Chocolate pudding

Where better to start than with pudding?

Gotchy puddin

One of Leo's Godparents is vegan and his wife had suddenly developed a startling and seriously life threatening dairy allergy (she's much better now but it was scary for a year or so). Vegan = tofu, in my simplistic, totally carniverous, cheese-loving book, so while idly browsing the web for vegan recipes involving tofu, I stumbled across this little gem. I have altered it slightly to get in a little more nutrition, also I use cows milk here but it works equally well with unsweetened almond milk.  Both kids love it and it is way better then a yoghurt in the lunchbox for the girl - less sugar, more protein, a good dose of flavenoids from the cocoa powder and a heap of good fats from the avocado.  Leo calls it 'Gotchy Puddin'.  Aw, bless.

Here it is - it's a big recipe which makes between 5 and 10 of the Sistema Yoghurt to Go 150ml round containers (Amazon, £2.99 for 2 as an add on, also available from other websites - I think I bought mine from Staples, of all places), depending on the size of the bananas and the amount of milk you have to add to help it all blend up together.  It takes about 10 minutes from start to fridge.

• 2 boxes of silken tofu - I buy Yutaka Tofu 349g from Tesco
• 3 or 4 bananas, the riper the better
• 1 avocado
• 4-6 tbsp cocoa powder - I use Cadbury Bournville because it's delicious and not too expensive
• 4 tbsp caster sugar (or honey, maple syrup, agave - whatever you like. Not stevia, it's horrid).
• Milk enough to blend it all, around 100-200ml. I prefer full fat.
• A smoothie blender

1. Break up the bananas and blend with the sugar and a little milk.
2. Add the avocado and blend some more.
3. Add the cocoa powder and blend, adding milk to keep it moving.
4. Finally squeeze the tofu out of the boxes and keep whizzing until smooth. You may need to add more milk and give it a little stir (blender off, please) until all the tofu has blended.
5. Feel free to add more chocolate or sugar, maybe some vanilla essence depending on your tastes.  I added smooth peanut butter to one batch.  It's delicious but makes the texture a little grainy.  I also tried just flavouring with vanilla but I needed so much sugar that it wasn't worth it.
6. Pour into the containers and refrigerate until it firms up. This keeps well for about a week unless your family love it, in which case it won't stay in the fridge for a week.

The best part - you don't notice that the avocado goes brown after a few hours. Also, lording it over everyone at work because you're eating chocolate pudding and they aren't.
The worst part - the dishwasher sometimes can't get rid of all the tofu so you end up scrubbing the pots by hand when you really should be getting ready for work.

Nutritional info:
Tofu is a good source of protein and contains all eight essential amino acids. It is also an excellent source of iron and calcium and the minerals manganese, selenium and phosphorous. In addition, tofu is a good source of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1. Tofu is an excellent food from a nutritional and health perspective. It is thought to provide the same sort of protection against cancer and heart disease as soya beans. [BBC Good Food https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ingredient-focus-tofu].
Tofu is also very low in calories, with only 62 kcal per 100g

Cocoa powder may elevate your mood because it provides phenethlyamine which is a neurotransmitter found in the brain that acts as a natural antidepressant.  It also provides a decent amount of fibre (25g per tbsp) and plenty of flavenoids (polyphenols) which are really great antioxidants.

Avocados are an excellent source of monounsaturated fats and vitamin E, great for keeping your heart and skin healthy by controlling blood pressure and mopping up free radicals.  They are high in calories but that's ok - there's only 1 in this recipe and kids need plenty of healthy calories to keep them functioning at their best.  They also contain carotenoids which help to keep the eyes healthy.

Bananas are high in potassium - important for healthy nerves and muscles, and pectin, a form of fibre.  They also provide magnesium and vitamins C and B6, helping to control inflammation, blood sugars, strengthen the immune system by aiding the production of white blood cells, and best of all, help to protect against the development of type 2 diabetes.  Amazeballs.  Amazenanas?

Milk from cows provides calcium and vitamin D, great for building bones, along with iodine which is vital for the thyroid and a healthy metabolism.

Sugar is apparently our enemy at the moment but frankly, pudding isn't pudding without some of the white stuff.  However, kids are busy growing brains and bodies and jumping on literally everything, so sugar is actually ok for them in limited amounts.  Just be careful that they're not overdoing it with extras such as sweets, drinks and breakfast cereals (some of which have no more nutrition than a plate of chocolate biscuits...).  

Incidentally, I found out later that the vegan Godparent doesn't really like chocolate.  Shouldn't have bothered really...

Meet Leo

Leo, practicing for being Widow Twankey

This is Leo. He is 2.

Leo only eats pasta.

Mummy is worried that Leo will turn into one of those people who need psychological help to overcome food phobias, and goes on channel 4 because everyone wants to be famous, and vomits every time a piece of cucumber touches his lips.

Let's be honest. Mummy probably just needs to get over herself and stop worrying, because kids are quite good at organising their own diets thank you very much, without any help whatsoever from boring grown-ups. However, mummy feels strongly that she needs to make sure that her darling boy grows up without a serious vitamin and mineral deficiency, because mummy is a classic middle class worrier and would hate it if the other boys on the future rugby team laughed at her son because his legs were wonky and he broke in two every time he was tackled. See, I told you she is a worrier. And middle class.

So therefore mummy has made it her life's mission to squeeze some good food in there somehow, even if it kills her in the process. Well done mummy.

I also have a daughter who has made it to 9 without wonky legs, poor eyesight or snapping in two. She was a fussy eater and lived most of her formative years on a diet of Philadelphia sandwiches, cheesy beany pasta and yoghurt. But she also ate lots fruit, prawns, avocado and Vegemite sandwiches (she did a lot of growing up in New Zealand).  Also 'fairy bread' (Google this, please. I nearly had heart failure when her Kiwi nursery thought this was an appropriate snack for a 2 year old) and strange red sausages.  But that's life sometimes.  When in Rome, etc.

The boy? Not so much.

Fruit? No. Unless it's strawberries, and one feels like it, and it's a full moon, and one has slept well, and is wearing the correct bib, and you, mother, YOU, have removed just the right amount of hull, and they're not too cold, or not too warm, and definitely NOT TOUCHING EACH OTHER, and most definitely not if one has already taken a nibble of that one.

Chicken?  By Holy Jeezy Chreezy mother, are you trying to POISON one?

Roast dinner?  ROAST DINNER? There are no words to describe the horror... Mother, leave me be, one would rather eat the contents of one's own nappy.  Actually pass me a Yorkshire pudding. NO NO THAT ONE!  I only eat the crunchy ones, for God's sake.  NO NOT THAT ONE EITHER!  Do you know nothing about small boys?

I'm sure you've been there too, unless you're my mother-in-law, who's two sons literally devoured everything in sight (and still do), and helpfully reminds me of that fact frequently. Yup.  Thanks.

So I'm trying to get together some recipes and tips for sneakily making my boy grow up tall and strong, and most definitely unlikely to snap in half.

I work as a chemistry teacher in a sixth form college, so all of my ideas need to be quick, easy and shoppable from Tesco online in a hurry. As a proper science nerd, I am also fantastically boring about nutritional content, so I'll be putting in a piece at the end of each post telling all about the good stuff.  I hope you enjoy reading them, and maybe try out a few for yourself.

I wish us luck.  And hope my beloved mother-in-law forgives me for that earlier comment.  I do love her very much and value her advice extremely.  She is also an incredible cook and a wonderful, warm, sweet, kind person.  Pretty perfect really, best MIL ever.

Too much?  Time to stop digging, methinks...