Pork and potato (and a little bit of rat)

Dinner last night – delicious local pork chops served with mashed potato and Italian rat (caponata).  A triumph all round…

Pork, potatoes and rat

The Hungry Twins devoured the pork, although they held back a little and shared a chop between them.  The mashed potato is a current favourite as the Hungry Twins get to use their spoons!  They sometimes even manage to get some on the spoon and then into their mouths….

Look at how we can feed ourselves now

A delicious pear and some crisp seedless grapes for dessert.

http://thehungrytwins.com/2013/03/22/caponata-italian-rat-recipe/

 

More is more

More is definitely more in the case of the Hungry Twins.  Friday night dinner – yummy chicken marylands pre-marinated in marrakesh spices (another Saskia Beer product) with some roasted veg.

A plateful of delicious chicken….

Sometimes I am amazed at how much food the Hungry Twins can put away.  One maryland of chicken EACH thank you very much….

Better get more chicken in!

I now make enough food for four people!!

 

Jolly Jerusalem

A bit of something different for dinner – pork and Jerusalem artichokes.  It could have been described as a culinary juxtaposition if only the Jerusalem artichokes had anything to do with Jerusalem!  Apparently, they are actually native to North America and are related to daisies (who knew?). So, sounds good in theory, but not quite!

Pork with Jerusalem artichokes

Anyway, other than trying to be clever with words, the meal was actually pretty clever in execution.  The artichokes were cooked in the oven with some sautéed red onions, garlic and a tin of tomatoes (a recipe called “smothered Jerusalem artichokes” from Marcella Hazan).  The pork, I quickly marinated in a little olive oil, garlic, light soy and a bit of Worcestershire sauce and then browned in a pan.  These were tossed on top of the artichokes, together with a few chopped up cherry tomatoes and cooked for about 15 minutes. Done!  How easy was that?

Even better, it tasted great and the Hungry Twins thought so too. They even devoured the Jerusalem artichokes!  Skye forgot how to use a bowl and tipped everything out….

Where’s my bowl?

Grace enjoyed the lot….

Love Jerusalem artichokes and pork chops!

All in all, not a bad effort!  The Hungry Twins ate everything on the plate (mushrooms and peas as well) and then had a few slices of plastic cheese, a big handful of grapes and still hungry…. Three bowls of yoghurt!!!

Back to their best.

Fun with forks (utilising utensils)

The last month has seen a few milestones for the Hungry Twins.  They have spent a seemingly inordinate amount of time sick (endless colds!),  this has affected their appetites a little, but they still seem to have a huge enthusiasm for trying new things.

Learning how to use utensils is one of them.  First it has been understanding that bowls contain food and are better if they are the right way up (and more food gets put in them that way!).  The second has been that forks can actually be useful, sometimes…..

The food sometimes even gets on the fork!

The Hungry Twins still tend to hold the fork in one hand, while eating with the other, but progress is being made!

Food on fork, food in hand….

Spoons are another fun item – yoghurt brings out the best in the Hungry Twins, with spoons in both hands and yoghurt everywhere.

 

Yoghurt tastes better with two spoons!

Drinking from a cup is another skill the girls are developing.  We made a decision early that sippy cups were banned from this house.  This means that we have to be on hand to help the Hungry Twins have a drink and deal with any spills but they are mastering this key skill!  When the girls manage to have a drink on their own without spilling it all, they are pretty impressed with themselves (and we are with them).

Look what I can do!

 

 

 

What have we been eating?

The Hungry Twins have had a tough week and a half.  They have battled new molars (how many new teeth can you get at one time??), gastro (from childcare) as well as (in the case of Skye) a raging case of severe nappy rash.  All this has meant that I haven’t quite had the energy to blog but the Hungry Twins are back on track now!

Although a bit grizzly from a bout of mild gastro, this didn’t really dim the Hungry Twins’ appetites – they still managed to put away a surprising amount of food.  Here’s what they have been eating….

Crispy chicken, pumpkin mash and zucchini

Chilli basil chicken and rice

Bangers and mash (with zucchini)

Cauliflower and bacon pasta

Custard powder chicken stir fry

More bangers with potato wedges, broccoli and mushrooms

Meatball pasta and zucchini fritters

Cauliflower cheese mac

Skye says more more more!!!

Perhaps I can eat this faster than Skye?

 

 

Not bad for too hungry girls!  One thing has happened in this time – the Hungry Twins have decided broccoli is passé and zucchini is IN!  Might have to grow some in a polytunnel to keep up with demand….

Ducks are for dancing (not eating)

And now for something completely different…..

The Hungry Twins are big fans of music and they love to watch music videos and have a bit of a dance.  We caught Grace grooving to the music of “Get Up (Rattle)” by the Bingo Players/Far East Movement – the video features ducks.

Comforting favourites

Cold weather today (pretty chilly all week really) so some yummy wintry favourites for dinner.  Lamb rack, Italian ratatouille (caponata) and mashed potatoes.

Tasty dinner treats – lamb, caponata and mashed potatoes

The lamb (cut into Hungry Twins’-sized portions) was eaten with serious intent.  Skye and Grace managed to eat two cutlets each and probably would have eaten more if we hadn’t saved them for our dinner!  Next, they moved onto mashed potatoes and the Italian rat.  Working on improving their skills with bowls and spoons, there were mixed results.  Skye got the idea pretty quickly, but Grace was a bit slower on the uptake….

I think I might be getting the hang of this spoon thing!

Hmm, do I use the spoon? Quicker to use my hands!!

Either way, the Hungry Twins enjoyed it!  A few slices of plastic cheese were required while the apple and oat muffin warmed up in the microwave.  The muffin disappeared, so a few pears in juice were required…. A huge meal eaten and enjoyed by the Hungry Twins.  Post-meal bath required!

 

 

 

Semi-leftovers

A bit of chicken tarragon mince was leftover from last night’s dinner.  What to do (and still keep it interesting)?  The Hungry Twins have become pretty discerning lately – plating up the same food as yesterday just doesn’t quite cut it anymore!  Thankfully, there was just enough mince left to make some meatballs, cooked in the oven together with a tomato sauce.

Chicken meatballs – even better second time around

The pasta was immediately gobbled down by Skye, but Grace decided she would rather start with veg – zucchini to be exact!  After eating most of this, Grace then was happy to move onto the pasta and the chicken meatballs.  Skye was unperturbed by her sister’s antics and happily ate everything.

Now I’ll eat pasta…..

But meatballs are even better!

Yum to everything!!

The rule of leftovers didn’t seem to apply to the cauliflower cheese, however.  It was eaten with as much gusto as yesterday!  Dessert was another of the apple and oat muffins cooked last night.  I can classify those as a distinct success!!

 

Cauliflower cheese rules!

It’s been a busy week.  A visit from granny and grandpa from Sydney for the last week has kept the Hungry Twins totally entertained.  It’s hard to be bored when you get so much attention!  

All this excitement (and a problem with our internet) had meant that we haven’t really been up to date with our blogging.  But never fear, here is the latest!

Tonight’s dinner was chicken tarragon burgers with cauliflower cheese and a bit of carrot salad.

The three C’s – chicken, cauliflower and carrot

The chicken was well received (an old favourite from Saskia Beer), until the Hungry Twins smelled the cauliflower cheese!  Then it was all hands on deck as we had to give them three helpings….

How much cauliflower cheese can I fit in my mouth?

More cheese, more cauliflower….

The carrot salad was quite unappreciated by Grace (thrown overboard) but Skye did eat some….

OK, now I eat carrot

Dinner was a bit behind schedule as I had been distracted saving a bird (a falcon or hawk) that had been caught in one of our fruit tree nets. But I had managed to put together some apple and oat muffins for dessert.  The Hungry Twins  thought these were awesome.  I’m pleased all the effort was worth it!  The recipe is a new one I tried from the River Cottage Baby Cookbook, which I have found invaluable.  My husband and I found the muffins pretty tasty as well!

 

 

 

Chicken cacciatore (rather eat veg)

Sometimes I am surprised by what the Hungry Twins prefer to eat.  I made a lovely chicken cacciatore for dinner tonight and the Hungry Twins certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Chicken cacciatore

But pretty quickly, they decided that enough chicken was enough and they wanted something else.  I had made a sauté of mushrooms and zucchini with a dash of light soy and white wine and had allocated a little for the Hungry Twins.  That disappeared in an instant.  We had to raid our own plates to keep them happy!  I think they ate nearly their own bodyweight in veg….

Is that all there is?

After all of this, the Hungry Twins still managed to put away a couple of cherry tomatoes, several sticks of cheese, a handful of grapes and a pear!