Breastmilk Sweet Buns

So I had some expressed milk that needed using up again; after my recent discovery of how easy it is to make bread rolls I thought I'd use up the milk by making some for my lo.

Same recipe except I used the milk instead of water and also added an egg, a large spoonful of honey (instead of sugar) and some chopped prunes and dates. Also I couldn't be bothered to leave it to rise twice so just shaped the rolls straight after kneading and then let them rise.

Fortunately they turned out really nice (better than the biscuits which went kinda hard and stodgy after a few days unfortunately) and, most importantly Isa liked them, yay! So now I have something yummy and healthy to give him for lunch at nursery the next few days =)

Morning Rolls!

I met up with a dear friend a few days ago whom I hadn't seen for a long time and she gave me a recipe book. In it was this recipe for morning rolls, and since we had run out of bread this morning I thought I'd have a go.

Unfortunately I had neither bread flour nor light brown sugar but decided to have a go with what I had - normal plain flour, soft dark brown sugar and a decent attempt at kneading and I got some surprisingly nice rolls!

They were so easy to make, all you do is add 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 of salt to a third of a packet of plain flour (500g) along with a 7g pack of yeast, mix in warm water until you get a soft sticky dough then get a good work out by some vigorous kneading for ten mins.

Leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours which you get whatever else done that you need (laundry, breastfeeding, lesson planning....) then, give another couple of minutes kneading, divide into small balls on an oiled tray.

Leave to sit in the oven for half an hour or so before turning it on to let them rise up again, then bake at 200C for 20mins (or till they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom and are slightly golden) and there you have it, warm freshly baked bread, delicious! And perfect for any time of day, breakfast, a snack, an accompaniment to lunch or dinner. Plus they make your house smell lovely!

I've been inspired now so hopefully will be trying out some more bread recipes soon, and these will definitely become a regular staple to our diet - fresh, cheap, delicious and I'll get nice toned arms hopefully!

Home Made Chocolate Mousse

So, I had a big tub of double cream to use up and short of pouring it on my cereal didn't really know what to do with it (my husband isn't a fan of cream and there's no way I could drink 600g myself before it went off!).

Then I remembered the chocolate mousse cake I made a while ago and after looking through various websites decided this would be the best way to use the cream. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the process as I was trying to get it done quickly (no time for pretty cakes with a 9 month old!) but I got some of the end result and I hope my description is clear to follow for anyone who wants to try it, it's really quite a simple recipe.

1. Whip 600ml of double cream and refrigerate. Keep a little aside in another bowl.

2. Whip 4 egg yolks until they go pale and form soft peaks

 

3. Put a large tablespoon of sugar (I used soft dark brown cos I love it), a large tablespoon of golden syrup and a tablespoon of water in a saucepan and heat until large bubbles form.

4. Add boiling sugar mixture carefully to eggs mixture and whip to mix.

5. Melt 150g of plain or milk (I used a mixture) chocolate and mix into egg-sugar mixture.

6. Add chocolate mixture to whipped cream and mix together.

7. Spoon into glasses, add whipped cream and chocolate powder/sprinkles/similar to decorate.

8. Refrigerate for a few hours, then enjoy!!

                            

   

As you can see in the picture I used rather large glasses as I didn't have any others! Next time I will probably use shot glasses or something of a similar size as it's rather rich, it would probably be good as an accompaniment rather than a desert by itself.

Breast Milk Baking for Baby....

Before anyone says 'euuww gross!!' I made these for my BABY! (hence the word 'baby' in the title!), not other members of my family, not my friends, not other people's babies, not the general public!

For those people who still think it's gross I'm guessing you think breastfeeding is also gross so I suggest you find another blog to read! This is intended for people who support breastfeeding (which should be the entire human race since we'd be extinct without it but that's another discussion!) and would like to hear about it's benefits!

One benefit that is perhaps not as obvious as it should be is that it can be used in cooking! So, since I had some left over milk and didn't want it to go to waste, plus I've recently started weaning my baby I decided to try out the recipe below:

Soft Banana and Spinach Cookies

• 2.5 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 0.75 cups soft dark brown sugar
• 0.25 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix together in one bowl

• 0.5 cups vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 0.75 cups breast milk
• 1 ripe banana mashed
• 2 tablespoons honey/maple syrup/date syrup

Mix together in another bowl, then boil:

• 3 balls frozen spinach

in a small pan, strain and ix it into the wet ingredients.  Then add the wet to the dry ingredients, mix together and use a spoon to put drops of mixture onto a baking tray. Bake at 180C until they start turning brown.

I decided to add spinach to make them more healthy! I boiled frozen spinach for a few minutes, strained it and stirred it in. You could also use fresh spinach, make sure it's soft and cut into small pieces you don't want anything that could pose a choking risk in there like a long leaf...

The original recipe didn't have it in, actually it didn't have breast milk in either but normal milk, but I didn't see why I needed to treat it any differently to normal milk, apart from the fact that it's sweet so you'd need less sugar. Also some people might not feel comfortable putting honey or date syrup (it's not recommended for babies under 1 due to the small risk of botulism) so you could put maple syrup instead, apparently this does not have a botulism risk as the method of collecting it includes boiling. However, some people also say maple syrup is not good for babies for a reason I'm not sure of, but then again refined sugar isn't either but you have to give them something!

Anyway, my baby liked them and he ate one and half, yay! Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the rest since I doubt he'll be able to finish the all my himself... I guess I'll have to help him eat them, they actually taste quite nice! You could make them for yourself and just put normal milk of course!

My Favourite Breakfast

1 cup porridge oats
1 cup full cream milk
1 cup water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon soft dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
Berries

Cook on a low heat for around 10-15 minutes, add the berries to the porridge and enjoy a tasty and healthy breakfast!

I love making this breakfast when I have time e.g. on the weekend, so thought I'd share it with you. It's quite straight forward, I have put ingredients for one serving - by cup I mean a small cup, however much porridge you can eat in one serving, the important thing is the milk:porridge:water ratio. This recipe yields quite a thick porridge so you may want to add more milk or water if you find it too thick. I use full fat milk (it's more healthy apparently despite the extra fat) but if you prefer skimmed milk you may want to use more milk and less water.

I keep frozen berries in my freezer, once cooked they work just as well as fresh berries. You could use them fresh though, perhaps add a few uncooked ones too. This is how I like it but you might also want to alter the amount of honey and sugar to your taste.

Enjoy! And check out this page to find out about the health benefits of porridge oats!