In addition, infants can become seriously ill very quickly, so you need to be aware of the symptoms that may indicate serious problems and require urgent medical attention.

These include:

If you are unsure whether your infant requires medical attention, speak to your doctor or call NHS direct on 0845 46 47 – they are available 24 hours a day. You should always visit your doctor if you are worried about your child’s health. Try not to worry if you don’t leave with a prescription, it doesn’t mean your visit was a waste of time. Doctors and nurses are there to help you learn about your child’s health and reassure you if you have concerns.

Having a sick or upset child to look after can be hard work, so make sure you look after yourself too. Try to ensure you find time to sleep, relax and if possible remember to share the burden of care. If you do find yourself are struggling to cope, contact your doctor or health visitor who will be able to offer you support.

Whatever the reason, you must ensure that the medicines you give your child are appropriate for their age. The product label will clearly state for which ages a medicine is suitable.

Using specially formulated children’s medicines can help to ensure you use the correct dose. Appropriate doses for infants vary depending on their age and sometimes their weight. It is important to follow the dosage instructions carefully.

Most infants cannot swallow tablets easily until they are about 3 years old. Syrups and liquid suspensions are easier for them to swallow and most children’s oral medicines are available in these forms. Using oral medicines with a pleasant taste ensures that the infant takes it with less fuss. For young infants, it can be easier to administer some medicines using an oral syringe rather than a spoon, however, you should be careful to give them slowly into the side of the infant’s mouth, not into the back of the throat as this may cause choking.

Generally, you should avoid mixing medicines with your baby’s feed. Some medicines can react with milk and the amount of medicine received may be inadequate if your baby does not consume their entire feed. However, a few products (for example Gaviscon Infant) are specially formulated so that you can administer them in this way.

Use sugar-free medicines

Avoid additives and colourings

Some additives in medicines cause unwanted side effects in some children. The ingredients of each medicine are stated on the pack label, together with known possible side effects and precautions. Make sure you read these and always ask your pharmacist or doctor if you are unsure.

Some medicines are brightly coloured to encourage children to take them. However, many parents may prefer to avoid using brightly coloured medicines as there is some concern, although unproven, that these artificial colourings may be linked with allergic type reactions (e.g. asthma) and hyperactivity in some children.

Babies and young children are more likely to pick up harmful infections than older children or adults because their immune systems are still developing. They are also more likely to be seriously ill as a result. Timely immunisations can prevent some of the most dangerous diseases, but frequent family hand washing and a good home hygiene routine are also necessary to help keep your family healthy.

Wash your hands frequently

To remove the germs that cause colds, flu, diarrhoea and other infections, it is particularly important to wash your hands;

• before handling food or feeding a baby
• immediately after handling raw food (e.g. meat, poultry, eggs, vegetables)
• after going to the toilet, changing a nappy or handling a potty
• after touching pets or pet areas
• after touching anything dirty (e.g. nappies, waste, tissues, cleaning cloths).

Using an antibacterial hand wash to wash your hands helps provide extra reassurance. You need to dry your hands properly too. Damp towels can harbour germs, so wash hand towels regularly or use disposable paper towels to dry your hands.

Have a good home hygiene routine

A good hygiene routine does not mean that you have to disinfect your home from top to bottom. It just means being aware of which surfaces in your home are likely to spread infections and removing the germs before they have a chance to cause illness. Surfaces that hands and food touch need the most frequent attention, because these surfaces are more likely to spread infections.

Most household cleaners don’t kill germs so to ensure that your surfaces are not just visibly clean but hygienically clean you must choose the correct cleaning methods. Cleaning with detergent and hot water is adequate to remove germs from items such as crockery and cutlery, provided you wash every surface and rinse each item well in clean running water. However, cleaning alone will not remove germs from surfaces that you cannot rinse properly, such as worktops, tables, toilet seats, taps and handles. To destroy the germs on these surfaces, you need to use an appropriate disinfectant. Extra care is necessary for equipment that goes into a baby’s mouth or touches their feed, such as bottles, teething rings and breast pumps. To remove as many germs as possible, you must always sterilise these items carefully before each use.

If this seems a bit confusing, don’t worry – the recently formed Hygiene Council, a panel of leading experts from the world of microbiology, virology and public health, have compiled a simple set of hygiene guidelines to help you protect your family from infections.

Tips to remember

Being hygienically clean does not need to be hard work, by washing your hands frequently and following a simple home hygiene routine you can help to protect your family.

Key Features to look out for:

• Absorbancy
  One of the most important features, especially at night, is to choose as absorbent a nappy as possible. This will help minimise leaks when they’re likely to be wearing the same nappy for a bit longer than during the day and may also help prevent nappy rash.
• Fit
  Just as some brands of clothes never seem cut to fit you, you’ll probably find that certain brands of nappies are better or worse fits on your baby too. Look for a good fit around the top of their legs and tummy, it needs to be snug to prevent leaks but not so tight as to cause discomfort. Check the edges are well padded and not going to rub. Specific boy and girl nappies are also available although more and more brands and parents seem to be choosing the unisex option.
• Price
  This may or may not be a factor for you, but you’re going to go through a lot of nappies over the coming months so for most mums it does play a part! Beware however of false economy – if you’re changing a cheap nappy more often as the stickiness fades too quickly on your little wriggler or because it is less absorbent then its not necessarily cheaper in the long run.
  Pull Up Pants are a middle step between a nappy and underwear for older children and are often used in the potty training stage to guard against accidents and help your child feel more grown up.

Disposable or Re-Usable?

A disposable nappy is an absorbent gel or pulp inside a pad which is then covered with a shaped liner to fit a baby’s bottom – as the name suggests they are used only once and are thrown away once soiled. The opposite is a reusable nappy which is made of folded or shaped cloth and then fitted with a throwaway waterproof liner. This is then used with waterproof baby pants which are re-usable. The liner is thrown away but the cloth interior and outer pants are machine washed and reused over and over again.

Washing re-usable nappies

If you plan to wash your baby’s nappies yourself at home, you will need to work out a system to make sure you don’t run out of clean nappies. A full washing machine load will wash about two days’ worth of nappies.

• Make up the sanitising solution in a lidded bucket
• Shake out the nappy liner and any faeces into the toilet
• Very soiled nappies can be sluiced off in the toilet
• Place the soiled nappy in the bucket
• Every other day drain the buckets (most nappy buckets have strainers on the side to make this easier)
• Wash the nappies on the longest, hottest wash possible
• Dry the nappies outside if possible or in a tumble dryer if you have one and the weather is poor. If you have time then, it’s a good idea to fold nappies into the right shape ready for use as you stack them – you’ll thank yourself in the middle of the night!

In some areas of the UK, you may be able to take advantage of a nappy laundry service. These are companies which will collect, wash, dry and deliver the clean nappies back to your home. Genius!

Children do their most important learning during the first years of life. Experiences in these early years provide the foundation for all their intellectual growth to follow. A child’s education starts before birth because brain development is influenced by the mother’s diet. Once the baby is born brain stimulation occurs with every experience a ‘little one’ encounters.
The brain grows and develops on the basis of these first experiences as well as with the characteristics passed on from the parents’ genes. Every parent wants to give their children the best possible start in life. So understanding how the brain develops can help to guide the choice of toys and activities that contribute to learning.

So what is it all about?

Neuro-linguistics research (the study of how we learn language) has shown that the two different sides, (hemispheres) of the brain are responsible for different ways of thinking. The left brain hemisphere is responsible for logical thinking usually where there is a ‘correct’ response. Number, language, music, regular patterns, shapes and colours are all handled by the left brain.

The right brain hemisphere is responsible for creative thinking and imagination and human responses are most likely to be emotional or concerned with feelings. Painting, drawing, sticking and colouring, water and sand play and most messy activities and improvisation contribute to developing the function of the right brain.

Whilst most of us show a preference for one thinking style over the other, the ideal goal of any parent is to stimulate both learning styles, helping their child become a well-rounded ‘whole brain’ thinker! Nature helps us with this because between the two sides of the brain there is a ‘strap-like’ section called the ‘corpus callosum’. Neurologists believe that the function of the strap is to co-ordinate the two sides of the brain so that individuals develop their ‘whole brain’ function.

There are so many toys on the market. Are some better for learning than others?

Toys are intended for children to play with. Any play activity is useful so toys can be divided into those with entertainment value and those with educational value – called Edutainment resources. Many manufacturers now identify the learning possibilities of a toy on the packaging.

What should I look for in an educational resource?

An educational resource is one that enables a user to develop specific skills. Opportunities to play are vital for children in their early years. A parent looking for the potential in objects and materials for safe play will identify many learning opportunities in the home.

A plain cardboard box is a valuable learning resource because it can be turned into a dinosaur, a car or a rocket, a house or a shop; to decide on the model is a left brain activity. If the box can be cut, glued, painted and added to by using the imagination and creative skills it has equal value as an activity to develop the right brain.

The skills that a child learns are different at each stage of development. When buying a toy the age of the child will be a key consideration. From birth to eight weeks baby becomes still and listens; from 9-12 months baby will point to things and show a preference for some activities, colours and sounds. At this stage a well produced DVD may offer more effective whole brain development than a book.

Recent research by Professor Karmiloff-Smith, a world-leading scientist specialising in baby development who works at the London Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital says “babies have to use their eyes and brain to track movement in images from DVDs, but static pages in a book provide no stimulation. Her scientific research shows that interacting with moving images encourages them to optimise each stage of development so DVDs produced with baby learning stages in mind are appropriate for the age and stage. Normal television and video however, cause babies to become mesmerised as they struggle with too rapid eye movements and poor colour differentiation.

It may be a controversial idea but good quality DVDs are apparently better than books between the ages of 3 and 5 months.

By 12 -18 months babies repeat words with meaning. Research shows that pausing between new words or concepts helps very young children concentrate attention on the learning task. A DVD that presents everyday objects with a clearly spoken statement of the word and meaning clearly functions as an educational resource. This is in direct contrast to television programmes in which images move rapidly and have a mesmerising effect that may pacify a baby but is unlikely to promote learning.

Brainy Baby has ten DVD’s within the learning library which are geared specifically towards ‘Whole Brain’ development so he or she can become a well rounded little person. Every award winning Brainy Baby programme features live multi-ethnic children, animals, toys and more. This is crucial as studies have shown that children learn better when they see things they can relate to from their ‘own world’ – not silly characters and crazy cartoons.

Seal of Approval

1. Always ensure that the nursery you choose is registered with OFSTED. The registration certificate should be displayed together with a current certificate of insurance.
2. Does the nursery belong to a professional organisation such as National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), keeping them informed of current issues?
3. You may ask to see copies of the recent OFSTED report highlighting the quality of nursery education and care and the appropriateness of equipment and facilities.
4. Has the nursery gained any awards of excellence, especially those endorsed by the government or Investors in Children e.g. NDNA’s Quality Counts, Investors in People or Investors in Children.

Happy, Safe and Clean

1. Is there a safe and clean outside play area?
   Is the interior bright, warm, clean, well decorated and welcoming?
   Is the equipment good quality, clean, safe and appropriate?
2. What sort of meals are provided and at what time? Is the food fresh? Can they provide for special diets? Are the menus changed on a regular basis?
3. Do the children in the nursery look happy and well occupied? Are the children using a variety of equipment and are staff involved with their play?
4. Are the staff happy, relaxed, well presented, calm and confident?
5. Ask about the staff to children ratios. Here are the guidelines they should follow:
   1:3 0-2 years
   1:4 2-3 years
   1:8 3-5 years

High Standards

1. 50% of staff must hold relevant childcare qualifications such as NVQ Childcare Level 2 or equivalent.
2. One member of staff should have a first Aid certificate and all supervisors are required to have an NVQ Childcare Level 3 or equivalent.
3. Do parents and staff work in partnership recording your child’s activities and achievements?
   Will your child be attached to a key-worker? Who will be your main contact and who will keep you informed?
4. What will the cost be and what does this include? For example nappies, meals, holiday charges etc.
5. Activities to be discussed are; diet, potty training, emergency procedures, discipline and other nursery polices.

Finally

1. Did you enjoy your visit? Was it friendly, relaxed and informative? Did your child enjoy it?
2. Your local children’s information service will keep an up-to-date list of registered providers. The local authority switchboard will have the telephone number or visit www.childcarelink.gov.uk
3. Look for your nearest NDNA member nursery at www.ndna.org.ukSpeak to friends and family – personal recommendations are an excellent start. If possible look at more than one nursery before making your decision.

IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY WITH ANY ASPECT OF THE NURSERY, LOOK ELSEWHERE

With childhood obesity rates growing alarmingly, it’s more important than ever to ensure your child has a healthy diet right from the start. Here’s how to do it:

The right time to wean

The latest guidelines from the Department of Health state that weaning onto solids should only start at 6 months. This is because a baby’s digestive system is not fully mature until this age and starting solids earlier can increase the risk of infections and the development of allergies like eczema and asthma. However, some babies are hungrier than others and might show signs of readiness before the six month mark. If this is the case, speak to your health visitor but as a rule of thumb, never start before 17 weeks of age. If there is no history of allergies in your family, start out slowly with basic purees. If you do decide to wean your baby onto solids before six months, don’t give any foods containing gluten, eggs, cheese, dairy products, fish and shellfish.

Signs that might indicate that your child is ready

• He seems hungry after a feed, but refuses more milk
• He wakes more often for night feeds
• The time between feeds gets shorter
• He sits up in a highchair and shows interest in what’s going on at the table
• He grabs at the food on your plate
• He simulates chewing and makes appreciative noises as he watches others eating

How to get started

Choose a time of day when both you and your baby are relaxed (not too tired or hungry) – late morning is a good option. Start out using a basic fruit puree like pears. Place a small amount on a rubber tipped spoon and don’t attempt more than one or two spoonfuls initially. Follow this with your child’s regular milk feed. Don’t be dismayed if your baby spits out these first spoonfuls – it’s a foreign feeling to them and it takes practice.

Gradually introduce a broader variety of basic fruit or vegetable purees. You should ideally wait 3 days before introducing another new taste to ensure no allergic reaction. Once they’re used to a food, try moving that food to the evening meal and introduce another new food at lunchtime. Once your baby is comfortably taking lunch and dinner, you can introduce breakfast using suitable baby breakfast cereals mixed with some pureed fruit.

You can also start mixing them up – like apple and pear or butternut and parsnip. After the age of 6 months – but more likely around 7 to 8 months – and once your child is established on 3 meals a day, you can introduce protein like chicken or fish.

Remember that solid food should not replace a baby’s formula or breast milk. Children between the ages of 6 to 9 months still need at least 500 – 600mls (16 – 20oz) of breast or formula milk daily.

Safe food preparation

If you start weaning your baby under the age of 6 months, you need to be far more diligent about sterilising feeding equipment like spoons and bowls (another reason to hold off for as long as you can). After six months, there is no need to sterilise spoons and other feeding utensils (bottles excluded).

It’s important to always wash your hands carefully before you prepare any meals for your baby and wash their hands too if they’re eating finger foods.

Other safety tips:

• Baby food should be cooled quickly and either stored in a fridge for a maximum of 24 hours or frozen
• Never refreeze something once it’s been defrosted and never reheat baby food more than once. Throw away any food that your baby leaves in her bowl as saliva from her mouth or spoon contains bacteria that will multiply.
• Always heat food till it is piping hot and then let it cool down before feeding. Test it carefully particularly if you used a microwave as hotspots can occur.

Preparing purees

The easiest way to make your own purees is to peel, chop and steam whichever fruit or vegetable you’re using until it’s soft. Then blend it in a liquidiser or mouli adding a bit of the reserved cooking water or breastmilk/formula milk if it’s too thick, pour it into ice cube trays, let it cool and then freeze. Once frozen, you can pop the cubes into labelled freezer bags. This way you have a ready supply of different frozen purees that you can mix and match.

It’s important for babies to experience a broad range of flavours to make the transition to family meals easier and to avoid ‘fussy eating’ later on. Jars of baby food tend to all taste the same as they’ve had to be cooked at very high temperatures, which causes the sugars in the food to caramelise. If you aren’t able to make your own, try buying prepared frozen baby food which tastes homemade.

Growing up

You can begin introducing finger foods to your baby early on in the weaning process, so that they learn to manage different textures and begin to feed independently. Things like bread sticks, pieces of cheese of soft fruit are ideal. Also gradually introduce more texture to their food, either by mashing it or by adding small pasta shapes or cous cous to the meals. Once they are comfortable with bigger lumps, you can shift them onto meals the rest of the family has.

Make sure the meals you make have very little salt and that they provide a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. Meals like cottage pie, lasagne, fish pie or chicken casserole are easy to make and easy for little mouths to manage. Increase the veg quota by grating vegetables into the meats while cooking. For some great toddler meal ideas, try these:

Healthy snacking

Most children are ‘grazers’ wanting snacks in between meals. The challenge is to ensure that they’re healthy. Try to avoid biscuits, sweets and crisps. Opt instead for fruit, vegetable sticks with hummus dip, raisins, yogurts, smoothies, homemade muffins, breadsticks, cheese or cereal bars.

Wholesome food

Breast-feeding babies saves money and the environment, is most satisfying for baby and, more often than not, for the mother, too. If you manage to do it (many mums have difficulties), breast-feeding is a great way of bonding with your baby. For bottle-fed babies, many brands offer organic baby milk options.

When baby is ready for solids, the real fun starts. Preparing your own baby food using fresh ingredients really is quite easy and keeps you in control of what he / she eats. All you really need is a handheld blender to puree the food. Once basic flavours have been introduced, you can let loose your creativity in the kitchen. It’s a lot of fun trying out different foods and combinations to find out what your baby likes. When you have a few favourite recipes, you can cook ahead and freeze them in ice-cube trays for quick, ready-made meals when time is limited. For emergencies, it is always handy to have a pot or two of baby food around the house or in the pram – again, there are plenty of organic options. Remember to check the labels for additives, salt or sugar. Good baby food doesn’t need any

Nappy time

Take your cue from your mum and choose cloth nappies for your baby. This may be more eco-friendly than disposable ones and a lot cheaper, especially when you consider just how many you get through a week! If you can’t face washing them yourself, there are nappy laundering services who’ll do it for you!

Eco-fashion

Even baby’s clothes can be organic. Clothes made of organic cotton fabrics and without potentially toxic dyes are increasingly available, especially online. They can be ethical, too. Though they may cost a little extra, fair trade clothes can also be found in many places. The most sustainable form of clothing, however, is hand-me-downs. First-time parents-to-be can be reluctant, wanting crisp new garments for their precious offspring. Once it’s clear just how soon they grow out of their garments, though, you’ll probably find yourself gratefully accepting second- or third-hand clothes. Some web sites like E-Bay and Freecyle are handy for buying second-hand or for offloading old clothes and, of course, toys as well.

Playtime

Playtime with your baby can be fun and eco-friendly. If it’s sunny outside, let your toddler get mucky by helping you to plant bulbs in the garden. Going for walks inspires an appreciation for nature that will last a lifetime. Flying a kite, making daisy-chains or sailing a toy boat all cost next to nothing and allow the whole family to enjoy each other’s company. Surely a much better thing than being glued to the television set and all without using any electricity or other energy sources (other than your own – but keeping fit is an added benefit!).

With a bit of imagination, on rainy days you can have plenty of fun indoors. For example, you can easily make your own toys using recyclable material. A small water bottle filled with water and glitter will fascinate young babies when shaken. Jewellery made from string and plastic bottle tops or cars from shoeboxes are a lot of fun. Babies and toddlers have a universal love for music. Hold your own concerts with pots and pans and wooden spoons. Plastic bottles filled with uncooked rice make great maracas. Sing along to your heart’s content – no-one cares if it’s out of tune. Home-baking is another favourite. Toddlers will love to help, by buttering the cake mould, shaping dough with cookie cutters or decorating cakes with spinkles. You can even make your own play dough (see recipe below).

Home-made play dough

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Mix everything together in saucepan and cook until it has the consistency of bread dough. Remove from pan. When cooled, play and have fun. You can cook it and colour it with organic food dyes.

What can my newborn actually see?

Babies are born with eyes that are ready to function immediately. Even premature babies can see at birth since the seeing elements of the eye are working by seven months of gestation. The body of a newborn may be small but its eyes are 70 percent of adult size.

A newborn baby’s eyes are not great at focusing and the optimum distance for seeing an object is between eight and fifteen inches. This corresponds to the distance between the mother and child’s face while breastfeeding – whether by design or accident is unknown but there is a good chance this ideal distance evolved because of breastfeeding.

Colour Vision

The ability to distinguish between different colours is probably not very good until at least three months of age. By age two months babies do notice colors of red. orange. green and yellow. and shortly thereafter are able to see blues. This is why newborns tend to become attracted to contrasts of dark and light rather than brightly colored objects and they prefer patterns with curved lines rather than straight. It is this fascination in light/dark contrasts that have made the black-and-white newborn mobiles and toys so popular.

Seeing Faces

Another interesting aspect of a newborn’s vision is that it allows for preference of human faces. In fact, there is a portion of the brain that seems to be dedicated to facial recognition. Newborn babies are naturally attracted even to rough sketches of human faces. This specific recognition mechanism helps facilitate bonding between the mother and child, particularly during breastfeeding. At age three to four months he will be able to tell your face from a strangers and his face will light up when he sees you. After human faces, brightness and movement are the things a newborn likes to look at best.

Although your baby’s sight is functioning, it still needs some fine tuning, especially when it comes to focusing on more distant objects. Most parents are familiar with the cross-eyed look newborn babies can give! This is normal, and your newborn’s eye muscles will strengthen and mature during the next few months. Babies quickly learn to focus, or accommodate. so that by six weeks of age they can focus at a distance of one to two feet. By age four months they can see objects that are close or far almost as well as an adult can and by age six months they will see as clearly as they ever will.

Perception of depth

Newborn babies do not have good depth perception. They do not have full ability to see things in three dimensions. There are special cells in the brain called binocular cells that receive input from the left and right eyes which are responsible for the development of good depth perception. The baby must also be able to coordinate his two eyes so that they point in the same direction. He can do this to some extent right from birth but not perfectly well until age three to five months.

Should I Be Concerned?

If you just want a little reassurance that your baby’s senses are working well, you can do some unscientific testing for yourself. Hold a small light just out of your baby’s direct line of vision, about a foot away from his or her face. Your baby should turn to look at the light. Don’t be too worried if it doesn’t hold his or her attention for too long – even a brief look at the light indicates that he or she is seeing it. In just 4 to 8 weeks, your newborn baby’s eyes will begin to follow a moving light.

If your baby’s eyes seem to cross more than just briefly, be sure to tell your baby’s doctor. Usually no intervention is necessary, but medical correction sometimes will be required. Also tell the doctor if your baby’s eyes appear cloudy or filmy, or if they appear to wander in circles as they attempt to focus.

If you have any concerns about your newborn’s ability to see, talk to your baby’s doctor or an ophthalmologist immediately. Even newborns can be tested using sophisticated equipment, if necessary. The sooner a potential problem is caught, the better.

You should also report to your doctor any excessive watering of the eyes or excessive discharge, since these may be symptoms of a blocked tear duct or a bout of bacterial conjunctivitis. Older children (from 2 years onwards) can be treated for conjunctivitis using antibacterial eyedrops or ointment which are available at your local pharmacy

PUREE

Potato and parsnip with carrot
Makes 4 portions
Suitable for home freezing

Ingredients
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
Fresh or dried thyme

Peel and dice the vegetables. Place the vegetables and a small sprinkle of thyme in a steamer or cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Puree adding some of the reserved cooking water to loosen the mixture so that a soft consistency is achieved.

Note: it is better to mash potato or use a mouli rather as a blender will release the potato’s starch and create a glutinous consistency.

Cottage pie
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
½ a small onion
100g extra lean minced beef
Squirt of Tomato Paste
Sprinkle of Thyme and Parsley
Little vegetable oil (optional)

Fry the meat and onion until browned (use a little vegetable oil if desired). Add the carrot, potato, tomato paste and herbs. Add a cup of water, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Puree to a desired consistency.

TODDLER MEALS

This is a great way to get veggies into fussy toddlers
Hidden Veg Sauce
1 leek, chopped roughly
2 courgettes, chopped into chunks
1 red or yellow pepper, coursely chopped
A handful or mushrooms, chopped
1 small aubergine, chopped into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tins of tomatoes
Sprinkle of dried oregano
Sprinkle of pepper
Small pinch of sugar (optional)

In a little olive oil or butter, add all the vegetables and garlic and soften gently for about 10 minutes. Add the tins of tomatoes and sprinkle on the herbs, pepper and sugar. Stir to combine, then cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Once all the vegetables are completely soft, transfer the mixture to a blender – or use a handheld blender – and blitz it until moderately smooth. Spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. The recipe makes a large volume of sauce – but you’ll get through it as it’s very versatile. Use it on pasta, on potatoes, as gravy, as a pizza base, as a dip for chicken strips.