Pomegranate Lassi

 Drinks  4 Responses »
Jul 192013
 

Pomegranate Lassi | My Little Gourmet

Since my parents are in town right now visiting us, we’ve been doing a lot of eating out. The other day we went to a Vietnamese restaurant, where Arik, by the way, ate two large summer rolls with tofu and fish sauce…sometimes I am amazed at what that kid eats. Anyway, I ordered Arik and myself a mango lassi to share to see it it would be something he likes. My question was quickly answered when I gave him the glass, blinked, and the whole thing was basically gone. So much for sharing. 🙂 After getting such positive feedback from him, I decided to make him a lassi at home, with pomegranate instead of mango.

Pomegranate Lassi | My Little Gourmet

I already told you guys about our current pomegranate obsession in my Chicken Salad post, which is also where you can find  easy step-by-step instructions on how to de-seed a pomegranate. So I thought, why not turn those delicious little seeds into a lassi! And I am so glad I did…it was sooo good. Since pomegranates can be a little on the sour side, I went ahead and added some honey. If that is still not sweet enough for your kids you could always toss some mango in there to sweeten things up. Alright, next mission: a homemade kid-friendly summer roll… 🙂

Pomegranate Lassi | My Little Gourmet

5.0 from 1 reviews
Pomegranate Lassi
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 pomegranate
  • ½ cup/120ml water
  • 1¼ cup/300g plain yogurt
  • 1-2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
  1. De-seed the pomegranate and blend the seeds with the water. Strain the mixture in order to get the hard part of the seeds out.
  2. Blend the pomegranate juice with yogurt and honey and serve cold.
Notes
*If just the pomegranate juice isn't sweet enough for your kids, then you can add some mango for sweetness.

 

 Posted by at 13:54

Spaghetti Bolognese with Hidden Vegetables

 Main Dishes  6 Responses »
Jul 122013
 

Spaghetti Bolognese | My Little Gourmet

I don’t think I have ever met a kid, that didn’t like spaghetti with meat sauce. It’s an extremely popular kid’s dish here in Germany and you will seldomly find a kid’s menu at a restaurant that doesn’t have spaghetti bolognese on it. Arik is definitely not an exception. He loves this stuff and gets really excited when he sees that we are having pasta with meat sauce…of course, his serving has to come with an extra portion of parmesan cheese. 🙂

Spaghetti Bolognese | My Little Gourmet

That’s why I decided last week, that no kid’s recipe blog is complete, without a recipe for spaghetti bolognese. So, I’m going to share with you our favorite version, which is stuffed with lots of veggies, of course. 🙂 Since Arik likes eating most vegetables, I leave the sauce chunky. If you’ve got a picky eater, just puree/blend the vegetables and tomatoes together into a fine sauce and they’ll never know. 😉 As far as, which vegetables you decide to use, it’s completely up to you and what you have in your fridge. I would however, always use an apple because this gives the sauce some sweetness, which the kids will enjoy.

Spaghetti Bolognese | My Little Gourmet

Alright, now this kid’s recipe blog has a recipe for pasta with meat sauce too…phew, made it just in the nick of time. 😉

Spaghetti Bolognese | My Little Gourmet

 

4.0 from 1 reviews
Spaghetti Bolognese with Hidden Vegetables
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small leek, thinly sliced
  • 1 small stalk of celery, finely diced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and grated
  • ½ red bell pepper, finely diced
  • ½ apple, cored, peeled and grated
  • 1 clove of garlic, pressed
  • 1 14oz/400g can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 lb./500g ground beef
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup/250ml beef or vegetable stock
  • ½ teaspoon oregano, dried
  • 1 handful fresh basil leaves, chopped finely
  • 1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Melt the butter in a large pan and add the onion. Saute until translucent and add the vegetables, apple and garlic. Saute for another 10 minutes or until soft.
  2. Meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a separate pan breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
  3. If you want the veggies completely hidden then transfer them to a blender, add tomatoes, and blend until smooth. If your child likes a really fine texture then you can also add the beef and blend as well.
  4. If not blending, add the beef to vegetables and tomatoes and stir in tomato paste, stock and oregano.
  5. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 40-45 minutes until sauce is thickened.
  6. Add fresh basil and season to taste with balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.
  7. Serve over spaghetti and top with parmesan cheese.

Recipe adapted from Annabel Karmel on Baby Centre

 Posted by at 13:39

Strawberry Roll Cake

 Desserts  16 Responses »
Jul 052013
 

Strawberry Roll Cake | My Little Gourmet

As I mentioned before, Arik’s Birthday was a couple of weeks ago and I made a Strawberry Roll Cake for the occasion. Since it was such a hit with everyone, I ended up baking it again a week later so I could take some pictures for a post. I want to share these pictures and the recipe with you today, since there are so many yummy strawberries for sale right now, so that you guys can get right to baking!

Strawberry Roll Cake | My Little Gourmet

The first time I baked the cake I beat the eggs and sugar for a couple of minutes and it ended up pretty dense. So the next time around, I separated the eggs and folded in the stiffened egg whites. This cake was a complete disaster and ended up immediately breaking when rolled. For the third attempt, I beat the eggs and sugar for at least 5 minutes until they were really creamy and fluffy.  This cake rolled beautifully and was incredibly light and airy. The only thing I will do differently next time is roll the cake a little tighter so that more rolls come out in the end.

Strawberry Roll Cake | My Little Gourmet

I make the filling while the cake bakes and cools. Usually there is some filling left over, but no one seems to mind and I don’t have any issues getting rid of it. 😉 You should be able find quark as well as Whip It in larger grocery stores or specialty stores. If not, let me know and I will figure out a substitution for you. In my opinion the cake tasted even better after 1-2 days in the refrigerator so it’s a great idea to make it ahead of time. It really is a perfect cake for kid’s summer birthday parties. Kids seem to love strawberries and quark and if they don’t, there’s just more left over for the adults!

Strawberry Roll Cake | My Little Gourmet

5.0 from 3 reviews
Strawberry Roll Cake
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
Cake:
  • 4 Eggs
  • ⅓ cup/70g sugar plus 1-2 tablespoons for rolling the cake
  • ½ cup minus 1 tablespoon/50g flour
  • ½ cup minus 1 tablespoon/50g cornstarch
Filling:
  • 11 oz./300g strawberries
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ¾ cup/200g quark
  • 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • ¾ cup/200g whipping cream
  • 2 packets Whip It from Dr. Oetker or 2 tablespoons of whipping cream stabilizer
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 390℉/200℃.
  2. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes until creamy and fluffy.
  3. Sift the flour and cornstarch on top and carefully mix in.
  4. Pour the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
  5. Take a clean dish towel, sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and dump the still hot cake onto it. Carefully use the towel to roll up the cake and set aside to cool.
  6. Clean the strawberries and puree ⅓ of them along with the vanilla extract, sugar and lemon juice. Dice the remaining strawberries into small chunks.
  7. In a medium bowl blend quark with powdered sugar and puree.
  8. In another bowl, start to whip the cream. Add Whip It and continue to whip cream until stiff.
  9. Fold cream and cut up strawberries into quark mixture.
  10. Carefully unroll the cooled cake and spread the cream mixture onto it.
  11. Roll the cake bake up and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
  12. Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar before serving.

 

 Posted by at 21:38

Strawberry Banana Milk

 Drinks  7 Responses »
May 102013
 

Strawberry Banana Milk | My Little Gourmet

Mother’s Day is coming up, so I’ve decided to share a recipe from my mother with you all. My mom used to make this milk for me when I got home from school and I always loved it. To this day I still enjoy drinking these fruit milks!

Strawberry Banana Milk | My Little Gourmet

A while ago I decided to make one for Arik to see if he would like them as much I always did, and low and behold he drank both servings, leaving none for me… Now he has one at least once a week and always gets really excited when he sees me getting out the blender. I love that something so easy and delicious is healthy for us too. I also love the fact that something my mom and I used to enjoy together, I can now enjoy with my son. Happy Mother’s Day! 

Strawberry Banana Milk | My Little Gourmet

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Strawberry Banana Milk
 
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Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 4-5 strawberries
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1-2 tablespoons honey
  • 1½ cups/ 375ml milk
Instructions
  1. Toss all ingredients into a blender and blend well.
  2. Serve over some ice cubes or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

 Posted by at 14:00

Bircher Muesli : The original overnight oats recipe

 Breakfast  150 Responses »
May 032013
 

Bircher Muesli | My Little Gourmet

Bircher Muesli was developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Brenner for his patients and is still a very popular breakfast throughout Switzerland and Germany. The original recipe called for much more fresh fruit than grain and soaked the raw oats overnight since they took some time to soften. Nowadays, a soak time of 30-60 minutes seems to suffice when using quick oats, although I still prefer to prepare it the night before so that we don’t have to wait for our breakfast in the mornings.

Bircher Muesli | My Little Gourmet

Arik likes to not only eat the muesli for breakfast, but also in the afternoon as a snack. As far as toppings go, you can use just about anything your heart desires for fruit and nuts. We like to alternate between blueberries, strawberries, nectarines, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, and toasted coconut. And of course, no muesli is complete for Arik, without raisins, which we add the night before so that they are nice and soft.

Bircher Muesli | My Little Gourmet

Keep in mind, when using rolled or old-fashioned oats, they will require a longer soak time than quick oats. I also like the texture to be quite mushy (sorry…), so this recipe uses quite a bit of liquid and yogurt. If you prefer a thicker texture just decrease the amount of milk and yogurt.

Bircher Muesli | My Little Gourmet

If you and your kids like oatmeal and yogurt, you will love bircher muesli. It’s the perfect summer-time breakfast, and not only really easy to make, but healthy too!

Bircher Muesli | My Little Gourmet

 

5.0 from 24 reviews
Bircher Muesli
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2 cups/150g rolled or quick oats
  • 1¾ cups/420ml milk
  • ¼ cup/60ml apple juice
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 apple, cored and grated with the peel
  • 1-2 tablespoons honey
  • 1½ cups/375g plain yogurt
  • A dash of cinnamon (optional)
  • Toppings : your favorite fresh and/or dried fruit, nuts, toasted coconut, etc.
  • Our favorites: blueberries, strawberries, raisins and hazelnuts
Instructions
  1. Combine oats, milk, apple juice and lemon juice and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.
  2. In the morning add the grated apple, honey (to taste), yogurt, and cinnamon, if desired, and mix well.
  3. Top with your favorite fruits and nuts.
Notes
* If you are short on time in the mornings, you can add the grated apple the night before to save a few minutes.

 

 Posted by at 14:00

Easy Crispy Chicken Nuggets

 Main Dishes  8 Responses »
Apr 122013
 

Easy Crispy Chicken Nuggets | My Little Gourmet

I’ve been searching for a delicious, yet easy chicken nuggets recipe for a long time. Chicken nuggets are a staple childhood food (at least they were for me) and I didn’t want to deny Arik of these delicious little things, but I also didn’t want to serve him some pre-made frozen version. Unfortunately, all the recipes I was finding required me to coat each little nugget in flour, egg, and breading and then fry them in a pan, which as most of you parents know, is pretty impossible to do when you’ve got a hungry toddler hanging out in the kitchen.

Easy Crispy Chicken Nuggets | My Little Gourmet

Easy Crispy Chicken Nuggets | My Little Gourmet

Then I found this little gem of a recipe. It requires only 4 ingredients and promised no elaborate breading of the chicken nuggets. I was sold, and tried it out immediately. It truly is a really easy recipe, which all three of us loved. You just simply put the cut up chicken and some red pesto in a bowl and mix. Then you toss that chicken in a freezer bag with crushed cornflakes and shake. Lastly, you place the nuggets on a cookie sheet and bake…so easy, and more importantly, a lot less messy than breading and frying. The other great thing about the recipe, is that you can easily freeze the uncooked breaded nuggets and save them for a busy weeknight.

Easy Crispy Chicken Nuggets | My Little Gourmet

I personally find, that the red pesto provides enough seasoning for the nuggets (especially since I am cooking for a 21 month old), but if you prefer a little kick to your nuggets you can season the crushed cornflake mixture however you desire. The original recipe calls for breadcrumbs instead of cornflakes. I went ahead and tried regular breadcrumbs, panko breading, and cornflakes and in the end cornflakes were a clear winner with all three of us. I served them with oven-baked potato wedges and green beans….and of course, ketchup.

Easy Crispy Chicken Nuggets | My Little Gourmet

5.0 from 1 reviews
Easy Crispy Chicken Nuggets
 
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Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • 2 skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into small cubes
  • 3 tablespoons red pesto
  • 2-3 handfuls cornflakes, crushed into small pieces
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃.
  2. Place the cubed chicken pieces in a bowl, add the pesto, and mix together until all pieces are covered.
  3. Pour the oil onto a shallow baking tray, just enough to cover it, and place in the oven for 5 minutes.
  4. Put the cornflakes in a freezer bag, crush them into small pieces, and add the chicken in small batches. Shake each batch around until each piece is coated with cornflakes.
  5. Place the chicken nuggets onto the heated greased baking tray so that no pieces are touching each other and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
*Breadcrumbs or panko can be used in place of cornflakes. *If you are wanting to pre-make these and freeze them, then once the nuggets are coated, place them on a baking sheet (not touching each other) and put them in the freezer. When they are frozen solid, place them in a container or freezer bag and store in freezer until ready to bake.
 
Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food.
 Posted by at 14:00

Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cups

 Breakfast  6 Responses »
Mar 152013
 

Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cups | My Little Gourmet

These oatmeal “muffins” can’t really be described as muffins. Their consistency is more of a combination between a muffin and baked oatmeal, so if you are expecting to bite into a light and fluffy muffin you could be disappointed. Their taste though, is just plain delicious! Since the preparation and baking does take a little longer than the usual cereal or toast breakfast, we like to make these cups for breakfast on the weekend when we have a little extra time. I let Arik help me in preparing the batter, so he is okay with having to wait a little before he gets his breakfast.

Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cups | My Little Gourmet

The original recipe calls for sweetened almond milk instead of milk and honey and for chocolate chips instead of blueberries. I think that sounds really good too, and definitely want to try it out sometime soon, but I just didn’t want to serve chocolate that early in the day… I know, my poor deprived child. 🙂  I imagine they would be really good with some chopped fresh strawberries, as well, which I will definitely have to make in the summer.

Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cups | My Little Gourmet

I used paper liners to bake these and even after 15 minutes of cooling, they still end up sticking to the paper like crazy. Others have said that it works well to just grease the muffin tray and place the batter in there directly. I haven’t tried this out myself, so I can’t really comment, but next time I will do it this way and let you guys know. Despite the sticking they still tasted great. After eating 4 of these oatmeal cups, Arik came up for air and said, “Mama mmmmh, mehr!” Translation: Mom mmmmh (yes, that’s right, it’s universal), more!

Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cups | My Little Gourmet

Blueberry Oatmeal Cups
 
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Serves: 15-17 muffins
Ingredients
  • 3 bananas, ripened and mashed
  • 1 cup/240ml milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 3 cups/240g rolled or quick oats
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 cup/125g blueberries, fresh or frozen
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375℉/190℃.
  2. Mix together all of the ingredients except for the blueberries and set aside.
  3. Prepare muffin pan by greasing or lining with paper liners.
  4. Fold blueberries into the batter and drop into the prepared cups. They should be almost completely full.
  5. Bake 20-30 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown and they become firm to the touch.
  6. Allow oatmeal cups to cool before removing from the paper liners.
 
Recipe adapted from Green Lite Bites
 Posted by at 13:36

The American Classic: Meatloaf

 Main Dishes  3 Responses »
Mar 082013
 

The Classic Meatloaf | My Little Gourmet

I don’t know how well-known or popular meatloaf is here in Germany, but I do know (and I think most of my American readers would agree) that it is a classic family dinner in the states. This recipe is from an ancient copy of  the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook my mother gave me when I moved out here. I was recently thumbing through it to look for some inspiration when I cam across this meatloaf recipe I remembered from my childhood, and decided to test it out. It was WAY better than I remembered, but that could partly be due to the fact that we ate this meatloaf A LOT. 🙂

The Classic Meatloaf | My Little Gourmet

Making this is sooo easy…just combine all of the ingredients, press into a 5×9 in loaf pan and place in the oven. If you don’t have a loaf pan you can also just form it into a loaf and place it into a 9 x 13 in baking dish. Since the loaf pans here in Germany are a much different size, I made sure to use a meat thermometer (which I highly recommend you do as well) in order to determine when the meatloaf was done. As soon as the internal temperature reaches 160℉/71℃ you want to remove the meatloaf from the oven, top with the glaze and cook for another 10 minutes. If you keep the meatloaf in there for too long it will end up drying out. If you have children that aren’t too fond of vegetables you can easily add a grated carrot or zucchini, or both, to the meatloaf and they will never know. 🙂

The Classic Meatloaf | My Little Gourmet

My absolute favorite part about this recipe is the glaze. It takes just a minute to whip up and is the perfect addition to this meatloaf. If you want to use something different, I’ve been told barbecue sauce also makes a nice topping. Regardless of the topping, if you also have fond memories of meatloaf family dinners as a child, try this one out; it’ll take you back.

The Classic: Meatloaf
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the Meatloaf:
  • 1½ lbs./500g ground beef
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • ¾ cup/180ml milk
  • ⅔ cup bread crumbs
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Glaze:
  • 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350℉/175℃.
  2. In a bowl combine all ingredients for the meatloaf and mix well. Lightly pat mixture into a greased loaf pan.
  3. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50-60 minutes or until internal temperature is at 160℉. While meatloaf is baking combine ingredients for the glaze.
  4. Once meatloaf is to temperature or the juices run clear, remove from the oven and spoon or drain off the fat.
  5. Spread the glaze over the meat, return to oven and bake for about 10 minutes more.
  6. Allow meatloaf to stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
If you've got picky eaters at home, then add some grated carrot or zucchini to the meat, so they get their veggies without even knowing it.

 
 Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook
 Posted by at 14:58

Pinwheels with Turkey, Cheese, Avocado and Cucumber

 Lunches/Snacks  4 Responses »
Feb 262013
 

Turkey, Cheese, Avocado and Cucumber Pinwheels

As promised, here is another lunch idea for the little ones (it took a bit longer, I know). That in no way though, means that I haven’t been on the search for ideas. No, no, I’ve been busy and found quite a bit of inspiration on Pinterest. Once I actually get around to trying out the recipes and not just pinning them, I will report back. Why do I feel like I am in trouble? 🙂

Turkey, Cheese, Avocado and Cucumber Pinwheels

These pinwheels were actually just something I made randomly to use up stuff we had in the fridge, but they turned out to be one of Arik’s favorite lunches. Now we have to have these at least 3 times a week or else…  So I wanted to be sure to share this simple alternative to a sandwich with you all. Sometimes I don’t use avocado, or I’ll use tomato instead of cucumber, or both; as you can see there is no real set way to make these, so you can just let your creative juices flow. Enjoy!

Turkey, Cheese, Avocado and Cucumber Pinwheels

5.0 from 1 reviews
Turkey, Cheese, Avocado and Cucumber Pinwheels
 
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Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • 1 large whole-wheat tortilla
  • 1 tablespoon cream cheese or
  • ½ avocado, mashed up
  • 2-3 slices of turkey
  • 1-2 slices of cheese of your choice
  • 1 small piece of cucumber, peeled and cut into strips
Instructions
  1. Spread cream cheese or mashed up avocado (or both) on the tortilla.
  2. Place turkey and cheese slices on top.
  3. Lay the cucumber strips about 1 in. from the edge of the tortilla and begin to roll up.
  4. Roll up the entire tortilla and cut into ½ in wide pinwheels.
Notes
One large tortilla will make about 10 pinwheels.

 

 Posted by at 13:38

Baked Garlic Chicken Breast

 Main Dishes  Comments Off on Baked Garlic Chicken Breast
Feb 152013
 

Garlic Chicken

If you find yourself with little time to prepare dinner and very few ingredients, then this recipe is perfect for you. These chicken breasts can be prepared in under 10 minutes, put in the oven and voila, you’ve got dinner done in under 40 minutes. It doesn’t get much easier than that. We ate these with cheese tortellini in pesto and steamed broccoli and cauliflower on the side. Both of my guys gave this one two thumbs up!

Garlic Chicken

 

Baked Garlic Chicken Breast
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, crushed
  • ¼ cup/60ml olive oil
  • ¼ cup/35g breadcrumbs
  • ¼ cup/20g parmesan, grated
  • ½ teaspoon oregano, dried
  • ½ teaspoon basil, dried
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400℉/ 200℃.
  2. Wash, dry, and flatten the chicken breasts. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
  3. In a small pot, warm the olive oil and garlic to blend the flavors.
  4. In a shallow dish combine the bread crumbs, parmesan and dried herbs. Pour the warmed garlic olive oil into another shallow dish.
  5. Dip each chicken breast in the garlic olive oil and then coat in bread crumb mixture.
  6. Place the breasts in a shallow baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

 Recipe adapted from allrecipes
 Posted by at 13:16
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