One thing we can all agree on as parents is that our time is precious, so the thought of a whole book by Rebecca Wilson that's dedicated to nutritious and delicious recipes suitable for both babies and grown-ups is music to our ears. The best part? All the recipes can be cooked and prepped in as little as 10 minutes.
Rebecca Wilson’s latest recipe book, fast family food is full of recipes that are suitable for weaning babies, fussy toddlers, parents, grandparents and everyone in between. “I have a lot of people telling me that they don't actually have any children, so you really don't actually need children to enjoy the recipes. They are just proper wholesome family meals.”
Containing over 100 recipes, they can all be prepped and cooked in just 10 minutes. Not only are they great if you’re in a rush, but they’re also super simple and easy to cook, making them ideal if you’re not the most confident cook.
“All the recipes are really minimal and super simple for easy cooking. There’s even a chapter on no cooking for recipes that require no heat at all for when you just can't be bothered!”
Cooking for her daughter Nina has really helped inspire Rebecca’s new recipes, and many of the recipes are ones that Nina is a fan of at home. She also takes guidance from the recipes most successful from her previous books and the recipes that go down best on her popular Instagram page.
“The most popular recipes are all the super speedy ones, the ones that have got minimal prep time, and that are simple and fast, but still really, really delicious for the whole family. So, I thought why not make a whole book with recipes?”
One huge area of focus for Rebecca’s recipes is nutrition and health, so it’s great to hear she’s limited things like salt and sugar in all the recipes to make them suitable for small stomachs.
“I developed recipes that are suitable for little ones to enjoy, which means that they have very minimal amounts of salt and sugar in the right textures and I also give advice on how to serve the meals for your little one. It means you can still eat delicious food and share it together with your children so that they grow up to be confident little eaters because by watching us all eat together really helps minimise those fussy tendencies and helps to grow confident little eaters.”
Rebecca is also very passionate about offering young eaters a variety of new flavours and textures in their diet but equally understands that some foods just aren’t that tasty.
“For instance, cabbage, I don't often make recipes using cabbage. If you offer your little one cabbage, they're probably going to turn their nose up at it. So, I make it my mission to make it delicious and make it exciting and include it in recipes that are suitable for the whole family and that are going to excite families. In this book, I made my sesame cabbage squares and they are so delicious. Nina will not eat cabbage by itself, but in this, she absolutely loves it. So that's really how I create my recipes. I tried to think of ways to incorporate different types of everyday ingredients into recipes and to food that's going to be exciting and appealing for everybody.”
Rebecca's favourite recipes
Fish pie - I love my pie - it takes all the elements of a fish pie with the different types of fish, the creamy white sauce, with an added twist.
Slow cooker pulled chicken tikka - There's always one hero recipe in every book and so far I think it's gonna be my slow cooker pulled chicken tikka, because I can't even tell you how many people have been making it every day. It's basically chicken that you slow cook in your slow cooker so it falls apart making it super tender and it's in a lovely spiced chicken tikka marinade sauce.
We're also enjoying the pizza crackers, aubergine stew, 10-minute dahl and cherry Bakewell flapjacks from the book.
Rebecca on school dinners
It’s hard to believe this is Rebecca’s fourth recipe book and her daughter Nina is now off to school. Thinking back to our school days and school dinners, we couldn’t help but wonder how Nina is getting on with her school dinners, especially having a mum like Rebecca.
“She enjoys them! Having that exposure to different types of foods away from the home is only going to do a world of good to help our little ones become more confident. The more exposure they have to it, the more likely that they will enjoy it, especially if they're eating with their friends and having more peer support.”
Weaning has always been a real passion for Rebecca, and it’s where her career in family food began. Now her little one is fully grown up, what are her words of advice for parents about to embark on their own weaning journey?
“I think the moral of the story is that you’ve just got to try and trust your own gut instincts and trust that what you're doing is the right thing and try not to worry too much.”
Using less energy when you cook
“What's great about this book is that it's got a slow cooker chapter and a batch cooking chapter. Now both of these things are really great for minimising food spending. Because it's much cheaper to buy in bulk and cook in bulk so you’re using that energy to cook only once and then be reheating for a short amount of time. Or even just enjoying it cold. I think it's much cheaper to do that.
Using a slow cooker means you can use cheap meat and vegetables in there like root vegetables, which are often cheaper, especially this time of year. These are great to put into a slow cooker because low and slow cooking makes your meat nice and it's much cheaper as well.
Rebecca’s advice on avoiding fussy eaters
"Fussiness isn't just that they don't like the taste, there are so many different factors involved - their mood or not knowing how to actually physically eat the food could be affecting this. Offering a wide variety of food can really help minimise fussiness. Often we feel like if they won’t eat something, we don't serve it to them so we’re not allowing them the opportunity to give it a go. It can actually take up to 20 times of trying something for a little one to know if they like it or not. We need to just keep offering it to our little ones and keep on going because the more exposure they get to foods, the more likely they are to give it a go.
I really recommend avoiding offering an alternative when your child refuses to eat something. Of course, you should take that on a situation-by-situation basis, but you know your own child. As a general rule, I would say, try to avoid offering alternatives because your little one will remember that action next time, and if they don't want to try something, they will just ask you for something else. It’ll mean they're less likely to be willing and open to trying the food if they feel like there's a better alternative coming."
Are sweet treats and junk food ever okay?
“I think everything in moderation. I don't believe personally that the right thing to do is to completely restrict a child entirely because all they do is build up a desire for it when they get older, and then they'll over-binge. Also, your food is there to be enjoyed and if those kinds of things are enjoyable then that's okay every now and again. I think it's important to teach our little ones that there's no right or wrong foods, you just eat everything in moderation.”
Fast Family Food by Rebecca Wilson is published by DK, 15 September. £18.99.
