Tana Ramsay’s Family Kitchen: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Every Family

golden caster sugar

4 round tbsp natural organic yoghurt

4 tsp runny honey (1 tsp per portion)

Serves: 4 children

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

1 Lightly toast the oat flakes in a small frying pan until golden brown. Take care not to burn them. Take off the heat and remove a few oat flakes and put aside. Meanwhile, place the blueberries and raspberries into a small saucepan, add water and a sprinkle of golden caster sugar and heat gently, stirring occasionally.

2 Add the yoghurt to the pan of toasted oat flakes and gently stir through.

3 When the fruit is nicely warm, serve the yoghurt and oatmeal into a small bowl, spoon on the fruit, drizzle over the honey and sprinkle over the reserved oat flakes.

Tips

• This is really tasty with banana, and a good way to use up any over-ripe ones laying in the bottom of the fruit bowl. Simply slice them into the yoghurt when it is in the frying pan.

• To serve this as a dessert you can simply leave out the oat flakes and crumble digestive or ginger nut biscuits into the yoghurt and add fruit.

• You can also toast some flaked almonds with the oats.

I measure the ingredients in spoons – it’s too early in the morning for weighing!

wholemeal pancakes with caramelized apples (#ulink_4bd701d5-db52-5d0f-8576-b11f85da4478)

This is a delicious sweet treat for breakfast. I mix the wholemeal flour with some plain white flour, as using just wholemeal flour makes the pancakes too heavy.

75g/3oz plain flour

25g/1oz wholemeal flour

250ml/9fl oz semi-skimmed milk

2 eggs

3 Bramley apples

50g/2oz butter

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

Serves: 4 children (makes about 8 pancakes)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

1 Start by putting the flours, milk and eggs in the liquidizer and blitzing for about 2 minutes.

2 Peel and core the apples and slice quite thinly. Heat half the butter in a frying pan and add the cinnamon. Let it bubble for a minute before adding the sliced apples. Sprinkle over the sugar and very carefully turn the apples over so that they are coated in the buttery syrup. Turn the heat down and allow to cook gently. Keep an eye on them while you are cooking the pancakes and turn them over from time-to-time to allow them to cook evenly.

3 While the apples are happily cooking away, melt the rest of the butter in another frying pan and start frying the pancakes. The first pancake always seems to be a disaster, so I usually eat it myself. Pile the pancakes on a plate beside you until you have made them all.

4 Divide the apple mixture between the pancakes and roll up. Drizzle a little maple syrup over each one to guarantee a good day ahead!

Tip

• It’s a good idea to make the batter the night before and leave in the fridge until the morning. As well as saving time, it improves the batter by allowing it to rest.

porridge with blueberries (#ulink_0752c36d-9671-56e7-abad-5d57f78a8c32)

I love sending the children off to school with a tummy full of porridge – you know they will have enough in there to last until lunchtime with great energy! If I am going running I know it helps my energy levels.

100g/4oz porridge oats

1 300ml/10½fl oz water

600ml/1 pint whole milk

150g/6oz blueberries

soft brown sugar or maple syrup

Serves: 4 children

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

1 If I am making this for breakfast the next day, I always try to remember to put the oats and water in a saucepan the night before and leave it with the lid on overnight. It just reduces the cooking time, which is always a good thing when I’m trying to get everyone to school on time.

2 Pour the milk onto the oats and water and gently bring to the boil, stirring all the time.

3 Turn the heat down and simmer for about 7 minutes, until the porridge is thick and creamy.

4 Divide between four bowls, sprinkle with blueberries and a little maple syrup or sugar.

fruit gratin (#ulink_81aa83ae-3359-50f4-baae-d40bb41d6385)

Although this might seem a slightly odd choice for breakfast, it is very quick to make, especially if you make the batter the night before and leave it in the fridge. You can then simply pour the batter into the dish, pop in the fruit and put it in the oven to cook while you dress the children and yourself!

The aim of this dish is that the fruit should be surrounded by a soft, only just set, cake. It’s almost like having Yorkshire pudding with jam on top! You need to serve it straight from the oven, otherwise it will continue to cook and become hard and stodgy.