Sausage Casserole

Once a month, Anjalie & I have special play-dates on a Friday evening. It is important for Mum-Dad to have a special quality time (no kids talk or kids) for the growth of their relationship and bonding. Similarly, I found setting some time aside for my daughter allows me to have some quality time bonding with her and talking about some of the trivial and important things we have overlooked so far. This is especially important for me since I work full time so have less time "with her". Tonight is one such special night. Usually on these nights I prepare dinner earlier (if I can) or cook things that I can put in the oven while we play. But I also bear in mind to make some of her favourites since I want it to be special. Sausage casserole ticks both boxes for me. It takes less actual cooking time, spends most of it in the oven, one-pot meal (so no need to make anything else other than salad) and it is also our favourite dinner. I keep away from red meat, so, I tend to use chicken/turkey or quorn/couldron sausages. Naz prefers the former and both Anjalie & I prefer the quorn sausages. I am sure this recipe will work for any of your favourite sausages. Simply make sure it is all cooked thoroughly before serving. Recently, I added a sausage casserole recipe with tomato sauce. I do this one as a variation. They are pretty similar and this one will work a treat if anyone is fussy about tomoatoes in their food :)


You will need:
6 sausages
2 carrots - sliced into finger sizes
2 med. potatoes chopped
1 med. onion - sliced
3 cloves garlic - grated
600 ml vegetable/chicken stock
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
1 tsp dried herbs (thyme, oregano, basil etc)
a small dash of chilli/pepper sauce (optional)
salt & black pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil.

Egg-Aloo (potato) Curry Trinidad style

Eggs are a great source of protein, iodine and essential vitamins. Eggs are great "first food" for babies (as long as they are not allergic to them) as long as they are thoroughly cooked. Please avoid giving runny eggs or partly cooked eggs to under 2 yrs old. Boiled eggs were one of the first foods that I gave Anjalie and since then she loves eggs in any form or fashion. Once I was sure that she enjoyed eggs, and was not allergic to them (after the first couple of weeks), I have made this curry (very mild initially) and used to mash the egg yolks in a small amount of curry sauce and give her. Lo and behold! no matter when it was given she would clean it all up :) Since then, this has been a easy and quick "single dish" that every likes in our home. It can be eaten with rice or roti or bread. Not only, is it healthy, it is also relatively low in calories.

You will need:
4 large eggs/6 medium eggs - hard boiled and shell removed
4 medium potatoes - peeled and cubed into bite size pieces
2 med. tomatoes- chopped fine
1 med. onion - chopped fine
1/4 habernero pepper (for adults only- beware it is extremely hot!)/ pimento pepper for milder taste (optional) - leave out for children
3 cloves or garlic- crushed
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tbsp curry powder (any store bought kind will do- but for authentic Trinidad taste look for Chief curry powder)

Spaghetti chicken/Quorn Bolognese

Here is another healthy version of the yummy family favourite. I am a vegetarian while Naz & Anjalie eat fish and/or chicken regularly. But as a family we all three of us avoid red meat since the risks outweigh any benefits. Having said that it does not mean Naz & Anjalie will not eat them rarely (may once or twice a year) when we eat out as a treat. Recently on once such trips, Anjalie really liked Spaghetti-bolognese at one of the restaurants. So I decided to try making it at home for dinner a couple of times with chicken instead and I used quorn for myself as a veggie option. On the first time, I heard Anjalie say to Naz "Mummy is the best baker & cooker, isn't she daddy?" Needless to say, I was very pleased with the compliment. After that I have made this few more times and tonight we enjoyed this with garlic bread and salad and Anjalie said that "Mummy, your spaghetti is the best best ever!" So here I am sharing this simple recipe in the hope that you and your family will also enjoy it. Again, if you prefer the traditional bolognese sauce, simply replace chicken with beef and you have the traditional bolognese for dinner. You can add bacon or try pork mince too for a variety :)

Egg-Cheese sandwich (add sausage for more filling meal)

This post is a quick one since it has been a bit over too busy here of late. Egg & cheese sandwich is a quick and easy way to enjoy a lovely breakfast on the go and by adding sausage (chopped) it can make for a more filling meal. It can even make a quick lunch sandwich for one of those busy days. But remember to keep it refrigerated until lunch time :) Anjalie has hers with just salt and black pepper while Naz & I like it a bit more spicy with chilli sauce. So feel free to play around with the filling. You can even add a bit of mustard if you like.

Sausage Casserole in tomato sauce

Every Saturday afternoon we enjoy the most delicious and yet simple to make comfort food, aka, Sausage Casserole. Instead of the usual, "Am I staying home today?" in the mornings, Anjalie usually wakes up asking "Am I having sausage casserole today?" on Saturdays :) So this is an absolute favourite of the entire family. The only reason I haven't posted the recipe here until now is because I usually struggle to get the breakfast and lunch ready together on Saturdays after a late lie-in while rushing to prepare for Anjalie's dance lessons after lunch. But today there are no dance lessons and we had a lovely relaxed morning. So here is family favourite recipe. It is easy to put together and quick to make. I usually use vegetarian sausages (Couldron/quorn). But on occasion I have used chicken sausages for Anjalie & Naz alone. I assume it will work the same way for pork/beef sausages. So without further ado, here is the recipe...


You will need:
8 sausages (veggie/pork/beef) of your choice, snipped/sliced into bite size pieces
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups your choice of veggies- potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, peppers
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp milk paprika
1 tsp mixed dried herbs- thyme, oregano, basil and sage.
Salt to taste

Grandma's Trinidadian style chicken pot roast

While, visiting family is wonderful on many levels from enriching our lives and helping with recharging ourselves, I also find that it provides excellent opportunities for learning new (for me anyway) family recipes. This time while we were on vacation, enjoying our visit with our family, I watched and learned how my MIL makes her (ever popular with Anjalie) pot roast chicken. I am indeed very pleased that it is Anjalie's favourite. The recipe involves simple ingredients and the method is so very easy and quick to make. While my MIL made the food, all I had to do was click away the pics for my step-by-step recipe to share with you all. So here it is just as she made it...

You will need:
2 lbs chicken pieces (with bones) - cleaned & washed.
salt & black pepper to taste
1 tbsp tomato puree/ketchup
1 tsp low-sodium soya sauce
1 small pimento (mild ones for children) chillies
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp cilantro/coriander leaves chopped
2 stalks salad onions/chives
2 cups of water

Oven grilled lemon-garlic fish/quorn fillets (in foil packets)

Fish/Quorn fillet features around 2 times in a week in our home. Mainly because, Anjalie enjoys fish very much and also because it is very healthy. On days when I am in a hurry to multi-task oven baked/grilled fish is just perfect to put together a healthy dinner/lunch with roast potatoes and a quick salad. 

Chicken/Quorn garlic-lemon Goujons

These are excellent finger/party food that will please kids and adults alike. They are easy to make as well which is a big plus for me at least. Combined with their favourite dip these are bound to be a huge hit with children. I serve these with salad/steamed veggies like broccoli to make a balanced dinner/lunch meal for toddlers and add a serving of mash to make a filling meal for adults or older children. I tend to make these in two different ways: on rare occasions I deep fry them; regularly I shallow fry them and then bake them the rest of the way until cooked in the oven. Naturally, the oven baked one is the healthier option.

You will need:
400g mini chicken/quorn fillets (You can cut regular chicken breasts into strips)
1 tsp garlic paste + 2 tbsp lemon
salt & black pepper to taste.
35g plain flour
1 large egg, beaten
100g fresh breadcrumbs
3 tbsp vegetable oil for shallow frying or enough oil to deep fry (if not baking)

Spaghetti with chicken/tofu (meat)balls marinara

Spaghetti and (meat)balls are usually most children and adult favourite meal. Who does not enjoy slurping in the spaghetti with the tangy marinara sauce? It is a classic meal and one that our family cannot have enough of. I prefer to make chicken and tofu meatballs instead of the traditional "meat ball" which uses ground beef due to two reasons. Although, now I cook chicken and fish for my hubby and daughter, I have been a veggie all my life and it is hard for me to deal with red meat still :(. Secondly, and more importantly, I do see the importance of including all food groups in proper proportion for a healthy diet and that is one of the reasons why I support my hubby and daughter in their choice to eat meat and I even cook for them. But I just think that the cons outweigh any benefits we get from red meat for regular consumption. So I do not make them at home. When we go out they are more than welcome to try or eat red meat. But at home they get healthy meat like chicken and fish. This gives a good moderation in their meat food groups. As usual, I still substitute soya products for meat for myself. So I modified this wonderful classic to suit our entire family by making chicken meatballs for hubby and Anjalie while I enjoy soya chunk/mince meatballs. I usually make a lot of meat balls (enough for 4 servings for three of us) and freeze them since it features at least once every week in our meal plan. I just make the marinara sauce and use thawed out meatballs when needed for a quick filling dinner. A lot of us have our own recipes for marinara sauce so feel free to use your own or you can try the one here for a change.

You will need:
For the meatballs:
1 lb chicken mince/chicken breasts or 250 g of soya chunks/mince soaked and washed in hot water well.
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh oregano (or the equivalent dried)
Salt to taste (be careful cheese can be salty)
1/4 cup olive oil for shallow frying or 2 tsp of oil fro baking in the oven (healthier option)

Thengai Saadam (South-Indian spicy coconut rice)

Whenever I think of picnics, I remember the 18th day of the Tamil month of Aadi, aadiperukku, when everyone celebrates the inundation of the river Cauvery by having picnics by river beds or at the beach. With the summer months rolling on here, we are also enjoying our picnics. Among the sandwiches and piroshkis, I still like carrying a little South-Indian style mixed rice, chitrannams, to these picnics and they provide a lovely variation to the picnic themes for us. The coconut rice (Thengai saadam) is perfect for barbecues and are great with a little pappadoms on the side. They can also be enjoyed in a normal meal with any curry of your choice.

You will need:
500 g of cooked long grain white rice (usually 300 g of raw rice yields 500 g of cooked rice).
salt to taste
1/4 cup desiccated coconut + 2 tbsp coconut milk
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Asafoetida- a small pinch
1/2 tsp urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
5-6 cashews halved and broken (avoid for children less than 5 yrs old due to chocking hazard)
1-2 dried red chillies
1-2 fresh green chillies chopped (optional)
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish

To roast and grind to a powder (optional):
1/2 tsp urad dal + 1 tsp channa dal + dried red chillies to taste

Spicy Cauliflower-Butterbeans roast

Cauliflower is low in calorie, fat & carbs but high in dietary fibre, folate, water, and vitamin C. It is usually one of the favourite veggies for little children and adults. I regularly make Spicy Cauliflower-Butterbeans roast and it is still on our family favourites and most requested lunch/dinner side-dish. The plus side for me is that it is easy to make. This is a colourful dish that will captivate children's attention which means that the meal-time war is already won! By adding butter beans to this I am satisfied that we all get good amount of dietary fibre, protein and vitamins. So a food that is colourful, tastes good and healthy & easy to make. Now that is jackpot for me :)



You will need:
1 cauliflower- cut the florets & wash well
1 can butter beans drained and rinsed well
1 small onion
salt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder/paprika (adjust to taste)
1 tsp chopped coriander leaves to garnish
2 tbsp oil
optional for tempering:
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
pinch of asafoetida

Baked Piroshki with Trinidad-style potato stuffing/filling

Piroshki are Russian-style (or mainly Eastern European-style) baked or fried buns with veggie and/or meat fillings. They are perfect for lunch boxes, travels, picnics etc or even as a snack/appetiser. We had a lovely sunny weekend at last, so, I baked these for a picnic at the park. After running around playing in the park, we pretty much finished the entire batch :) Anjalie is a big fan of anything potato and also loves my milky bread, so, it is not surprising that she enjoyed both of them put together. Piroshki can be either fried or baked. I always have gone for the healthy "baked" option. You can try frying with the same recipe for a variation.

You will need:
For the buns:
water roux prepared as shown here (optional)
1.5 to 2 cups milk (will need less if using water roux)
25 g butter
2.5 to 3 cups white bread flour
1-2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
1 tbsp milk powder


For the Trinidad-style potato filling:
2 tsp oil
1 tbsp soft light brown sugar (optional)
small piece of habernero peppers (for adults - optional)
1 small or 1/2 large onion chopped
2 small tomatoes chopped
1 tsp tomato puree
1 stalk celery
1-2 stalks salad/green onions chopped (both white and green)
1 inch piece ginger grated
3 cloves of garlic grated
2 cups of peeled and cubed to bite size potatoes
salt and black pepper to taste
2 tbsps of milk for basting

Pasta with creamy garlic butter sauce

Pasta is yet another staple in our home. We get to enjoy them in one form or another every week. It is easy to please the whole family with pasta dishes and it is quick to make. When we get tired of tomato based sauces, and I when I have ran out of cheese to make cheese sauce, I try to add variety by making this sauce with pasta. The roasted garlic add excellent flavour to the dish that you will not miss the cheese :) This simple dish mainly uses what you might already have at home (like milk, butter & flour) and so is perfect for a day when you need something quick without having to run to the grocers.

 You will need:
1/4 cup butter
4 tbsp plain flour
4 cloves of garlic-crushed well
300 ml cold whole milk/single cream
250 grams dried pasta
salt to taste
ground white pepper powder to taste
1 tsp dried oregano for seasoning

Milawat Paratha (mixed-up Paratha)

Parathas are flat breads that are usually stuffed with vegetable or meat fillings. Milawat paratha are a quicker version of the stuffed parathas. Instead of stuffing the flat bread, which will require rolling out twice, we just simply mix the filling into the dough for milawat parathas. They taste great and are full of flavour just like the stuffed parathas, but, just require less work. Weekends are great for making rotis for me since I will have Anjalie to help me roll them out :) I was planning on making Aloo/potato paratha and, so, had boiled some potatoes on Sunday. Just then, our friends called to ask if their 3 yr old could come over for a visit around lunch time and stay with us for the afternoon. I had only around 45 mins to finish making lunch and clear up the kitchen before they arrived so that we could all enjoy lunch together. So as a quick alternative, I decided to turn the aloo paratha into milawat paratha. It was not surprising that all of us, including our friends, enjoyed our lunch together and I got rave reviews for the parathas. So without further ramblings, here is the recipe...

You will need:

3 cups flour (I used equal amounts of atta, plain flour/maida and soya flour)

your choice of veggies: potatoes (peeled & boiled), 1 grated carrots/beetroot/broccoli/cabbage /cauliflower, spinach etc...

2 small tomatoes cooked, peeled and mashed

2 fresh chillies chopped (for adults-optional)

salt to taste

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste 

2 tbsp plain yoghurt (optional)

water enough to knead into dough

oil/ghee for greasing the skillet

Trinidadian Dumplings

This simple dumplings is usually eaten as part of dinner/lunch instead of bread. Naz and Anjalie usually enjoy theirs with daal, stewed fish (I enjoy mine with quorn) and vegetables (just like they do it in my in-laws home). This recipe is a slight modification of from the one my MIL uses. My MIL's recipe uses baking powder as a leavening agent. But I like to use yeast instead since I find it gives softer dumplings. But this works just fine with baking powder.

You will need:
2 cups plain flour
salt to taste
baking powder/1 tsp yeast
low fat coconut milk/water
1 tsp oil
2.5 litres of water for boiling the dumplings

Grilled vegetable and pumpkin seeds pesto pasta

Pasta usually features in our menu at least once a week. However, ever since we found that Anjalie is allergic to nuts (including pine-nuts) I have not made pesto sauce at home. Like many parents dealing with allergies, I too looked for alternative ways of making pesto for her. Recently, we found that Anjalie likes and is not allergic to pumpkin seeds :) So tonight, I tried to make pesto pasta with pumpkin seeds and also added roasted vegetables for a good measure. It was a great success at dinner. At first Anjalie was sceptical looking at the green sauce, but after trying one bite, she quickly dug into her food and really enjoyed it. I even got a "delicious dinner, Mummy" from her :)

You will need:
250 g pasta cooked according to instructions
choice of veggies - sweet peppers, courgettes, onions, tomatoes, aubergine etc
salt and black pepper to taste
fresh parsley and grated parmesan cheese to garnish



for the sauce:
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds shelled, roasted
1 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves ( I used coriander leaves) or you can just use 1 cup basil leaves
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cups olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

Falafel Sandwich with apple salsa

Falafels are easy to make, healthy and yummy. They make perfect sandwich for children's lunch boxes. They also double up as snacks and are great for parties and get together. Despite the frying, they are rich in protein and fibre. Most importantly, it is totally yummy and are sure to please the whole family :) I usually serve them to Anjalie with ketchup for snack or as a sandwich with mild apple salsa, while, we adults enjoy them with spicy green tomato chutney.

You will need:
2 cans of chickpeas drained
3 cloves of garlic -sliced
1 shallots- sliced
1 tsp cumin powder (preferably roasted)
1 tsp coriander powder
salt to taste
1 tsp parsley
2 large eggs (optional - just increase the amount of flour or use bread crumbs)
3-5 tbsp flour ( I used soy flour- love the flavour!)
1/2 tsp oil + 1/3 cup for frying
1 tsp lemon juice

For apple salsa:
1/2 apple peeled, cored and chopped finely
1 shallots chopped finely (for adults)
1 Jalapeños chopped finely (for adults)
2 tomatoes chopped finely
2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped coarsely
salt to taste
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vinegar or lime juice  (you can increase the amount of lemon juice instead)

Vegetable steamed Dumplings (Mantis/Baozi/momo/bao)

The first time I tried these lovely dumplings were when my lovely Sis-in-law who is originally from Kazakhstan made them for us when Anjalie was born. We fell in love with these right away. I have been making these regularly ever since for the past 3 years. We all enjoy them and it has become a family favourite for dinner and lunch. Recently, I found out that like many old recipes this one too transcends countries and languages. The very same dumplings or slight variation of it is called by various names in many parts of the world such as Mantis in Russian/Turkish/Persian/Pukhtoon, Baozi in Chinese, Momo in Nepalese or Bao in Vietnamese. I am sure I am missing out a lot of other cuisines and their names for this dish and will be thankful for anyone who could let me know. Regardless of the name this recipe is very simple and involves making a filled bun made from leavened dough. The filling could be savoury or sweet and vegetarian or meat.   According to legend they were invented by the scholar and military strategist Zhuge Liang during the 3rd century AD. For more info on the legend see here. Legend or not, these dumplings are absolutely scrumptious with soft and fluffy outsides with moist filling that bursts out with full flavour into our mouth. I find that it is a great way to get children to eat veggies as well. Anjalie loves these dumplings especially the savoury ones (she is usually not big on sweets anyway). The recipe below is for vegetarian dumplings. But you can include your favourite minced meat to this recipe as well. I even got a chance to make sweet dumplings with apple and spices filling, yumm! I do not have one of those Chinese bamboo steamers. So I used my pressure cooker instead. A rice cooker can also be used for this or even a stock pot with a steamer that can fit over it. Additionally these dumplings can be frozen for later use before steam-cooking them. To make around 12 dumplings...

Savoury Dumpling

You will need:
For the wrap:
2 cups white bread flour/ all purpose/plain flour
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp active dried yeast
1/2 tbsp butter (melted)
approx 200 ml warm water (adjust according to need)

Dessert- Apple Dumplings

For savoury filling (enough to stuff 10 dumplings):
1 pak choi - chopped fine
1/2 onion or 2 shallots - chopped fine
2 green/salad onion- chopped fine
1 red sweet pepper - chopped fine
1 carrot - jullienned
4 med. mushrooms - chopped fine
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste (or 1 inch ginger + 3 cloves of garlic chopped fine)
2 fresh chillies chopped (only for adults)
salt and black pepper to taste
2 tsp oil

Soya Chapathi

Chapathis are Indian unleavened flat bread that are usually made with wholemeal wheat flour, Atta, which has less bran than regular wholemeal bread flour. I have found soya flour to be a great natural emulsifier when baking bread that results in the softest crust and crumbs. Not only that, it is high in protein and low in calorie and so is naturally very healthy. So I made soya chapathi last night by replacing 1/3 of the atta with soya flour. Since, soya flour has less gluten compared to wheat flour I still needed atta to make my chapathi. The end result was very soft and flavourful chapathis which my 3 yr old daughter eloquently described as "Yummiest chapathis!" It is very easy to make and the method is quite simple. Anjalie, as usual, helped in mixing and rolling out the chapathis while I took care of the cooking. So young children can most definitely "help" with this recipe and it can be quality time for the adults and children together. You can use the same recipe to make regular wheat chapathis by replacing the soya flour with atta. So here is the recipe...


You will need:
2 cups atta/sifted wholemeal flour
1 cup soya flour
salt to taste
cool water (not cold) as needed to make a soft dough
flour for dusting
oil/butter/ghee as needed for cooking

Vegetable Teppanyaki Soba noodles (Japanese-style stir fried buckwheat noodles)

Yakisoba noodles are healthier version among noodles and are made with Buckwheat flour or a combination of buckwheat and wholemeal wheat flour. Teppan-style Yakisoba noodles is a stir-fry version of Yakisoba and usually made with cabbage, carrots and/or meat. The recipe below is for vegetable Yakisoba noodles with an optional sauce for adults. You can add chicken/prawns/pork according to your taste to make your favourite meat yakisoba. Again the sauce given here is not very spicy, but, adjust it according to your taste. This is quick and easy stir-fry that is bound to satisfy the whole family. It is colourful and thus captivates children's attention as well. You can add other stir-fry veggies to it as per your wish. But, I have found that keeping the veggies and meat to a minimum works best with children. They do not feel overwhelmed by those and they tend to enjoy the balance of veggies & noodles and hence the dish more.


You will need:
Yakisoba noodles - 2 servings (prepared according to package instructions)
2 shallots thinly sliced length wise
2 inch ginger peeled and grated
3 cloved of garlic grated
1/4 cabbage shredded/julienned
2 carrots shredded/julienned
2 stalks green onions chopped
3 tbsps oil (preferably sesame seed oil)
3 tbsps crispy fried onions crumbled (optional)
2 tbsps low sodium soya sauce
salt and black pepper to taste

For the sauce (optional for adults):
2 tbsps chilli sauce
2 tbsps sesame oil
1 tsp soft brown sugar
50 ml cup dark soya sauce (approx 1/4 cup)
salt to taste (be careful with salt since soya sauce is pretty salty)