The cookbook

The Baby-Friendly Family Cookbook by Aileen Cox Blundell, published by Gill Books, RRP €19.99

Who is it for?

A busy home cook who wants fuss-free, fail-safe recipes that will feed the whole family; from babies right up to grandparents.

Why we love it

Mother-of-three Aileen Cox Blundell rose to prominence with her award-winning baby-led weaning food blog, which gave birth (pardon the pun) to a number-one bestseller book to boot. In this second book, however, she shares 150 recipes that are suitable for the whole family. We especially like the fact that she includes creative ways to sneak in veggies for fussy eaters (which may also include some adults) and breaks her recipes up into practical categories, eg dinner ideas are divided between “I need dinner now!”, “Cook once, eat twice” and “Weekend dinners.” Lunchbox planners, safety tips around baby-led feeding and tips on cooking for vegetarians are also included.

We’ve chosen two recipes that should go down a treat in your home. Enjoy.

Recipes

Moroccan turkey meatballs

Serves two adults and two children

It’s hard to beat these yummy turkey meatballs.

For the meatballs:

800g (28oz) turkey mince

2 medium onions, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

800g (28oz) tinned chickpeas, drained and mashed

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

30 basil leaves, finely chopped

2 lemons, zest and juice

4 tsp ground cumin

4 tsp paprika

4 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp turmeric

For the sauce:

Drizzle of rapeseed oil

2 onions, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

6 tbsp tomato purée

50 cherry tomatoes, quartered

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

To serve

Handful basil leaves, roughly

Chopped

Olive oil

Cooked couscous

  • 1 Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
  • 2 Place all of the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl and mix well. Divide the mixture into 30 even parts and, using your hands, roll them into little ball shapes.
  • 3 Place into a baking dish, cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes until cooked through.
  • 4 While the meatballs are cooking, make the sauce. First, heat the rapeseed oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and gently fry until soft, then add the garlic and cook for a further two to three minutes.
  • 5 Add the tomato purée, chopped cherry tomatoes and spices and stir well. Cook for five minutes over a low heat until the tomatoes are heated through.
  • 6 Spoon the sauce over the meatballs, sprinkle with the basil leaves and add a light drizzle of olive oil.
  • 7 Serve with warm couscous.

    • Five-minute chocolate peanut butter nice cream

    Aileen Cox Blundell's five-minute chocolate peanut butter nice cream.

    Serves two adults and two children

    Ice cream is one of our favourite treats, as are chocolate and peanut butter. So when you combine them it becomes the ultimate treat for mums and dads – I mean, kids!

    For the nice cream

    4 frozen bananas

    125ml (½ cup) milk of your choice

    70g (¼ cup) peanut butter

    1 tbsp cacao powder

    1 tsp vanilla extract

    To serve

    2 tbsp Notella (see below)

    4 tbsp finely crushed peanuts

  • 1 Place all of the ingredients for the nice cream into a blender and pulse until smooth and creamy. Spoon into serving bowls, then top with a little Notella and a sprinkling of nuts.

    • Notella: Easy chocolate spread

    When we go on holidays, one of my kids’ favourite things to get is churros with Nutella dip. It is very high in sugar so I have made my own version.

    600g (20oz) hazelnuts

    2 tbsp coconut oil

    2 tbsp cacao powder

    4 tbsp maple syrup

  • 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
  • 2 Place the nuts on a baking tray in the oven for 12 minutes, until heated through and the skins turn a darker brown.
  • 3 Place the nuts into a clean tea towel and rub together until the skins come off. Add the skinless nuts to a food processor and process on full speed. It should take about five to seven minutes for them to turn into a smooth, oily hazelnut butter. Once really oily, turn the processor on full again and add the coconut oil and cacao powder. Blend until smooth and chocolatey.
  • 4 Use a spatula to stir in the maple syrup until combined – don’t use the processor as it will make the mixture crumbly once the maple syrup is added.
  • 5 Pour the spread into a jar and leave in the fridge to set. Keeps in the fridge for a week – if you hide it well from your little ones!

    • Read more

    Aileen Cox-Blundell: healthy lunchboxes

    Lunchbox recipes your kids will love with Aileen Cox Blundell