I have a confession to make. I was a smug parent. Charlie used to eat pretty much anything we put in front of him (well, except for the lentil and spinach puree I lovingly made which had the texture of soil – note to self to taste the puree before feeding it to Baby Bell #2.) The effect of this was a smug Holly who nodded sympathetically when A N Other parent worried out loud as to how to entice their toddler to eat a wide, varied and nutritious diet. Inside I was congratulating myself on my unfussy offspring. No turkey twizzlers or potato faces at Bell Towers! Clearly his palette was a reflection of my wonderful parenting.
This smug behaviour has quite rightly resulted in a karmic backlash. Since toddlerdom commenced Charlie takes any opportunity he can to embarrass me on the food front. He throws anything healthy on the floor and then points and squeals at foodstuffs in the immediate vicinity covered in fat, salt, sugar etc. The owner of the coveted food is irrelevant. He will happily shout and point at a stranger’s plates, probably steal from them too if allowed. His ASBO behaviour is clearly not a reflection on my parenting, of course.
What to do? Why smuggle of course! I never thought I’d smuggle fruit, veg and various lean meats into food, but in desperation I’m afraid I do. These lollies were borne after Charlie rejected the humble raspberry, which incidentally he loved on holiday 2 months ago. He ate one after his dinner last week and started to wretch. On closer inspection there were no maggots or other nasties, just a toddler with a schizophrenic palette and a will of steel. Well, the last laugh’s on him… he lapped these up.
Ingredients:
- half a punnet of raspberries
- 3 large scoops of vanilla ice cream straight from the freezer (I used Carte D’Or light version ’cause I like it.)
- 4 tbsp of natural yoghurt from a big pot (Asda’s cheap range is more than fine.)
- 4 tsp of honey
You need some lolly moulds for this. First thing to do is take your moulds and pour water into them, then decant water into a measuring jug to see how much lolly mixture you need.
Using a food processor, whiz up the raspberries, adding the other ingredients once they’re mashed to a pulp. Pour the lot into an empty measuring jug to see if you need any more ice cream/yoghurt in order to fill your moulds. If you do, taste as you go – there’s no way a heavily yoghurt based lolly would have gone down well with Charlie and his girlfriend Belle.
Fill the lolly moulds, add the tops and freeze overnight if poss or for at least a few hours. To get the lollies out of the moulds stand them in a bowl of hot water for a minute or so, then ease out gently. Serve outside, wearing clothes for dripping on.
P.S. The first set of lollies I made were mango based. The lolly mixture tasted delicious and I fully recommend it – just pulp the flesh of a whole ripe mango rather than use the raspberries. Unfortunately, in a pregnant fashion, I put the moulds in the fridge upside down. Mr B had to clear up the sunny mess and console me. I didn’t cry over split lollies though, which I think is impressive.
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