MEDITERRANEAN SALAD

This is a really simple salad to make and a good way for kids to start getting used to dressing as the bread will cut the acidity of the vinegar. You need:
2 tomatoes (cut in cubes)
1 cucumber (cut in cubes)
1 pitta bread (put it in a toaster so that it becomes crunchy and then tear it into small bits)
2 table spoons of olive oil,
1 table spoon of vinegar
salt
All you need to do is to m ix all the ingredients and serve.
For some weird reason my children only eat salad if they prepare it so I always ask them to mix the ingredients and add the dressing. They can almost do this on their own... but remind them to wash the vegetables first!

GREEN PESTO

You can eat this sauce with pretty much anything: all types of pasta, rice, grilled chicken, roast fish, as a dip with raw vegetables... or simply over a piece of crusty bread.
You need:
50 gr basil ( if you want to make it cheaper use 50 gr basil and 25 gr spinach instead)
a handful of grated cheese (ideally parmesan, but for a cheaper version use strong cheddar)
a handful of pine nuts
half a clove of garlic
olive oil ( 1 glass and a bit more to cover the sauce after it is ready)
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend them well. That is all.
You can store this for a week and a half in the fridge covering the top of the sauce with some olive oil (around 1 cm) to prevent discolouring.
The children can do this on their own except that you need to supervise them while they use the blender.

VEGETABLES SOUP

This is an everyday soup that you can prepare with any vegetable leftovers. All in all it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get this done.
We did the one below with what we happened to have in the kitchen, namely:
3 carrots
1 onion
1 leak
1 clove of garlic
half a yellow pepper
three leaves of swiss chard (both the green and the white bits)
2 table spoons of olive oil
750 ml of water (no need to bother with stock - it will be less flavoursome but more healthy)
salt and pepper
1 bay leave
you can add a couple of potatoes, or a courgette, or green beans, a bit of parsley... you name it.
Heat the oil on a (deep) pan over medium to high heat. Add all the vegetables cut into cubes (not too small). Add also the bay leave and the salt. When it starts getting golden add the water (we added it cold but if you are in a hurry just add hot water from the kettle) When you see the first bubbles reduce the heat to low, wait for 10 minutes and then take the bay leave out and blend the soup either with a hand blender (easier) or in a normal blender. Add more salt if needed and some pepper. You can serve this soup with a bit of cream, or with croutons, or with some boiled egg cut into small cubes on top.

The kids can and did help with all of this but they need supervision as the water gets very hot. They like experimenting with vegetable combinations that would work well. Carrots, onions, courgettes and leeks are our current winner.

PLAIN SCONES

These are fun for the kids to make and they cheer up any rainy weekend afternoon. We tried various recipes but the best (by far) was the recipe from James Martin below (slightly adapted). You need:
75 gr butter (room temperature)
225 gr self raising flour
50 g sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1 tbsp milk
a pinch of salt
Pre-heat the over to 220 degrees. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until the whole thing looks like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar . Beat the egg, milk and yogurt together and add it to the mixture. Mix it all with a knife and then at the end with your hands. Roll the dough into a 3 cm circle and start cutting out the scones with your cutter. The scones should look tall and thick. Put them on a greased baking tray (we used a silicon tray from Lakeland instead) and brush a bit of yogurt on top. Sprinkle a tiny bit of flour over the scones and bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve with cream and strawberry jam.
The kids did most of this but they particularly enjoyed cutting the scones with their mini-cutters.

ANZAC BISCUITS

One of my sons has been studying the World Wars at school and as a result we have been looking into food they ate at that time. We found in a book (Baking Magic) a recipe for Anzac biscuits which were apparently  cooked for the soldiers in Australia and New Zealand during the First World War. They are a sort of a cross between a biscuit and a flapjack. The kids thought they were yummy - so not sure I managed to convey to them the feeling of 'post-War tough times' as I wanted to but at least we tried...
You need:
100 gr oats
150 gr plain flour
100 gr soft light brown sugar
115 gr butter
50 gr dessicated coconut
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp hot water
half tsp bicarbonate of soda
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Mix the oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Heat the butter and golden syrup until the butter is melted. Separately, mix the hot water and bicarb and add it to the butter - this produces lots of foam. Put this foamy butter over the flour mixture and mix it all well. Make little balls of the mixture with your hands and put them over a baking tray (lined with baking paper) ensuring there is some space between them. Bake for 10 minutes. Let them rest on a wire rack for a few minutes after you take them out of the oven. Enjoy.

EASY PASTA WITH BACON AND PEAS

The kids wanted a recipe that they could cook 'even when I am not there'. They have rehearsed this one various times so they know the steps by heart. This time my eldest did it all on his own (except for draining the pasta). He was seriously proud of the dish - and so was I!
You need:
- pasta (we used spaghetti, but you can use any kind of dried pasta)
- olive oil (1 tablespoon)
- a clove of garlic (optional) - crushed
- frozen peas ( 150 gr)
- bacon (100 gr, cut into little cubes - you can buy this already cut at the supermarket)
- creme fraiche ( 3 table spoons), I have also done this in the past with single cream (150 ml) or milk (150 ml). Once I triedthis  with Philadelphia cheese (3 table spoons) and it was also good.
Boil the pasta in plenty of salty water following the packet instructions and drain it well.
While the pasta is boiling fry the bacon on the olive oil (medium heat). After 3 minutes (when the bacon is a little golden) add the crushed clove of garlic if you are using it (if you do not like garlic just disregard this step). Let it fry for just one minute and add the frozen peas and the salt (to taste) Wait for 3-4 minutes and add the creme fraiche. Wait until you see that bubbles appear. That is all there is to it.
Mix the pasta with the sauce and put some grated Parmesan on top.
I do not say it only because my children made it but it is very-very delicious.

PANCAKES

These are really simple to make. You can eat them with lemon and sugar as a dessert, or with maple syrup or jam for breakfast. My children have tried many times to flip the pancakes over and they are only now getting the hang of it.
You need:
-1 glass of plain flour
- 1 glass of milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
-  a tablespoon of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- butter
You also need a non-stick pan (preferably very small)

Mix well all the ingredients except the butter (either by hand or with a hand held mixer). Heat the pan (medium to high heat) with a bit of butter on top  (the size of a hazelnut more or less). When the butter is melted pour enough of the pancake mixture to coat the pan. After 2-3- minutes (when you see bubbles appearing over the surface of the pancake) turn the pancake around with the help of a spatula or by flipping it over your head if you dare it. Wait for another minute and serve immediately.
The children can -and like to- do all this pretty much on their own provided you supervise it closely as they can burn themselves when turning the pancake around.