers, tomatoes to make it sweet and appealing.

Ned's Eat Your Veg Tart

1 x pack pre-rolled puff pastry (I pack will do 2-4 two year olds but I pre-cut and  freeze squares big enough for one child. You can always defrost a couple if there are friends for supper)
Pesto
Courgette
Tuna/tinned salmon/ham
Sweetcorn
Cheddar Cheese

1. Lay the pastry (cut to the size you need) on a baking tray and spread a thin layer of pesto over the base leaving about a centimetre around the edge for the pastry to puff up.

2. Thinly slice the courgette and lay that over the top of the pesto.

3. Next add the tuna, salmon or ham that you want to use.

4. Sprinkle over the sweetcorn.

5. Grate over the cheese.

6. Cook for 15-20 mins. You want this to be golden and puffed around the edges and the cheese to be melted. If you don't cook for long enough the pastry will be all limp and unappealing.