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Food does not just nourish and nurture children. It can entertain, amuse, fascinate and comfort them – and comfort parents too! So if you're looking for mouthwatering recipes or a great way to entertain toddlers, or even just a healthy idea for dinner, parent blogs are an essential port of call.
This year Parentdish.co.uk is once again sponsoring the MAD Blog Awards, the biggest and most exciting awards for mum and dad blogs, and to celebrate we've rounded up some of our favourite food-based posts from finalists for your delectation.
In our whistle stop tour of the best parent blogs out there, you will find everything from recipes to money-saving tips, international cuisine and even a convincing argument as to why chocolate should be incorporated into a working mum's business plan.
The Crazy Kitchen's stunning Millionaire's Cheesecake recipe is a work of art through food. A creamy, caramel-laced, chocolate-topped concoction, this recipe is so divine it has been chosen to appear in the MacMillan Little Book of Treats, to be sold by M&S.
Art and food also come together in Sarah at Maison Cupcake's Easter chocolate treats. As Sarah points out, there's more to Easter than just eggs, and she presents a beautifully-illustrated masterclass in making adorable and colourful chocolate bunnies and chicks that children will love.
Our finalists also have recipes for all your toddler entertainment needs. The photography used to illustrate Rainy Day Mum's cute Queen of Hearts Jam Tarts recipe proves that little ones can pick up a bowl and spoon and get involved at every stage.
And Relentless Laundry has a great quick little pizza recipe at the end of this very entertaining anecdote.
It's not all chocolates and sweets, as Science Sparks proves with her lovely post about fun with ice. By freezing different coloured fruit juices she created a fun and educational experience for her children that culminated in a tasty fruit juice cocktail, perfect entertainment for the summer with a thirst-quenching conclusion.
Health-conscious parents will love Bangers & Mash's gorgeous roast vegetable lasagne, a really tasty way to get more veg into your children, and ideal for those who are trying to cut down on meat without compromising on heartiness. Even the writer's carnivorous husband didn't complain about the lack of meat in the recipe.
Parents who are trying to watch their spending can make good use of The Diary of A Frugal Family's tips for money-saving packed lunches. There are some really practical tips in here along with suggestions from readers to keep the cost of feeding a hungry family down.
Food goes international thanks to A Bavarian Sojurn's really charming little tale of four days in Verona, including a head-scratching local speciality, 'dankki' sauce. As our intrepid blogger found out, this delicacy is in fact the humble donkey. Did she eat it? You'll have to read her blog to find out.
And It's A Small World After All had us drooling at her simple, elegant description of stunning seafood sampled in Thailand.
As we said at the beginning, food can often comfort us in our daily lives as parents too. We loved, and completely agreed with Kiddy Charts' eight very convincing reasons why chocolate should be in any working mum's business plan. We just couldn't resist including it in our roundup.
To discover more great posts about family food, just visit the MAD Blog Awards website, where you can vote for your favourite UK parent blogs until June 6.