The Kitchen Garden Cafe, York Road, King’s Heath

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This is my favourite place to go. The back room has a small baby play area, the staff are really friendly and there are always other children there, mostly babies. It is a comfortable place to both breast-feed and baby-led wean. They have a massive menu for vegetarians.

Facilities

Highchairs / baby seating – yes

Baby Changing – yes

Play Area / safe area – yes

What have my veggie blw babies eaten?

Veggie Burger

Chunky Handcut Chips

cheese and tomato panini

marinated tofu panini

falafel

hash browns

vegetarian breakfast including veggie sausages

cheesy tomato pasta (children’s menu) – huge hit!

…and for the adults:

a selection of real ales, beers, and wines as well as coffee and tea, including decaffeinated

Babies are welcome to evening events which include live music

Baby Friendly Eating Out

These are my favourite places (obviously based around the Midlands, UK – at the moment!) I have order them simply by my favourites according to how accommodating they have been to my boys and myself on a regular basis.

The Kitchen Garden Cafe, York Road, King’s Heath
Channi’s, Sparkhill
Zizzi, Solihull
Costa, Mell Square, Solihull
Tudor of Lichfield, Lichfield
Mogo Grill, Touchwood, Solihull
Bella Italia, New Street, Birmingham City Centre
Bella Italia, Cheltenham
Handmade Burger Co. , Brindley Place, Birmingham City Centre
Handmade Burger Co., Touchwood, Solihull
Ikea Restaurant, Wednesbury
Cafe Rouge, High Street, Solihull
Druckers, Touchwood, Solihull
The Dance Cafe, Alcester Road, Moseley
The Sump, Burton on Trent
The Castle, Castle Road, Nottingham
Hickory Dickory’s, King’s Heath
Gloria Jean’s, Bullring

View Map

Other places that have been suggested for inclusion but I have yet to check out (please tell me if you have anything to add):
Slug and Lettuce, Solihull
The Old House at Home, Harborne
Chilly Kiddies, Stourbridge
Punjab Paradise, Sparkbrook
Jyoti’s, Sparkhill / Hall Green
The Junction, Harborne
Fighting Cocks, Moseley

Rich Pizza Topper

This makes enough for several pizzas, it will keep in the fridge for about a week, or can be frozen

Ingredients

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1/2 red onion

1/2 tsp sugar

pinch salt

1 garlic clove

1 tsp fresh oregano, or 1/2 tsp dried

1/2 tsp chilli powder

freshly ground black pepper

1 handful fresh basil

2-3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp tomato puree

2-3 bay leaves

Preparation

1. chop the onion and garlic finely
2 chop the herbs

Method

1. heat the oil in a small pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until beginning to soften
2. add all ingredients except the fresh herbs
3. cook gently for 15 minutes
4. add herbs and cook for another 5 minutes
ready to use or cool for use later

To Serve

As a pizza topping

photos to come…

Ravioli Basilica

This makes makes enough for 2 to 3 as a main meal, or can be eaten as an accompaniment

Ingredients (pasta)

200g plain white flour

1 tbsp olive oil

2 eggs

freshly ground black pepper

pinch salt

pinch turmeric

pinch paprika

Ingredients (filling)

150g ricotta cheese

50g feta cheese

4-6 cherry tomatoes

few drops of tabasco

handful fresh basil leaves

1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 tsp fresh oregano / marjoram

pinch salt

freshly ground black pepper

Preparation (pasta)

1. mix the oi land eggs together gently
2. mix the flour with the other ingredients
3. slowly mix together all ingredients and knead pasta for 5 – 10 minutes
4. wrap in cling film and let it rest for half an hour in cool place

Preparation (filling)

1. crumble feta
2. liquidise all ingredients together until smooth
3. place into an icing bag or small plastic bag (snip of corner to use)

Method

1. divide pasta dough into 4 pieces
2. knead each piece until elastic and smooth, roll thinly (setting 6 on a pasta machine)
3. Either:

use a ravioli tray (much easier) by laying a sheet of pasta over the floured tray, pressing gently into the indentations of the tray, squeezing a tiny (just bigger than a pea) amount of filling into each space, and then laying the second piece of pasta over the first, pressing gently, and then using a rolling pin the make the ravioli (it will probably not separate completely but if you tip it all out it will gently pull apart.

use a small biscuit cutter to cut out circles , squeezing filling into half of them, then adding the tops and pressing the edges together to seal.

4. allow the ravioli to dry out a little on a floured surface or cloth for about 30 minutes
5. cook for approximately 3 minutes in boiling water, drain

To Serve

With So Tomatoey Pasta Sauce, accompanied by Elli’s Super Salad.

photos to come…

Pasticcio Vegetarianio

This makes enough for about 3 to 4 people

Ingredients

2 tbsp groundnut oil

2 tbsp double cream (optional, you can use some of the yoghurt instead)

150g spiral pasta (fusilli)

1 tsp dried rosemary

freshly ground black pepper

1 sprig fresh rosemary

pinch salt

1 onion

1 bell pepper

2-3 garlic cloves

300g (one bag) frozen soya mince / quorn mince (or equivalent dried soya)

1 tin tomatoes

1 small glass wine, any colour but dry is best (chardonnay, rioja)

300ml yoghurt

2 small eggs

cheddar cheese (optional)

pinch of paprika

Preparation

1. cook pasta with drop of oil until very nearly eating tender
2. drain pasta and set to one side
3. chop veggies into small chunks
4. finely chop garlic and fresh rosemary
5. chop onion, pepper, courgette into small chunks
6. liquidise tomatoes
7. liquidise together yoghurt and eggs
8. grate cheddar cheese if being used
9. prepare dry soya in vegetable stock if using

Method

1. heat oil in a pan and fry vegis and garlic until nearly tender
2. stir in dried rosemary, black pepper and salt
3. add mince, stir and simmer for a few minutes
4. add wine and tomatoes
5. simmer gently for 15 minutes
6. mix together pasta, cream (or yoghurt) and fresh rosemary
7. pour sauce mix into a casserole dish
8. layer over the pasta (you can do two layers of each if you prefer)
9. pour yoghurt / egg mix over the top, making sure you cover all the pasta (it will run down the sides but it doesn’t matter)
10. sprinkle on grated cheese if using
11. sprinkle on paprika
12. cook for 15 – 25 minutes in oven at 200C or until topping is firm and beginning to brown

To Serve

As is.

photos to come…

Cozmik Calzones

This makes 2 VERY LARGE calzone pizzas

Ingredients (base)

8oz plain flour

1/2 tsp sugar

pinch salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tbs olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano / mixed herbs

5 oz cold water

1 sachet easy blend yeast

Ingredients (filling)

1 medium to large red onion

1 bell pepper

tomato passata or rich pizza topper

pinch salt

freshly ground black pepper

50-100 grm feta

50-100 grm cheddar

50-100 grm mozzarella

selection from: small courgette, 200g black eyes peas (or other pulses), olives, pickled jalapenos

Preparation (base)

1. mix all base ingredients in a bowl
2. knead on floured surface for at least 5 minutes
3. place in a lightly oiled plastic bag or loosely wrap in cling film
4. put in a warm place (on top of television for example) for about an hour

Preparation (filling)

1. chop onion, pepper, courgette into small chunkc
2. rinse and slice olives
3. finely chop jalapeno
4. grate cheddar cheese
5. wash and drain pulses
6. chop or crumble feta

Method (base)

1. Cut / divide the dough into equal halves
2. roll each half into a 30cm diameter circle (or the size or your baking tray)
3. Place each piece on its own baking tray with about 1/3 of the dough hanging off

Method (filling)

1. spread about 1-2 tbsp of passata or rich pizza topper over the half of the base on the tray
2. spread the toppings over, in any order
3. fold the other half of the pizza over and press the edges loosely together
4. cook for 15-25 minutes on about 200 C, turning halfway through

To Serve

Be serious! As is.

photos to come…

Welcome to !BooPerFooD!

So anyway, this is at least the third incarnation of !BooPerFooD! which is basically my own recipes online for me. However, please try them out, tell me how it went, and what to improve.
All the recipes are vegetarian, most are mine (although often adapted from traditional meat dishes). All are tried and tested favourites.
Please also check out the sister site for Vegetarian Baby-led weaning which is at the moment at VeggieBLW but hopefully will be moving over here soon.