Pumpkin Fun

Why not be a little creative in the kitchen with your children and design some Halloween pumpkin faces...

...everyone can design their own face and draw it on to their chosen pumpkin. Children can also help to scoop out the seeds from the pumpkin. Cutting the face is a little tricky so is best left to the adult.

And why not have a pumpkin themed evening with some roasted pumpkin for dinner too!

Chips?!

Who doesn't love sitting by the seaside with some freshly prepared fish and chips from the local chippy - I do for sure...every once and a while. However when fast food becomes a weekly, daily habit it can cause many health problems as well as offering not much nutritional value to keep ourselves and our children going in this ever hectic world of ours. 

Chips are popular with children especially, being (for many years) a staple in school lunches. Thanks to Jamie Oliver and other like minded people/organisations this is starting to change.

So heres an alternative, try cutting sweet potatoes into chunky chip shapes and roasting them in the oven. Just a little olive oil, tiny sprinkle of sea salt and bake until golden and crispy. Delicious and it also counts as one of your kids 5 a day...

Oven Baked And Delicious

Baked Pumpkin, Squash and Sweet Potato have to be one of my favourites and they are also a huge hit with children. The natural sweetness and crispy texture will be a winner for sure.

Simply remove the seeds from the pumpkin and cut into slices (about 2cm thick) and the sweet potato into similar sized slices or wedges and drizzle the following dressing all over for an extra mmm factor...

1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of apple juice concentrate and a dash of soya sauce

...bake in a medium oven until edges are crispy and the vegetables are soft and delicious in the middle.

Perfect as a vegetable side dish for many different meals, leftovers (not that there will be many left!) can even be added to soups, stews, cold salads etc etc.

Enjoy and do let me know how your children respond!

Pumpkin Soup With Cinnamon

Pumpkin soup is one of the most simple and easy recipes to do and kids will love the natural sweetness as well as the added smiley face :)

All you need is to saute 3 chopped onions in olive oil and a pinch of sea salt for 10-12 minutes until transparent, add chopped 1 or 1/2 a pumpkin depending on size (seeds removed), and a little water to cover a third of the vegetables and a pinch of cinnamon. Bring to the boil and simmer until the pumpkin is soft. Add some white miso to taste (roughly 1-2 tablespoons) and blend into a lovely creamy soup with a hand held blender.

Delicious!

Second Spring

I read a beautiful quote the other day which I thought was worth sharing...

Autumn... a second spring when every leaf is a flower - Albert Camus

So with the leaves beginning to change, the landscapes filled with hues of red, orange, yellow and gold its the perfect time of year to sample some of natures delights. Over this month I'll be focusing on a few of those delights, one of which is the humble pumpkin.

Pumpkin and squash are much over looked, often only used at Halloween as lanterns but they are one of the most versatile and delicious vegetables there are. Not to mention a great source of natural sweetness, something that tends to be lacking in modern day diets, often leading to cravings of the sugary stuff!

So lets wrap up warm, enjoy the second spring of colour around us and delight our senses with the delicious recipes to come. Your children will love them for sure!