Meal Prep: Snack & Sides

Hooray for The Little Cooker, in my first meal prep Sunday I am giving you a few recipes for a snack and sides. Now all of these are tested and approved by Evie, I'm sure your little's tastebuds may differ. But if you don't try you never know. When Evie ate the wedges below I was quite surprised as they were coated in spicy paprika. But as she gets older, her tastebuds are developing and I've had to step away from 'bland' foods. She'll now eat my 'Thai Green Curry', 'Simple Spaghetti', 'Lemon, Pea and Mascarpone Penne' and basically anything from our plates. But like most toddlers, she is the Queen of snacks. So I try and make healthy ones, she loves these 'Date and Raisin Oatmeal Cookies' too.

When cooking dinner, I struggled for a while with what to put with a meat, fish etc. All of the below recipes contain vegetables, in fact they are quite sneaky. Although Evie has never struggled with eating vegetables, I like to hide multiple ones in things. I hope you find the below recipes helpful and it takes a bit of pressure off in the kitchen.

Carrot & Banana Muffins

Makes approx 10-12Prep time: 10 minsCook time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 Carrot
• 2 very ripe bananas
• Half tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• 100ml agave syrup/honey
• 2 eggs
• 200g self raising flour
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 and a half tsp cinammon
• 30g mixed seeds
• 50g butter, melted and cooled

directions

1. Mix flour, bicarb, spices and seeds in a bowl. (I break my seeds up slightly in a pestle and mortar.
2. Melt and cool butter.
3. Finely grate carrot and add to a bowl with bananas, eggs, agave/honey and butter. Mix to combine.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and fold together until combined.
5. Fill 10-12 muffin cases three quarters full, you can sprinkle on a few seeds on to the top if you wish and bake for 25-30 mins on 180/gas mark 4.

BrocColi & Sweet Potato Croquettes

Makes 12Prep time: 10 minsCook time: 30 mins

 Ingredients

• 1 small head of broccoli
• 1 large sweet potato (about 460g)
• 1 tsp cumin
• Pinch of black pepper
• 50g grated parmesan
• 2 eggs, and 1 extra for dipping.
• Breadcrumbs

DIRECTIONS

1. Blend broccoli in a food processor and tip on to some kitchen towl, pat to remove excess water.
2. Grate sweet potato and repeat patting process.
3. Mix broccoli and sweet potato in a bowl with eggs, cumin and cheese.
4. Take approx 2 tablespoons worth of mixture, squeeze together and make a croquette shape.
5. Dip in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat until all mixture has gone.
6. Place baking sheet in the freezer and allow the croquettes to freeze (approx 1 hour). Then remove from baking sheet and pop in a freezer bag.
7. When ready to cook, bake on 190/ gas mark 5 for 30 minutes.

Sweet Potato Wedges

Makes: As many as you wishPrep time: 5 minsCook time: 30 mins

 INGREDIENTS

• 1 large sweet potato (or as many as you wish)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Half tbsp garlic granules
• Half tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp spicy paprika
• Smallest pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop your sweet potato in to wedges by halfing it length ways and then chopping on an angle.
2. Pop them in to a sealable freezer bag and add oil and spices.
3. Close, shake and lay flat in the freezer.
4. When ready to cook, bake on 200c/gas mark 7 for 30 minutes.

* If you are using more than 2 potatoes I would double the quantities of oil and spices. I like to drizzle a tiny amount of honey on mine about 10 minutes before they are ready to come out of the oven.