Cafe des Enfants

Grow Your Own

We had a wonderful afternoon today.  Some friends that we hadn’t seen since we moved last time came over for tea and the children got on fabulously as if they had been meeting up all along it was great. 

Cabbage

My son just ate cabbage!  For the first time!  With no bargaining, bartering, persuasion or anything...he just lifted it off his plate and ate it!  I think he even surprised himself as he said "umm mummy that's nice!" and nice it was. 

Party Days

Only 6 kids are coming to Oliver’s party! I invited 22 and it is down to this. Has this ever happened to you? I don’t know whether to be delighted that I haven’t got hoards of testosterone filled 6 year old boys running around the places or delighted that there is a nice and easy to handle number that will make the mammoth catering challenge I was anticipating much much more handleable. 

Salt

Apparently we’re all eating too much salt, so says the Food Standards Agency Today -  even bread, in our home a basic staple for lunch boxes, breakfast and snacks is prone too have too much salt in it.  If we could all decrease our salt intake to just 6g a day this would cut heart attacks by 70,000 per year!  To check out the full sory at the BBC check this link .

And  we’ve also uncovered some more information for you about salt. 

Banana Bread Pudding

If like me you rarely make puddings for your family, preferring instead to offer them fresh fruit, this is a nice recipe for the weekend or evenings when you have a little more time and fancy indulging everyone a litte. 

For those of you who love bread puddings, this alternative uses the added ingredient of sliced bananas, which make a delicious treat. This delicious recipe is ideal for any desert after a meal and will enjoyed not only by children, but also by the adults as well.

Chilli with Chocolate

What better way can their be to get your kids to eat meat and kidney beans than letting them into the secret that the best chilli is always made with chocolate.  That does it!  I bet you can get even the most reticent; conservative of palates to at least try chilli con carne when they know that it has been made with that most favoured of “treats” that is chocolate.  It worked on mine.  There was something incredibly rewarding that made me feel all nice and warm and homely when our cousins and my kids all sat down to a big family meal of chilli with cheese, garlic bread, and all the trimmings (guacamole, sour cream etc.….) a nice change to a Sunday roast lunch we thought.

They're Not Eating Enough - They're Eating Too Much

The other day I found myself tearing my hair out in frustration and worry as neither of my kids had really eaten anything that day. Now how often do we find ourselves saying my kids haven’t eaten anything today? In fact I often say it? But I find that if I just look back over the day and remember exactly what they have eaten then my angst disappears. When I list what they’ve eaten I find that it’s almost always a packet of raisins or dried fruit cereal bar, breakfast, milk, juice, a banana and a yogurt and a nibble of toast, a couple of sausages and bite of cheese, some bread sticks, 4 mouthfuls of chilli (with red kidney beans), some corn bread, vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, some garlic bread, some more cheese, water and a bit more milk……..oh and a handful of pinenuts and strawberries. 

 

 

Restaurant Reviews

We have had some very good responses and a great deal of interest from restaurants being very interested in Café des Enfants coming to review them.  We are absolutely delighted by this response and would like to build our team of reviewers. Those of you interested in eating out with your kids in very stylish places and writing a review of it in exchange for the meal expenses being paid do get in touch at hello@twelve-uk.com

Nice Rice

Last night I whipped up a bit of a chicken stir fry for dinner. What a calamity. I’d have laughed if I hadn’t been saying ….but I run Café des Enfants, you’ve gotta eat your dinner! Proof that feeding kids is challenge for all of us……

To Peel or Not to Peel

It has been a subject of some contention in my house recently as to whether it is better to peel or leave unpeeled fruit and vegetables, so I was delighted to discover this article to answer the question by Dr Gabe Mirkin.

Vegetable and fruit skins are loaded with fiber and nutrients. You don't want to throw them away unless you have to. Recipes in many cookbooks tell you to peel potatoes, apples, eggplants and everything else, whether you need to or not. Use my "rule of thumb" -- if you can put your thumbnail through the skin, use it! (That eliminates the tough ones like winter squash and the thick ones like banana and orange peels.)