Ellas Kitchen - Ellas Kitchen : the cook book : 100 yummy recipes to inspire big and little cooks

My wife Alison and I became first-time parents when our daughter Ella was born. The new responsibility, the sense of fulfilment and the unlimited outpouring of love are Im sure felt by virtually every new parent. Parenthood really is life-changing. By the time our son Paddy was born, Id been an active father for three years and I loved it.

I experienced first-hand the challenges of weaning and the issues involved with introducing two babies (and then toddlers) to new foods. Ella, like the vast majority of little ones, was selective about what she wanted to try, often with no consistency from one day to the next. My solution was to do what I do best: to be silly and childlike. I thought up food-based games. I tried to encourage her to look at her food, and to touch it, smell it and even listen to it, before finally eating it. I invented stories and made up songs; I created imaginary friends and performed magic. I turned mealtimes into events that were messy, noisy and interactive. Ella laughed and I laughed. Best of all, Ella showed willingness to experiment with and enjoy her food. My efforts worked with Paddy, too.

Then, I had my lightbulb moment: healthy food could be and should be fun for young kids. This single notion was to be the inspiration for Ellas Kitchen. I gave up my job and set about creating a range of foods for babies, toddlers and young children. I wanted to develop a brand that would bring together three elements that often work against each other in prepared childrens food: healthiness, handiness and fun.

At Ellas we always try to look at life from a childs point of view with an open mind and with all our senses. My strong belief is that the more a young child is involved with his or her food whether thats choosing it, preparing it, playing with it or eating it independently the more likely he or she is to give it a try and to go on to enjoy it. With such a positive start, children are far more likely to grow up to have a healthy attitude not just towards mealtimes, but towards their whole diet and overall wellbeing, too.

Weve created this book to build further on the Ellas Kitchen ethos to help even the youngest of children develop healthy eating habits that will last their lifetime. I hope that it will give you and your family far more than recipes for fantastic childrens food. I hope that the shared experience of creating dishes together from making the shopping list and buying and preparing the ingredients to discovering how they feel and spotting their rainbow of colours will help to strengthen your bond. The ultimate expression of this bond is when you sit down to eat together with big smiles, enjoying the meal that you have created.

Our Ellas Kitchen family has had great fun experimenting as weve developed the ideas for this book. Now that it has found its way to your family kitchen, I hope that your mealtime experiences are equally as good!

Keep smiling

Paul, Ellas dad x
Follow me on Twitter: @Paul_Lindley