Well Easter has come and gone and I got away with it for another year.  

H still doesn’t like chocolate!  

He wanted a kinder surprise bunny and a big kinder surprise egg – its all about the toy inside obviously!  He was a happy boy but had no interest in the chocolate.  I totally ate his share and mine! 

The plan was to post this healthy homemade golden rough chocolate recipe before Easter but it didn’t happen. Never mind, here it is now and its a good one.

I was super surprised at just how good this chocolate was.  It’s vegan, sugar-free, dairy-free and taste so much like a golden rough I’ve called it that!   It’s made with coconut oil, cocoa (get the sugar-free stuff from the health food store), tahini, and toasted coconut – that’s it.  

Once melted, pour into a dish lined with baking paper and top with toasted coconut.  Keep it in the fridge or freezer as it will melt if left out on a hot day.  If using moulds add the coconut first and poor the chocolate over the top.

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• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened from the healthy food store – its a super food!)
• 1 tablespoon tahini (I used hulled in this recipe but use either)
• 3 tablespoons rice malt syrup (or your sweetener of choice)
• handful of coconut chips (preferably the unsweetened kind)

• Add the cocoanut chips to a dry frying pan and cook over medium heat until golden – watch them close as they will burn easily.
• Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan on low heat. Whisk in the cocoa, followed by the tahini, rice malt syrup. Poor into a baking paper lined dish and sprinkle with the toasted coconut. Freeze until set. Serve straight from the freezer or fridge.

My chocolate bar was about 1cm thick. Crimp the baking paper at one end so it doesn’t run to thinly.If pouring into moulds add the coconut first and then the chocolate mixture.

If it is a hot day the chocolate will melt if left out of the fridge too long.

This post has been a long time coming.  I usually have 3 or 4 recipes ready to go but I have had a number of flops recently and have become a little over it!

First there was my lemony asparagus pasta that I make often but turned to mush on this occasion.  Then I attempted a 3 ingredient healthy cookie – they were horrible.   Next a healthy toddler friendly hot chocolate.  It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. 

I thought I had broken my cooking curse with a delicious pumpkin and turmeric tahina number that tasted great but the photos were terrible.  You couldn’t quite tell if my chunks of pumpkin were in fact pumpkin or salmon – bazaar but true! I’m putting that one down to bad lighting. 

So I decided to make something so simple I couldn’t stuff it up.  No cooking required, healthy as can be and something that the kids will love.   Fruit skewers.  Use what ever fruit is in season and go ahead and sneak a few things between the fruit that your little one may like.  Think capsicum, carrot, tomatoes etc.  xx

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• strawberries
• blueberries
• yellow capsicum
• watermelon
• tomato
• mint
• coconut
• chia seeds

• Chop all the fruit into bite sized pieces and thread on to the skewers. Sprinkle with chia seeds and coconut. Serve.

I’ve listed what fruit I have used but use what ever takes your fancy or is in season. Break the sharp pointy end off before serving to your little person.

Good Old-Fashioned Aussie Rissoles 🇦🇺 A quick Google search tells me they’re actually of French origin — but regardless, most Aussie kids grew up eating them, and they’re almost always on the menu when I visit Mum. Her rissoles are simple, made with just a few basic ingredients, but they’re full of flavour. You can…

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Baked fish parcels make a fun weeknight meal.  Super easy to prepare and by cooking it in baking paper it is harder to over cook and dry out the fish.   

H was pretty excited to get a parcel for dinner. ‘oh that looks nice’  he said – he is my greatest fan…

If serving this to your kids in the bag, poke a hole in the back of the bag to let the steam out before serving – it’s vert hot! 

You can use any type of fish but be sure to adjust the cooking time.  My barramundi fillets where quite thick in the centre so if using a thin piece of fish, like snapper, cooking time could be as little as 10-12 minutes.

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• 2 x 200-300g Barramundi Fillets or a fish of your choosing
• 1 lemon; zest + slice lemon for serving
• 1 large tomatoes; sliced
• Chives or your choice of herb
• 2 teaspoons of butter
• Salt and pepper
• Parsley to serve

• Pre-heat oven to 200 C / 400 F. Cut off enough baking paper to completely wrap around the fish. Place fish on baking paper and pat dry. Season well and top with lemon zest and the sliced tomatoes, herbs and butter. Wrap the fish so it is sealed and bake for 20 minutes.
• Serve topped with parsley and a slice of lemon.

If using a thin piece of fish adjust cooking time accordingly
Be careful when opening the bags as the steam is very hot. My little guy likes to open the bag himself, so I cut a whole in the back for the steam to escape and cool before serving to him.

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• 1 1/4 cups rolled oats (see notes re: grinding oats before adding to mixture)
• 1/4 cup quinoa flakes
• 1 tbls chia seeds
• 1/3 cup raisins (or sultanas, currants, or any dried fruit)
• 2 ripe large bananas mashed (makes approximately 1 cup)
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

• Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F)
• Line a baking dish with grease proof paper
• Combine all ingredients and add to baking dish. Using the back of a spoon even out the mixture.
• Bake for 40 minutes or until golden. This produces a chewy bar in the centre. If you prefer a crunchy bar extend the cooking time

Depending on your child’s chewing ability add the dry oats to the blender or food processor before adding the the mixture for a finer consistencyTry adding spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger. Seeds & nuts would also be greatIf you don’t have the a little enough baking dish just keep the mixture up one end. It won’t run

Will keep in the fridge for a couple of day or suitable to freeze

Little Big H wearing:

T-shirt from Seed Heritage 

I promise it sounds more fancy than it truly is.  I’ve kept it very simple and have experimented a little by replacing the sugar with maple syrup (a wholefood).  For young babies you could leave out the sweetener all together and you have a simple baked custard.  

You can also substitute the cows milk for almond milk or coconut milk or even stir through some melted chocolate before cooking – yum!

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• 1 2/3 cup milk
• 2 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
• 1 vanilla bean , split lengthways and seeds scraped out (alternatively use vanilla bean paste)

• Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees C (320 degrees F)
• In a saucepan add the milk and vanilla bean (seeds and bean). Bring to the boil and turn off heat and allow to infuse for 15 minutes; discard bean
• Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and maple syrup. Now pour the hot milk slowly over the egg mixture while you continue to whisk
• Add mixture to 6 ramekins or small pots. Place pots in a baking dish and fill with hot water so it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins
• Bake for 35 minutes or until set. The centre should still wobble slightly
• Allow to cool slightly and refrigerate

I added a few raspberries to a couple of my pots before cooking

I’m sharing another H favourite with you today. Pappardelle bolognese with lot of hidden veggies.

The rich bolognese sauce will feed about 6 people or freeze what you don’t use for another time. I always have some in my freezer ready to go.

An important step when making this dish is to get a nice golden colour on your veggies before adding anything else. By doing this it adds a lot of flavour to your sauce.

Once your veggies have some colour, everything goes in and simmers away on the stove top for a couple of hours. You can of course eat it after about 30 minutes but leaving it a couple of hours will really develop the flavour.

Don’t want to freeze leftovers? Use leftover bolognese sauce the next day to make:

Individual shepard pot pies – top with sweet potato mash

Pie! – add a cup of frozen peas and top with puff pastry

Use bolognese to make nachos, tacos, or wrap it up in a burrito

Stuffed veggies like capsicums or tomatoes with bolognese

Add to your lasagna, ravioli or gnocchi

Bolognese on toast!

Print Pin Prep Time 10 minutes minutes Total Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large carrots
• 2 large zucchini
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic ,or use paste
• 1 large handful parsley ,chopped
• 1 cup red wine ,or use water
• 500 grams beef mince ,not super lean
• 700 ml tomato passata
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 large springs of thyme
• 2 strips lemon zest
• pappardelle and parmesan to serve

• Add oil to a large pot over high heat.Using a food processor, finely chop your carrots, zucchini, celery, and onion individually and add to the pot (alternatively grate or chop).  Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until you have some colour on your veggies.
• Once your veggies have some nice colour, add garlic and parsley and stir for one minute.  Add wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to lift up any baked on bits. Reduce by half.
• Add minced beef and cook until starting to brown. Add passata, tomato paste, bay leaves, thyme and 1 cup of water.  Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Add more water as required. 
• Add lemon zest 30 minutes before removing from the heat. 
• Serve with pappardelle and garnish with parmesan. Freeze any leftover for 3 months. 

If you don’t have a food processor, grate your veggies for them to be hidden from fussy children.  Otherwise finely chop. 

If you make my pappardelle Bolognese with lot of veggies, be sure to take a picture and upload to Instagram with the hashtag #littlebigh.  I’d love to see your creation. xx

Good Old-Fashioned Aussie Rissoles 🇦🇺

A quick Google search tells me they’re actually of French origin — but regardless, most Aussie kids grew up eating them, and they’re almost always on the menu when I visit Mum. Her rissoles are simple, made with just a few basic ingredients, but they’re full of flavour. You can easily make them your own by adding extra ingredients or spices if you like.

Now that I’m based in Florence and Mum’s a good 24-hour flight away, this was actually my first time making them myself. I know H loves them, and they’re perfect for batch cooking — I can freeze the extras for quick meals later on.

After I posted a pic on Instagram, I got loads of messages asking for the recipe — so here it is!

To make them: just mix the mince, grated carrot, egg, onion, herbs, sauce, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Shape into rissoles, coat them in flour, and cook in a medium pan until golden brown and cooked through — around 10 minutes. That’s it! Serve with gravy, mashed potatoes, and peas… or however you like.

Another of my mum’s recipes that feature on this blog are her salmon patties, another simple recipe that uses tin salmon and potato. I am yet to find tinned red salmon here in Italy so I haven’t made them recently but I’m sure cooked fresh salmon would also work.

Speaking of Italy I haven’t posted here in so long as we have been making the most of the summer vacation. We have been to some beautiful places in this most beautiful country. I have shared just a few favourites below.

Print Pin Prep Time 10 minutes minutes Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

• 500 grams beef mince (not too lean)
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 large carrot grated
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp dried mixed herbs (I also added fresh herbs but mum uses dried herbs only)
• 1 tbsp smokey bbq sauce (or you could use Worcestershire sauce, or even tomato)
• plain flour to coat the rissoles
• oil for frying

• Add all ingredietnts to a large bowl (excluding the flour) and combine – your hands work best. Form into balls (whatever size you prefer) and then flatten a little with your hands.
• Coat rissoles in flour. Add enough oil to a frying pan to coat the surface, cook over medium heat until cooked through. About 10 minutes.

Fattoria Di Maiano is only a short taxi ride from the city centre of Florence. There are beautiful grounds and a botanical garden, kids can feed the animals and there is a hillside full of olive trees where you can sit and have a picnic. There are also apartments if you wish to the stay.

The above pictures are from a wonderful few days in Cinque Terre. We stayed in Vernazza which is the prettiest and most perfect of the 5 villages for children. The last pic is of Monterosso and we hiked from Vernazza on ‘The Azure Trail’ to reach it. It is a 2 hour hike (3.5 km) around the mountain and it is well worth doing. The views are spectacular.

Another must see when you are in Tuscany is Sentierelsa in the Colle di Val d’Elsa area. The trail along the river is approx 4 km and it’s a very easy walk. The waterfalls and swimming spots feel like something from a fairy tail. It is one of the most stunning swimming spot I have seen. To reach the trail you will need a car and it is a 45 minute drive from the centre of Florence.

If you make my mum’s rissoles, be sure to take a picture and upload to Instagram with the hashtag #littlebigh.  I’d love to see your creation. xx

Salads and toddlers aren’t two words that generally go well together!  But, we love salads, and they are one of H’s favourite things to eat.  The trick is to add ingredients that they love, and then sneak in the rest.   This warm lentil, potato and corn salad has all of H’s favourite things.  I have snuck in…

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BRIGHTON BEACH, MELBOURNE

Little Big H wearing:

T-Shirt: Indie Kids, Chino Pants: Country Road, Military Hat: Eeni Meeni Mini Moh