Well, that was a simple meal. Three freshly-shucked half corn on the cobs put away by a two year old.
Midweek? Check. Lazy? Check. Perfect!
Corny
sweetcorn
Barbecue, baby style
Now, if you’re looking for saussies you’ve come to the wrong place. Though I can assure you the 2-44 year olds (except me) had plenty of traditional Irish barbecue (lots of meat and clouds) the babies were another story. I sat Theo on my knee while I ate my delicious halloumi & courgette skewers, grilled asparagus, & beetroot salad – seriously, how do any of you people need meat when things like that are available? I fully expected to hand him sticks of various things and to watch him chuck them to the ground. He’s a shouty distracible baby so with his brother and 6 cousins around I figured he wouldn’t go for much.
But soon he was transfixed. We all were truth be told. Theo’s little cousin Tessa (8.5 months) was quietly and determinedly working her way through several pieces of courgette, her little fist firmly wrapped about it. Then she chomped down on some delicious asparagus. But that wasn’t enough, so next with the aid of her dad to steady the load, she munched her way around a large ear of corn. The thing that struck me most of all…the neatness! See that blue plate? It’s not even glued or suckered to the table, she just didn’t bother with The Swiping or The Throwing so beloved of my sons. *sigh* Jealous! Tessa is the third of three children, and the first one of them to do baby led weaning. She could not be a better ad for it!
Theo, wide eyed and inspired tried everything he saw over the next day. We’re gonna have to hang out with Tessa a bit more!
oh this? is it good?
well if Dom is gonna leave his sandwich lying about…
oooh! squishy.
Passing the baton
Way back when, this happened.
Then it feels like I blinked and 2.5 years have passed since Dominic first sat up there. Now he has become the moving blur in the back of all the newer photos and he had to be persuaded to give up his Tripp Trapp for his brother Theo, who in a similar whirlwind has become an alert little boy, interested in everything around him but not so much food yet. But we’ll get there. We’re ready to go.
I did offer him a lovely corn fritter last night. The one me and Mark and Dominic could barely spare they’re so popular with us. He flipped over his plate, the fritter went on the ground and had a good gnaw on the plate. But second time round? I’m cool as a cucumber. Baby led weaning, it’s for the relaxed mama.
Happy Christmas one and all
xxx
– Jill
Sweetcorn Fritters. Inspired by Gino, made by Mark.
Last night Mark made the speediest dinner ever using this basic recipe. He’d been inspired while watching Gino D’Acampo in a hospital waiting room and I’ve found a link to the broadcast since (you can’t watch outside the UK but the recipe is there). I was in another room with needles stuck in my boob at the time so obviously I’d have preferred to have been watching cheesy lunchtime tv. And safe to say, I think it was fair enough that he was on dinner duty after that little ordeal.
If you look at those 2 recipes linked above, they’re basically the same and I reckon you could do this with grated carrot or grated courgette – any vegetable that softens up nicely and has a bit of sweetness. Maybe add some chopped spring onion, and some more herbs or spices.
Him & I ate these with some leftover curry, but Dominic just ate about 4 of these tasty sweetcorn fritters on their own. They’re very moreish. They’d be nice with a side salad and with the natural yogurt, garam masala & mint dip that I’ve written about before.
I reckon these are the perfect baby led weaning food. Easy to hold onto, they can be eaten hot or cold and can be cut into strips either. They’d be a great party food, and go nicely with a bottle of beer! So, definitely a crowd pleaser!
Here’s the recipe:
Sweetcorn fritters:
- 100g plain flour
- 1 Tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 150ml milk
- 200g sweetcorn (used frozen)
- Sift the flour, baking powder and seasoning into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, add a medium egg and gradually beat in 150ml milk to form a smooth batter.
- Cook the frozen sweetcorn then add to the batter mix. Season to taste – I’d like to try this with maybe some chopped scallions, or a small bit of paprika.
- Heat some veg oil in a frying pan – we tend to use rapeseed oil. Fry spoonfuls of mixture for about 2 mins each side until golden and crisp on each side.
- Eat til they’re all gone!
Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart…
We’re had quite a few beany meals this this week. Suffice to say Prince Windypops is reigning supreme over his royal cot since then. We’d been eating a lot of stodge the previous week, pasta, coconut milk based curry, creamy risotto. I’m currently eating a side order of breakfast cereal about 4 times a day if I allow myself and felt we needed some gooooood simple proteiny foods. So as soon as it was just me & the boy for dinner I lashed together a store-cupboard bean salad.
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 can chickpeas both well rinsed
- a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes quartered
- some frozen sweetcorn cooked
- a red pepper chopped small
- half a cucumber cut into small cubes
- some parsley
Then I threw together a dressing – olive oil, crushed garlic, black pepper, honey, lemon juice. I have no clue how I measure these things, just taste taste taste.
Peas! Yellow peas! Green beans! Red peas! I don’t care what he calls them, he eats them all and loves them. And I gave us a break from cooking and processed starchy carbs, nommy & comforting as they are.
G’wan. Give a bean a go.
– Jill
my first curry
This week, mama thought I should try some new tastes. She made green curry, but with lots of coconut milk so it wasn’t too spicy for my little tum. Also, she sucked the sauce off my fud a bit before I got to it so I was only getting a little taste.
I had baby sweetcorn which is yummy and easy to hold and chomp and carrot sticks and courgette and quorn pieces and rice. Daddy didn’t think I’d be able for rice but I 
showed him. You can eat anything if you grab it with your fist I find. I made really funny faces because I was a bit surprised at the new flavour. I think mama and dada thought it might have been a bad idea but then I kept eating so they figured I must have been okay with it. Sometimes I can’t be bothered holding onto the food and I just suck on it for ages. Like with courgette. Its slippery to hold, so I just put it in my teeth and leave it there for aaaages.
I ate outdoors again this week. Mama brought me to the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, and we went for a walk, and I had some snacks sitting on the grass – 
Organix Carrot Sticks. Dada thinks they look like bad food but mama set him right. She does that a lot. I got a bit distracted by a tractor driving up and down, I know about tractors from my book “That’s not my Tractor”. They bought me “That’s not my Dinosaur” this weekend because mama said dinosaurs can’t distract me from eating but I’m going to keep an eye out for them.
– Dom
Proper Fud 