Recipes and Activities

We thought it might be useful to have some inspiration for cooking and entertaining. We update this page as often as we can. If you would like to send in any suggestions please email Kate: we're always happy to hear from you. Please check the suggested age group provided to ensure the recipes and activities are suitable for the children you care for.

Scrummy Fish Pie

This is such an easy dish and a great way to get fish into your kids! Try making the pies in individual pie dishes or ramekins for smaller kids. You can use cod, haddock or other fish steaks/fillets

• cheese sauce (recipe below)
• Large handful of baby spinach
• 2 medium potatoes
• approx 2oz cheese for sprinkling
• 2 cod / haddock fillets (unsmoked) and pinboned
• 2 tbsp sweetcorn, tinned (without salt or sugar)

Bake cod or haddock fillets in a covered oven proof dish - this takes about 25 mins at 180 C/Gas 4.

Meanwhile make some cheese sauce and lightly cook some spinach, leeks or broccoli.

Boil some potatoes and once cooked drain and slice into discs.

Cheese sauce:

• 40g/ l½oz butter
• 40g/ l½oz plain flour
• 570ml/ l pt milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until you have a smooth paste.

Slowly pour the milk in, stirring all the time.

Bring to the boil, stirring with a balloon whisk, until thickened.

Grate 2 oz of mild cheddar, edam or gouda and stir in to the sauce.

Flake the cooked fish and place in a pie dish, checking for any bones and picking them out as you come across them. Spoon the vegetables on top of the fish and pour over the cheese sauce.

Place the potato discs over the mixture and grate some cheese on the top.

Place back in the oven for about 15 mins or until the cheese has melted and gone a little crispy

Mild chicken curry

• ½ onion
• 1 chicken breast
• sweet potato
• 1 tsp korma curry paste
• vegetable stock
• coconut cream

Take half a small onion and grate it and fry gently in some sunflower oil.

Add one skinless chicken breast, cut into small chunks, and some cubed sweet potato and fry for a couple of mins.

Add a tsp of korma curry paste, then add a mixture of veg stock and coconut cream - make sure there's enough liquid to cover the ingredients and a little extra!

Then put a lid on and simmer for about 15-20 mins, until chicken is cooked & sweet potato is soft. Serve with basmati rice or couscous.

Tomato soup

The ultimate comfort food needn't come from a tin! It's quick and easy to make and a great way of getting some veg into their diet. Serve it with some wholemeal toast for a good all round meal.

• 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
• 1 large potato, peeled and sliced
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 red pepper chopped and de-seeded
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons of vegetable reduced salt bouillon powder/ 1 vegetable stock cube reduced salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ¼ pints of water
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Fry the onions in the olive oil for a couple of minutes until they become transparent. Then add the carrot, potato and red pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, bring up to boiling point and then simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables become soft. Liquidise and serve!

Spiders and webs!!

A great activity for over 3's to be carried out with the help of an adult.

You will need:

• an old egg box
• some pipe cleaners (If you want to make six spiders you will need 24 pipe cleaners - you can chop them in half to make eight legs each but remember the ends you chop will be sharp so be careful)
• paint (you don't have to choose black for spiders and webs - let them use their imagination and make psychedelic spiders if they want to!)
• some card to use for eyes (or bought ones from a craft shop - be careful they don't put them in their mouth though!)

Method:

• Cut the box into pieces (older children will like to help to do this with special child's scissors), so you have six individual round 'cups' that the eggs used to be in.
• Paint the pieces with suitable washable paint
• Leave to dry for at least an hour
• Stick the pipe cleaners into each individual bit of the egg box. You will have six spiders!!
• You can either draw a web on a large piece of paper and stick the spiders on with PVA glue, or you can make a tangly web out of wool or string.

Bingo Flamingo

This friendly bird will brighten up a childs day - just make sure you help the younger ones with trickier aspects such as glueing and sticking and of course using scissors.

You will need:

• A paper plate
• Pink tissue paper
• Tape
• Plastic straws
• PVA glue
• Glitter
• Thin card and scissors
• Sellotape

Method:

• On your thin card, draw outlines and cut out shapes for Bingo's shoes, head and neck.
• If drawing is difficult, go to www.stencil-workshop.com and print out a flamingo stencil to use as a guide.
• Have fun screwing and scrunching up the tissue paper, then use your glue to stick this on your cardboard cut outs and completely cover the paper plate as this will be bingo's body.
• Using sellotape, stick the head to the neck, and the neck to the paper plate. Also stick on the straws for her legs, and stick her feet to the straws. - You're nearly there!
• Finally to make her wings, simply bunch together some tissue paper and stick on to the paper plate with sellotape.
• Finally apply Bingo's eyes to her head and glitter her heels!