Little Dish

Little Dish: New Recipes & A New Look

November 6, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 3 Comments

As I've said many times before, I'm fussy with the food that I let The Boy eat, always have been. In his first year I cooked everything from scratch for him so that I could guarantee the contents and quality of the food. When it came to loosening the reins a little there were very few brands that I trusted, but I genuinely always trusted the quality of the ingredients in the Little Dish meals. Now I'm back to work part-time and my mum is feeding him, I do tend to buy the ready meals as a standby, to make it easier for her if she's not up to cooking from scratch.

Recently, Little Dish have refreshed their ready meals, both visually (by introducing the 'zoo crew' to the packaging) and recipe-wise, and have a fantastic range of eight ready meals to choose from (all suitable from 12 months+). The range includes The Boy's favourites of Chicken and Butternut Squash Pie, Pasta with Cheese, Peas and Brocolli Trees, and Spaghetti and Meatballs, but also has a mild Chicken Korma too. The Boy always enjoys the flavours of these meals, and wolfs them down!

Little Dish

However, The Boy's utmost favourite meal is cheesy pasta with ham so I'm really pleased that Little Dish have done it again and produced a brand new range, this time it's fresh, free-range egg, filled pasta!

These (child) bite-size pasta come in two flavoure: Mini Tortellini with Cheese and Tomato, and Mini Ravioli with Spinach and Ricotta, and are perfect for little ones and their little tums. I also like that it gives you the freedom of which sauce you can use to accompany it and add vegetables (or ham!) as appropriate. I knocked up a bowl of Mini Tortellini with Cheese and Tomato in a cheese and ham sauce, and The Boy couldn't get enough of it!

The pasta is made with 100% natural ingredients, and cooks in just three minutes which makes it ideal for tea-time, weekend lunches, play-dates or eating in a hurry. The 230gm packets contain between 2-4 servings, depending upon how big your child's tummy is, and are ideal to keep in the fridge on standby!

Little Dish Filled Pasta is available from Waitrose and Ocado.com, priced at £1.99.

I was sent samples of these products to try, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Little Dish Meals (Review)

July 30, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 2 Comments

I have spoken before about how important it was to me when weaning The Boy to ensure that he had the best quality food, home-made as much as possible. When I returned to work after my year's maternity leave, I still cooked in bulk for him but I soon discovered the wonders of Little Dish meals and was happy to supplement his diet with them.

Why do I like Little Dish?

100% natural ingredients
no added salt or sugar
no additives or preservatives
taste tested by a panel of real-life little people who are selected to approve new recipes
suitable for home freezing
damned tasty!

Little Dish has sent a few meals for The Boy to test, and me their cookbook with over sixty recipes in it.

Chicken Risotto

This tasty meal contains bite size British chicken breast, tomatoes, butternut squash, sweet potato and cheddar cheese. Risotto is one of his favaourite meals, and this particular dish went down a treat. Like many infants, he doesn't like the texture of proper meat and finds it difficult to chew. The chicken in this meal is tenderly cooked and small enough that he manages it with no problem.

With the sun shining, he wolfed it down enjoying the balmy weather on the patio! It's a large portion and he ate three-quarters, which bearing in mind his main meal is at lunchtime, was a lot. He sat there, looking around the garden, took a big mouthful, smiled and declared (after he'd swallowed), "It's lovely, mummy!"

Beef Lasagne

Beef. He's not a fan of it and I can't cook a single thing with it that he will eat, and I didn't hold up much hope for the beef lasagne that I placed in front of him with extra cheese on top (because that always works).

He absolutely wolfed it down! The bechamel sauce was thick and creamy, the tomato ragu wasn't strong and complimented the beef well (or so my non-vegetarian husband informs me!). The above portion is half of what's in the packet so you can see that there's a fair amount.

Chicken and Butternut Squash Pie

The Chicken and Butternut Squash pie is one of The Boy's favourite Little Dish meals as it is an incredibly tasty meal. The chicken has been diced into small chunks and is easily chewed, the butternut squash is a sweet addition and the mashed potato topping is creamy and smooth. I served it with wedges and peas, knowing that he was going to be getting several of his five-a-day in the meal.

Little Dish meals are great quality and are always guaranteed to go down well with The Boy. It is reassuring to know that the ingredients are quality and natural, and the price is very reasonable especially if you split them and serve them with vegetables as we do.

I was sent three Little Dish meals for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

The Big Toddle for Barnardo's

April 24, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 4 Comments

One of The Boy's favourite brands of ready-made foods is Little Dish; the meals are nutritious and tasty and I like the ethos behind the company. When they e-mailed to tell me about the Little Dish Big Toddle on behalf of Barnardo's, I was more than happy to share the information.

Little Dish has partnered with Barnardo’s in support of the Barnardo’s Big Toddle 2012. Barnardo’s is a fantastic charity whose projects transform the lives of vulnerable children across the UK. Little Dish are running lots of exciting activities to promote the Big Toddle and are looking for your help.

The Barnardo’s Big Toddle is the UK’s biggest fundraising event for under 5’s. It is a ‘mini’ sponsored walk for children, it can be as short or long as you like, but the emphasis is on having fun, getting together with your friends and raising money for a really worthwhile cause. The Toddle attracts more than half a million children every year and all the money raised goes towards helping some of the UK’s most vulnerable children under 5.

This year the theme is Superheroes, so your children can have lots of fun dressing up and helping to ‘save the day.’

Little Dish are giving away 10 toddle starter kits to the readers of the TheBoyandMe to help you set up your own Barnardo’s Big Toddle. These include more information about the event, two day menus to suggest some activities to do with your group of toddlers, as well as some balloons and stickers too.

If you'd like to be in with a chance of receiving one, just pop a comment below by Friday 4th May and I'll pick ten at random and let you know over twitter (so make sure you're following me!)

For more information on the Big Toddle visit here