Luckily, these taste really good and they’re really easy to make.

They are so simple it’s frightening.  Boooh! Did I scare you? No,didn’t think so.

Anyway, give them a try. I promise you they will never be left around uneaten for very long. As it’s valentines day today, give them to someone you love.

This recipe is great because it uses some variations on the everyday cake ingredients including wholemeal flour and brown sugar.

That pretty much sums up the pizza making in a little nutshell. Easy enough for the youngest of children to make & never EVER fails. The nice thing about this recipe is that if you only put a small amount of cheese on the top, all of the other toppings can be healthy. Lots of fruit & veg.

Let the kids do everything themselves because as I said before, it really is foolproof & will never fail to work. It’s a great recipe to get the kids started with in the kitchen …..& it’s not a cake. Kids always want to make cakes & sweet things but a pizza seems to slide into the same category as cakes where kids are concerned. They are always over-excited about the prospect of making pizza.

Anyway, this is a lovely curry, if not a little naughty because of the coconut milk which is high in fat.  It does have a lot going for it though with the lovely sweet potato & the lentils which you never even notice are in there but fill you up nicely.

It’s not too spicy, so it could easily be served to the family without the children moaning. Not that  yours ever would?

Anyway, after 6 years of spending my life feeding my own children & I include my husband in that category as he is at times more difficult to feed than the children, I decided to spend even more time doing so with other peoples children. That’s why I set up my cookery business.

During my many years of observation I have come up with some pointers for parents desperate to encourage their kids to eat well and not be too fussy.

I have to point out that all of these tips come purely from my observations. There is no scientific research involved…..just Mums research. So here we go….

1. Relax, relax, relax

As simple as it sounds, if you relax about it and don’t get stressed about the food that your children eat, it will be easier. Children really pick up on the stress and it makes the whole food thing so much less enjoyable. This is a really simple point but makes an enormous difference. Try and make a pledge to yourself that you’ll relax about what they eat for the next week and see how it feels. A relaxed Mum makes a relaxed child.

2. Let the kids have some control

I really believe that from being very small, one of the few things that children can control is the food that they eat.  They have everything else decided for them; clothes, bedtime, who they play with etc, etc.  The one thing a well meaning parent can’t do is make their child physically eat something they refuse to swallow. One way of encouraging kids to eat a bit more of what you want them to is to give them more control over the foods that they can choose.

For example:

• try putting the food into dishes or plates on the table so that the kids can put their own food onto their plates. This just lets them be in control
• instead of just deciding which vegetables you will serve for tea, give the kids a choice. ‘Would you like peas or carrots for tea tonight?’. Either choice is a good one so everyone wins
• Let the kids feed themselves as soon as they possibly can.  We both know, it will be messy and involve lots of wiping up afterwards but if it will be worth it in the long run

3. Always (or nearly always) eat with your kids

It’s no fun eating by yourself and it’s even less fun eating with someone sat watching and waiting for you to eat up all your dinner. But that’s exactly what happens sometimes. Wouldn’t it be so much nicer for you to sit and eat with your kids? I understand that it’s not always possible for you to sit and eat with your children but I would try and do it as often as possible. It makes it more fun, more enjoyable and less stressful if you eat at the same time. If you’re sat eating your own meal & chatting to everyone, you’re less likely to be watching your childs every mouthful.

When my kids were really little & ate at 4pm, I  had an early tea with them & warmed my husbands portion up later on when he came in from work. As he’d used all his spoken words up at work and didn’t have much conversation left in him, he was always happy to sit & read the paper whilst eating his tea by himself. I was generally putting the kids to bed at the time he was eating his tea anyway.

4. Give your kids proper food, not smiley faces

I have always given my kids the same food as me and my husband. The reasons for that is that

• I think they need to eat proper food and explore proper tastes and textures instead of something fashioned into a dinosaur shape
• I really haven’t got either the time or the inclination to cook 2 different meals every night. 1 for kids & 1 for adults. It takes enough of my time & effort to think of 1 meal, let alone 2
• kids actually enjoy eating the same foods as the grown ups
• would you want to eat a smiley Face?

5. Don’t call foods good or bad

No foods are bad if eaten in moderation. It’s all about balance and I’ve always found it easier to let my kids know that it’s o.k to eat cake as long as it’s in moderation. Making something out of bounds only makes it more appealing.

Over to you then

I know that all mums have to multi-task like a demon just to get everything done in the day so I hope that there might be an idea above that helps make your day just a little bit easier. None of it’s rocket science thankfully.

Please don’t get despondent when you feel like it’s simply not going your way with the whole food situation. Just smile and persevere and know that the carrots that have just been refused may very well be eaten with overwhelming excitement next week.  Good luck.

To up your fibre, this recipe uses wholemeal flour & oats which gives it an extra dose of healthiness (not sure if that word exists?). The flour & oats add to the texture making the crumble a little crunchier & general more tasty. Which is always good.

The recipe is demonstrated by Adam age 13 who made it during an after-school cookery club this week. Didn’t he do well!

So simple, kids can cook this too. Just as an aside………..my father-in-law said this was the best cake he’d ever tasted. That is high praise indeed as I have to say that my mother-in-law is an excellent cook and home baker.

This recipe has been made by children aged as young as 3 which shows how simple it is. The fun with this pizza recipe is that you can add as many different toppings as you want to. Try ham, chicken, tomato, sweetcorn, olives, you choice is yours.

Method

1. Put the flour, salt and yeast into a mixing bowl.  Make a ‘well’ in the centre
2. Add the warm water and oil into the ‘well’
3. Mix with  a wooden spoon until the soft dough doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl
4. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes until it is smooth and springy
5. Cut the dough in half and flatten each half into a circle or rectangle on your greased baking tray

6. GREAT IDEA. You can make your dough into any shape that you want to. A heart, a butterfly, a spaceman, a mouse. Just as long as it is in 1 piece with no holes in it, it will look great.

7. If you have time, cover the dough in cling film & leave it to rise for 30 minutes. It will then double in size.

8. SECRET TIP. I have made this recipe 1000′s of times with kids & we haven’t had time to leave it to rise and it has still tasted every bit as delicious. So don’t worry too much if you don’t have time to leave it to rise

9. Spread the tomato puree all over the base.  Sprinkle with oregano
10. Add any toppings that you choose e.g ham, pepper, tomato, sweetcorn
11. Grate the cheese and sprinkle over the top
12. Cook for 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 240C/475F/Gas 9
13. Eat and enjoy!!

Tip no 1.

Use warm water not boiling hot. The boiling water would kill the yeast which is what helps the dough to rise.

Tip no 2.

The dough should not be too sticky. If it is, just add a tiny bit of flour. You should be able to hold the dough in your hands without it sticking to them.

Tip no 3.

When you knead the dough, roll it into a ball and then push it away from you with the palm of your hand.  When it is stretched out, roll it over and start again.  Keep going for 10 minutes.