This is the most delicious banana bread in the universe. You will never taste a yummier banana bread. I promise.

Here is the recipe:

CHUNKY MONKEY BANANA BREAD

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup butter
• 150 ml milk
• 450 ml flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 bananas
• 200 ml walnuts
• 200 ml chocolate chunks

Going organic is really important to me. First and foremost it’s a health thing for me. Babies today are born with so many toxins already in their bodies and we don’t even know what the effects of some of them will be down the line. But of course it’s also about the environment and about social responsibility – doing our part to ensure that workers aren’t exposed to dangerous chemicals in the production of the food we eat.

When Alec first started on solids and was having homemade purées etc, I used to buy organic for him, but often chose locally-produced for Sumit and me, even if it wasn’t organic. But as we transitioned into all eating the same thing, I now buy organic whenever it is available and will even choose not to buy a particular ingredient if I can’t find it organic.

It’s not always easy for me to find everything organic here in Stockholm, but I feel like every time I go shopping, there are more and more products turning up in organic versions. And we have a great weekly delivery of organic fruit and veg.

The Dirty Dozen is a list of the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables we eat. So – if you have a limited selection or budget and can’t do all organic – here are the 12 foods to splurge on organic (or just avoid I guess):

• Peaches
• Apples
• Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Pears
• Grapes
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Potatoes

And here are the least contaminated fruits and vegetables:

• Onions
• Avocado
• Corn
• Pineapples
• Mango
• Asparagus
• Peas
• Kiwi
• Bananas
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Papaya

Source: Organic.Org

This weekend we had a small get-together for some friends to celebrate my husband’s birthday. It was a laid-back after work drink with some nibbles at our place.

I served up a simple (make-ahead) menu made up of yummy marinated olives, an aged cheese tart with a couple of fresh salads, and mini pumpkin cupcakes with cheese cream frosting and these little brownies for dessert.

This brownie is loosely based on the Baked brownie but I made it my own. Since I was serving these as mini brownies, I knew I could make them really rich, but they weren’t too heavy to stop us having more than one each! In short, they were a hit!

Here is my recipe:

THE BEST TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE EVER

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.
3. Put the chocolate, butter and espresso powder in a sauce pan and melt together over low heat, stirring continuously. Turn off the heat and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.
4. Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter.
5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.
6. Add the walnuts, white chocolate and milk chocolate.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve.

It’s the season for pumpkin cupcakes!

These are so so delicious. You will not be able to get enough! I’ve made them as cupcakes, mini cupcakes and even as a cake (bake in a tin, divide into two or three layers, use tons of frosting).

Click past the break for the recipe and get baking!

It’s a Martha Stewart recipe, but I’ve added cardamom. The frosting is heavenly.

SPICY PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Frittatas are a dish that I always seem to forget about, but every time I make one, I wonder why it doesn’t happen more often. Essentially an oven-baked omelet, a frittata is a fabulous way to make leftovers delicious. Here is our frittata recipe:

FRITTATA

• 6 eggs
• herbs, 1 tsp chopped, we used thyme
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Vegetables – we used cooked potatoes and red peppers
• 1/3 cup grated or crumbled cheese (we used feta cheese in larger crumbles and then topped with an aged cheese)

1. Preheat oven to 175/350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, herbs, salt, pepper and 1 Tbsp water.
3. In a large oven-proof frying pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent. Add vegetables and sauté for a couple of minutes until warm through. Shake pan to spread the veggies evenly around the pan. Remove pan from heat, pour over egg mixtures, and sprinkle cheese on top.
4. Bake until center is set and poked and edges are browned and pulling away from pan sides, around 10-15 minutes. Let stand for a few minutes before serving. Cut into wedges or squares.

There’s Mothers Day, Fathers Day, and – in Sweden – there is The Cinnamon Bun’s Day.

I’m not joking. All over Sweden today, people will be eating cinnamon buns. I felt like I had to get into it this year so I baked up a batch of buns yesterday. Our freezer is full of lactation cookies, so I’m going to send these off to my husband’s office and Little A’s nursery school teachers. Here is the recipe:

SWEDISH CINNAMON BUNS
Makes about 40 buns

• 150 g butter
• 5 decilitres milk
• 50 g fresh yeast
• 1 decilitre sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp cardamom (optional)
• 850 g (about 1.4 litres) all purpose flour

Filling:

• 100 g butter, softened
• 1 decilitre sugar
• 2 tbsp cinnamon

For decoration:

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Pearl sugar (get it at IKEA)

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the milk and heat until lukewarm.
2. 2. Crumble the yeast into a large bowl. Pour the butter and milk mixture over the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add flour, sugar, salt and cardamom.
3. Knead into a smooth dough.
4. Cover bowl and leave to rise for about 30 minutes.
5. Knead the dough until shiny and elastic. Divide into two parts and roll each half into a giant rectangle.
6. Stir together the ingredients for the filling and spread on the dough. Roll each rectangle into a roll. Cut each roll into about 10 pieces and put in paper liners or on a baking sheet. Leave these to rise under a cloth for another around 30 minutes.
7. Brush each bun with the egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes or until golden brown at 225 degrees C.

I don’t know how you American mums do it every single day!?

Last week (on the rainiest day ever) Alec had his very first nursery school outing. They went to our local park and pretty much spent most of the morning indoors since it was raining like crazy.

We were told to dress them for the weather and send along a packed lunch. I panicked. What do you send along that a 2o-month old can manage to eat on his own that will also be fresh and inviting after a few hours in a lunchbox?

They already have a fruit snack in the morning and a sandwich snack in the afternoon, so I didn’t want to give Little A another sandwich in his lunch. And I was concerned about sending along cookies or similar assuming that he wouldn’t be eating much else if I did.

After a little research and some changes, I came up with this recipe for completely sugar-free, really healthy, packed with fresh fruit, muffins. These are not really sweet so they are the perfect toddler snack or even breakfast (I have been having them for breakfast). And they are nice and moist so would also be perfect for babies. You can vary the fruit and/or use frozen berries etc if you like.

 Toddler-Friendly Fruit Muffins

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2-3 apples, grated
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/8 cup prune juice (or other fruit juice)
• 1/2 cooked oat meal
• 1 egg
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 175/370 degrees and grease a muffin tray (or use paper muffin cups)
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Whisk together bananas, apple, butter, prune juice, oat meal and egg. Add dry ingredients and mix.
4. Add blueberries.
5. Spoon batter into muffin tray and bake for around 30 minutes or until golden. Makes a dozen yummy muffins!

Here is another super easy but very lovely pasta dish that you might even be able to throw together with things you have around the kitchen already. Click past the break for the recipe.

EASY LEMON PASTA

• 300 gr Pasta – spaghetti, fettucini or tagliatelle (we use tagliatelle)
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 4 table spoons olive oil
• 250 ml grated parmesan cheese
• A bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Sea salt and black pepper

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions
2. Mix garlic, lemon zest and juice and olive oil in a serving bowl
3. Drain the pasta well and add to lemon mixture. Add cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix and serve immediately.

Makes 4 portions

Even though it’s not actually that long ago that I finished nursing Little A (just eightish months ago), I was wondering if it would be a similar experience nursing this time around, or if it would be different – maybe even harder? So I was happy to find that it really is just like riding a bike.

Baby L was just as quick to latch on and get into as Little A was and I was happy to find it was less painful for those first couple of weeks than it was last time. Luckily, both of my babies have been great nursers, since they both had a lot of weight to gain in their first days, weeks and months. Alec because he lost a ton of weight in his first days, and Louis because he was born teeny tiny.

Producing enough milk is something that I think all mothers think about, especially in the beginning. And I was determined to be more conscious of my production this time around, knowing that it would be harder to think of myself with two little ones around. I would also like to be able to build up a better freezer stash of pumped milk to last through weaning this time. For me, this simply means making sure I am getting enough nutritious food to eat and that I am staying really really hydrated. Also, I am eating lactation cookies like it’s my job.

Lactation cookies are built on the concept of “galactogogues” – substances that promote lactation by increasing milk supply. I think they work. Here is my recipe for lactation cookies. Have a couple with a glass of milk and enjoy!

LACTATION COOKIES

• 6 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoons flaxseed meal (Also known as Linseed meal) – found it at Whole Foods
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 tablespoons of brewers yeast – Whole Foods
• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix flax seed and water and let stand for 5ish minutes
3. Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs, vanilla and flax/water mixture.
4. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, brewers yeast and cinnamon and add it to the rest.
5. Stir in chocolate and oats
6. Spoon onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 mins, just until golden brown. They’ll firm up once they are cool. (Makes 4-6 dozen depending on how big you make them)

Risotto is easy and toddler-friendly food. Alec has never been a huge rice fan, but he likes this risotto and so do we. Because green makes us happy!

Yes, you have to stay close by a risotto, but this one shouldn’t take more than around 20-30 minutes to pull together. Here is the recipe:

Green Makes Us Happy Risotto

• 2-3 Cups Vegetable Broth
• Olive Oil (a good swig, around a table spoon)
• Butter (around a table spoon)
• 1-2 Shallots, finely chopped
• 1 Clove Garlic, finely chopped
• A few inches of celery, finely chopped if you have it
• Around 1 cup of Avorio (short grain risotto) rice
• 1 Zucchini, either shredded on a grater, or chopped into slivers
• 1 Large Broccoli, cut into pieces
• Around 1 cup Green Peas
• A Big Bunch of Basil, chopped
• 1 Square of Feta Cheese (I think they are usually around 200 grams)

1. Keep broth warm in a sauce pan.
2. Sauté shallots, garlic, and celery in butter and olive oil over medium heat for a couple of minutes before adding rice. Sauté everything until transparent but don’t let it brown.
3. Add a ladle of broth and stir. Keep the risotto add low to medium heat. Once all the broth has been taken up by the rice, add another ladle. Repeat until the rice is as soft as you want it. I like it a little al dente, but creamy. Don’t let it get overcooked and porridgy.
4. While you’re ladling and stirring, give the zucchini, broccoli and peas a quick sauté in some olive oil. You want them to soften but don’t let them cook too long or all the lovely green will fade.
5. Mix rice, veggies, basil and feta together and serve!

This is not the best recipe to make a ton of because it definitely doesn’t freeze and it is definitely best enjoyed right away. But it is super yummy and a great way to get some greens into your kids!

For more yummy and easy family-friendly vegetarian cooking ideas, see Mini Veg here.