Recipe - Baby Food

No, I’m not referring to the goo that comes in jars. I’m sure there will be time to experiment with that later. I’m talking about the food mom demands for the baby before the baby is even born. What she eats, she tells me, the baby eats.

It’s the closest thing I’ve received to a decree from the King.

“In the name of the baby,” she says, “I request Stuffed Eggplant for dinner.”

She even sent me a link this morning by email to the recipe she had in mind. I thought she was busy studying at the university library, but it turns out she was looking up stuffed eggplant recipes.

Two hours later, no exaggeration, and dinner is ready.

A banquet fit for a king.

- Posted with permission from Spain Dad

Bringing Out The Muffin Man In You

If have kids and you are anything like me you may often end up, somehow, with several over ripe bananas constantly in the bottom of your fridge or in the fruit bowl. My mum would always make a banana cake with these but I like to make these very simple muffins and the kids love to help. In fact this recipe from www.theworldrecipebook.com uses only one bowl and one wooden spoon in the whole process. Apart from over mixing (which my little boy particularly likes to do with vigour) you can’t really stuff them up.

The kids love to weigh the ingredients as they put them into the bowl. My kids are of the age where as we weigh the ingredients I get them to add the weights together on a piece of paper and we check the final weight against their answers. The whole process only takes 5 mins, really!

So if you find some black or over ripe bananas lying around (you can freeze bananas in a bag for a later date) Crank up the oven and you will have muffins in 1/2hr. These last for 2-3 days in a sealed container in the cupboard. The recipe makes 6 large or 12 small.

The Chickenpox Party

It was an outbreak of biblical proportions! Even as my wife was saying the word ‘Chickenpox’, her tone spoke of the Plague or Bird Flu and my job was simple: rescue our 11 month old son from the incubator of disease we called Childcare!

In truth, one of the other kids had shown up with spots. But us first time parents panic about everything, so I excused myself from work and raced to save my boy. And I couldn’t go fast enough. I wanted a siren or flashing lights. I wanted to stick my head out the window and shout, “Come on people – out of the way! This is CHICKENPOX!”

As I scooped Theo into my arms – Daddy the Hero – his Carer asked me, “Have you ever had them?”

“Dunno,” I told her.

“Because it’s pretty serious for grown men. It can turn into shingles and cause impotence.” This did not make me feel better.

We sought advice, my wife and I. And here’s what we found out: