Tag: weight management

Healthy First Birthday Cake Recipe

| December 3, 2013

If you’re like me you will be very conscious about what you feed your baby and the effect it can have on their health. Good nutrition is key to your baby’s development. Feeding your child a natural wholefood diet will set them up for life by providing the best foundation possible for their health and learning.

Baby’s first birthday or Christmas is an incredibly exciting time. The temptation to introduce artificially sweet foods may be high but these could lead to your baby developing a taste for sugar and can cause tooth decay.

healthy first birthday cake

Feeding your baby natural foods will ensure that no artificial sweeteners, colours, preservatives or additives are consumed, all of which have adverse health effects. You can celebrate baby’s special day with a healthy cake that is naturally sweet and contains no added sugar.

The main ingredients of this healthy first birthday cake or Christmas celebration cake are bananas and apples which are both sweet and good for baby. The fruit in this cake makes it really moist so it’s perfect for babies to eat.

Bananas are rich in potassium, a mineral that is necessary for normal growth, metabolising carbohydrates and promoting mental alertness by helping to deliver oxygen to the brain. Apples are very nutritious and provide a good source of vitamins A and B1 as well as being rich in pectin, a soluble fibre that helps to slow glucose absorption.

healthy first birthday cake

Healthy First Birthday Cake Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 large bananas
  • 2 apples
  • 2 tablespoons pure apple juice
  • ¼ cup sunflower oil
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 2 cups brown self-raising flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease a cake tin or line with baking paper.

2. Wash and grate the apples (peel if desired).

3. Mash the banana in a bowl, add the grated apple with the apple juice and mix together.

4. Add the vegetable oil and stir into the mashed banana and apple.

5. Add the eggs and mix well.

6. Gently stir in the flour and cinnamon.

7. Bake at 180 C for 25 minutes or until a cake skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

8. Remove from the cake tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

This cake is delicious on its own or it can be served with chopped fresh berries and drizzled with natural yoghurt.

healthy first birthday cake

Discovering and eating new healthy foods is also a great way to engage your baby in sensory play. Baby will love breaking this soft cake up in their fingers. There’s no doubt it will be smashed and squeezed before being eaten, it’s all part of the fun!

Lydia Oliver, Nutritional Advisor

mummy and me magazineThis article was published in the December 2013 edition of Mummy and Me Magazine.

I offer one to one nutrition programmes for breastfeeding, post pregnancy weight loss, weaning advice, weight management and health. Contact me.

Mummy and Me Magazine: Nov 2013

| November 2, 2013

Alternative Advent Calendar

Christmas is almost upon us and I’m already thinking of some wonderful ideas to fill my daughter’s homemade advent calendar. This year I’ll be making a personalised advent calendar with a little treat for each day. And there won’t be any chocolate in sight.

I’ve bought some small striped paper candy bags that will be numbered 1 to 24. These will be strung up on some red wool in the style of bunting and inside each bag will be a little surprise to count down the days to Christmas.

Some ideas to include in an alternative advent calendar are recycled mini cards (cut outs of old cards we have) with a special message inside tied to some string so they can be hung on the Christmas tree as decorations and printed colouring pictures (there are plenty for free on the internet that you can print out).

Other little treats could include a bouncy ball, crayons, a mini tub of PlayDoh, hairclips, a cookie cutter, marbles, a Christmas decoration for the tree and a selection of dried fruit (which is sweet but without the refined sugar).

healthy flapjacks

If you want to include some delicious natural, sweet and chewy treats in some of the days of the advent calendar my Healthy Flapjacks are simple to make. They can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days so you can add a piece each morning before your child opens their advent calendar.

Healthy Flapjacks

Makes 15

Ingredients

  • 1 large Apple
  • 60 ml 100% Orange Juice
  • 1 cup Whole Rolled Oats
  • 1/3 cup Raisins and finely chopped Dried Apricots
  • 3 teaspoons Sesame Seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 C. Line a 22cm cake tin with baking paper.

2. Wash and core the apple. Cut into thin slices and place in a pan. Add the Orange Juice and bring to the boil.

3. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered and stirring occasionally until the apple is soft.

4. Puree the Apple and Orange juice with a hand-held mixer or in a food processor.

5. Stir in the Cinnamon, Oats, Sesame Seeds, Raisins and Dried Apricots into the Apple puree and mix well.

6. Tip the mixture into the tin and spread out evenly.

7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until firm and golden brown.

8. Let it cool before cutting into wedges.

Lydia Oliver, Nutritional Advisor

mummy and me magazineThis article was published in the November 2013 edition of Mummy and Me Magazine.

I offer one to one nutrition programmes for breastfeeding, post pregnancy weight loss, weaning advice, weight management and health. Contact me.

Pumpkin and Apple Muffins Recipe

| October 1, 2013

Pumpkins will be out in force over the coming weeks as Halloween approaches. My family loves eating pumpkin. We find this versatile orange fleshed vegetable delicious in soups, pasta, rice, salads, baking and as a sweet roasted vegetable.

pumpkin and apple muffins

My Pumpkin and Apple Muffins

Pumpkin is highly nutritious and contains the antioxidant beta-carotene and vitamin C.

The sweet flavour of pumpkin is perfect when weaning your baby and pumpkin puree can be given to babies from the age of 6 months. Pumpkin was one of the first vegetables my baby tried and it has remained a firm favourite.

Now that the weather is cooler you might like to try a quick and easy recipe for Pumpkin and Apple Muffins. In this recipe the pumpkin, apple and raisins have a natural sweetness and the cinnamon provides a hint of warm spice to the muffins.

Makes 12 muffins.

Pumpkin and Apple Muffins

  • 2 cups Self-Raising Flour
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 cup pureed Pumpkin (I used Butternut Squash)
  • 1 grated Apple
  • 1/3 cup Raisins

1. Peel and cut the pumpkin into cubes. Boil until the flesh is tender when pierced with a knife. Drain. Puree the pumpkin in a food processor, with a hand blender or by hand.

2. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin cases.

3. Wash and grate the apple.

4. Add the vegetable oil to the pureed pumpkin, grated apple and raisins. Stir through until just blended.

5. Add the eggs and mix well.

6. Gently stir in the cinnamon and flour.

7. Bake at 180 C for 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake skewer inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

8. Leave the muffins to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes.

These Pumpkin and Apple muffins are great for the family to enjoy at breakfast time or as a tasty snack during the day.

Mummy and Me MagazineLydia Oliver – Nutritional Advisor Only Best For Baby

This article was published in the October 2013 edition of Mummy and Me Magazine

I offer one to one nutrition programmes for breastfeeding, post pregnancy weight loss, weaning advice, weight management and health. Contact me.

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