We Are Family

I always used to love a Saturday. Wake late, pub early, football, return to the pub, stumble home. Him and I have had some blooming marvellous Saturdays spent like this, our relationship has been built on these kinds of days. I'm not quite sure of my feelings of them having been non-existent for more than a year now.

Now the Wee One is with us, I'm determined Saturdays are going to be just as much fun, albeit a lot less boozy. Today we headed to the library, all three of us for a song and rhyme time run by the Scottish Book trust. We had a lot of fun and the Wee One was very vocal. We sneaked off for a wonderful lunch and then strolled a out in the sunshine before returning home to relax.

Now that's what I'm talking about, a proper good Saturday! And it didn't end there, we still had dinner to think about. Following on from last nights deconstructed fajitas, I reckoned I could continue the theme. The Wee One loved it! She munched happily on some griddled chicken, slices of avocado and roasted sweet potato wedge. We were sans high chair this evening because it was getting washed and dried, so she was between two laps. It might be my addled baby brain, but I truly think there was less mess tonight. Deconstructed food works well, and I think it embodies Baby Led Weaning. Obviously at nearly 3 weeks in, I'm not expecting my 6 month old to be eating a full dinner like us yet, but taking out elements of our meal is making it very easy on me. Our aim, of course, is that eventually she will be eating what we do, whether that's a salad, soup or a homemade curry.

All three of us thoroughly enjoyed our dinner tonight. The chicken and avocado were given the most attention by the Wee One. Him even gave the dish glowing praise.

Here's to more Saturdays like this.

Chicken, Bacon & Avocado Salad

1 packet of Baby Spinach Leaves
1 punnett of Plum Cherry Tomatoes
2 Chicken Breasts
3 slices of Smoked Bacon
1 Avocado
Dressing of your choice (We had Paul Newman's ranch)

1. Wash spinach and tomatoes and set aside. Peel, stone and slice avocado. Cover with a little lemon juice and set aside.

2. In a hot griddle pan fry the bacon, with no oil, until crispy. Remove from the pan and leave to one side.

3. Butterfly the chicken breasts. After your griddle pan is clean again, heat until just before smoking stage, usually 1 minute to 2 minutes. Cook chicken in the griddle pan until cooked through. This should only take around 5 minutes if you have butterflied the chicken thinly enough.

4. Arrange spinach and tomatoes on two plates. Slice the cooked chicken and bacon thinly and sprinkle on top. Arrange the avocado on top as well. Serve with dressing as you like it and a bowl of roasted sweet potato wedges.