Louise Westerhout - Cook Eat Love Grow: Healthy meals for babies, children and the rest of the family

LOUISE WESTERHOUT

Acknowledgements and thanks

To my darling mum, Isabelle Wright, for her loving help, family stories and her scrabble expertise! To my beloved sister, Alison, for her enthusiasm, talent and generosity. Also to Helen Henn, Bev Dodd, Cecilia Barfield, Mariano, Ollie, Cheka, Tara Cumming and Cathy Patel, and Komati Foods for donating ingredients.

Published in 2012 by Struik Lifestyle (an imprint of Random House Struik (Pty) Ltd) Company Reg. No. 1966/003153/07
1st Floor, Wembley Square, Solan Road, Gardens, Cape Town 8001
PO Box 1144, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa

www.randomstruik.co.za

Copyright in published edition: Random House Struik (Pty) Ltd 2012
Copyright in text: Louise Westerhout 2012
Copyright in photographs 2012: Alison Wright; excluding pp 1, 20, 32, 44, 63, 66, 67, 75, 92, 97, 98, 101 (Louise Westerhout); pp 12, 18, 22, 34, 40, 91, 111 (Tom Cullberg)
Copyright in illustrations 2012: pp 16, 29, 33, 36, 48, 71, 83, 88, 108, 123 (Francis Cullberg); pp 56, 112 (Francesca Fitzgerald); p 90 (Tom Cullberg)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and the copyright holders.

Publisher: Linda de Villiers
Editor: Cecilia Barfield
Designer: Beverley Dodd
Photographer: Alison Wright
Illustrators: Francis Cullberg, Tom Cullberg, Francesca Fitzgerald, Oliver Hope
Proofreader and indexer: Bronwen Leak

ISBN 978-1-43170-023-3 (print)
ISBN 978-1-43230-016-6 (PDF)
ISBN 978-1-43230-054-8 (ePub)

I began writing this book in 2003 when my son Francis was two years old. The manuscript was left to languish for years, but in the meanwhile we were cooking, eating, loving and growing in our wonderful culture of food. Preparing food for my family and friends, and being in the kitchen are important sources of emotional, creative and spiritual nourishment for me. It seems there is never enough space at our kitchen table; the children need a surface to draw on, between the flowers and fruit bowls, and sometimes it feels like a game of musical chairs to seat everyone for meals. It gets noisy too. Cheka giggles all the way through her three helpings of food, while Francis forsakes his meal because he is so busy entertaining her.

It is a joy to bake after lunch: mixing and measuring with Francis, and even being stuck with the cleaning up. The anticipation on the faces of Francis and Ollie, his best mate, as they come in from the garden every few minutes to see if the cake is ready, the cheer that goes up across the house when the timer bell rings, the ritual of cutting hot slices for ourselves and distributing cake to Murray and Kulsum, and to Ollies dad next door.

I love waking up each school morning, and making a breakfast tray to take back to bed so that Francis and I can cuddle, eat and read right up to the last five minutes, when we leap up, dress and go. I love eating scrambled egg on toast with oozings of tomato sauce (our big weakness) from a plate on my lap, while watching DVDs of Star Wars or Planet Earth with Francis for the hundredth time after a long, busy day. I love making sushi and trying to keep up with the demand. And I love adorning trays of pizza with multicoloured and textured toppings. Sushi? Pizza? We will talk about those in the next book!

Here you will find my ideas for simple meals for babies of four months and older, with many ideas for the whole family as well. We are vegetarian, except for the occasional fish, and we avoid wheat and sugar, so the recipes here are wheat-free and sugar-free with loads of dairy-, egg- and gluten-free options too. If you are a meat-eater, most of the salads will complement any meat dish, e.g. the Mushroom and Polenta (. Make any amendments and additions you wish. Please feel free to make this book your own by scribbling notes and variations on these pages. My aim is to offer some new options and healthy combinations, using simple and inexpensive ingredients, which you will have at home. And I wrote it on the understanding that its not just babies who need fun with their food; we all want fun, delicious and healthy food, to inspire our growth physically, mentally and emotionally.

Happy cooking, eating, loving and growing!

USEFUL IMPLEMENTS

• scale (for weighing small quantities)
• measuring cups and spoons
• whisk (for making porridge)
• non-stick frying pan
• small, stainless-steel saucepan with a tight-fitting lid (for steaming and slow-cooking of your babys food)
• hand blender or food blender (for making pures)
• grater
• stainless-steel steamer
• water purifier
• freezer bags
• ice trays
• small plastic tray (for your baby to eat from)
• sturdy air-locked plastic containers for the fridge

CONVERSION CHARTS

Measurements

Oven Temperatures

BASIC INGREDIENTS

These are your must-haves; keep your kitchen stocked and you will never be stressed as everything you need for a wonderful meal is within reach. So do a lovely, big shop. Bringing your bounty home and packing it away will make you feel like a domestic god or goddess. Choose preferably organic or good-quality alternatives. Buying organic makes sense in many ways. Firstly, although prices of organic goods are usually slightly higher than non-organic, the nutritional value of most fresh produce is ten times higher. Furthermore, because there are no harmful pesticides in organic produce, preparation times are reduced as you dont need to scrub, peel, soak, etc. So even if you are not an environmentalist, I have given you my very selfish reasons why organic makes sense.

Storecupboard

• agave nectar
• almonds
• apricot kernel or grapeseed oil (cold pressed is best)
• chickpeas (canned)
• cocoa powder (raw)
• coconut milk
• dates (dried)
• dried fruit (unsulphured)
• honey (raw/unfiltered)
• lentils (red/green)
• maple syrup
• millet flakes
• molasses
• oats
• olive oil (extra-virgin)
• polenta (instant)
• rice (brown/basmati)
• raisins
• sesame seeds
• split peas
• sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• xylitol (natural sweetener)

When buying honey, look for the label raw, unheated or unfiltered. Pure really doesnt mean anything. Raw honey is rich in minerals, vitamins and proteins (in the form of pollen) and is an aid against digestive upsets, coughs, colds and nausea in children. It can be used to treat constipation and, contrary to the theory that honey contains botulism, raw honey may be used in the treatment of this bacteria. Furthermore, honey from your area will contain pollen that is beneficial in fighting off hay fever.