A New Venture!

I'd like to just say thank you for reading this new blog, and I hope you will enjoy reading it as I am sure I will enjoy sharing with you some of the recipes I serve up to my family. I was asked to share some of my recipes by friends on Facebook, (I think I must just add here that I must come across as a bit of a food obsessed mum as pretty much most of the photos I post up are of my children, or food, or my children eating food!) I do enjoy cooking, baking, making and sharing, and I also like coming up with my own ideas for my cakes and makes. If other people can get some enjoyment out of sharing these recipes, then that would be great... hence the idea for this blog.

For those who don't know me 'in real life' I am a mum to 3 awesome babies, one of whom I am currently breastfeeding, and we have just started baby led weaning, so a lot of my food ideas are child friendly. I do hope to include more 'adult' recipes here too, but even then I may well add a family friendly element.

Food should be fun as well as nutritious. It can be a bit naughty too sometimes, all things in moderation, but it should definitely be tasty no matter how healthy or otherwise it is. But we live in a busy world and people don't always have much time for baking or cooking, and it's so tempting to use the quick easy option. I hope that some of my recipes will inspire people not to always reach for the freezer door for the packet of chicken nuggets, and definitely to enjoy making a bit of magic in the kitchen...with the kids or without!

My first recipe is for a quick breakfast for the children (although I must admit to enjoying them as well!)

Chocolate and Banana Pancakes.

 

These are a quick make, you'll need about 15 minutes to make up the batter and cook the pancakes, I make these on a school day with time to spare. You can make your live easier by using cup measures, which are easily available in all supermarkets. I am not one for using American measures, I am a pounds and ounces girl at heart. However in the morning when I want to be quick, the cup measures come out...so much easier than weighing at 7 o'clock in the morning!

 

You need: 3/4 cup flour, either self raising or plain, whatever you have to hand.

                  3/4 cup milk, again full fat or semi skimmed, it doesn't matter.

                  1 egg

                  1 banana, the riper the better

                  2 tsp cocoa powder

 

This batter makes enough for my 3 children with usually at least 1 left over for the cook. It will make pancakes just a bit thicker than traditional pancakes, by which I mean the ones we serve on Shrove Tuesday with lemon and sugar. But you can make them more like American pancakes by adding a bit more flour. They are an ideal Baby led Weaning (BLW) food. Easy to hold for little hands, and soft enough to suck. Obviously be aware that they contain milk, eggs and gluten when trying them out on babies... they are suitable for babies over 6 mths old.

 

Heat your frying pan/on a medium heat.

Mash the banana in a bowl with a fork until it is soft and resembles a puree. Add the egg and beat well. Add the flour and cocoa powder and whisk well with the fork or a small whisk. Add the milk a bit at a time to make sure you get as many of the lumps of flour out as you can. Note you will still have a few little lumps, this will be banana not flour though.

 

Pour spoonfuls into the frying pan and swirl the pan around to get the mixture as evenly spread as you can. You can make these as big or as small as you like, but try to get them as thin as you can and they will cook more quickly. Watch for bubbles forming on the surface and then turn. It will literally take a couple of minutes maximum so try not to walk away from the cooker! Set out on a plate and cover with a clean tea towel if you are planning to keep them warm, or, serve immediately.

 



Serve with fruit to boost their five-a-day, and a swirl of pancake or ice cream syrup just to make them smile :)

Play about with the flavours. Omit the cocoa and add blueberries or raisins to the batter for example. Equally delicious (and gone as quickly!)

If you try It out please let me know how you get on, especially if you do try different combinations of flavours, I would be very interested to hear all about it!