With the nights suddenly darker as daylight savings has come to an end and this being my first ‘What Alexander Ate’ share, I’ve only managed to capture 4 of his meals this week (my aim was 5!), but I’m pretty proud of this for a start.
The goal is to share a collection of his meals every Thursday night, but I wanted to share this now for a chance to get some feedback (email me at natalie@nataliezee.com with any thoughts, I always appreciate it!
A little disclaimer to start off too - I realise Alexander loves a wider variety of food than many kids his age, but rest assured, he is still 2 (and 8 months! How did that happen?), so he rarely eats everything on his plate and he, like many of his friends, randomly decides on the regular that something (or everything) I’ve served him is revolting that day.
These meals are all versions of what I’ve cooked for hubby and I that night, nothing is made specially for Alexander - though I do occasionally tweak his plate with easy options. You’ll see some details on that below.
Finally (and this part is REALLY REALLY important, to me), please know that sometimes he eats takeaway pizza, or chips, or has a peanut butter sandwich for lunch or way too much ice cream. Just like every other parent I am often short of time, too, and like with everything on the internet this really is a highlights reel. If all you have time for is cornflakes I still think you’re fabulous (and frankly, I love cornflakes).
Now for the fun bit!
These are here to refer back to, save, screenshot or pin to your Pinterest Board. I’ve really enjoyed sharing these and again I’d love to hear what you think!
Alexander eats these scrambled eggs really regularly throughout the week.
MICROWAVE SCRAMBLED EGGS
- Pop a frozen spinach cube in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds or until just defrosted.
- Add a splash of milk and one egg. Whisk with a fork.
- Add a tiny knob of butter.
- Microwave for 45 seconds, take out and stir and pop it back in for 30 seconds before stirring again (depending on the power of your microwave you may need to chop it up a little at this point). Pop it back in for another 20 seconds if needed.
- Season, allow to cool slightly and serve.
(and fill the bowl immediately with boiling water so it’s not a nightmare to clean later!)
PANCAKES
- Microwave a spinach cube for 30 seconds.
- Mash half a ripe banana and an egg into the spinach.
- Add an egg, a splash of milk and as much wholemeal self raising flour as you need to make a pancake batter. Cook in a lightly buttered pan on both sides.
You could also use one of my Egg-Free Pancake recipes.
Find the Vanilla yoghurt Alexander love here.
FISH STEW
Really not as fancy as it sounds, and went roughly like this…
- Fry a diced onion in a little oilive oil
- Add a little sweet paprika (though smokey would also work, as would some cumin), stir for 30 seconds then add a can of crushed or chopped tomatoes.
- Add diced potatoes and frozen peas with a little water if needed to cover the potatoes 3/4 of the way up the sides. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender.
- Uncover and add fish (I used a piece of chopped flake here, but salmon or prawns would also be delicious), and cook until the fish is ready.
- Season to taste and serve with lemon (it’s delicious with chilli flakes for the big kids!)
We served it with tonnes of chopped parsley too, which is why Alexander has parsley on the side of his plate (he likes to eat what we eat, but we don’t like to run the risk of him hating parsley that day and it being all over his food).
SPAGHETTI AND PEA OMELETTE
This is THE best thing to do with leftover spaghetti (well it’s so good I often boil spaghetti for it), but it’s my Nonna’s thing, so FULL credit to my wonderful 92yo Nonna.
- Get cooked spaghetti and add some cooked peas into a bowl (or if cooking fresh, boil with frozen peas. You could also just add grated zucchini, spinach, or nothing!)
- Making sure the spaghetti is cooked, whisk an egg per person (so 3 people’s serve of spaghetti would need 3 eggs) and pour into the spaghetti. Mix well.
- Grate as much parmesan as your heart desires (I recommend being generous) and add to the bowl. Mix well and season - black pepper is delicious here, if your toddler is into it).
- Grease a medium frying pan and set to a medium heat. Pour the spaghetti mix in and fry until it lifts easil with a spatula and is golden on the bottom.
- To flip it, carefully place a plate over the top of the fry pan and turn it over so the top of the omelette is face down on the plate, then slide back into the fry pan.
- Once it’s golden on both sides, top with extra parmesan and enjoy!
And there we have it, my first round up of Alexander meals - I hope you loved it as much as I enjoyed sharing it and, soon, this will be a regular feature.
Thank you for reading,
Nat x