My Little Chef - "Piggy" Pie

With Will experimenting and looking for a new recipe last week it has been nice that he's gone back to a winter family favourite this week!

Hannah doesn't eat a lot of meat but she does enjoy pork when we do have it. However, Will had the idea of doing Shepherds Pie. After discussing the naming of both Shepherds Pie and Cottage Pie he decided it would work perfectly well for a "Piggy" Pie. 

My Little Chef - Spanish Sausage Pasta

We're at the end of our months food so we had to see what we could put together and fashion some kind of meal. 

Will often finds this a challenge to rise to! 

Subsequently, after having a good Google for recipes with different ingredients we came across this and thought we should give it a try!

My Little Chef - Hearty Leek and Potato Soup

After making Chicken casserole last week Will has stayed in "Winter Cooking mode" and wanted to make a hearty soup for us. 

Although we enjoy different homemade soups, Leek and Potato soup is always a massive hit in our house. 

So simple to do and with a few little added extras it really stands out for us. 

My Little Chef - Chicken Casserole

Evenings are getting quite dark, the wind and the rain this week has been absolutely rubbish and the radiators have been switched on. 

The Cupcake Kitney household has now embraced the oncoming Winter! So obviously the slow cooker is out and our dinners have started being more hearty comfort food.

Will decided this week that he would start his Winter recipes with one of our family favourites; Chicken Casserole.

My Little Chef - Apple and Pork Burgers

We made homemade burgers last week. It was a simple recipe with pork mince, onion and some peppers. 

Whilst making them Will raised a question: Would a stuffing mixture taste good as a burger?

Well, as always, there was only one way to find out. So this week we gave it a try. 

Harvest and Food Banks

We had our Church's Harvest Festival last week.

It is an event that I look forward to.

The event is different to other services there or at other churches. It isn't all "God" and "Jesus" and focusing on Christianity.

Instead it is all about community and giving; something I wish our church was more about.

We invite our local Cubs, Scouts and Guides to the service. We make the service more family friendly rather than having a service where the adults listen to the sermon and the kids go to the youth group.

We listen, learn and watch information on Food Banks. We hear statistics from up and down the country and what our local one specifically does.

My Little Chef - Chicken Fajita Pasta

It has been a while since we posted a "My Little Chef" post. That doesn't mean though that William hasn't been cooking and baking! 

It is still his favourite past time and hobby and still his goal of a career ahead. 

We thought that we would start back with a bit of a kick!

My Little Chef - Cheese Straw Trees

 

As regular readers of the blog know, William is a budding and exceedingly ambitious chef and baker.

 

Although he cooks regularly here he also is in competition with himself to create, explore and make something more complicated and ultimately growing his skills. I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing; in fact, as long as he doesn't get upset I am more than happy to push him if he is willing!

 

As many of you know, we attend church most weeks and enjoy the community aspect that it offers. Every year we celebrate a lovely Harvest festival service and we concentrate on sharing with each other, our church communities and with the local community. William, each year, has been keen to be creative and share his skills.

My Little Chef - Review - HelloFresh - Herb Coated Haddock

HelloFresh produce a selection of simple and yet delicious recipes from all over the world. Perfect for families, like ours, who like to eat healthily and to meal plan at the same time.

Their mission to help everyone have access to the best ingredients and then the knowledge to cook them is something that I can wholeheartedly get behind.

Along with this, their Flavour Generator, where customers can choose the style of the meal they would like, offers a taste selection and then the meals and recipes that are available from the choices made.

As all of my regular readers will know William is always showing me up with his extraordinary ability to cook amazing meals and continue to be 'My Little Chef'. As his dad I couldn't be prouder and will always support his interest and talent in this area. However, there is often an untold aspect to his cooking tale.

My Little Chef - Mediterranean Salmon

 

Sometimes we get caught up in new recipes that we often forget to show off some of our favourites. We love quick and healthy meals and William's Mediterranean salmon is one of our regular meals.

 

A good and lovely piece of Fish, potatoes and some vegetables into a salsa and a quick and simple meal for all of the family.

My Little Chef - Haddock Chowder

William was going through his recipe books trying to come up with something that would peak his interest. He came across a haddock chowder and although it is suggested as a winter dish he was keen on giving it a go where he hadn't cooked with fish before. As always, I am in full support of him exploring and trying new recipes so thought it was worth a try!

Fathers Day with Pizza Express

Fathers day for me is often a very mixed day. The last few years I have had the boys for the day and it has pretty much been like any other day where it is full of love, fun and enjoyment but where I still end up playing adult and dad and don't really stop.

I suppose being one half of a co-parent relationship and doing it independently allows this to become the standard experience especially when the boys, and their mum, also spoil their step father for the day. However, due to this being the case I do at times get a bit down when I see other dads being spoilt so try to make a special and extra effort to do something special.

Luckily this year our treat was presented to us from Pizza Express who are treating dads this Fathers day.

We were invited to go visit their new premises on Gloucester Road, London to have a pizza party and celebrate Fathers day by making and eating our very own pizza; what a perfect activity to bring father and son together.

My Little Chef- Quiche Lorraine

 

 We decided to take a break from our healthy eating project and look more at a meal that suits the summer weather. With it getting warmer the more we want lighter meals and ones that go hand in hand with a healthy and summery salad; it seemed perfect timing to make a quiche that William has longed to make for a while.

My Little Chef - Sticky Pineapple Muffins

We have been pushing to include as many fruit and vegetables as possible in our diet following on from our campaign work with innocent and GIY to not only grow your own food but to help children have a healthier understanding and eating lifestyle. Now, we haven't done much with fruit and I am sure we will develop some amazing really healthy food with an array of fruit but for now you will have to settle for fruit in cake. (That still counts as healthy, right?)

My Little Chef - Spinach and Red and Yellow Pasta

 

We are still going strong with our pasta topic and we are finding more and more recipes to try and explore.

 

We have been pushing to include as many vegetarian dishes as possible following on from our campaign work with innocent and GIY to not only grow your own food but to help children have a healthier understanding and eating lifestyle.

 

William was really interested in finding out if he could create flavoured pasta using different vegetables and this has lead us to todays post. Spinach flavoured pasta and Red and Yellow pepper flavoured past!

My Little Chef - Vegetable Lasagne

 

Following our involvement with Innocent and GiY #SowandGrowUK campaign we have been trying to create more recipes using more vegetables. William found so many recipes and following that he has a list that he wants to work through.

 

On top of that we are always asked by Natalie to feature more vegetarian dished for her to try so William decided that not only would he match the campaign, our current home ed topic of pasta and creating something for Natalie that he would like to make vegetable lasagne.

 

My Little Chef - Carrot and Coriander Soup

 

Following our involvement with Innocent and GiY #SowandGrowUK campaign we have been trying to create more recipes using more vegetables. William found so many recipes and following that he has a list that he wants to work through.

 

To start with he wanted to make Carrot and Coriander soup, so here it is!

 

My Little Chef - Chicken Lasagne

 

 

Following on from our Pasta topic this term we have been looking to find new recipes to try. We are massive lasagne fans in this household as you may know from William's previous recipe. Luckily, I came across a new recipe for a Chicken Lasagne on Facebook and William decided that we must make it!

 

My Little Chef - Salt and Pepper Chips

 

We are addicted to watching food related videos that float around our Facebook feed. More often than not William and I are sat watching them and making a list of what to do next! Yet, it is very rare that we watch one and have all of the ingredients waiting for us; Salt and Pepper Chips was perfect!

My Little Chef - Tagliatelle Carbonara

Following on with our pasta topic William wanted to get to making some recipes along with using our homemade pasta!

After watching a show with Rick Stein (William's new hero!) he decided that he wanted to make a carbonara!