A super quick, super healthy recipe the kids will love.
Ingredients: 1 cucumber 1 cup reduced fat ricotta cheese Moroccan Seasoning Method: Slice cucumber into rings about 1cm thick. Place ricotta in an icing pipe and top each cucumber ring with a decorative swirl of ricotta (alternatively just spoon it in top neatly). Sprinkle with Moroccan seasoning, place on a serving plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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It's custardy, it's crumbly and it's gooooood... Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups plain wholemeal flour 1 1/4 cup rolled oats 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted 1/4 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup sugar Custard: 2 tablespoons custard powder (of course feel free to make your custard from scratch if preferred) 1 1/2 cups milk *Optional ingredients: sultanas, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped nuts, cinnamon, passion fruit pulp Method:
Preheat an oven to 180 degrees and line a slice tin with baking paper (lightly spray with oil for extra anti-stick insurance). In a large mixing bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a small mixing bowl combine melted butter/marg, vanilla extract and milk (1/4 cup). Pour this milk mixture into the flour mixture and combine roughly (a little bit of dryer mixture left in the bottom is ok). Press half of the mixture (the wetter half ideally) into the lined slice tin and place in the pre-heated oven for 15mins. In the meantime, in a medium sized microwave bowl whisk together custard powder and milk (1 1/2 cup; or begin making your own custard). Microwave on high for 2 mins before stirring. Return to the microwave for a further 2 mins (microwave time vary, so keep an eye on it). Remove from the microwave and set aside until the crumble base is ready. Once crumble base begins to lightly golden remove from the oven and spread the custard evenly over the top. Crumble the remaining flour mixture over the top and return to the oven for 20 - 30 mins or until the crumble is golden. *Any of the optional ingredients can be added to the top layer of crumble before returning to the oven (and if you come up with any other ingredients to add, please share them with us!) Once cooked, allow to thoroughly cool before removing from the tin and slicing. Store in an airtight container for several days. Ask and you shall receive - the recipe that is, I literally just scoffed the last piece of this... and it was good.
“Bart's teacher is named Krabappel? Oh, I've been calling her Crandall!”
For those of you who are not Simpson fans I am sure this quote made no sense, but for those of you who are, you’ll understand, it’s that moment you realize you had it wrong and nobody has bothered to point it out to you. “Why didn't someone tell me? Ohhh, I've been making an idiot of myself!" The relevance: I have just discovered I have been making hummus wrong and nobody has bothered to tell me. More importantly I guess, I have just figured out how to make the best hummus. In the past I would simple drain and rinse some chickpeas, chuck them in the food processor with some garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Puree and hope for the best. But I have just discovered the most important part of making amazing hummus that nobody has ever bothered to point out – roast your chickpeas and garlic first! So simple I know but it made an unbelievable difference to my previously stodgy hummus that people must have only eaten to be polite. So here it is, the correct way to make hummus (according to my taste buds anyway): Ingredients: 1 x 420g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed 4 cloves of garlic, peeled 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon un-hulled Tahini *Optional ingredients: once you have made the basic hummus, you can get creative and add other flavors with fresh or dried herbs (oregano, basil, parsley, coriander), spices (paprika, cumin, turmeric), sundried tomatoes, dried chili flakes, roasted or boiled carrots or beetroots. Method: Preheat an oven to 200 degrees. Place drained chickpeas and garlic in a baking dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and toss until well coated. Place in the preheated oven for about 15 mins or until the chickpeas are lightly golden and the garlic is tender. Remove from the oven, set aside to cool for 5mins. Place cooked chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice and any other *optional ingredients you like to a food processor on high. Whilst processing, slowly pour the additional olive oil until the hummus is desired texture and consistency (if adding ingredients like roasted or boiled carrots, you probably won’t need as much oil due to the moisture in the veg). Store in an airtight container in the fridge for several days or portion and store in the freezer until desired (always defrost in the fridge). Serve with sticks of carrot, celery, cucumber, capsicum, green beans and grainy crackers or use in place of butter or other spreads on salad sandwiches, rolls, wraps, pitta breads. As we all know, kids love sticks. They are great for drawing in the sand, hitting stuff and poking dog poo. But they are also great for getting kids interested in eating more fruit and veg.
Yep, the way to a kids heart and stomach is with a stick. You can arrange any combination of fruit or veg on a skewer and guaranteed* your kids will love it (*I actually make no such promise, but assure you that more than likely, their interest will increase - hey, if you have a fussy eater it's worth a try isn't it?). To make potato wands like I did, simply peel and slice you potato into rounds about the thickness of your finger. Use a biscuit cutter to press the shape (you may need to hold the cutter in place then use a knife to cut it out). Once they are cut, sprinkle them with rosemary and arrange on an oven tray lightly sprayed with olive oil. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees for 20 mins or until golden. Once they are cooked, arrange them on a skewer with other steamed vegetables. 29 Australians die each day from GI cancer. Preventing it can be as simple as eating enough fruit and vegetables each day (1) The Kids Menu has taken up the Gutsy Challenge to help raise funds and awareness of GI cancer and the importance of eating plenty of fruits and vegetables every day. (Find out more about how you can get involved here - we really need your help) Finding your 2 fruit and 4 veg doesn't have to be difficult but a good plan can help. Here is my Gutsy Challenge Weekly Menu plan, follow the links to find all the recipes on The Kids Menu website and download/ print a copy to keep handy during the week.
Download the Gutsy Challenge Weekly Menu Plan hereAnd don't forget to get a Fruit and Veg Reward Chart too Sponsor The Kids Menu
You can head over to the Gusty Challenge website and sponsor The Kids Menu (any donation over $2 is tax deductible) OR register your own child and start collecting sponsors too. Anyone generous enough to sponsor The Kids Menu will be in with a chance to WIN the grand prize from the Gutsy Challenge (the more money we can raise, the bigger this prize will be), and 5 generous sponsors will win a copies of The Kids Menu, Healthy Lunchbox Guide (e-book; see full completion terms here) To sponsor The Kids Menu select “sponsor a child’s Gutsy Challenge,” it’s about half way down the page on the right and search ‘student to sponsor’ using the name The Kids Menu. Prizes up for grabs from the Gutsy Challenge including ibike computers, iCute portable speakers and iBitz activity trackers and more – don’t forget your own child or school can register too. Would everybody please make welcome Eileen from ET Speaks From Home who is has kindly shared this delicious recipe - Enjoy #IBS14A couple weeks ago, I signed up to join in with an International Blog Swap with Australian parent bloggers via tots100. I was fortunate to guest blog here on Nikki’s blog. As a quick introduction, I was born and raised in Singapore and moved to UK almost 12 years ago. I have blogged since May 2012 about our family life and my children's modelling career. Now I have refocused to blog about Chinese culture and Asian food. In Asia, rice and noodles is a staple food like potatoes in an English main meal. In our household, we love our rice and we have rice at least 4 days per week. Today, I am delighted to share this meal with you. Chinese curry in the UK is very much different from Singapore. In Singapore, the curry is very hot and spicy while in UK, it is milder and sweeter. My husband and children were born in the UK and they are not used to my Singaporean food. Hence I don’t cook as much as spicy food for them. Ingredient:
Method:
Thank you Eileen, this recipe looks delicious. I think it would be perfect for school lunch as we are coming into the cooler months. You can check out more posts from Eileen (and her cute kids) over on her blog ET Speaks from Home
Ingredients: 2 cups self-raising flour 1/2 cup rolled oats 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 2 carrots, grated 1 knob (about 2cm) of fresh ginger, grated 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted 1 tablespoon honey 1 egg, whisked 1 cup milk Method:
Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees and grease a muffin tray. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add grated carrot and ginger and mix to combine. In a separate small bowl whisk together melted butter, milk, honey and egg. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and combine well. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray and bake for about 20mins on until muffins begin to golden and are firm to the touch. Perfect for lunchboxes, freezer friendly Ingredients:
100g mix salad leaves 40g Snow Pea Sprouts ½ continental cucumber, sliced and halved ½ Red Onion, quartered and thinly sliced 5 -6 fresh beetroots, peeled and cubed 40g fetta, crumbled 40g pine nuts 1 tablespoon honey 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 cups water 1 small bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped Spray olive oil Method: In a small saucepan whisk together water, 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (reserve the other tablespoon) and honey. Add cubed beetroot to the saucepan and simmer over a medium heat for 10mins or until the beetroot is tender. Drain the beetroot and set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees and grease an oven tray with spray oil. Arrange beetroot on tray and place into pre-heated oven for 20 – 30 mins or until golden. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool on the bench. Lightly spray a small baking dish with oil, spread the pine nuts out evenly and toast for about 5 - 10 mins or until golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. While they are cooling, place the salad leaves and snow pea sprouts in a large serving bowl and toss with extra tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Arrange cucumber and onion in the bowl. Top with cooled pine nuts, roasted beetroot, chopped parsley and crumbled fetta over the top. It's Recipe ReDux time again and this month is all about Treasured Cookware - its' story in our kitchen and a healthy recipe to share. So here is my story: Like so many of you, my first cooking lessons took place sitting on the kitchen bench, my legs idly dangling as I eagerly watching and waiting to taste test my mum’s cooking. From here my lessons in the kitchen continued and so did my love of cooking. From all I observed my mum do in the kitchen, if there is one thing I have learnt it is the art of trial and error... Cooking is probably not one of my mums finest skills, but she is creative, inventive and persistent. In passing this torch of creative kitchenry my Mum gave me an old crock pot and an Esky to experiment with yoghurt making (the Esky acting as the insulated water bath). And, just as she taught me, through trial and error I’ve gotten pretty good - or maybe just used to the taste – either way… Anywhoo, that's the story of my treasured crock pot and in honor of my beautiful Mumma and her inspiration in the kitchen, this month’s recipe redux show cases the pot and to add to the sentiment I thought I’d make one of my favorite childhood dinners – lamb. Enjoy. Ingredients: 2 -3 lamb shanks (I used 2 small ones, my husband had 1 and the kids and I shared the other) 1 red onion, peeled and quartered 5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped ½ lemon, juice and zest ½ cup crushed tomatoes (no added salt) 1 teaspoon tomato paste (no added salt) 2-3 sprigs of Rosemary 2 teaspoons dried oregano 3/4 cup water 5 – 6 big potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 – 2 potatoes per person depending on appetite) *You could also add any other root veggies; carrots, swede, parsnip, sweet potato Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Season the lamb shanks with dried oregano and place in a crock pot along with onion, garlic and rosemary. Whisk together water, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, lemon juice and zest and pour over the lamb shanks. Place the lid on the crock pot and bake in the oven for 2 hours. Remove from the oven and skim any fat from the fluid. Add the potatoes to the pot (and any other root veggies) and place the lid back on top. Turn the oven down to 160 degrees and return the crock pot to the oven for 1 ½ hours or until the potatoes are tender. Serve with steamed veggies. |
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