Bite-sized Veggie balls

Ah....so here I am getting on with my batch cooking and trying out new dishes for J after almost 2 months. We are quite glad J is settled to being back home but having such an active toddler at home with no extra pair of hands makes it really difficult to prepare a meal without him screaming for attention.So batch cooking has always been a great solution for me!

That also reminds me that I need to start drafting his weekly meal plans so I know exactly what to prepare in huge quantities! :)

So, to start off...I modified a previously posted vegetable nuggets recipe using slightly simple ingredients and steps.

Tada! Veggie balls..

Ingredients:
2 medium potatoes
120g Japanese pumpkin
1 corn (remove from cob)
1/2 small yellow onion
pepper
plain flour
1 egg
breadcrumbs (I used the Korean breadcrumbs...basically any kind of breadcrumbs also can. I have tried using cream cracker crumbs before. The taste was so good but it's on the oily side, especially for little tummies... )


Method:
1. Boil potato and pumpkin until soft. Mash together.
2. Chop the corn and onion until fine.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Mix the corn and onion together with the potato mixture. Season lightly with black pepper.
4. Take some mixture and roll into small balls.
5. Lightly coat with plain flour, then egg wash then dredge with breadcrumbs.
6. Drizzle with some olive oil and bake in the oven for 15-20 min or until slightly golden brown. Half way through baking, you may want to toast it around the tray a little to ensure all sides are nicely brown.
7. Leave to cool a while before serving. Can be too hot for LO when the veggie balls are just out of the oven.


**Recipe is good for toddlers (1 yr old and onwards) and adults. For adults, I normally fry then sprinkle some salt...hee. More flavourful mah! Original tastes as good too. :)

**Much healthier than store bought ones. All natural flavourings. And most importantly, you know exactly what goes into the food your LO is eating.

**To save time, make them in advance and store in a Tupperware to freeze w/o baking/frying. Cook only when you want to serve.

**Lastly, ENJOY!!

Healthy Vegetable Nuggets~ 30-35 pieces

In search for more healthy yet delicious recipes for J, I came across the vegetable nuggets. I always hear of friends making chicken nuggets but not vegetable ones. So this one is quite a good idea. Especially for mummies with picky eaters....definitely an awesome solution to get them eating their vegetables and yet the little ones can enjoy their favourite food! :)

J is not a picky eater, but I make it a point to offer him different varieties of food! I made these after dinner last night and baked some for hubby and I to try. They tasted so yummy, just like any regular commercially-made nuggets. And the best part of it, there's no seasoning but all natural flavours. For the adults or older kids, serve them with some chilli sauce or ketchup, and it's PERFECT!!!

So......shall not let you wait further...Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes
50g carrot (diced)
75g broccoli
75g corn (removed from cob)
Olive oil
breadcrumbs (alt: cream cracker crumbs or blended oatmeal mixed with breadcrumbs)
plain flour
1 egg

Method:

1. Boil potatoes until soft and set aside to cool. Steam corn, carrot and broccoli in a pot of boiling water for 10 min. Leave to cool.

2. Blend the steamed corn, carrot and broccoli until fine. Mash the potato and add to the blended vegetable. Mix well. You can season with some black pepper.

3. Spread the mixture out onto a baking tray until about 1 cm thickness. Chill the mixture in the freezer for about 20min.

4. After 20 min, take the mixture out and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters (alt: I got lazy towards the end and just spoon some mixture in my hand and flatten to make into shape like usual nuggets) If you find that as you work the mixture, it gets soft, pop the tray back into the freezer for about 10min and repeat the process.

5. Preheat oven at 180 degrees C. Meanwhile, dredge the nuggets in flour, followed by the egg wash then finally breadcrumbs and lay them on a wired rack. [This is to ensure that both sides are crispy]

6. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on each nugget and bake for 15-20 min or until golden brown.

7. Serve immediately.

** This recipe is great for freezing. After dredging the nuggets, store them in an airtight container, laying the layers with a piece of plastic bag (to prevent the nuggets from sticking together). And bake them only when you want to serve. You could probably keep these in the freezer for a month or so! :)

**For serving to adults, you can add some salt or herbs to make them more flavourful.


Original recipe came from Weelicious Recipes.

Black Bean and Pork Rib soup~ 8 servings, 150g each

Ingredients for illustration only

Ingredients:

300g pork rib

200g lean pork

6 red dates (washed)

1/2 cup black beans (washed)

1.2 litres water

Method:

1.Blanch pork ribs and lean pork in boiling water to remove scum.

2.Drain the pork and set aside. Boil a pot of water.

3.Once water is boiled, place blanched pork ribs, lean pork and the rest of the ingredients into the pot.

4. Bring into a rapid boil for about 10 minutes, and then simmer on lower fire for approximately 40 minutes.

Note:

*Season as you prefer for adults

*I did not add any seasoning when serving it to my LO

 

And if you like the original recipe, check out this link:

http://www.noobcook.com/chinese-black-bean-soup/

Oven baked codfish fingers~ 4 servings; 25g each

From the time J was 6.5 months old, I had already started feeding him fish. However, it was only one variety and that is the threadfin. Threadfin is popularly believed to have the least bones and best for babies to consume. When he turned 8 months, I introduced other fish like salmon or codfish to him but the method of cooking still remains as steaming.

With him turning 1 year old already, I thought I would like him to try out fish cooked in a different style. Hence, I poached salmon with garden vegetables and the latest, oven baked codfish fingers. They are so easy to make and very yummy! Even I couldn't resist and had to try some...hee. Serve them with baked sweet potato sticks, these fish fingers could become a very healthy version fast food that is good for the whole family. You can also sandwich them between buns and you'll have a codfish burger! :)


Ingredients:

100g codfish (skinned and deboned)
2 tbsp. greek yogurt or milk
Breadcrumbs, for dredging
2 tsp blended instant oatmeal (no sugar)
pinch of pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil


Method:
1. Cut the fish into sticks/wedges and soak in the milk/yogurt while you heat the oven to 180 degrees. Mix the breadcrumbs and blended oatmeal on a plate and lightly sprinkle with pepper.

2. When oven is hot, take fish out of yogurt and clean away the yogurt slightly. Dredge the fish in the breadcrumbs, patting them to make sure they adhere. Drizzle a little oil on the bottom of a baking tray, then lay the fish sticks on it. Drizzle with remaining oil.

3. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Serve immediately.


And if you like the original recipe, check out this link:
http://main.kitchendaily.com/recipe/oven-fried-fish-sticks-142895/

Healthy Breakfast Food

In my attempt to make J's breakfast more interesting and healthy, I decided to make muffins. I saw a recipe shared by someone on facebook and thought I'll give it a try. However, the attempt was a failure (in my opinion); coz (1) I was on the phone and had forgotten to add in baking powder (terrible mistake) into the mixture before baking. (2) I did not blend the oatmeal fine enough, hence the mixture was very coarse and dry. It turned out looking and tasting okay, just didn't 'rise' but to me it was just not good enough for J. We fed him 2 small muffins the next day for breakfast...To our surprise, he polished off both of them!

And what happened to the rest of the muffins? Went straight to feed the rubbish bin. So, with this unsatisfactory baking and recipe, I was even more determined to find that perfect muffin recipe for J. And who did I find? Martha Stewart!!! Awesome recipe it was. But since I was making them for J and I didn't want him to consume too much additives, I made some changes to the recipe on my own.

So tada.....the finished product!

Healthy Banana Muffin - Big and minis

They came out perfectly golden brown and they were so fragrant! I was so pleased with them, I couldn't wait to let J try! Besides the wonderful smell, the sweetness was just right & they were so fluffy and moist on the inside. I was surprised and the best part of it, it didn't require rocket science to make them. Not only did J enjoyed the muffins, my hubby and I enjoyed them too and we will be having them for breakfast tomorrow! :)

So, if you want some healthy breakfast food for your little one, why not try these Healthy Banana Muffins.

And if you like the original Martha Stewart recipe, check out this link: http://www.marthastewart.com/345534/banana-muffins?search_key=banana%20muffin