Happy St David’s Day
Mar 01, 2024
When you’re on the verge of burnout, just managing the day-to-day can be tough. Engaging in traditions and activities with your children may seem like the last thing you have energy for. However, blending simple tasks like cooking dinner with some meaningful ‘Us Time’ can be surprisingly beneficial. Especially when you use nutritious ingredients.
Today here in Wales, it’s St David’s Day or Dydd Gwyl Dewi. It’s a day when we celebrate St David, who was a Celtic monk who spread the message of Christianity in Wales. Cawl is the Welsh National Dish (our soup) and leeks are the national emblem of Wales. The Patron Saint of Wales would make his Welsh soldiers wear a leek on their helmet in an ancient battle in a leek field.
Every year we make our traditional leek and potato soup with the kids. For busy mums, this cawl recipe is quick and simple to make and a great way to ensure your child gets the essential vitamins and minerals they need.
It only involves a handful of ingredients. Plus, it’s like a fun sneak peek into the backstory of celebrations and traditions.
And guess what?
There’s a bit of kitchen magic involved too – turning solids into liquids, throwing in some ingredient counting, and getting the timing just right. It’s a tasty way to learn a little of everything. Take a look here for the recipe if you’re looking for something quick and easy to do to celebrate St David’s day with your child. Happy Childcare Celebrating St David’s Day (emmagrantauthor.com)
This year though the kids are all mashed potatoes mad, so we decided to create a new Leek dish using our emblem, the much-understated leek and we’ve made Creamy Leek Cheesy Smash. Although not a traditional national Welsh dish, it still uses mostly the same ingredients. So, if you want to try something different, give this a go. The kids can get stuck in as measurements don’t have to be precise and consistency of mash can be adapted to suit personal preferences.
Creamy Leek Cheesy Smash Recipe
Peel and dice up 10 good sized potatoes and boil.
Slice up 2 large leeks and cook for 10 mins until soft and drain.
Mash the potatoes with a knob of butter.
Mix the cooked leeks in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of double cream or crème fraiche and 2-3 handfuls of grated cheese. We used mature cheddar but again choose whatever cheese you please. Here in south Wales, Caerphilly makes some excellent cheeses, so you can experiment and keep it Welsh!
Grind in some black pepper into the mixture (not all kids like black pepper but I recommend putting some in, as black pepper will help them absorb and double the nutrients in the dish). Then fold the leeks and cream mixture into the mashed potato and give it a smash with the potato masher until it’s at the consistency you like.
This is delicious with a pork loin or chop and some green beans.
However, most young children find chewing pork a task so you can swap the pork for some sausages and add petite pois or sweet corn instead.
It was a hit! The kids enjoyed the preparing of this dish and equally eating it for tea.
Leeks are a tasty super vegetable that can give your child vitamins- C, A, B complex, and minerals- potassium, calcium and phosphorus, providing lots of health benefits such as- cell function, energy and healthy bones.
The super starch white potato also offers- B6, B12, C, Folate, Niacin, Riboflavin, and Thiamine vitamins. As well as minerals - magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and iron, good for electrolyte balance, cell and collagen production, bone health and heart.
That’s tea time sorted!
Hapus St Dydd Gŵyl Dewi special thanks to Twinkl for the fun St David's Day Collage daffodils.
Em x
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