Category Archives: Family Meals

It’s no secret that I LOVE a good bargain, last week I picked up Aubergines for 10p, yes you read that right. I’d been saving them and ruminating in my mind about what I should do with them and then got inspired by a chef friend. So here is my aubergine bake.

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 aubergines

1.5 tins chopped tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

1 onion

1 stock cube

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp sugar

Dried mixed herbs

Mozerella

Recipe:

Slice aubergines lengthways into long slices. Drizzle with a little oil and then cook on a griddle pan or under the grill for a few minutes on each side.

Whilst the aubergines cook, put the tins of chopped tomatoes into a pan with garlic, chopped onion, dried mixed herbs, stock cube (gluten free if required), tomato puree, sugar and plenty of black pepper.
Bring to the boil and simmer the sauce for 15 minutes so it reduces and thickens.
Spread a layer of aubergine in an ovenprood dish, top with the sauce and then repeat the layers – a bit like a lasagne.
Finally top with mozzerella.
Bake for 30 minutes at Gas Mark 5.

Serve with pasta and a green salad. YUM.

What’s your favourite Aubergine recipe? Please let me know, I’m an aubergine addict!

Family Meals, Recipes, Weaning

Baby Breakfasts Ebook.

10 November, 2012 Priya 3 Comments

It’s all to easy to get stuck in a rut with breakfasts, we do it as adults, and when you are a parent you suddenly have to feed a little tummy and your own. It can feel like a big responsiblity – it is. So how about getting the advice from a top dietitian and mummy?

I love giving weaning advice and I had such fun weaning my own little one. Almost everywhere I go other mummies ask me for top tips and advice, so I’ve decided to start my own range of Ebooks. Now I don’t have a big publishing company behind me so right now these are going to consist of no frills, simple, practical advice . When I get cleverer I’ll hope to add in fancy pictures and graphics, but I figure what is really needed is the basics!

So here is my first Ebook: Baby Breakfasts. It contains Meal ideas including fresh ideas for what to do with cereals, eggs and toast. Some yummy recipes for baking breakfasts goods and top tips from myself too.

There are more to come. I’d love to hear the subject you’d like an Ebook on.

Dairy Free, Family Meals, Gluten Free, Recipes, Weaning, Wheat Free

Quick, Simple, Fresh and Tasty Mushroom Pasta Sauce

2 November, 2012 Priya Leave a comment

So what do you do when you look in the fridge and see a large punnet of mushrooms that are about to go past their best? You make this! It’s a quick, easy and tasty dish that you can rustle up with ease and with the knowledge it’s healthy too. Plus it’s Wheat free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free and great for getting those veggies into little ones 😉

Recipe (Serves 2 plus toddler):

1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp flour (I used rice flour)

200ml white wine

500g mushrooms

200ml water

Mixed Herbs

Seasoning

Heat 1tbsp oil in a pan, remove from the heat and stir in the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Dietitian UK: Mix Rice flour and oil to resemble breadcrumbs

Add half the white wine and stir well to make a sauce free of lumps.
Place it back on the heat and gradually add the rest of the wine – do not stop stirring!
Add the mushroom and keep on a medium heat, the mushrooms will release water as they cook.

Dietitian UK: Cooking the Mushroom Sauce

When the mushrooms have cooked down a little add some of the water, the amount you need will depend on your mushrooms.
Add mixed herbs (fresh parsley would be amazing) and season well. Leave it to simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with pasta. Nom Nom.

Now of course you could finish this with cream……but that’s just not my way 😉 Enjoy and let me know your variations by commenting below…

Family Meals, Recipes

Easy Peasy Baked Apples

21 October, 2012 Priya Leave a comment

Evenings. They can be those times when you just fancy a sweet treat. Perhaps it’s been a tough day, perhaps it’s the fact the kids are in bed and you have time to yourself, perhaps you’ve been working out and need a snack. You know the feeling.

This also makes an ideal pudding – great for family mealtimes.

Here’s one of my winter warmers, it’s super quick, filling and satisfying, plus you can make all kinds of variations on a theme. Go get creative and let me know what you come up with. I need inspiration too 😉

Recipe:

Cut the core out of the apple – I place it on a chopping board and hack with a knife, but use an apple corer if you have one.
Fill the centre with rasins, cinnamon and whatever else you fancy.
Microwave for 1 minute.
Top with custard and reheat then EAT.
Dietitian UK: Baked Apple – stuff it with raisins then microwaveDietitian UK: Baked Apple with raisins and custard.

Contains 1-2 portions of fruit, fibre and calcium from the custard.

Family Meals, Gluten Free, Recipes, Special Diets, Weaning, Wheat Free

Roasted Beetroot Pasta, It’s Pink!

5 October, 2012 Priya 4 Comments

This weekend we went to the farmers market and I just couldn’t help but buy a bunch of large, large beetroot. They have sat looking at me from the veg rack for a few days and today I knew I needed to use them. But how?

I knew roasting them would be ideal because of their size and roasting veggies always draws out their sweetness, so I washed them, cut the leaves off and put them in the oven to roast at Gas Mark 6. This gave me 45 minutes or so to plan what to do next!

It’s Friday so in our house that’s quick meal night as I have feed toddler, feed myself and get toddler to bed all before 7pm. So I went for pasta and was mighty pleased with the result, a bit on the pink side but delicious and packed full of veg. Beetroot contain folate, manganese, vitamin C, fibre and potassium amongst other nutrition. The red colour is due to Betacyanins, a phytonutrient and antioxidant. Roasting for more than 1 hour or boiling for too long can lead to this antioxidant being damaged so keep the cooking time down.

Recipe (serves 2 plus toddler):

(gluten free, wheat free, low fat, weaning food)

4 large beetoots
1 tbsp rapseed oil
pasta (can be gluten free)
2 tbsp low fat creme fraiche
2 tbsp quark
pepper

Wash the beetroot and cut the leaves off, but do not peel. Place in a roasting tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp oil, roast for 45 minutes at Gas Mark 6.
When the beetroot feel soft (you can stab them with a knife to check), remove and peel them. I did this under the cold tap as I was in a rush and had no time to let them cool. The skin will come off easily.
Chop the beetroot into bite size chunks and put into a non stick pan on a medium heat. Add the creme fraiche and quark and let is cook gently for 10 minutes.

Dietitian UK: Beetroot mixture cooks in the pan

Meanwhile cook the pasta.
Season to taste then mix the beetroot into the pasta and serve.

It’s pink, it’s pretty and it’s packed with goodness. Go try it out!

Family Meals, Nutrition Education, Other

Meal Planning: make life simpler, smarter and sustainable.

29 September, 2012 Priya 14 Comments

Every now and again I get myself into a bit of a stressful state, life feels like it’s overtaking me, I have lists of things to do, nothing feels like it’s getting done and suddenly I realise I’ve no idea what we’re eating for dinner and am running low on food. DISASTER. You know that feeling?

Hilariously as a dietitian I am often found writing meal plans for others, but then I forget to write my own. OOOPS. I love recipes, food, cooking, meal ideas and all that jazz, so actually for me sitting down and planning out the meals for the week is a relaxing and fun thing to do, it means I have time to think through the week, flick through some recipe books, bring those food ideas to the front of my brain and at the end of it I have at least one part of life under control.

Here’s mine for the next 2 weeks, I’d love to see yours!

5 Reasons to Meal Plan:

SAVE TIME in the long run. Half an hour planning means you won’t be stood in the kitchen later racking your brains for a meal idea.
Use it as a chance to check the BALANCE of your weeks meals, see the tips below.
SAVE MONEY by then planning your shopping list so you don’t end up with random ingredients that you don’t need.
SAVE WASTE by using all the ingredients in your fridge and planning it so you can take leftovers for lunches or fill the freezer.
SAVE STRESS. Having a plan helps my stress levels, I can plan the quicker meals for busy days and know what I’m doing from day to day.

5 Top Tips for Balance over the week:

Meat free Monday: Plan in some meat free days, we usually have 3-4 a week.
Fishy Friday: Aim for fish a couple of times a week, oily fish contains those heart healthy omega 3’s.
Reduce the Red Meat: to just 1-2 times a week.
Veggie Vitality: Eat a range of colourful veggies over the week.
Treats Ahoy: Keep that takeaway or those chips to planned times, so they don’t appear on the menu too often.

Get planning those meals and please share – I’d love to hear how you do things and what meals you include.

Family Meals, Gluten Free, Other, Recipes, Video, Wheat Free

Sri-Lanka Cookery: Mallum a form of greens

28 September, 2012 Priya Leave a comment

I’m half Sri-Lankan so loving Sri-Lankan food is a given…and the greens that my grandmother (Archchi) cooks are an all round favourite of mine. So I was very excited to be able to learn how to make this variation which uses a leaf called Mallum. I’d not heard of it before but it’s known in Sri-Lanka to be very nutritious. I also tried a Mallum salad and Mallum style porridge (very green but tasty).

I’m going to try making this dish at home with Swiss chard because that’s what I have growing in my garden. Here’s my great aunt showing us how to do it, in her kitchen in Sri-Lanka.

What are your favourite curry recipes? Have you been to Sri-Lanka, I’d love to know.

Family Meals, Gluten Free, Other, Recipes, Special Diets, Weaning, Wheat Free

Spicy Bean Burger Heaven

26 August, 2012 Priya Leave a comment

I love bean burgers. They are one of those foods that want me make to turn vegetarian. But they just aren’t one of those things that I make very often. Till now.

Tonight was one of those evenings where I hadn’t got round to planning dinner, so I turned to the fridge for inspiration…. the bowl of kidney beans was calling my name. We also had carrot and courgette’s eyeing me. Bingo.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting these to work well as I literally threw them together on a whim, but in my experience that’s often when my best recipes occur. In my opinion this is one of them.

A great recipe for Family Meals, for weaning, it’s vegetarian, gluten free, wheat free, dairy free….need I say more?! Oh, hold on… ITS TASTY!

Ingredients:

1 tin kidney beans

2 carrots

1 courgette

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp Curry powder (I used a Sri-Lanka blend, use your favourite mix)

1 tbsp mixed fresh herbs or a pinch of dried

seasoning

Method:

I am a complete cheat. I used my food processor. To do this – place the beans, carrot, courgette, onions, garlic in the food processor and provess until finely chopped.
If you don’t have a food processor then grate the carrot and courgette, finely chop the beans, onion and garlic.

Shape the mix into large patties, pressing the mixture firmly together. I made 5 patties in total.
Place on a greased baking tray, pop into the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. (You could make ahead to this stage and cook later or freeze them at this stage).

Dietitian UK: Bean Burger's Firming Up — Dietitian UK: Bean Burger’s Firming Up

Cook in a large pan or on a griddle, turning part way through cooking.
I served ours with salad and potato wedges.

Dietitian UK: Homemade Bean Burgers and Salad

Seriously yummy.

Family Meals, Gluten Free, Recipes, Video, Weaning, Wheat Free

Making Fishcakes Vlog

20 August, 2012 Priya 3 Comments

My top 5 reasons to make Fishcakes:

1. A delicious way to get the family to eat fish, suitable as weaning food, finger food and adult food too.

2. An easy way to mix veggies into a meal (these ones have mushrooms but it could be any veg of your choice).

3. Great for the summer with salad.

4. Fun for the kids to get involved in making.

5. Can be prepared in advance then put in the oven to cook ready for dinner.

Here’s a little vlog showing my cutie pie helped and myself making ours. She promptly devoured 2 for her dinner!

Get that fish in that dish 😉

Family Meals, Gluten Free, Recipes, Wheat Free

Frittata, Frattati, Frittato

14 August, 2012 Priya 2 Comments

Frittata. It’s a great word. Try playing around with it in your mouth. It lends itself to all kinds of twists and turns.

In our house Frittata night usually means it’s been a busy day, the cook of the house is tired and something quick and easy is needed for dinner. This recipe is satisfying to make, satisfy to cook and satisfying to eat. Plus it’s healthy, packed with high quality protein and plenty of colourful veggies. If you are the type of person who eat with their eyes then this will not fail to disappoint.

Personally I think the fresher the eggs the better. We have chickens so are very spoilt. Eggs provide a great protein source, in fact eggs are the benchmark for protein against which other protein foods are compared to. they also contain zinc, iodine and phosporus along with the fat soluble vitamins A,D and E. Although eggs do contain about 11% fat, about half of this is monounsaturated, the healthy fat.

Onto the recipe. This is great served warm, straight from the pan with salad or cold the next day for lunch.

Recipe:

Serves 2 plus 1 toddler (withe leftovers for lunch)

5 eggs

A mix of veggies (e.g. peas, diced carrot, diced onion, finely chopped green beans and cherry tomatoes)

2 medium sliced and diced potatoes or sweet potatoes

rapeseed oil

mixed herbs

salt and pepper

Drizzle about 1/2 tbsp oil into a pan and saute the potatoes first.
After a out 5 minutes add the rest of the veggies and saute for another 3-5 minutes. Add a splash of water if it starts to stick.

Dietitian UK: Veggie and Sweet potato being Sauteed.

Meanwhile beat the eggs, add the seasoning and herbs.
Spread the veggies out in the pan and try to arrange them a little so there is an even mix of them across the pan.

Pour the eggs into the pan and swirl it around a little so the veggies are covered.

Cook for 5 on a medium heat and then put under the grill to cook the top surface. Cook until the top is golden and firm to the touch.

Dietitian UK