Rushed mornings
If you need to give your little one breakfast on the go, good ideas include: little sandwiches; a mini-muffin;
a tub of fruit chunks with squeezable yogurt on the side; toast fingers
with hummus; peanut butter or fruit purée; or even cereal in a plastic
bag with raisins and other dried fruits.
Apple-bran Muffins
These muffins are full of good things like raisins, apple, and bran flakes. They’re great for a breakfast on the go, but be sure to supervise your little ones when they are eating. For easier-to-hold mini-muffins, bake in a 24-cup mini-muffin tin for 12–15 minutes.
20 minutes
25–30 minutes
3 cups wheat bran flakes
1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup applesauce (homemade or from a jar)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
7 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
11/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt (optional)
1/2 cup raisins
1 tbsp demerara or turbinado sugar
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a small 12-cup muffin pan with paper cases.
Crush the bran flakes
into a large bowl. Add the milk and applesauce, stir well, and let soak
for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg, vanilla extract,
brown sugar, and oil.
Add the egg mixture
to the bran mixture and stir together. Sift in the flour, baking powder,
baking soda, 1 tsp of the cinnamon, and the salt, if using, adding any
residue from the sifter. Fold in, along with the raisins. Divide the
mixture among the paper cases (an ice cream scoop is good for this). The
cases will be almost full.
Mix together the
demerara sugar and remaining 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and sprinkle over
the muffins. Bake until risen and firm to the touch, 25–30 minutes. Cool
in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool
completely.
Store in an
airtight container for 2 days. Or, freeze in a freezer bag or container;
thaw at room temperature for 1–2 hours when needed.
Tender Chicken Fingers
Little chicken strips are better for small children to bite into than big pieces, and a marinade helps to tenderize the chicken, making it easy to chew. I find that puffed rice cereal is a very tasty coating.
20 minutes plus marinating
6–8 minutes
2 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into little-finger-size strips
3–4 tbsp sunflower or olive oil, for frying
Marinade
6 tbsp milk
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp paprika
Coating
Mix the marinade
ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken, cover, and let marinate in
the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Put the cereal, Parmesan,
and oregano in a food processor and process briefly into crumbs. Spread
the crumbs out on a large plate. Beat the egg in a bowl with the water.
Spread the flour out on another large plate. Remove the chicken from the
marinade, shaking off the excess. Coat in the flour, then dip in the
egg, and coat in the cereal crumbs. If not cooking immediately, arrange
on a baking sheet covered with wax paper.
Heat the oil in a large
frying pan over moderate heat. Cook the chicken fingers until they are
golden and cooked through, 3–4 minutes on each side. Drain on paper
towels. Check the temperature before serving.
To freeze (uncooked),
cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, 2–3
hours, then transfer to a freezer bag or container. Cook from frozen,
adding about 30 seconds per side extra cooking time.
