Real Food Kids Will Love By Annabel Karmel – Book Review

Over the years I have purchased a number of books by Annabel Karmel. Did you know that she has written 41 cookbooks in total? Annabel Karmel’s career spans 25 years and she has become the UK’s No.1 children’s cookery author. In fact Annabel has inspired families all over the world to cook healthy meals that the whole family enjoys.

I have four children ranging from 7-17, I first discovered Annabel Karmel’s cookery books when my first son was at weaning stage, I then progressed to a family cooking book which I still use today.

Annabel Karmel released a new book last week and I am very fortunate to be offered the chance to review her new book called Real food kids will love.

As a busy mum I often slip into the bad habit on relying on ready made sauces to make spag bol or a pasta bake for speed and convenience. Also I need inspiration once in a while to deviate from the meals we always have (usually based around mince or chicken!) This book is packed with inspiration and lots of tempting recipes, in fact there are over 100!

I like to create meals that the whole family can enjoy and although my youngest are now seven the recipes will certainly be enjoyed by everyone in the family. Cooking can be a little hazardous in our household as my son suffers from serious food allergies – namely nuts and fish. We don’t use anything that contains nuts at home, but the rest of the family does eat fish, we normally substitute my son’s portion with chicken.

 I decided to let my seven year old daughters choose which recipes to try and they chose the following:-

Bunny Marble Cake

This cake would be amazing  at Easter, decorated just like in the book. However chocolate is a favourite in our house at anytime of the year, so we substituted the chocolate eggs with chocolate buttons. The girls added a few fluffy chicks to add to the effect.

The cake was really easy to make and the marble effect worked perfectly. We normally buy a chocolate cake from M&S which is delicious, but I can honestly say that this cake tastes much better and we may use it as a base for birthday cakes in the future. The girls verdict was that it’s “the best cake ever!”

Vegetable train

We had such a lot of fun making this and my daughters ate much more veg than they normally do, they even tried the dip which is previously unheard of! This recipe would be fab for a children’s birthday tea as a centrepiece.

Our effort wasn’t quite as impressive as the book, but we all loved it!

How cute are the wheels on the carriages!

I definitely feel that this new book by Annabel Karmel will be well used by our family. 

I love the way that the recipes are divided into sections and that there are meat-free and vegan recipes. I am looking forward to trying out some of the lunchbox recipes as it’s an area where I lack inspiration – anyone want a ham sandwich for the 300th time this year! For inspiration on family picnics read this fab post by Thimble and Twig

Real Food Kids Will Love is available here and is currently priced £11.89