Notes about Recipes in this book

• Lentils with onion & watercress

  • eeeve on August 02, 2018

    Quite nice, though it desperately needed some flavour and/or seasoning. Made without salt as was intended for the toddler, who loved it with rice mixed in! Might add a bit of mild curry powder next time. Also wasn’t too difficult or time consuming, which is a big factor in our toddler-dominated life at the moment. Made with rainbow chard leaves instead of watercress.

• Oaty rhubarb crumble

  • eeeve on May 09, 2022

    This was a delicious crumble! Made a few minor changes though - added a handful blackberries and used more sugar than stated as my rhubarb wasn't the forced kind. Also replaced the fine oatmeal with regular wheat flour and added a handful of buckwheat groats for a bit of crunch. Would def make again.

• Blueberry pancakes

  • eeeve on July 30, 2017

    These drop scones were okay, albeit nothing spectacular. The husband and baby seemed very happy with them, though. I reduced the sugar to 15g and omitted the melted butter; the adults drizzled their pancakes with maple syrup, so it didn't matter that they weren't sweet at all.

• Courgette polpette

  • eeeve on July 22, 2017

    These tasted so great we scoffed the whole lot in one go! Simple and quick to prepare. Even better with cheddar (check salt) than mozzarella.

• Pea risotto

  • eeeve on October 28, 2017

    I made this because our ten month old is still not too good with lumpy food, and I already expected her to push everything out of her mouth again, but lo and behold, she loved this and ate loads! Easy to make, a bit bland without the Parmesan (didn't put any in baby's portion), but great with lots grated in and over. Guess I'll be making it again since it was so popular!

• Plum cobbler

  • eeeve on June 04, 2021

    Made this with rhubarb (one of the suggested alternatives) mixed with around 50g of caster sugar. Was good! Pretty easy to make too. Transported DH back to his school years. 4yo wouldn't try.

• Cheese & apple on toast

  • eeeve on November 01, 2017

    A simple, speedy, delicious snack (lunch, dinner) - and that's not just the baby's opinion!

• Spaghetti squash

  • eeeve on August 21, 2017

    The first time we tried spaghetti squash and we liked it a lot. (The eight-month-old not so - not one strand went down!) We liked the simple preparation method (both roasting and dressing with olive oil and some seasoning), so will definitely try again, and who knows, baby might like it next time.

• Helen's egg parcels

  • eeeve on July 31, 2017

    I liked the idea of making these - mini frittatas really - to use up leftover cooked fish, and added peas and beans instead of spinach and spring onions. The fish got a bit "lost" in the frittatas, and they were such a faff getting out of the mini muffin tins after baking (sticking to the tin). I doubt we'll make them again.

• Tofu salad

  • eeeve on September 13, 2021

    This wasn't bad, though I found I needed to add some rice for a bit of substance. I liked the simplicity of it, and the dressing was nice (added maple syrup instead of sugar), so will probably make again.

• Blackberry muffins

  • eeeve on September 11, 2017

    These are great - we didn't miss the sugar at all (and I used even less than stated, 60g instead of 75g). I used strawberries and subbed rapeseed oil for the butter, and made them as mini muffins (so baby can grab them easily). Will definitely make these again, as they're nice for adults, too.

• Spelt with leeks & squash

  • eeeve on September 12, 2018

    This is great - much like a risotto, but nuttier and not as creamy/stodgy. And it also needs less attention than a risotto, you can just let it get on with itself. Made this with pearl barley not spelt.

• Spelt & apple stars

  • eeeve on November 08, 2018

    The dough's coming together quick and easy, though I found the end result rather bland - not much flavour. Definitely savoury rather than sweet. Once I'd added a tiny bit of icing, the biscuits even kind of grew on me. The toddler refused to eat them, though I can't see her liking them as they are. I might try and add a tiny bit of sugar and/or spices/flavouring next time.

• Rice pudding

  • eeeve on January 28, 2020

    An old style pudding just like DH remembered from his nan, so he was very happy with it (especially with the skin that formed on the top). We both agreed that it was too sweet, so would reduce the sugar by a quarter next time.

• Tinned Tomatoes

  As the mother of three herself, Nikki was able to take the River Cottage ethos and combine it with her own common sense methods to come up with some great recipes and some very sound advice.

  Full review