Meal Ideas for Vegetarian One Year Olds

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't been particularly active. I've been super busy of late trying to organise my house (total mess), and also applying for uni! Equally my son Rhys has already hit the Terrible Two's, and he's only one! What a nightmare! He can now walk, and expresses great interest in running into things. He understands the word no, but doesn't listen to me when I say it. He has tantrums when I put him to bed, or in the bath, or basically anywhere, for that matter. He's very clingy and still super fussy with his food. I've been trying to come up with lists of food that he will and won't eat, so that I can try to get him new foods that he might enjoy.

He will eat...

Toast, yoghurts, grapes, bananas, apples, raisins, chips, tortilla chips, cheese and tomato flatbreads, eggs, chocolate, and cheese.

He won't eat...

Meat, fish, he doesn't really like pasta, there also isn't many vegetarian baby food jar options, acidic fruits, he doesn't particularly like custard or rice pudding, or crisps

In some ways I feel bad inflicting a vegetarian diet on a one year old, but the fact is, is that it is his preference to what he will and won't eat, and I, as his parent will respect that. So these are my cheap and easy meal ideas for a vegetarian one year old. 

I'm going to try him with all of these next week, and hopefully he likes them, as it feels like I'm running out of healthy options to give him! I might give him a few different things at a time, so it's almost like a roulette and I can see what he enjoys and dislikes. 

I hope that you enjoyed this post, and also that your child isn't as fussy as mine! 

Write soon, Sam x

Fifteen minute Florentine pasta

So, in my house, I have a few friends that always turn up at random, completely unexpected times - and when this happens I like to whip up some impromptu food as I appreciate the effort they've made to see me! I love all my friends and I find that good food just always makes a visit even better!

My friend came to visit me and my son for Easter lunch, and dropped off some Easter Eggs for us both which was really sweet and really unexpected! I had wanted to cook up a roast for our Easter lunch, but I was unable to find a Quorn roasting joint these past few days in the run up to Easter! So, instead I had to improvise, and with the impromptu visit, I made up my florentine pasta. It's light, but also rich in taste, and decadent.

Ingredients

Penne pasta

Quorn chicken pieces 

Cherry tomatoes

Spinach

White wine

Vegetarian Oxo stock cube

Garlic granules

Salt and pepper

Parmesan (to garnish)

Dried chives (to garnish)

I started by boiling some pasta in a saucepan (enough for two portions). In a separate saucepan, I heated up some vegetable oil, and I put in the garlic granules, Quorn chicken pieces, and halved cherry tomatoes first. I kept the heat on high and lightly fried until the Quorn chicken pieces had completely cooked through. I added some salt and pepper to the pan to season.

To make the sauce, I made a light paste by using an oxo stock cube with about 50ml of boiled water. I stirred that in a small Pyrex jug before adding it to the saucepan. I then added in about 125ml (a small wine glass) of white wine, and mixed that all in. I then added the spinach leaves a few minutes before the end, and added the drained, cooked pasta on the top. When the pasta is still very hot, it wilts the spinach almost instantly. I left it for a couple of minutes just to maintain the hot temperature throughout.

My favourite thing about this dish, is that it's really cool to serve up. I poured the contents of the saucepan into a serving dish, and where the pasta was the last thing to go in the saucepan, it's the first thing to go in the dish, which is then topped with the spinach, and then the light sauce with the tomatoes and Quorn chicken. 

I then garnished with Parmesan shavings and, as always, my dried chives! I always use dried chives as they add that little splash of colour and interest, and makes it look so much more presentable. 

We had this meal with some crusty bread on the side, and a small glass of chilled white wine (it's the driving limit in the UK). It went beautifully and we both went back for seconds of the pasta! It's just such an easy, and likeable dish, I've never met anyone to not like it!

So, this was my Florentine Pasta, and I hope you enjoyed this post!

Sam x

Vegan sweet potato, chickpea and spinach Curry

Hey everyone! So, last night, my brother came round to my house to visit me and my son, and I cooked us up an impromptu curry. Of course, it had to be vegetarian, but my brother is also vegan. 

I decided on a sweet potato, chickpea, and spinach curry. I had mine as pictured, with chips and poppadums as I'm not a huge fan of rice, and my brother had his with cous cous because he doesn't like rice either! 

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

Medium Curry powder

Sweet potato (diced)

Onion (diced)

Can of chickpeas

Fresh spinach

Peas

Vegetable oxo cube

Can of chunky tomatoes

Coconut milk

Dried chives to garnish

I started by hearing a pan of vegetable oil (about two tablespoons) and adding a tbsp of garlic powder. I then added in the diced sweet potato chunks, onion, salt, pepper, and curry powder, and lightly fried these to a golden brown (you want them to be slightly crispy). Then I added in the chickpeas, and crumbled in an oxo cube with a little bit of water, and a full can of chunky chopped tomatoes. I then added the peas, and sat the spinach on top to let it wilt for a few minutes. After mixing all these ingredients together, I added in about half a can of coconut milk. I reduced the heat to a simmer and left the ingredients to combine for around six minutes - I fried up some chips and made the cous cous in this time! Once all cooked, I served the curry in a separate dish (I like to dip my chips in to it!) and garnished with chopped dried chives.

It was so flavourful and rich, and really packed the punch! I like my food to be slightly spicier than I can really handle so for me this was perfect! 

Blog soon,

Sam x

My favourite vegan soup

This is my favourite vegan dish - the warming tomato and paprika soup. 

It was my sons birthday on Thursday, and I'm having three vegetarians, one diabetic, and one vegan, amongst the majority of meat eaters. When I have people round I like to be able to cater for everyone, so I have been busy trying to whip up a menu that can suit everybody attending. 

I do this vegan soup for mine and my sons dinner at least once a week because it's my favourite comfort food and it's incredibly cheap to make, and tastes so good! 

Warming Tomato and Paprika Soup

Ingredients:

8 fresh tomatoes

1 and a 1/2 L vegetable stock (Vegetable Oxo cubes are vegan)

1 heaped tbsp tomato purée 

A small diced onion

Two finely chopped garlic cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

1 heaped tbsp ground paprika

Method:

Chop each tomato into eighths, and finely chop the garlic and a small onion. Heat a small amount of vegetable oil into a saucepan, and lightly fry the garlic, onion and tomatoes on a moderate to high heat. Add in the vegetable stock, tomato purée, salt, pepper, and paprika, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, and leave to simmer for half an hour with the pan lid on. 

The soup will now be cooked through and piping hot, so the last thing to do is put the soup into a liquidiser or blender, and blend for around three minutes until perfectly smooth.

You can now serve the soup, and garnish with chives (and creme fraiche if you aren't fussed about it being vegan!) and a hunk of crusty buttered (olive spread is vegan!) bread. 

This is such a simple, beautiful dish, I love it! 

This recipe can make two to three large portions of the soup, which doesn't last for long in my house! It's packed full of flavour and is a real crowd pleaser. I guarantee that if you try this at home, you won't be dissapointed! Please excuse me now, as I have a steaming bowl of this beautiful soup right in front of me and a very hungry tummy! 

Write soon,

Sammi x

Welcome to my kitchen!

Hey everyone! Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog. 

So, I just wanted to explain a little bit of what it's about! I'm a recent vegetarian, and very passionate about finding delicious, flavourful recipes that are also inexpensive. The reason I turned vegetarian was because my normal diet is quite heavily vegetarian. I only ever eat meat perhaps once a week (I've never been a huge fan of it), if that, but I really love healthy, lighter meals that are packed with flavour. So I've made the commitment to switch to being fully vegetarian. 

I also have a young son. He's a year old and his name is Rhys, and he also prefers vegetarian food. He dislikes meat more than I do, and his favourite is a vegetable lasagne. 

So, with this blog, I want to share with you my favourite vegetarian (and some vegan) recipes, that are family friendly, look delicious, and won't break the bank! 

I am aiming to update twice a week, so keep your eyes peeled! 

Sam x