BLW Recipe: Homemade Fish Fingers

We’re big fish eaters at our house and especially love oily fish like mackerel and salmon.

On Saturday night I made us fish fingers out of salmon and it proved a hit so I thought I’d share the recipe.

Salmon is rich in Omega-3 fats which have been shown to increase cognitive function making it a perfect choice for a growing baby. It also has many benefits such as increased joint protection and eye health meaning it’s great for the whole family.

Health note: The NHS recommend that baby boys should have no more than 4 portions of oily fish per week and baby girls should have no more than 2 portions per week. You can read more about this HERE.

Serves: 1 baby and 2 adults.

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets, boned and skinned (I cut the skin off with a sharp knife)

1 slice of bread, I used granary but any bread would work well

1 egg, whisked

Zest of half a lemon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°c and put in the piece of bread to dry out for a few minutes.
2. Cut a thin strip of the edge of each salmon fillet, making two thin ‘fingers’ of salmon.
3. Remove the bread and put into a blender. Blitz until it creates fine breadcrumbs. Zest the lemon and mix with the breadcrumbs.
4. Dip each piece of salmon into the whisked egg and cover in the breadcrumb mixture. Place onto a baking tray. Repeat this with the other salmon pieces.
5. Bake for around 10 minutes or until completely cooked through.
6. Serve and enjoy!

We had ours with tomato, quinoa and avocado but they would be great served with just about anything! Rice, pasta or even baked beans.

Sophia loved picking up the fingers and was making ‘mmmm’ sounds as she munched away!

BLW Recipe: Meatballs with a Twist

Sophia really loves spaghetti bolognaise, it’s her very favourite! So when I saw some meatballs on offer the other day I knew they’d be perfect for trying out a new recipe for a different take on mince and spaghetti.

The ‘twist’ to my recipe is the fruity, creamy sauce which has four hidden vegetables making it healthy for the whole family.

I used pre-made meatballs to cut down on time but you could make your own meatballs and chill in the fridge ready to add into the recipe.

Serves: 1 baby and 2 adults generously

Ingredients:

vegetable oil for brushing the pan

12 lean beef meatballs

1 medium carrot, grated

1 onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 courgette, grated

½ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp curry powder

½ cup of unsweetened coconut milk

hot water from the kettle

125g wholewheat spaghetti

 

Method:

1. Brush the vegetable oil onto the frying pan and place over a medium heat. Add the onions and gently fry until softened and translucent.
2. Add in the carrot, pepper, courgette, paprika and curry powder and continue to cook until all the ingredients are soft.
3. Remove from the heat and transfer to a plastic jug or bowl. Allow to cool for a few minutes before adding in the coconut milk and blitzing with a hand blender. Add hot water until the sauce is the consistency that you like.
4. Brush another pan with oil and once hot place in the meatballs. Brown them all over and allow to cook for around 10 minutes.
5. Turn the hob to a low to medium heat and pour the sauce onto the meatballs. Allow to simmer gently.
6. Meanwhile, add boiling water to a saucepan and add in the spaghetti. Cook as the packet instructs.
7. Once the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce is bubbling, portion off your baby’s meatballs and sauce (Sophia had two meatballs and a large spoonful of sauce).Allow this to cool.
8. Season the remaining meatballs as you wish.
9. Drain the pasta and serve along with the meatballs and sauce.
10. Enjoy!

We all really enjoyed this meal and the meatballs were the perfect size for Sophia to pick up and eat. I’ll definitely be cooking this for my family again!

Sophia finished her meal with some natural yogurt. Yum!

BLW Recipe: Fruity Cheese on Toast

I got a new recipe book yesterday. It’s the River Cottage Baby & Toddler Cookbook. I’ve tried out quite a few of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipes and enjoy watching the River Cottage TV programmes so was very excited when it came through the letterbox.

It has lots of information on nutrition and just what a baby needs to grow healthily which I found useful to look at. It also groups the recipes by season which is great if you like to use seasonal, local produce.

This lunchtime I decided to try one of the recipe’s out and it turned out to be delicious to both baby and mummy!

I adapted the original recipe slightly by adding carrot and using Red Leicester cheese instead of cheddar.

Serves: 1 adult and 1 baby

 

Ingredients:

3 slices wholemeal bread

1 apple, grated

½ large carrot, grated

60g Red Leicester, grated

 

Method:

1. Preheat the grill and toast the bread on each side.
2. Grate the apple into the bowl. There is no need to peel the apple but just double check there are no large bits of peel. Grate in the cheese and carrot and mix.
3. Pile the mixture onto the three pieces of bread and put back under the grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling.
4. Leave to cool a little then serve! We had ours with a little Greek yogurt for afters.