If your children are like ours you might find a few of the following ideas useful:

YUMMY FOOD

BLISSFUL BANANA BREAD

(from 'Small Helpings' by Annabel Karmel)

Ingredients:

•100g (4oz) butter

•100g(4oz)brown sugar

•450g(1lb)peeled bananas

•3 tblsp Greek yoghurt

•1 tsp vanilla essence

•250g (8oz)plain flower

•1 tblsp baking powder

•1 tsp cinnamon

•pinch of salt

•90g(3.5oz)raisins

•65g(2.5oz) chopped pecans or walnuts optional

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mark 4)

This is easiest done with a food processor. If you have one, use it to mash the bananas, pour them into a separate bowl (you'll run out of room otherwise), then mix all the other ingredients except the raisins and the nuts. Stir all together.

Without a food processor - cream butter and sugar, then add egg, then bananas, yoghurt and vanilla. Finally add flower, cinnamon and salt, then stir in raisina and nuts.

This can be cooked either as small muffins, or as a loaf. Our favourite is to use half the mixture to make a 1lb loaf, and the rest as muffins. Cook the muffins for about 20-25 minutes, and the loaf for 45-50minutes. Loaf is done when a cocktail stick inserted in middle comes out clean - well, fairly clean: the amount of bananas in this means it will always be pretty sticky. Try slicing it a spreading it thickly with butter, then watch it disappear. It also freezes beautifully.

HOT CHOCOLATE AND BANANA MILKSHAKE

Ingredients

•1/2 pt of milk (10 fl oz)

•1 or 2 ripe bananas

•1 dessert spoon of drinking chocolate

Warm milk to taste. Add banana and chocolate and blend.

Variation: Pour mixture into ice lolly mounds and freeze

BANANA PANCAKES

Ingredients

•4oz plain flour (I like to use half wholemeal and half buckwheat, but anything will do)

•2 eggs

•1/2 pt of milk

•1/4 tsp cinnamon

•1 large banana, sliced thinly

Blend all ingredients except bananas. Stir in bananas. Heat a little oil on a griddle or large, flat frying pan. Spoon a few (separate) tablespoons of mixture onto griddle. When bubbles appear, flip over. Serve hot, with butter. (Maple syrup is pretty good too, but then I'm part Canadian!)