My sister in law is a wonderful mum and a fantastic cook. She recently passed this recipe on to me for my little one and its yummy. So here goes. Let me know what you think. I made a big batch and put some in the freezer. enjoy.

Enough for 3 or 4 toddler portions.
VEGETABLE RISOTTO
15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 red or yellow pepper, chopped
1 courgette, trimmed and finely sliced
85g risotto rice
350ml vegetable stock
handful of frozen peas

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and peppers and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
Add the courgette and continue cookin for a further 2 minutes.
Add the rice and stir over the heat for a minute or two until the grains have become translucent.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add a little extra liquid if necessary.
Add the peas and simmer for a further 5 minute until the rice and vegetables are tender.

Extra notes:
add crushed garlic with the onion.
add frozen sweetcorn along with the peas.
At the end, season and add a decent knob of butter and grated parmesan cheese.

Six months and counting……..

All getting very exciting now and not only am I nesting and itchy to get little one’s room prepared. I am also planning on stocking freezer with healthy nutritious meals which can be quickly reheated during the first few weeks of baby’s arrival.

But steady on we need to eat now…
Well since we last chatted I had the dreaded head cold, very sore throat, blocked nose and generally felt yeuch.

But my lovely one took good care of me. I felt pretty miserable and really wanted a lemsip as the headache and throat felt pretty bad. Of course I didn’t take lemsip, no medicine for me. Instead lovely one made me a Lemon & Manuka honey hot drink. I really wasn’t hopeful it would work as I felt so poorly but it did. It definitely helped the throat and cleared the head some what.
Important thing to put lemon and honey in first and then add the boiled water. We sieved it through but think the lemon pulp should be fine if you like it. Sniff sniff.

Some tasty recipes to prepare in advance, freeze and then reheat in the oven. I must admit I don’t own a microwave. Not sure - long term how long this will last. What with reheating little one’s meals at six months of age. But for now we are getting by…

This is one of my favourite alternative’s to Lasagne or the baked pasta dish. It’s a Gennaro Contaldo recipe from his beautiful book Passione. Not as time consuming as it sounds, I promise its worth it, yum„,

Baked Pasta Shells filled with Cheese.
For this recipe you will need Conchiglioni Rigati (pasta shells) Cook them al dente in boiling salted water and leave to cool.

Having made a simple tomato sauce using good tinned tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and basil. Combine 150g ricotta, 1 ball of mozzarella (diced) 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan some salt & pepper and mix well. Shape the mixture into 16 balls, wrap each in a basil leaf and stuff into cooled pasta shell.
Pour a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven proof dish and place the filled shells on top. Pour over the remaining sauce, sprinkle more parmesan and top with slices mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 35 mins at 200 degrees celsius.

I love all food but for the first time in my life (other than when I am sick) certain foods are not on my current menu. Hopefully its only temporary. 8 weeks pregnant I am conscious of my growing baby getting all the important nutrients and vitamins he or she needs to grow and develop.

Today I can barely drink water. Normal I know at this stage but I do work at a busy cheese counter……For dinner this evening its some freshly cut fruit and bed. Which leads me to think if for the moment I’m not getting on with food should I take some pre-natal supplements. Will telephone my G.P tomorrow. night, night.

Folic Acid as you may know is necessary prior to conception and if not then at least for the early stages of pregnancy. Lots of foods are now fortified with folic acid eg: pasta’s and breads. If you rely on foods to obtain folic acid from the best sources are green leafy veg, brown rice, wholemeal bread, milk and fish. Folic acid helps in the prevention of spina bifida and or other birth defects. Its best to consult your doctor on any questions in relation to supplements. Everyone is different.

Vitamin A which is found in foods such as liver is best avoided. Large quantities are known to cause birth defects. A synthetic form of Vitamin A is used in the acne medication Roaccutane. This has been found to be highly toxic to a developing baby. If you are considering pregnancy and on this drug you must consult your doctor and under no circumstances take it.

Iron deficiency is very common in pregnancy. When you have your visit to the hospital and you meet your mid wife you can discuss this with her. She may do a blood test. In the meantime the best food sources of Iron, other than meat are almonds, brazil nuts, pecans, pumpkin and seasme seeds and parsley. Iron absorption is best with vitamin C so having a glass of orange juice will help.

All in all your body will let you know if it needs help. Tiredness is very common in the early stages of pregnancy. Listen to your body. Take the rest, eat well in small amounts and drink lots of fluids.

foodBump is an idea I came up with when I was six weeks pregnant. Awaiting our first scan at 12 weeks and keeping our secret, I found it hard to find real advice on what I could and couldn’t eat. I’m a very excited expecting mum along with a very excited protective Dad to be. We love food but at this point in our pregnancy everything I eat or don’t eat worries us. 

We trawled the Internet and nightly read every pregnancy book that exists. The most frustrating thing would be the amount of conflicting information out there. None of the advice we  found was from people who liked to eat good food instead it was from the medical profession giving blanket advice that air on the side of caution.

And then there was the guilt……the guilt if what I ingest will harm my baby. And for nine months (actually more like ten) you are in a worked up state of what you can and cannot eat. or then you have concerned friends/family members/colleagues or just random passer by’s telling you about something else you should not eat. I quietly struggled with all this and decided I needed to do something that I felt was not been done. I started a food diary which in turn became foodBump

(usual disclaimer I applies: I am not a doctor, and if you are pregnant you should speak with yours before following any of my advice)

My hope for foodBump is to share some of my beautiful pregnancy story with you while generating chat and making us mindful of what we eat pregnant or not.

Enjoy…..