Some of you might be interested in the idea of ice cream because you are sweltering away in Summer’s high temperatures. Others of us in cooler climates are just interested in ice cream no matter what time of year it is.

For those who don’t own an ice-cream making machine, here are a couple of ideas:

Canadian Living magazine provides a recipe and a great idea for making ice cream in two coffee cans and then using them to play kick-the-can.

And here are some simple instructions for making ice cream in zip-lock bags.

And here are a set of instructions for making ice cream simply using an electric blender – and a list of yummy things you can add to your ice cream for extra excitement.

For further flavour ideas I found honey and lavender, a list of unusual flavours and black sesame ice cream .

I love making up trail mix (or “gorp” as some like to call it) to put into a little bag and pack in AJ’s lunchbox. Trail mix is also great for adding to a travel bag for a long car trip, packing for a hike or serving up for kids to munch on at the movies, a sleep over or out camping etc. If you can get your kids involved in choosing the ingredients and helping mix it all together it is almost guaranteed that they will munch it down happily.

A great idea is to make a big bowl of your mix, and then scoop it into little snack snap-lock bags and then store them in an airtight container so they are ready to go when you need them.

I have been having a look at various recipes online and have come up with a long and clunky list of ingredients for you to scan through (see the extended entry) for ideas but I have also included some of our favourite mixes. I think the thing to remember that there are no hard and fast rules about what and how much to include in your trail mix – it’s all about personal preference.

AJ’s Bestest and most Favouritest
Sweet and Savoury combo
Any or all of the following:
Tiny teddies (replace with any other favourite mini cookie)
Pop corn
Lightly salted pistachio nuts
Lightly salted roasted cashews
Dried apricots
Dried apple
Saltanas
Puffed Rice
Shredded Coconut
Mini Marshmallows (sometimes – and don’t add these to store, add them at the last moment)

Kiddley’s Crazy Mix (for special occasions)
M & Ms
Sultanas
Dried banana chips
Small pretzels
Various nuts but definitely including peanuts, brazil nuts, pistachios and cashews
Plain corn chips

The Kiddley Classic (for healthy folks and every day munching)
Peanuts
Cashews
Dried apricots
Dried apple
Puffed corn
Sultanas

Asian Explosion (for kids into spicy yumminess)
Japanese rice crackers of various kinds
Crispy chow mein noodles
Spicy Peanuts
Wasabi Peas (hot hot hot!)
Indian chickpea crisps

The extended mix for you to choose from
Pop corn
Soy nuts
Dried cranberries
Dried blueberries
Dried pineapple
Dried apple
Dried cherries
Dried apricots
Sultanas
Assorted nuts, either lightly salted or unsalted
Marshmallows (mini or otherwise)
Chocolate chips
White chocolate chips
Peanutbutter chips
Butterscotch chips
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Raisins
M & Ms
Mini pretzels
Breakfast cereal
Rice crackers
Chickpea chips
Wasabi peas
Corn chips
Pretzels
Shredded coconut
Crispy chow mein noodles
Small cookies
Puffed corn
Puffed rice

This chilled, blancmange-like dish is one that my Grandma used to make for us as a special treat when we would go to their house in the country for school holidays. We would wolf it down and come back for more, so while it’s full of sugar and cocoa, it comes highly recommended for when you need something a little special to feed the kids.

Ingredients:
500ml milk
2 level tablespoons of sugar
2 heaped tablespoons of corn flour (corn starch)
1.5 tablespoons of cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
Shredded coconut

Place sugar in saucepan with almost all the milk, leaving just a little in the jug to make into a paste.

To this remaining milk, mix in corn flour (corn starch) and cocoa and stir to make a thick paste. Set aside. This is a great step to involve kids in, even little ones.
Bring the milk and the sugar in the saucepan almost to a boil. It should look kind of ‘fluffy’.

Pour hot milk and sugar into the measuring jug and stir into the paste.

Return to the whole lot to the saucepan. Stir gently and bring to the boil.

Take off heat and and stir in the vanilla.

Wet a pretty bowl (grandma used a cut-glass desert dish) with a little water and then let it drain quickly. Pour in pudding mixture and sprinkle liberally with the shredded coconut.

Chill in the refrigerator for several hours (all day is good) until set.

Serve with cream, ice-cream, stewed fruit, wafer biscuits or just on it’s own.

A good dish to feed adults, kids, toddlers and even babies is this dahl recipe on rice. Leave out the garlic and ginger for babies if you like but I was amazed at how quickly Amelia downed this stuff when she was less than a year old, even with a little garlic included. Actually, now that I remember back — leave out the turmeric for babies as it is almost impossible to wash the yellow stains out of clothes.

Download and print off the PDF version here

serves 4-6 (depending on appetites and accompaniments; rice, bread, pappadams etc).

Ingredients:
Olive oil for frying
1 clove of garlic finely chopped or crushed
a thumb-sized Knob of ginger peeled and grated
1 onion finely chopped
1 cup of red lentils, washed well and drained
3 cups of hot water
1 400g tin of diced tomatoes
1 sweet potato (yam) cut into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil and then fry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion is a golden brown. Add the turmeric and fry for a minute. Add lentils and fry for another couple of minutes. Add three cups of hot water, tinned tomatoes, sweet potato and cinnamon. Bring to boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add garam masala, salt and pepper after about 10-15 minutes. Cook until soft and mushy. If the dahl seems too wet, let it cook for a while without the lid on.

Serve on rice with pappadams (which seem to be the big seller in our house), natural yogurt and for the adults lashings of lime pickle.

A Mother’s Day breakfast in bed menu might traditionally consist of cold, burnt toast, milky tea and a drooping flower in a vase, but if your children are keen and you don’t mind a big Mother’s Day clean-up here are some recipes and menus from around the web which could inspire their inner-chefs (perhaps with a little hinting and a little help).

All Day Mother’s Day Menu (printable version)
A plethora of Mother’s Day breakfast recipes
Breakfast Made by Kids, Eaten by All