the household meal routine has been thrown into disarray this week because bruno has been working such crazy hours. ideally we all sit down together and eat, or at least i sit down and eat with max and lola, but the last couple of nights i've given the kids their dinner first and then eaten with bruno when he gets home - oh, the pleasure of an uninterrupted meal, no rush to eat in between spooning food into lola's mouth or cutting max's food up, no having to get up and down 50 or so times for another glass, a smaller spoon, a washcloth etc etc ....
tonight i was stuck for ideas for max's dinner, so i sought out the wisdom of the esteemed robin barker. i love robin, she is so practical and common-sensical. i came up with wholemeal pizzas, using a scone-type base instead of a yeasted bready dough (too time consuming, all that kneading and rising time - i was in the mood for something quick). the base was super easy and surprisingly quick, and cooked to nice thin crisp - not bad at all, i wouldn't turn my nose up at it for a grown-up's pizza, either. the fridge was pretty bare in terms of yummy goodies for toppings, so max just had to be content with tomato sugo, sliced cervelat (sausage) and mozzarella, but i think he was happy.
wholemeal pizzas (from robin barker's excellent no-nonsense 'baby and toddler meals')
- 30g butter
- 2 cups self-raising wholemeal flour (note: i only just noticed that robin's recipe uses self-raising flour. we don't get it here in CH and i didn't notice it when i made it tonight, so i didn't add any baking powder...it still turned out fine!)
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup of water
- preheat oven to 200°c
- rub butter into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs
- make a well in the centre and add fluids
- stir to form a stiff dough, then lightly knead on a floured board. add more flour if a bit sticky.
- roll or pat out thinly on oiled baking trays (i use the 18cm bases of my springform cake tins - perfect size for kiddies; this recipe makes about 4 of these)
- add whatever toppings you like - you know the drill
- bake for 20 - 30 mins until golden and delicious
- slice and eat!
i made the sausage one for max and one with just tomato and cheese (so i had quite a bit of dough left-over - i put it in the fridge for tomorrow) because i had a sneaking suspicion that lola would be putting her chubby hand up for some....lately she has been eschewing her own baby mush for our dinner, shouting indignantly until she is given a suitably baby-sized version or portion of what we're having (who can blame her, really? carrot and broccoli mush or yummy delicious pizza???). so i cut her a tiny slice, cooled it off and gave it to her. she ate 3 pieces with wild delight : )
Robin rocks!
Have not tried this recipe. Lots of satisfaction for little helpers when making pizza, and the simplicity of Robin's recipes is perfect. I always use her muffin recipe (with my own variations).
Interesting trivia: I did a Google search on the words children, kids, food and blog, and I didn't find a food blog devoted to kids. A niche for you, perhaps? Food with Max & Lola? Max & Lola Eat? No Tomatoes for Lola? :)
Posted by: lucinda | June 06, 2004 at 11:50 AM
lucinda...you evil woman. now you have sown the seeds for the idea of YET ANOTHER blog in my head. surely it would be the height of craziness to start another blog (making it 3, count them, 3!! blogs to keep going)...also, who could guarantee that potential readers would not die of boredom as they read about max having chicken, broccoli, rice and cherry tomatoes for dinner AGAIN???? : )
but having said that...could be fun.....
Posted by: kitschenette | June 06, 2004 at 09:15 PM
we made this last sunday night: fun, convenient, quick, tasty, healthy. What more could you ask for?? Thanks for the idea!
Posted by: lucinda | June 20, 2004 at 07:36 AM