Energy balls, bliss balls, apricot balls, whatever you want to call them, are delicious little things that are perfect for lunch boxes and a quick snack.

My energy balls contain hemp seeds which have a rich nutrition profile with high levels of antioxidants, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins.  They also contain oats, chia seeds, unsweetened coconut, dried apricots and coconut oil.

Because these energy balls contain dried fruit they are high in natural sugars, so treat these like any treat and serve them occasionally.

My hemp seeds and apricot energy balls are nut free so I can include them in H’s lunch (it’s a nut free school). You could however add nuts in place of the oats if you wish.  The recipe is flexible. If you don’t have all the ingredients try adding something else.

• 1 cup dried apricot
• 1/2 cup traditional oats
• 1/4 cup desiccated coconut ,unsweetened
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil ,melted

1. Add all ingredients to a food processor.  Process until the mixture resembles a fine crumb.  

   Press together with your hands to see it will stick together once rolled.  

   If its too dry add a little extra coconut oil. 1 teaspoon at a time. 

2. Roll into 1 tablespoon sized balls and coat in extra coconut, hemp seeds or chia seeds.  

Best kept in the freezer.

Looking for other energy ball inspiration?  Try the recipes below 🙂

Berry Bliss Balls – also nut free         Raw Halva Truffles

Bliss Balls with dates, cashews, chia , cocoa         Macadamia Bonbons with chocolate toffee

If you make my hemp seed and apricot energy balls, be sure to take a picture and upload to Instagram with the hashtag #littlebigh.  I’d love to see your creation. xx

This recipe makes a large batch so you can freeze what’s left.  They defrost really well and are perfect for unexpected visitors or as a starter or light lunch.  The lamb filling has lots of spices along with mint and crumbly feta – really delicious.  I served it with a little golden kiwi fruit salsa (golden kiwi fruit, mint, drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper).

The little dude thought they were pretty good, but he likes everything I make – bless him…

Enjoy xx

• 4 sheets puff pasty
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 onion; diced
• 1 clove garlic; minced
• 500 grams lamb mince
• 2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 cup stock (or water)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup mint; roughly chopped
• 200 grams crumbly feta;
• Egg white from 1 egg and a little water; as a wash for the pastry.

1. Add oil to a frying pan and sauté the onion and garlic until tender. Add the coriander, turmeric and cumin and stir for a minutes or so. Lower heat to medium-high and cook the mince, add the stock and stir through. Once cooked turn off the heat and stir through the mint and feta.
2. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Cut the pasty into 9 squares. Hold the pasty square in your hand and add 2 teaspoons of the filling. Add a little water to the edges of the pastry and fold the corners together so you have a triangle. Using a folk, crimp the edge well. Repeat until all the pasty is used.
3. Add to a baking tray and brush with the egg white and water wash. Cook for 10 minutes or until the pastry is lovely and golden.

Suitable to freeze. If you plan on freezing some I would recommend cooking them until barely golden. When ready to use, take out of the freezer and place in the oven and cook until heated through and golden brown.

It has been quite some time since I’ve posted a true baby food recipe, so I thought I would post this old favourite.  It is a recipe that I grew up on and still love, although we always had it with sugar, and lots of it.  

It is amazing how things change when you have children and start thinking about nutrition, and how harmful sugar is for us.  Harry is very much anti anything sweet, which is a blessing.  He has never had food sweetened with sugar until quite recently, and even then it is only ever a taste of a piece of cake or a taste of my dessert.  

When I do make something that I know H will be eating, and that requires sweetening, I try to use whole foods such as mashed banana or cooked apples, dates, or otherwise maple syrup and honey.  He has never eaten a lolly or chocolate and it’s not because I’m keeping them from him, he’s just not interested.  He never had sweetened food as a baby or toddler, and has never developed a taste for it…

My mum often has jars of lollies on the table and H will go for them (they are pretty tempting for kids – mostly the bright colours and interesting shapes) but he will only try to feed them to me. He does give the odd one a little lick, but turns his nose up every time.  

I mistakenly bought flavoured yoghurt the other day and H wouldn’t touch it.  He has only ever had sugar-free natural yoghurt, and he could smell something was wrong before he even tasted it – he stuck his little tongue out, just a fraction, and had the teeny tiniest little bit, put the spoon down and pushed his bowl away.  

Basically what I’m trying to get at is, you don’t miss what you haven’t had and haven’t developed a taste for.  I know in years to come it may be a different story but for now I will keep the sugar to a minimum…

• 500 ml (2 cups) milk
• 1/4 cup of brown rice (you could also use white but brown is more nutritious)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or you could use extract)
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• Honey or maple syrup to drizzle – suitable for babies 12 months plus

1. Combine milk, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon stick and rice in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid; lower temperature and simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half. (brown rice will take quite a bit longer than white rice).
2. It is ready when most of the liquid has been absorbed, keeping in mind it will thicken up quite a lot once cool. Serve warm or cold on it own, or drizzle with honey and top with fresh fruit

To sweeten naturally try adding a mashed banana once cooked and cooled
For little babies, add to a blender and puree until smooth. Try adding a date when pureeing for another flavour with added natural sweetener

Black sticky rice with caramelised coconut and mango is our favourite dessert, but I hear it is most often eaten at breakfast in Thailand.

I could definitely get on board with that!

On our recent visit to Thailand, H and I ate this everyday – sometimes twice a day!  It’s the perfect balance of sweet and salty and it’s so easy to make at home.

I have tried to make healthier versions in the past using maple syrup and sugar-free sweeteners but it’s just not the same, so I have stuck to tradition and used palm sugar.

To make you simply cook your rice on the stove in water and coconut cream, once cooked add extra coconut cream and palm sugar and you are done!  The salty coconut cream balances the sweetness of the rice and the caramelised coconut – so good.

• 1 cup black sticky rice (black glutinous rice)
• 400 ml can coconut cream
• 180 grams palm sugar ,grated
• 1 cup shredded coconut or coconut flakes
• 1 mango ,sliced to serve

1. Rinse the black rice well and add to a large saucepan with 2 1/2 cups of water, 1/2 a cup of coconut cream and 1/4 tsp salt. 

   Bring to the boil, cover, lower heat to a simmer for 45 minutes.  Stirring often ensure it doesn’t stick.

2. Once tender, remove from the heat, add another 1/2 cup of coconut cream and half the palm sugar. Set aside. 

1. Add the remaining can of coconut cream to a small saucepan with a 1/4 tsp salt and warm gently. Set aside.

1. Add the remaining palm sugar to a saucepan with 3 tablespoons water and mix until the sugar has dissolved and bring to the boil. 

   Add coconut and stir until coated and the liquid has mostly absorbed. Set aside. 

1. Add black sticky rice to small bowls and top with salty coconut cream, caramelised coconut and sliced mango

Soaking the rice the night before or for a few hours before will reduce the cooking time. 

The black sticky rice also freezes well if you would like to double the recipe. 

Berry bliss balls are a handy little snack to have in the freezer.  They are raw and made with all good things: berries, coconut, oats, chia seeds and couple of dates for sweetness – that’s it!

 They require no cooking, just pulse in a food processor and roll into balls – get the kids to help…

Looking for other bliss ball recipes? Try these: macadamia bonbons, raw halva truffles, bliss balls with a cocoa coating

• 3/4 cup frozen mixed berries,
• 3/4 cup desiccated coconut
• 3/4 cup traditional oats
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 dates

1. Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is well combined.  

2. Roll tablespoon sized portions of the mixture in your hands.  Store in the freezer.

I allowed my berries to sit on the bench for 5 minutes only.  You want them still partially frozen or the mixture will turn to mush.  

If the mixture is too dry add a teaspoon of either, coconut oil, honey/maple or water until you can form a ball.

These bliss balls are not super sweet.  Add extra dates or honey/maple if you prefer. 

If you make my berry bliss balls, be sure to take a picture and upload to Instagram with the hashtag #littlebigh so I can check out your creation. xx

Print

• 200 g chicken breast or thigh cut into bite-sized pieces (or chop extra fine for baby)
• 2 teaspoons sake (optional)
• 2 teaspoons Japanese soy sauce (salt reduced)
• 1 leek , finely sliced
• 1 carrot , sliced or finely chopped for baby
• A handful of spinach , finely chopped
• A handful of arame – Japanese sea vegetable (you could substitute with a tablespoon of dashi granules if you are unable to find arame. If using dashi add to custard mixture below)

For the Custard

• 2 1/2 cups (625ml) water
• 1 tablespoon Japanese Soy Sauce
• 4 eggs

1. Place chicken pieces in 4 heatproof bowls. Combine sake and soy and divide between each bowl
2. Divide the vegetables between the 4 bowls

To make the custard

1. Combine eggs, water and soy in a jug, pour custard into the 4 bowls
2. (if using dash granules dissolve in a little boiling water and add the custard mixture, strain equal amounts into the 4 bowls)
3. Cover bowls with foil, place then in a steamer and cook on high for 30 minutes

Depending on your bowl size you may want 6 bowls to allow the chicken and vegetables to come only half way up the bowl – this will allows enough of the custard mixture in each bowl.

Adapted from The essential asian cookbook

Print

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon pandan paste
• *optional – icing sugar to resemble snow – sprinkled on top

1. Pre-heat oven to 100 degrees C (210 degrees F). Add the egg whites to a clean dry bowl. Whisk until soft peaks have formed. Slowly add the caster sugar and continue whisking for about 10 minutes or until the meringue looks super glossy and is no longer gritty from the sugar. Add vinegar and whisk to combine. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the pandan paste and fold through. You don’t want it too green!
2. Add a large star tip to your pipping bag. To create a swirl in the meringue, like you can in my pictures. Add a drop or two of the pandan paste to the inside of your pipping bag and then add the meringue.
3. Line a baking tray with baking paper. I pipped a circle and then a blob of meringue on top. To create a tree like shape I then pipped around the blob in an upward motion to create a tree like shape.
4. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes for the meringue to be crispy on the outside and slightly chewy/marshmallow on the inside. If you like your meringue to be completely set and crispy you will need to bake them for an extra 30min to an hour. Allow to cool completely
5. Sprinkle lightly with icing sugar and serve

Makes 10 – 12 depending on how big you make them. I made mine about 6 cm (2 1/2 inches) wide.Make up to two days ahead and store in an airtight container.

The gold flecks you see on my trees are little edible stars. Used for decorating cupcakes.

Print

• 1.8 kg free-range chicken
• 2 tablespoons sage; finely chopped
• 1 lemon; halved
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 50 grams butter; softened + 10-20 grams extra to rub on flesh
• salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Using your fingers, separate the skin from the breast so you have a pocket to add your herb butter.
2. Combine the 50 grams of butter with the chopped sage place the entire amount under the skin. Use you hands to spread it around fairly evenly. Place the chopped lemon inside the chicken and tie the legs together with string. Rub the extra softened butter on the skin and sprinkle generously with salt.
3. Place into a large baking dish and add the chicken stock to the dish. Cook for an hour and a half.
4. Allow to rest for 15 minutes or so and serve

I served the chicken with roasted sweet potato, carrots, parsnips and eggplants. Toss in olive oil and roast when there is about 40 minutes remaining.

• 1 bunch of baby coloured carrots
• 2 tablespoons miso paste
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Wash and peel the carrots and place on the baking tray
3. Whisk together the miso, maple syrup, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and oil.
4. Coat the carrots well and cook for 30 to 40 minutes – turning periodically until tender and caramelised

Use any veggies you have handy. Cut into chunks and toss in the mixture and bake as above.

Adapted from Food 52

• 1 salmon fillet – skin off & bones removed (approximately 150 g)
• 1 large tomato
• 1 carrot
• 3 stalks rainbow chard
• parsley
• 1 lemon
• 4 potatoes
• 2 tbls creme fraise
• butter/milk
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F)
2. Peel and chop the potatoes; cook on the stove top in boiling water until tender. Once cooked, mash or put through a potato ricer and add a tablespoon or two of butter and a splash of milk. Mix & set aside.
3. Blanch the rainbow chard in boiling water and finely chop along with the tomato, parsley and salmon. Grate the carrot and combine all ingredients in a bowl. Add the juice of half a lemon along with the zest, the creme fraise & the nutmeg.
4. Add filling to 6 ramekins and top with the potato prepared earlier
5. Cook for 40 minutes, serve warm

Makes approximately 6, 100ml individual pies
Suitable to freeze