Lockdown Recipes in a Mini Recipe Book to Make

By Jacqui Mayes

This is a little something different for you today. We have 3 delicious recipes in the blog, but also a printable PDF to make them into a delightful mini book. We thought that as schools are still closed, many of you could use a little activity to do at this time. Quite frankly, it makes a cute addition to the recipe book shelf for any age.

Here you’ll find the 3 recipes so you can easily use them straight up, but also it’ll show you how to print, fold and cut the PDF to make the mini book too.

Each recipe includes some information about why it’s ingredients are so good, especially for this odd time we find ourselves in. Immune boosting, store cupboard using, super easy and most of all, delicious!

So, on with the recipes.

Spinach and Courgette Soup

This is one of my favourite springtime soups, it is so easy to make and is absolutely delicious, but this year it is definitely going to feature on my family menu for several reasons;

Garlic is thought to have anti-viral properties and studies have shown that it may reduce viral upper respiratory infection severity.

Chicken stock contains the amino acid Cysteine which can thin mucus in the lungs to help expel it more easily. It is also thought to inhibit infection.

Spinach is rich in beta-carotene that is converted to Vitamin A which is needed to maintain the integrity of the lungs and cell membranes

1. Simply sauté 2 leeks & 2 large courgettes in 1tbsp olive oil. 
2. Once almost soft add 2 big handfuls of baby spinach, 3 big handfuls of frozen peas and 2 handfuls of wild garlic. 
3. Cover with hot chicken stock and bring to the boil. 
4. Cook for 4-5 minutes but don’t cook for too long or you’ll lose all the lovely colour. 
5. Once cooked, blend and serve with feta cheese, lemon zest and black pepper. If you haven’t got wild garlic, add 3-4 cloves of real garlic to the leeks and courgettes instead. 

   It’s so delicious and so good for you! Enjoy.

Healthy Store Cupboard Salad

When we’re following guidelines and social distancing at home, it’s important for both our immune system and mental health to eat healthy nutrient rich meals. 

Not being able to get to the shops on an ad hock basis, I’ve looked in my store cupboard and fridge and put this delicious salad together. It is a bit of a mix and match so throw in what you have if you don’t have all of the ingredients.

I used sweet potatoes, which I roasted in a little rapeseed oil until tender but not too soft, then I added a pouch of puy lentils, some giant couscous (but any couscous will do), crumbled feta cheese, sugar snap peas and spring onions. I then added some mixed leaves and drizzled with oil and balsamic vinegar.

I was lucky enough to get a pomegranate in my fruit and veg box, so I threw in some of the jewel like seeds, but the salad really won’t miss it if you haven’t got one.

Crunchy Seeded Salmon with Chinese Broccoli

This is a lovely healthy version of a family favourite. It’s really easy and most of it can be made by the kids with a bit of supervision around the hot oven and cleaning of some lovely sticky fingers! It’s full of healthy Omega 3 fats, protein and slow releasing carbohydrates.

• 4 salmon fillets, skinned and cut into chunks
• 40g plain flour
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 150g sesame seeds
• 25g fresh brown breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce , (optional)

1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Beat the egg with 1tsp of soy sauce. Mix the seeds and breadcrumbs together.
2. Dip the salmon pieces in the flour, followed by the egg, then roll in the seeds and crumbs before placing on the baking tray.
3. Cook the salmon in the preheated oven (180C) for 15 minutes.
4. While the salmon cooks, steam the broccoli to your taste
5. Mix the ketchup and sweet chilli dipping sauce together and serve with the salmon fingers

Making your mini recipe book

Start off by downloading and printing the PDF onto a plain sheet of A4 paper. This could be scrap paper as long as the side you print onto is clear, the other side ends up not showing anyway.

Make sure when you print you choose A4 boarderless so it prints right to the edges. If you forget to do this it won’t quite be the right size and the pages will be squewy. (Occasionally some printers don’t allow you to do this, you will just need to cut off a small amount of white paper from each side once printed before folding.)

Once printed, it’s time to fold!

Start by folding in half lengthways. Remember to be nice and accurate and try to get a lovely crisp fold. I used a ruler across each fold once I was happy it was accurate.

Unfold, then fold the other way.

Now fold each edge into the middle as so.

Unfold again, then fold back in half. Cut just half way through the central fold that should be clear now.

Next, unfold, refold lengthways and you should have a central slit. Push the outer edges together to get a diamond in the middle.

Keep going to form a cross

Fold over and you have finished your mini recipe book!

Isn’t it sweet? If you’re looking for more to do with your children, why don’t you get them to produce their own little books. Recipe books or not, you’ll soon have a library of them!

We’d love to see your books so do get in touch with pictures if you give it go.

Have fun and happy cooking.