Toddler fodder

TODDLERS are fickle creatures. One day they are happy to eat broccoli and carrots, the next they refuse to put anything in their mouths except Playdoh.

Family meals can become a war zone, with parents fighting to get their little one to eat something more nutritious than a placemat, and the little one loudly demanding freedom from the shackles of their highchair while hurling their cauliflower cheese at the wall.

So, what can you do to bring peace back to the dinner table?

Gina Ford, author of Baby And Toddler Cook Book (Vermilion, £14.99) says it is possible to cook nutritious food that even the most pernickety toddler will try.

"You don't have to be a wonderful cook or have a great love of cooking to be successful," she said.

"Making food preparation fun, and an imaginative approach to cooking do not require special training - just a little helpful advice, good ideas and an understanding of food and its nutritional content."

Her book contains more than 100 recipes that can be adapted to suit all members of the family, including finger foods, teatime treats, puddings and birthday party ideas, as well as batch cooking to save on time.

Gina advises involving your children in buying and making their own food.

"You could also start compiling their own special recipe books by cutting and pasting recipes they like and writing a few notes about the different foods and countries they come from," she said.

"Easy, fun recipes for getting children involved in cooking include mini quiches, vegetable dippers, honeyed sausages, pork and beef meatballs, miniature toads in the hole and, of course, cookies."

York cooks Pat Ringer and Sue Brown also know a thing or two about toddler food - they cater for dozens of the little devils every day.

Pat dishes up delicious meals at Leapfrog day nursery in Rawcliffe, and Sue does the same at New Earswick Little Acorns.

Between them they cook upwards of 500 meals a week for children aged four months to five years. And they pride themselves on the number of clean plates that come back into their kitchens.

Here, they share with us a couple of their tried-and-tested 'clean plate' recipes...

Sue Brown's Savoury Cheesy Vegetables with Roast Chicken Slices & Baby Jacket Potatoes

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, roasted for 30 mins at 170/gas 5

10-12 baby new potatoes, washed, simmered in a pan for 10 mins and roasted under the chicken for 15 mins

1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced

1 leak, washed and sliced into half-inch pieces

6 broccoli florets

pint of cheese sauce

1oz grated cheddar

Method

Put all three veg in a pan and cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5-7 mins until tender. Drain well and put in an ovenproof dish.

Pour the cheese sauce over the veg, sprinkle the cheddar over the top and bake in oven for about 20 mins at 170/gas 5 until golden brown.

Serve with the roast chicken and crispy potatoes.

...and her Poached Pears with Cinnamon

Ingredients

2 pears, peeled with the stalk on

2 tbl Demerara sugar

tsp cinnamon

1 cinnamon stick

Method

Slice a small piece off the bottom of the pears so they don't roll over, place them in a small pan and cover with water.

Add the sugar and cinnamon, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 mins until tender when pierced with the point of a knife.

Serve and enjoy!

Pat Ringer's lemony cheesecake with grapes

Ingredients

Base:

3oz Butter or marg

6oz Ginger or digestive biscuits

Filling:

11oz natural yoghurt

3 tbsp caster sugar

juice & rind of 1 lemon

7oz grape juice

oz powdered gelatine

8oz double cream or healthy eating fromage frais

Topping:

lb grapes

tsp powdered gelatine

oz toasted almond flakes - optional

Method:

Make crumb base by rubbing biscuits and butter together. Press into the bottom of eight-inch flan case.

Make filling by mixing together yoghurt, lemon rind and juice. Pour 2oz of the grape juice into large bowl, set over simmering water and sprinkle gelatine. Stir in gelatine until it has melted, cool slightly then quickly stir in the yoghurt mixture. Whisk cream or fromage frais in peaks and fold into mixture. Spread over base and put into the fridge to cool for two hours.

Halve and seed grapes and arrange on top of the cheese cake. Melt gelatine in remaining grape juice and chill for 30 minutes, then spoon over grapes.

Chill until set then press toasted almonds onto sides of cheesecake for decoration.

...and her Lentil & Vegetable Lasagne

Ingredients:

Lasagne:

2oz Lentils

1 tin chopped tomatoes

Onion, Pepper, Courgette, Mushrooms, Carrot, any other veg as desired, aubergine, leeks

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 or 3 cloves garlic

tsp sugar

pasta sheets

Sauce:

pint milk

oz Flora

oz flour

2 oz grated cheese

Method:

Bring lentils to boil in water until soft.

Fry off vegetables and garlic until soft, add lentils, tomatoes, sugar and tomato puree and mix.

For sauce, melt flora in milk then whisk in flour over a low heat until absorbed, simmer for a few minutes. Take off the heat and continue to stir, add cheese.

Layer tomato mix, pasta and cheese sauce in an ovenproof dish. Pop in the oven to brown.

Updated: 09:33 Tuesday, August 09, 2005