What Mummy Makes

Butter-free Scones
With the rising cost of ingredients, butter being one of the hardest hit, these scones cost that little bit less to make by replacing the butter with oil, which not only makes these delicious treats cheaper, but also quicker and easier to make, and most helpful, makes them very easy to whip up dairy free by swapping to a plant based milk alternative.

Tag a friend who’s got allergies in the family who may find this recipe helpful ❤️

You can find the full more detailed recipe, including the flavour swaps and all these other fab recipes perfect for your Easter weekend in my newest book Budget Family Food, perfect for feeding your whole family from 6 months old on a budget 🙌🏼 Check my stories for the names of all the other recipes 🤍

Ingredients
160ml (3⁄4 cup) milk*
350g (22⁄3 cups) self-raising flour*
1 tsp baking powder*
3 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
1 egg

1) Add the flour and baking powder into a bowl, stir and make a well in the centre. Measure the oil and milk in a jug and add the egg. Whisk together well, then pour into the flour mixture, stirring straight away with a metal tablespoon till it comes together.

2) Tip the contents out onto a clean, floured work surface. Using your hands, gently pat and squeeze the dough together but don’t knead it. Flatten with yours hands to about 3cm thickness.

3) Use a round cutter, ideally 7cm in diameter, to cut out the scones and transfer to a lined baking tray.

4) Brush with egg and bake in the oven for 13–17 mins at 200° fan, depending on the size of your scones. Once done, the tops will be golden brown and well risen. Enjoy 💜

Nina’s dressed up as her mum for World Book Day 🥹 My heart 🥰

B A N A N A • E G G Y • B R E A D
Baby friendly banana french toast. The perfect super quick and easy way of adding extra goodness plus a little sweetness into a bread based breakfast. 🍌 🍞

Love this recipe? Like and tag a friend below who’ll love it too! 💕👇🏼l

Ingredients; (Serves two)
• 2 thick slices of bread (or GF alt)
• 1 large egg
• 1 medium banana
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)
• A teaspoon of unsalted butter and a teeny drizzle of oil for frying.
• Optional extra - half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon added to the whisked egg.

Method;
1) Put a large frying pan on to a medium heat, add your butter and a little drizzle of oil to stop the butter from burning.
2) In a wide shallow sided bowl, mash your banana with a fork.
3) Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.
4) Dip your bread into the banana mixture, and coat all over ensuring you can’t see any dry bread.
5) Fry the eggy bread for 2/3 minutes per side until all the egg is cooked and coloured nicely.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⏰Prep 3 minutes - Cook 4 minutes
👶🏼 This recipe is suitable from 6 months. Cut the eggy bread into finger strips if serving to babies under one. (Round pieces of frozen fruit should be defrosted before serving to little one)

Seeing in 2024 with my best pal 😍

I’m making my cornflake chicken and having a little coffee table buffet like we do every year, Nina’s very excited! How are you seeing in the new year?

Hope you have a wonderful night and wishing you all the best for 2024 🎉☺️

🎉 Competition Time 🎉
As a festive thank you for being such fab followers, and to celebrate my new book Budget Family Food open for preorder now - we’re giving away a £100 gift voucher to go towards your Christmas food shop!

To enter all you need to do is like this post, and tag 3 friends who would want to enter as well 🤍

For extra brownie points share this post to your stories too.

Entries close at midday on Friday the 15th and the winner announced shortly after on my stories.

Good luck 🤞🏼💜

Open to UK only, excluding Northern Ireland
This competition is not affiliated with Tesco.

Did you hear, I’ve a new book coming out 🎉

With the rising price of our food shop and energy prices, my DM’s have been inundated with requests to help with reducing the cost of cooking for your family.

So Budget Family Food was born ☺️ I really hope you find it helpful and take the stress out of feeding your family. It’s all about helping you cook delicious, cost -conscious meals suitable for the whole family from 6 months old. There’s even a huge weaning advice section at the beginning of the book to help with all those first tastes and take the confusion away from weaning baby and feeding your family.

Here’s a collection of my favourite recipes from the book, a recipe from each chapter - which would you pick to cook first?

• Breakfast chapter - Banana bread porridge loaf
• Air fryer chapter - Paprika fish tacos
• Fussy eaters chapter - Nostalgic tomato pasta
• What’s for dinner? Chapter - One pan chicken and pea bake
• Vegetarian chapter - Tofu, sesame and soy noodles
• Slow cooker chapter - Butter chicken pasta
• Something sweet chapter - Chocolate and ginger traybake

Preorder your copy of Budget Family Food through the link in my bio 🤍 Remember Amazon have their fab price guarantee so when the price is reduced between now and the publication date in February, you will only pay the cheapest price, even if the price is higher at the point of ordering 🙌🏼

“Can I get a photo with Mango next to your yummy food mum?” 🥹🥹

I just wanted to say a huge huge thank you for your support and excitement around the announcement of Budget Family Food last night. I was blown away with the response, and seeing the book jump to a number one best seller this morning was amazing. Thank you, thank you! 😘

This book is all about cost-conscience family cooking. With dedicated chapters for breakfasts, dinners, fussy eater specific meals, puddings, a slow cooker chapter, a whole section of vegetarian meat-free recipes and most excitingly an entire chapter on airfryer meals because it’s been so highly requested.

Head to the link in my bio to preorder your copy. And remember Amazon have a preorder price guarantee, so if you order now you’ll only pay the lowest price advertised before release guaranteeing you won’t miss any deals 🙌🏼

Do you have any questions about the book? Let me answer them below ☺️ Share this post with a pal who might like the sound of Budget Family Food 🤍🤍

📣 ANNOUNCEMENT 📣
Ahh I’ve been waiting for what feels like forever to share this exciting news with you!

I’m so nervous, but incredibly excited to share that…
My brand new book BUDGET FAMILY FOOD, out this coming February, is now available to preorder - head to the link in my bio to grab your copy! 🎉

🍴 Low cost, budget conscious cooking for all the family!

Tag a friend who’ll want to see this 🤍🤍

🥦 Broccoli Mac & Cheese
So quick to whip up in a hurry, and super cheap to make too 🙌🏼 You can eat as is, or add the whole lot to an oven dish, top with a touch more cheese and/ or breadcrumbs and bake in a hot oven till the top is crispy and bubbling 🤤🤤

Tag a friend who’s always on the look out for quick pasta recipes to feed the gang 🤍🤍

Ingredients:
• Head broccoli
• 3 tbsp cornflour, plain flour or GF
• 5-600ml milk or plant based
• 3-4 tbsp approx butter or DF
• 80g smoked cheddar cheese or Plant based
• 250g pasta, dried any shape
• Black pepper
• 1 very low salt chicken or veg stock cube
• 1 tsp garlic granules

Method:
Boil the pasta according to the packet instructions.

Meanwhile make the sauce. Start off by finely shredding the broccoli with a large sharp knife, or you can grate on a box grater or whizz in a food processor. You want the pieces to be as small as you can get them - set aside.

Now, melt the butter in a large frying pan, then add the flour and sauté for 2 minutes stirring continuously with a whisk. This cooks out the flour taste from your sauce. Once the flour is a nutty brown colour, gradually pour in the milk in stages, starting with just a little and whisking till all the milk has been absorbed and there’s no lumps before adding a little splash more. Once at least 2/3 of the milk has been added and the sauce is thick and lump free, you can then add the remaining milk and stir into the sauce.

Now quickly add the broccoli, crumbled stock cube, garlic granules and a little black pepper, and allow to simmer gently over a low/ medium heat stirring often for around 4-5 minutes or until the broccoli is cooked. Take the pan off the heat and add the cheese and stir well before stirring through the cooked pasta and a splash of the pasta cooking water if needed to loosen the consistency.

Serve and enjoy 🤍

⏰ cooks in 13 minutes
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Serves family of 4
👶🏼 Suitable from 6 months, choose a long shaped pasta for little ones so it’s easy to hold themselves. Or blend to a chunky purée
🧊 Freezable for up to 3 months. Best to freeze only the sauce if you can, as the pasta will overcook when reheated

Simple Tortelloni Dinner
This was tonight’s throw together kinda meal that I didn’t plan to post, so apologies for the rubbish photo, but it was SO tasty I couldn’t not share it with you guys!

Here’s how I made it:
• 300g packet of tortelloni - I used sausage and ham but any flavour combo will work - uncooked
• 500g passata
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• good grinding of black pepper
• 1 tin of green lentils, drained
• 1 level tsp of sugar, completely optional
• handful of grated cheese

1) Add all the ingredients to your baking dish except for the cheese.

2) Give it a really good mix and spread out the tortelloni evenly. Top with as much cheese as you like then bake at 180° degrees until the cheese is crisp on top and the sauce is bubbling at the sides.

Allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

👶🏼 suitable from 6 months however do consider the salt levels in packet tortelloni and offer baby a few pieces being mindful of salt intake for the rest of the day. A saltier meal than average won’t do harm if it is balanced throughout the day/ week
⏰ prep 5 mins - bake 25 mins

🥦 - feel free to add in a few handfuls of frozen or fresh veg to ramp up the veggies. We had some peas on the side with ours and went perfectly.

Happy 6th birthday my gorgeous Nini 🎉

She woke this morning with chicken pox spots, the last thing I expected to happen especially as she’s already had them. So her party was cancelled, and even though she’s been feeling unwell today, she’s tried her best to have fun despite feeling sad about it all. I’m so proud of her 🥹🥹

Happy birthday my darling, 6 years of being my best friend, the best years of my life! ❤️❤️

Picky tea 🙌🏼
Ketchup and tom purée spread on a tortilla wrap, a little chorizo and cheese and baked for 5 minutes - this is our tea tonight.

Nothing fancy, no filter just simple. Leave a 😍 if this type of quick throw together meal for your kids is a regular occurrence in your house so we can see just how many of us do the same and take away that silly parenting guilt we may have 🥰

Satay Prawn Noodles
Ready in only 5 minutes, this is the ultimate quick dinner for just yourself or leave out the chilli and reduce the soy sauce to share with your little ones 😍

• Your choice of noodles
• 2 handfuls of frozen prawns
• Heaped tbsp crunchy 100% peanut butter
• 2 tbsp low salt soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tsp crispy chilli oil (optional)
• half tsp garlic purée

Boil a pan of water and add the noodles to cook according to the packet instructions. (How much depends on the type of noodles you use) When there’s 4 minutes to go, add the still frozen prawns and cook together. You can thaw and pan fry the prawns separately for more flavour but this way is quickest.

Meanwhile to your serving bowl, add the peanut butter, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds and chilli oil and mix well. Add a ladle of the hot cooking water and stir to emulsify, it may feel like it won’t come together but keep stirring. You want a smooth a little runny mixture so add more water if needed.

Once the noodles are done, check one prawn to see if it’s piping hot and completely defrosted inside then use handled strainer to scoop up the noodles and prawns adding to the sauce quickly so lots of water stays with the noodles. Mix the sauce into the noodles, and add more cooking water if needed.

Finish with another dash of soy sauce and some extra sesame seeds. Goes great with some sesame seed coated cucumber on the side.

Extras if you have it
- finely chopped spring onion
- your choice of cooked veg like broccoli or sugar snap peas

Serves generously for 1 adult or enough for 1 and a little, add more noodles to suit.

Say hello to Mango 🥭 Our newest family addition 🥹🥹🥹

Nini and I are besotted with him 😍 💕 ❤️

Chapter 32 🎂🎈Spending the start of my 33rd year with my best pal in my happy place - the Northumbrian coast 🌊 😍 The best birthday 🥰

Posting my story here because my DM’s have blown up with you guys feeling the same way 🤍🤍 So incase you’ve felt a certain way or found a part of parenting hard recently, i hope this may be a helpful reminder that we’re deffo not alone and i bet you there’s lots of others feeling exactly the same 🥰🤍🥰

Those potatoes!! 🤤New recipe 🤍
Herby Lemon and garlic chicken and spuds - no embellishments needed, you just know it’s gonna be good 😍

🍴 serves 2 adults and 2 littles
👶🏼 suitable from 6 months - remove any very crispy potato edges first. Cut chicken into finger strips, omit salt
⏰ prep 10 minutes - bake 40 mins

Ingredients:
• 3 large Maris piper potatoes
• 4-5 chicken thighs
• 1 tbsp garlic infused oil
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 2 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 1 unwaxed lemon
• Black pepper

1) Set a large pan of water on to boil. Peel the potatoes and cut into wedges. Then pop in the boiling water. Cook for 8-10 minutes till tender.

2) To a large baking sheet, add 1 tbsp of oil and pop in a 200°c fan assisted oven.

3) Meanwhile add the chicken to a bowl or bag, zest the lemon and add to the chicken. Half the lemon and add one half’s juice to the chicken along with the garlic oil, dried herbs and black pepper. Grate the garlic on the same zester you used for the lemon and add this to the chicken too. Give it all a mix and set aside till the spuds are done.

4) Once they’re tender, gently pour into a colander to drain in the sink, and allow to steam for a few minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, and gently pour the potatoes into the hot oil careful to keep them whole still. Use a spatula to turn each potato over to coat in the oil. Then spread out evenly over the tray, leaving some big gaps, but ensure each spud is separated on an even layer. Nestle the marinaded chicken between the potatoes, skin side up. With the remaining lemon half, squeeze the juice over everything, focusing mainly on the potatoes. Then drizzle over the remaining tbsp of oil followed by a little salt on the chicken skin if you wish.

5) Bake for 35- 40 minutes till the chicken skin is golden and bubbling and the potatoes have turned crispy. And enjoy 😍

SO proud of this girl!!
Swimming lessons have been bit of a stressful topic in our house. I’ve been suggesting the idea of starting lessons for around a year which was always met with tears and worry from Nina, so we held off. Last month Nini started a weekly class, so she could grow her confidence with swimming and enjoy being in water even more than she usually does.

Well, she absolutely hated it. For a girl that just HAS to go in a river or the sea when out on day trips, I was surprised at how scared she was.

But we persisted, with lots of encouragement and reassurance, and now 2 weeks in a row she’s bounced out of that pool smiling, no tears, so excited to tell me all about it and looking forward to the next week.

I’m so so proud of her for working through her fears and trying even when she felt she couldn’t do it. Unbelievably proud! 💖💕💗

Rice bowls, we love em!!! So many requests to make this into a post so here it is 🥰🥰 It’s delish with all the toppings but still gorgeous when you hardly have anything in. When back from london this week I had one egg, a few veggies in the fridge and a rice packet in the cupboard, the perfect lunch for Nini and i!

1 packet of sticky packet rice (can use normal rice too)
2 eggs
1 tbsp Reduced salt soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Veg on the side, avocado works best

Optional extras
Sesame seeds (I like the pre roasted kind for sprinkling on top)
Chilli oil (my fave is shrimp chilli oil)
Seaweed
Fish sauce

Heat up a frying pan and fry the eggs, keeping the yolk runny. I sometimes like to sprinkle sesame seeds in the pan before cracking in the eggs to give them a sesame crust.

Meanwhile microwave the rice. (We’re keeping it quick here, but feel free to make your rice the proper way too 🥰)

In your serving bowl add the soy sauce, sesame oil, and if using chilli oil and fish sauce. Mix well, then tip in the hot rice. Take one of the fried eggs and add to the rice, then using a spoon break up the egg and mix the rice well to coat in all the flavours.

Serve with the other egg on top and any of your extra toppings.

If making for Nina and I, I use minimal soy and no chilli as she’s not keen. Then after mixing I put her portion in her bowl and add all my extras with more soy and mix mine again.

Great when you don’t have much in and need something quick and tasty 🤍🤍what’s your go to quick meal in a hurry?

🚨🚨🚨 if you missed the stupidly quick flash sale yesterday, I’ve just noticed it’s back down to silly prices again today. Be quick as I’m never told when and how long sales will be on for and I’d hate for you to miss out 🥰

Perfect pressie for all your friends and fam, or just yourself if you don’t have a copy yet.

Tag a friend who might like this one - https://geni.us/FamilyComfortsRW
🤍🤍🤍

Broccoli and wild garlic soup 🥦 🧄
10 minutes and this incredibly easy but utterly delicious soup is ready. Nina had seconds and so did I, so so good! If you’ve been foraging this weekend, or just have a head of broccoli to use up, this one is for you.

👶🏼 suitable from 6 months - thin down with water and serve in a cup
❄️ freezable for up to 3 months
⏰ prep and cook in 10 minutes

• I large head of broccoli
• A handful of washed and chopped wild garlic (you could swap for fresh spinach or replace with a couple of garlic cloves to still give a garlicky taste)
• 1 low salt chicken or veg stock cube
• Black pepper to taste, and salt if your kiddos are older
• 30ml cream plus extra for serving (optional)

1) Wash and chop the broccoli into florets. Peel the thick stalk and chop into chunks. Add both to a medium sized saucepan, along with the rest of the ingredients.

2) Add just enough boiling water till you can see it appearing between the pieces of broccoli. I always like to add less water now to start with a thick soup as it’s easier to thin a soup than thicken it.

3) Pop the lid on and allow it to come to a boil, then simmer for 7-10 minutes until the broccoli is very tender.

4) Blend till completely smooth, add the cream and whizz once more. You can now add a little boiling water if you prefer a thinner consistency.

Serve with an extra dash of cream and buttered bread on the side. Enjoy 🥦

World Book Day 2023 - Flower Fairy Nini
🥹🌸🥹

🥞 It’s Shrove Tuesday next week - here’s my simple crêpe recipe which I use every year.

What toppings do you go for? Nutella, honey, and lemon & sugar are a staple for us.

Tag a friend to remind them it’s pancake day next week, nothing worse than remembering on Monday night and you don’t have everything in, right?!

My thin pancake recipe -
•200g plain flour
•3 large eggs
•380-400ml milk
•Flavourless oil for frying

1)Add the flour to a bowl and crack in the eggs, pour a small amount of the milk in and start to whisk. Add a touch more milk then whisk vigorously till you get a smooth thick batter. Now you can gradually add the rest of the milk till you have a smooth thin batter.

2)Heat up a large frying pan over a high heat, and add a drizzle of flavourless oil, I use sunflower oil. Wait till the pan feels very hot when you hover your hand over, then ladle in 1 large ladleful of the mixture. Swirling the pan around the spread it, add a touch more batter to fill in any gaps. Do this as quickly as possible so the pancake cooks evenly and you have a nice thin crêpe. Allow the pancake to cook, without touching it till no raw batter can be seen and the whole thing looks darker in colour, this will take approx 1 minute.

3)Transfer to a plate and repeat, you should get around 7-8 pancakes from this batter.

My tips for good crêpes -
-Make sure the pan is nice and hot
-Use a wide flat bottomed frying pan, doesn’t need to be a crepe pan, but make sure it’s flat and doesn’t dome in the middle
-Add the milk gradually, ensuring the batter is lump free after the first few splashed of milk. It’s easier to remove the lumps when the batter is thick than when it’s too thin. If there’s lumps, blend it and it will be fine.
-If you want to flip the pancakes, I recommend running a spatula underneath the pancake to ensure it’s fully unstuck from the pan, this will minimise any disasters.

Happy pancake day ♥️

As highly requested.. my Fish Pie Mac n Cheese! SO comforting and delicious! It sounds like it wouldn’t work, but honestly I can’t tell you how much we loved this, let me know if you try it.

Tag a friend who’ll love this one.

⏰ prep 15 minutes - bake 20 minutes
👶🏼 suitable from 6 months, some smoked fish is high in salt so if you are concerned swap for unsmoked and add 2 tsp of smoked paprika to the sauce for that Smokey flavour

250g macaroni pasta
2 smoked fish fillets - I used basa
450ml milk
40g Approx butter
2 very heaped tbsp corn flour
Black pepper
2 large eggs
If you have it - 1 bay leaf and some fresh parsley
80g cheddar cheese
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp of oil, preferably garlic infused

In a large frying pan, add the milk and submerge the fish fillets into the milk along with the herbs if using. Put over a medium heat and once the milk is simmering cook for around 7 minutes until the fish feels firm to touch.

Meanwhile, set a large pan of boiling water over a high heat and cook the macaroni till al dente, Approx 8 minutes. Wash the eggs and add them to the pasta water too, they will be hard boiled by the time the pasta is done.

Now in a medium saucepan, melt the butter, then add the cornflour and whisk, cooking for 30 seconds or so. It helps if the saucepan is on the next hob to the fish, because you want to gradually ladle the hot milk into the butter flour mixture, whisking till smooth between each ladle. By the time you’ve made your thickened white sauce and used all the milk, turn the fish pan off as it should be cooked now. Pour any remaining milk into your sauce, stir through half the cheese and set aside.

Fish out the eggs and place in a bowl of cold water, then drain the pasta and mix into sauce. Flake the fish into large chunks, peel and quarter the eggs.

Into a ovenproof dish pour in half the macaroni cheese, layer the fish and egg over the pasta then top with the remaining pasta. Sprinkle over the rest of the cheddar, the breadcrumbs, and a little drizzle of oil, then bake at 200° for 20 minutes till golden on top. Enjoy 😍

Ps feel free to add in peas or spinach too, I kept it plain today and had veggies on the side 🤍

Took the week off and spent it cooking and eating 😍🍽😍

Turning Blue Monday a happy shade of white 🤍🥰❄️

Nina’s first time sledging after school today, so much fun!

Do you do this with your stirring wooden spoon too? I always feel very smug when I remember to do it, and avoid dirtying the worktop 😁💁🏻‍♀️

Tag a friend who might find this trick handy 🤍

Did you feel like this at dinner time today?January is that sluggish kinda month where you may feel a bit off and can’t be bothered to do much, and that can make cooking feel like such a chore. Here’s some tips which I find work with getting motivated to cook.

Tag a friend who may find this useful 🤍

1. Open the fridge, and gather ingredients which need using up. Don’t worry if they “don’t go together” it’ll work.
2. Choose recipes which are a b**g it all in style of meal, like pasta dishes (chop small + sauté everything before making the sauce thick with a little cornflour and milk) or stew style recipes where you chop everything up, mix with passata and some dried herbs (smoked paprika never goes a miss in this type of meal) simmer till cooked and piping hot. Or how about fritters and pancakes, grate up veg and cheese, mix with fritter ingredients (see my highlights or books) and you have an easy meal suitable for the whole family.

These ideas are very vague but with intention. Sometimes we can feel bogged down with needing to cook something that is a constructed recipe, but rather use your favourite recipes as a guide to adapt meals to suit what you have in and the time available.

4. When starting to think about cooking, don’t see it as “I need to cook dinner” see it as needing to chop the onion for example, much less daunting. Then move to the next task, once your 2 or 3 stages in, you’ll feel much more motivated to finish cooking. Sometimes it’s a mindset thing for me.
5. Choose recipes which are simple and easy. A reminder that my latest book Fast Family Food is filled with recipes all prepped in 10 minutes or under.
6. If you can, make a larger portion today, so tomorrow’s meal is just a reheating job 🙌🏼
7. Use your slow cooker, you could even prep the meal tonight then put into the slow cooker in the morning, tomorrow’s dinner is all done 🙌🏼
8. Make a mental note of this weeks meals, or at least the next few days. Often then biggest hurdle is deciding what to cook.

I hope these tips are helpful, let me know if you’d like me to do another post with more ideas? Comment with any tips which you’ve found helps you and may help others too🥰

1 5 • M I N U T E • P A S T A
My cheats beef ragu - this was our New Year’s Day dinner yesterday as it’s always such a huge hit with Nina, she’s loved it ever since she was wee as you can see 😍 Super quick, and fairly cheap to pull together and utterly glorious for all the fam, perfect for this gloomy January.

Is this one a bit of you? Double tap and tag a friend who’ll love it too! 👇🏼💕

Ingredients; (Serves 2 adults and 2 littles)
• 500g of lean beef mince
• 500g of tomato passata
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed or a tsp of garlic granules
• 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon of mixed dried herbs
• 1 tsp of golden sugar (optional but helps cut through the tomato acidity)
• 250g of dried pasta

Method -
1) In a medium sized dry saucepan add the mince on a medium hot heat. Break up with a wooden spoon and cook until all the mince has nicely browned and is starting to get some nice colour (this will take around 4 minutes)
2) Now is the time to get your pasta on to boil.
3) Add the smoked paprika, garlic, and mixed herbs to the mince and give it a good stir.
4) Now add the passata, and add approx 150ml of tap water to the carton, swirl it around and add this to the pan too. Add the sugar & stir and cook for 10 minutes until your pasta has cooked. If the sauce is getting too thick or dry, add some of the pasta cooking water, but bare in mind this sauce is delicious when thick and not too saucy, so be careful not to add too much water.
5) Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the sauce, give it a good stir and serve with lashings of grated cheese on top. Add a splash of the pasta cooking water if the sauce needs loosening a little.

👶🏼 This meal is suitable from 6 months. Choose a nice large pasta shape that is easy for baby to hold like rigatoni, spirals or this tripoline pasta I have used here works really well!
❄️ The sauce will freeze really well for up to 3 months. Defrost, reheat thoroughly and serve with freshly cooked pasta. You can keep any fresh left overs in the fridge for 24 hours.

Happy New Year Everyone, wishing you all a happy and joyful 2023. Lots of love, Rebecca & Nini xXx - let the mocktails commence 🍸✨🍹