Ella's Kitchen: The Easy Family Cookbook

Honestly, I thought this would be one of those quick flick through to realise it was not for me. I can cook, and cook well, and LO eats everything he is given, including tofu and mushroom curry, spag bols, lentil casseroles, chicken and pasta bake etc. BUT, I am getting bored with the same old and did want some inspiration for colour and more interesting recipes for him and got this book. Like I say, thought it would be going back, but I appear to have brought the red and yellow ones today too, on the back of having had a quick look and then a more thorough look. There are some lovely recipes in here, with nice and unusual (but not so unusual you will be trekking across the country to find them) ingredients in them. I wasn't overly fond of the layout, but that is my adult brain being sensible, and when LO gets poking fingers in it, I will see it with different eyes for sure. It is definitely a family cookbook, and I really am looking forwards to getting the others as well as starting to create some more colourful meals. Sometimes you just need a wake up book, and this is my one, and I am glad of it.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! I was stuck for inspiration for family meals and had purchased several baby led books whereby the recipes were bland and tasteless. Here there are a number of easy to make but importantly delicious meals. Family faves include the baked risotto, salmon lasagne and zingy lamb with capers! The party food section is awesome too, the vegetable sausage rolls went down like a treat! It's nice that these meals can be easily adapted to suit started of weaning too!

I love this cook book. I am not very imaginative when it comes to cooking and with two very young children I find it hard to find the time to cook. This book is great because many of the receipes are simple and can be made in batches for freezing fairly quickly. Some of the recipes 'hide' vegetables which is great for my toddler and there is a vast range of ideas to choose from. If I am being picky, I sometimes find that the prep time given is less than it takes me, but I am usually making the recipe for the first time which could be a factor. Some of the ingredients are also quite expensive or things I can't always find on my regular shop. Finally I was looking forward to trying the breakfast cake recipe but it contains honey, which I believe shouldn't be given even in cooked form to children under 12 months, but the book doesn't mention this, which I feel it should since it is designed for the whole family. However in its defence there are icons next to the recipes that can be adapted for babies from either 7 months or 10 months onwards. As much as I love this cookbook, for the ages of my children (one baby and one toddler) I have found that I use Annabel Karmels new complete baby and toddler meal planner more and it's also very helpful with weaning.

I love this book! So many tasty recipes, cute and colourful photos, and ideas to make meals fun. My daughter (2 y/o) is always asking to look at this book (along with the others in the series)! The only downside is that she likes it so much, I sometime have to pry it out of her hands so I can cook with it!

Good recipes but sometimes there's so many ingredients I don't have the time for it all

Great recipes in this book, but price could be lowered considerably by excluding all the many photos of carefully posed simpering children displaying the most appalling table manners (e.g reaching across the table for the largest crispest roast potato yelling 'that one's mine'), or spreading the food all over their faces, as we all know small children are prone to do - no need for a picture of it! I think there are other books on this subject offering better ideas and better value.

I already have the yellow baking book from Ella's Kitchen, which I love, so I was excited at the release of this new family cookbook. I haven't​ been disappointed. The book contains a range of recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner and also puddings. There is a good variety of recipes and they are easy to follow and don't require any strange ingredients. Most of the main meals are based on meat but there are also several vegetarian recipes. For me, the most useful part of any cookbook for kids is the snacks and puddings; I am always looking for healthier versions. These puddings use reduced quantities of sugar and/ or replace sugar with small amounts of maple syrup or honey (yes I know it's still sugar) so they can be given as part of a balanced diet and don't have to be saved for an occasional treat. The book is colourful and attractive - my 3 year old thinks it's great too and straight away asked to look through it and help me pick what to bake first. What we have made has gone down well.

Is what it said it was

My 16 mth old loves the recipes, as do we. We all eat the same now, so much easier than separate meals!

I like the illustrations and the way the book is set up but the majority of recipes are listed as “easy” but then the ingredients aren’t necessarily something that you keep on hand in your kitchen. For example: clear honey, self rising wholemeal flour, courgette (I don’t even know what this is!!!), and the list goes on! It also has a LOT of recipes for lamb, which I hate, and pork, which I eat very sparingly. I tried to return it so I could purchase the red book but they are charging me half of the cost of the book to return it. Needless to say, it will collect dust on my shelf…..maybe I can find someone to give it away to. Someone who loves lamb….

This would be a great book for kids to help with the meal planning and cooking ,a great way for families to enjoy the full enjoyment of the food experience .

Me ha encantado. El libro tiene muchas recetas interesante, pero ademas tiene actividades para hacer con tus hijos y calendarios para planificar comidas. Es super atractivo por dentro con fotos, colores vivos y tips. Comprare mas libros de Ella's Kitchen

Good