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Vegetable subterfuge (and when to tell the kids the truth)

April 3, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Red meat, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged beef, freezer, mealtime, parenting, recipe, vegetables

Admittedly, the placement is poorly thought through.

Turns out that Mr Meat & Potatoes has been in the habit of overshooting the toilet and weeing in the plastic bathroom bin. Doing its job well, the swing-lid has been closing post-stream and I’ve been none the wiser. Now, without revealing too much about my lax home-making abilities, I had noticed a smell but thought I’d just give it a few more days before investigating. You know, in case it was going to fade away all by itself and my intervention was unnecessary.

It didn’t though. The smell got stronger, almost to the point of rancid and then I realised I was going to have to do something about it.

So I sniffed about and there in the bottom of the bin was a puddle of urine that dated back several days.

I wondered if this was my little boy’s subconscious way of getting back at me for all of the vegetables that I’ve hidden in his food over the years. Perhaps his angelic little face is hiding a brain that is secretly ranting, “and this hidden piss mum, THIS is what I really think of all of your hidden zucchini”. Or perhaps I’m just reading a bit too much into it?

Often I get asked about how much subterfuge goes into my meals. Do I TELL my kids what they’re really eating?

The answer is yes and no. When they first sit down and see something pleasing and smell something delicious, I’m not going to kill the mood by blurting, “hope you enjoy the mushrooms”. But once they’re finished, or if they ask mid-meal, I happily let them know what ingredients they’re gobbling up. Since I’m past the emergency, early days of absolute food rejection, I’ve now moved onto food education, which is a really important second stage. I need my kids to know now, that a meal is more than a single ingredient. That even an ingredient that they don’t THINK they like, can be combined with other ingredients in truly tasty ways that they DO like.

So yes, I DO tell my kids what they’re eating. It’s a vital part of teaching them that healthy food is part of the every day and something to be celebrated and enjoyed. And once your kids are eating a wider range of meals, it’s a good time to start with the wider education at your place. Get them talking ingredients, teach them how to choose good produce, encourage them to help out with little tasks in the kitchen.

And perhaps one day soon, they’ll even be big enough to start cleaning the bathroom.

Wee little meatloaves (boom tish!!).

Individual meat loaves

These are an easy to make vegie-smuggling basic. They store in the fridge for several days, can be cut up for sandwiches or wraps and crumbled into baked potatoes. And they freeze really well too.

Canola oil cooking spray
2 slices multigrain bread
1 carrot, peeled, roughly chopped
1 zucchini, roughly chopped
Handful of green beans, ends removed, halved
3 spring onions, roughly chopped
2 frozen chopped spinach cubes (about 50g), thawed, OR a big handful of English spinach, finely chopped
500g beef mince
2 tbsp tomato chutney
1 tsp soy sauce
(optional)
1 egg
Black pepper

Preheat oven to 180C. Spray a 12-hole muffin pan with cooking spray and line with paper cases.

Use a stick blender to do the chopping for you. Start with the bread. Make your breadcrumbs and add to your mixing bowl. Then chop the carrots then zucchini, then the beans and spring onions, adding to a mixing bowl each time.

Use your hands to combine the remaining ingredients. Divide the mix into 12 portions and press firmly into your muffin tray.

Bake for 20 minutes or until browned on top and cooked through. Serve with salad, steamed corn cobs and tomato sauce.

MAKES 12

Comments (8) »

Because I’m a sucker for advertising, let’s all eat lamb this Australia Day

January 25, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Red meat · Tagged celebrations, feeding the family, lamb, recipe, vegetables

Well yes, I DO swat my blow-flys with this, actually.

Perhaps I’m an overly simple person, but I never mind advertising when it’s funny. And I think the ongoing Sam Kekovich campaign has been consistently good. Although I suspect this year might be jumping the shark – there’s really no justifiable reason to resurrect Barbie Girl (or Melissa Tkautz) under any circumstance. Having said that though, I will admit that the video is pretty good fun. The whole campaign has been amazingly successful over the years at making our national day and lamb synonymous. Well done advertising gurus.

So here’s my lamb contribution – a lamb sausage roll, which is two, top aussie concepts all rolled up into one gorgeous fabulous pastry covered piece of yum. And it sneaks a whole bunch of hidden healthy vegetables into the kids, too.

Happy Australia day to all of you top Aussies out there.

A sausage roll that Sam Kekovich would approve of.

Lamb sausage rolls

3 sheets frozen puff pastry
1 egg, whisked, for sticking and glazing
Sesame seeds

Filling
500g lamb mince
1 red onion, very
finely diced
2 tbsp pine nuts
1 carrots, peeled, grated
¼ red capsicum, seeded, finely diced
1 cup English spinach, shredded
¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup dried breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Separate out your puff pastry sheets. Score down the middle with a knife and snap into two long rectangles. Leave to thaw.

In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients. Use your hands to mix it all well.

Divide the mixture evenly between the six rectangles of pastry (roll the mix into sausage shapes to keep it firm). Roll one edge of the pastry over the mixture. Brush the other side with the egg, pull it over the top and press down to seal. Place on the tray, with the join at the bottom.

Brush the tops with egg, sprinkle over the sesame seeds and bake for 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Cut into thirds and serve with salad.

MAKES 18

_________________________
Other lamb recipes…
Lamb & feta meatballs
Lamb & bean rissoles
Shepherd’s pie
_________________________

Bring on summer (and my secret obsession with American mustard)

October 24, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Red meat · Tagged feeding the family, mealtime, recipe, vegetables

Finally, a bit of heat over the weekend. Back to being covered in miscellaneous bug bites and sunscreen. The kids are loving the longer days, although trying to get them into bed while it’s still twilight is a challenge. Then they’re up at the crack of dawn (as is the new kitten). I always forget how sleep deprived and cranky they get at this time of year!

As the weather warms up I’m always trying out new recipes that are a bit lighter and use more salad ingredients. Rest assured, I can find a way to stuff some vegies into nearly anything and this burger is a great example. Once you’ve tried burgers with extra hidden ingredients, you won’t want to go back to the bland, supermarket ones. There’s just so much more flavour and texture to enjoy in these.

Melting cheese over the top of the pattie does a double job of hiding the bits that aren’t brown and luring the children to eat more… more… MORE!

While I don’t deliberately avoid McDonalds, it does seem as though I can usually find a lot of other places I like to eat at first, so it’s with real glee that my kids like to tuck into a burger ‘just like McDonalds’.

The bun in the picture below is all fancy looking, but I usually serve them in the regular supermarket ‘sugar bread’ buns to get that real authentic burger vibe going on. And my secret, guilty pleasure – American mustard – is a great addition. Even if you’re already using the relish and tomato sauce, there’ll still be a place for a bit of the iridescent yellow stuff.

Here’s the recipe for the burger pattie – the relish recipe can be found in the new Vegie Smugglers 2 cookbook. Did you see that I’ve discounted the postage on it for a bit? It’s my way of apologising for any inconvenience as I find myself out of stock on Vegie Smugglers 1 until late November.

Guilty pleasure... American mustard on this is trashy but tastes great.

Cheeseburgers

500g lean beef mince
250g chickpeas, rinsed, drained (about half a cup)
1 carrot, peeled, grated
½ red capsicum, seeded, roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly whisked

Olive oil
4 cheese slices

To serve: Bread rolls or burger buns, tomato slices, lettuce, onion relish (recipe in the book), tomato sauce, American mustard.

Place the mince in a large bowl. Use a stick blender to blitz the chickpeas, carrot, capsicum and parsley. You can do this by hand, but the blender is good for lazy people like me.

Add the chickpea mixture, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg and black pepper to the bowl with the mince and use your hands to combine and make good-sized patties. Squeeze them firmly, then shape into thin patties.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat. Add the patties and squish down to 1-centimetre thick. This helps them cook through and makes them easier for small kids to eat.

Cook for 5 minutes, gently flip over and cook the other side for 4–5 minutes until cooked through. While the second side is cooking, place a cheese slice on top and let it melt over.

Serve the burgers on bread rolls or buns, topped with tomato, lettuce and onion relish.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

Comments (9) »

What the kids eat in… Italy

August 21, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Red meat, Vegie smuggling techniques, What the kids eat in... · Tagged feeding the family, pasta, recipe, vegetables

On the surface my kids are coping with moving quite well. They’re saying goodbyes and being philosophical, but I can tell from the way that their behaviour has skewed that the stress of it is taking its toll. They are both quite moody and irritable. Miss F is channelling Veruca Salt with “I want an oompa-loompa” quality turns over the colour of paint for her new bedroom. Mr M&P, who has a tendency to grumpiness, is using moving as a bit of an explain-all over his continuing outbursts.

I’m breathing deeply and understanding that they’re coping with quite a lot of loss.

High on the list of ‘Things we will miss’, are our amazingly fantastic upstairs neighbours. A retired Italian couple, when not flitting overseas they are hosting exuberant lunch parties. As the afternoons wear on and the wine and spirits flow, the Italian gets louder and more jovial and laughter booms out.

What’s not to love about a culture that rains chocolate on children? My kids have quickly learned that if they stand out in the courtyard and smile and wave endearingly, all sorts of goodies get dropped over the balcony. One time I even caught a tissue full of homemade biscuits being lowered down on string.

Italian food is such a seductive cuisine. It’s an easy-fix meal that is quick to cook and usually appeals to everyone. I’ve yet to meet a kid who doesn’t like pasta and you can use it to hide all sorts of good stuff in sauces, layered in lasagnes and tucked into tubes.

And then at the end, you can scoff a cannolli, sip amaretti and then best if you potter off for a bit of a lie down.

Cheese, pasta (and tomatoes, onions, fennel, spinach & carrot). Shhhhh.

Beef cannelloni

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves
500g lean beef mince
1 carrot, peeled, grated
1 cup finely diced fennel
1 cup spinach leaves (silverbeet or English), finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 cup beef stock
1 tsp sugar
700g bottle tomato passata
250g cannelloni tubes (buy the instant ones that don’t need to be boiled)
125g ricotta cheese
Grated pizza cheese
Salad and garlic bread, to serve

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry for a few minutes until soft. Add the garlic then the mince, breaking up lumps as you go. When the beef is just browned, add the carrot, fennel and spinach and stir well.

Mix through the tomatoes, herbs and sugar. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for
15 minutes. Taste and add salt and black pepper. (I LOVE heaps of pepper.)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Choose either individual gratin dishes or one 12–cup lasagne dish.
Pour a thin layer of tomato passata over the bottom of the dish. Use a small spoon to fill the cannelloni tubes with your meat mixture and line them up in the dish. Evenly pour over remaining passata and any leftover meat mixture. Dollop the ricotta about and sprinkle over as much pizza cheese as you like.

Individual portions will need to bake about 20 minutes – a larger dish for 30–35 – until the pasta is soft and the cheese is golden.

Serve with salad and garlic bread.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

Comments (6) »

A sniff of delicious things to come?

July 24, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, News, Red meat, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family, freezer, meat, recipe, vegetables

If you’re in a climate similar to mine, then you may also have noticed the exciting development of magnolia trees coming into flower. For me, they are the first flowers of hope.

I seriously struggle through early winter and as I’ve had numb feet for over 2 months now, I can’t tell you how excited I get by the sight of these trees in bloom. They mark the turning point don’t they? They come first, then there’s blossoms everywhere – jasmine flowers, daffodils and before we know it we’ve made it through yet another winter.

Vegie Smugglers chilli with no chilli recipe

Just time left for one last winter warmer!

But, in truth, there’s still a way to go yet, so while the cold weather lingers, let’s scent the air indoors with this fantastic chilli con carne. It’s an awesome slow cook that fills the air with yumminess. This version doesn’t actually have any ‘hot’ ingredients in it that might offend the kids, but the flavor is so delicious and enticing. And it’s another flexible dish, with a stacks of goodness hidden in the stew, then topped off with ingredients to tempt each individual (including chopped chilli on the adult’s servings).

The corn chips are another magic lure ingredient. I just crumble up one or two chips for each kid and they go a really long way. It’s a fun concession that helps the whole dish get gobbled up.

Chilli (with no chilli)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 kg chuck steak, trimmed, cut into 2–3cm cubes
20g butter
2 onions, diced
1 large carrot, peeled, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp cumin powder
800g can chopped tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
¼ cup red wine
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
2 tsp sugar
400g can red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
1 green capsicum, seeded, finely diced

To serve:
Finely diced avocado
Finely diced tomato
Grated cheddar cheese
Corn chips
Chopped fresh or dried chilli

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium–high heat. Use paper towel to pat any moisture off the meat. Add the butter to the pan and when foaming, add the meat. Don’t overcrowd the pan; usually you will need to do this in two batches. Turn the meat and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.

Add a little more oil, if needed, and cook the onion and carrot for a couple of minutes over medium heat until softening. Add the garlic and cumin and stir for 30 seconds then add the tomatoes, stock, wine, herbs and sugar. Return the meat to the pan. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat right down. Cover and cook for 1½ hours, stirring every half hour or so.
Remove the lid, taste and season with salt and black pepper, then add the kidney beans and capsicum and simmer uncovered for another half hour. It will be cooked now, but if you have time, leave on a really gentle simmer for up to 3 hours.

Serve with avocado, tomato, cheddar and broken corn chips. Slices of sourdough are also delicious.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 3 KIDS

Comments (3) »

The best way to smuggle… beetroot

March 23, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, News, Red meat, The best way to smuggle... · Tagged dinner, feeding the family, recipe, vegetables

So, since we can’t have the beetroot brownie too regularly for dinner, I guess I’ll move onto recommending this delightful pink meatloaf as a way of getting beetroot into your kiddies. Using fresh grated beetroot gives it a definite pink tinge, which is perfect for little girls with a meat aversion (like Miss Fruitarian). A 225g can of beetroot can be substituted, but boring brown will prevail.

Apparently (so you’ve told me on Facebook), meatloaf is a bit popular. It IS a perfect easy-cook, that can sit in the fridge all week and be easily reheated or put on toasties or spuds. And an egg-free meatloaf recipe was requested, which is why you’re getting this snippet recipe from the second Vegie Smugglers cookbook (buy the digital cookbook here).

All hail the photographers and stylists who can make meatloaf look good.

Pink meatloaf

500g beef mince
1-cup fresh breadcrumbs (about 1 slice of bread)
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 zucchini, chopped
1 beetroot, peeled, quartered
1 carrot, peeled, chopped
3 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 180C. Spray a 10x18cm loaf tin with canola spray and line with baking paper.

Add the mince to a large mixing bowl.

If you have a hand-held food processor, use it to make the breadcrumbs from a slice of bread. Add to the mince. Pulse the onion and garlic, add to the mince. Pulse to chop the zucchini, then carrot, then beetroot (use gloves to avoid staining your hands), adding to the mince mixture each time. (NOTE – A grater will work perfectly for those of you without small kitchen contraptions).

Pour over the sauces and season really well. Use your (gloved) hand to mix everything together really well, then press into the loaf tin.

Bake 45-50 minutes until cooked through.

SERVES 2 ADULTS AND 4 KIDS

Comments (10) »

Because wrapping stuff in pastry makes it yum

March 15, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Red meat, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged cooking techniques, dinner, feeding the family, kids, parenting, pastry, recipe, vegetables

vegie smugglers beef triangles with vegetables and puff pastry

Yum.

There are several universal truths when it comes to raising Australian children.

1. Getting them into and out of cars is going to be a painful and long-winded exercise. Shoes will be missing; toys lost and drink bottles astonishingly empty (and car seats wet).

2. The more disgusting the public toilet that you find yourself in, the longer your contented child will wish to languish (“the poo is almost here mummy”). And the bigger the incident, the fewer tissues you will have handy.

3. If they are to be struck down with a sudden and violent episode of projectile vomiting, it will be between 3-6am, usually just before you are due to do some incredibly crucial work thing.

On a brighter note, it is also true that things covered in pastry are yummier and much more likely to be eaten by your delightful youngsters.

Which is why the Vegie Smugglers cookbook features quite a few recipes making the most of the adored, yet not exactly healthy stuff. Being a mum, not a dietitian, I have the advantage of not freaking out at the idea of utilising some less healthy ingredients for the greater nutritional good.

Puff pastry though, is very high in fat – even the 25% reduced fat stuff. Use it occasionally and make sure that you make the most of it by cramming in all sorts of good ingredients – like my sausage rolls, which are full of mushrooms and lentils. (In the book I’ve got salmon pots full of broccoli and a fruit treat jammed full of apples, pear and prunes – which may help speed up your public toilet visits considerably).

Today’s recipe is a glorious Indian-inspired dish. Just a hint of spice gets the kid’s palettes keen for more exotic flavour and opens the door to a whole new cuisine (unless you’re Indian, in which case you might prefer a bolognaise or lasagne for a bit of cross cultural goodness). This mince filling is also good on baked potatoes and freezes perfectly for a couple of months.

Beef triangles

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g beef mince
1 tsp curry powder
1 carrot, peeled, grated
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
½ red or yellow capsicum, deseeded, finely diced
½ cup beef stock
1 tbsp soy sauce
Black pepper
5 sheets frozen puff pastry
1 egg, whisked, for glazing

Fruit chutney, to serve

Preheat oven to 190C.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft. Add mince and brown, breaking up lumps as you go. Add curry powder and all the vegies and mix well.

Add the stock and soy sauce and simmer vigorously over medium-high heat until most of the liquid is evaporated and the vegies are soft. Season with pepper.

Cut each pastry sheet into four squares. Place 2 tbsp of mixture in the centre of each square. Fold diagonally to create triangles, pressing firmly on the edges to seal well.

Brush with egg and bake on oven trays lined with baking paper for 10-15 minutes until golden. Serve beef triangles with chutney.

MAKES 20

Junior Masterchef is blowing my mind!

October 19, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, News, Red meat · Tagged family, feeding the family, kids, lamb, vegetables, vegies

At Vegie Smuggling HQ, last Sunday night was spent watching TV with our jaws hanging wide open. Isn’t it a shock, to see a bunch of kids so young who can kick butt in the kitchen, sauteing, baking and slicing their way to foodie heaven? We’re all so protective these days and assume our little lovelies are so helpless that it’s refreshing to see competent kids, who’ve been well trained, concentrating and doing their thing with such aplomb. And putting the rest of us to shame. I mean, really, I doubt I could make Pierre’s Lamb Wellington that won the other night.

And isn’t it great, for younger kids to see these visions of accomplishment. Miss Fruitarian was grinning the entire time.

Why do I underestimate what my kids are capable of and wrap them in such thick layers of cotton wool? A while back, my Japanese friend shocked me by instructing in that helpful/harsh Japanese way that I must give my kids knives from the time they’re three. “They only cut themselves one time”, she assured me.

In some countries Miss F would probably of have a flock of goats under her control by now. Even half a century ago she would have been contributing to the household in ways more productive than her current “muuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmm, iiiii nneeeeeeeedddddddddddd youuuuuuuuuuuuuu”. Of course, I run to her to check what the emergency is and generally find that she can’t find her red texta, or she needs me to kill the microscopic spider on the bathroom floor. With renewed purpose, I’m going to work on getting my kids more domestically skilled and useful.

In the mean time, here’s my contribution to the Junior Masterchef ‘pie’ challenge, a vegie smuggling Shepherd’s Pie that hides potato, pumpkin, onion, carrot, celery and eggplant. Strangely enough, I didn’t see any of the Masterchef kids sneaking too many vegies into their masterpieces.

Miss F may not herd goats, but she does love this Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd’s pie

Meat base
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled,
finely diced
1 celery stick,
finely diced
500g lamb mince
2 finger eggplants, peeled, finely diced
2 tbsp plain flour
2 cups beef stock
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
Squeeze of tomato sauce
2 fresh bay leaves
(or 1 dried)
Salt & black pepper

Mash topping
3 mashing potatoes, peeled, diced
500g pumpkin, peeled, diced
½ cup milk
Margarine, to taste

Canola oil cooking spray

For the meat base, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrot and celery until soft (5-10 minutes). Add the mince and brown, breaking up lumps as you go. Add the eggplant and stir.

Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock, sauces and bay leaves. Bring to the boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes. Season to taste.

Meanwhile, for the mash, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the potato and pumpkin and cook for 15 minutes until tender. Drain.

Preheat oven to 200C.

Mash the potatoes and pumpkin well, adding milk and margarine to achieve your preferred texture.

Divide the lamb mixture between a family-sized souffle dish and 4 x 1 cup ovenproof dishes (eat the family one tonight and freeze the smaller serves).

Spread mash over the top as evenly as you can.

Put all the dishes on one oven tray, spray the tops with cooking spray and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbling.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 6 KIDS

Comments (1) »

The best way to smuggle… tomatoes

August 18, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, Red meat, The best way to smuggle..., Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged dinner, family, feeding the family, ideas, kids, mealtime, pasta, recipe, tomatoes, vegetables, veggies, vegies

Over on the Vegie Smugglers facebook page (yes, that’s a blatant, go and ‘like’ it advert), I’ve had a request for solutions to an ongoing tomato battle.

Raw tomatoes can be tricky and I’ll tackle them later. Let’s start with cooked tomatoes, which are a little friendlier to kid’s tastebuds. A recipe that works well is The best-ever vegetarian lasagne. But really, if you think of cooked tomatoes, bolognaise is the dish that springs to mind. The classic Italian dish is SO popular, that people make fun of it. But let’s remember that it’s a cliché for a reason. A million families across Australia wouldn’t cook it every Tuesday night if it wasn’t a ‘bums on seats till the bowl is empty’ winner.

Alas, Claire on Facebook admitted to supermarket-jar-dependence. Easy to understand. But not nearly as tasty (or healthy) as home-made.

My suggestion is to get the menfolk onto it. There’s something about being king of the kitchen and brewing a big pot of meat that seems to appeal to them. Get them cooking up a double batch this weekend and freeze lovely kid-sized portions. Then you’ll have a quick and healthy meal ready to rock whenever you need it. Most households have a bolognaise recipe that they swear by – this is my husband’s fine work. There are a lot of ingredients, but please don’t be deterred, give it a try and marvel at how good bolognaise can be.

Me Tarzan! This my meat (with red stuff).

Adam’s bolognaise sauce

3 tbsp olive oil
500g veal mince
500g pork mince
1 large brown onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large carrot, peeled, grated
½ red capsicum, deseeded, finely diced
1 large zucchini, grated
1 tbsp chopped basil
¼ cup chopped parsley
400g can chopped tomatoes
700ml passata (bottled tomato puree found in the supermarket near the Italian pasta sauces)
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp tomato sauce
½ cup red wine (optional, but recommended)
1 cup mushrooms, finely diced
1 bay leaf
Salt & black pepper

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the veal mince and brown, breaking up lumps as you go. Remove from pan and set aside. Do the same with the pork mince using another tbsp of olive oil. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add remaining olive oil and cook the onion gently over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and carrot and stir for 1 minute. Add the capsicum and zucchini and stir constantly for 3 minutes. Throw in the herbs for 30 seconds then add the canned tomatoes. Stir that through then add half the passata and cook until the sauce bubbles.

Add the veal mince, then the rest of the passata and the pork mince. Stir well then add the tomato paste, tomato sauce and red wine. Stir through the mushrooms, add the bay leaf and season to taste. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (simmer for up to an hour if you have time).

Serve sauce with fettuccine topped with parmesan and herbs.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 6 KIDS

KIDS ALSO LOVE IT when you serve this sauce scooped into cooked large pasta shells. No effort or fuss, they just pop them straight in – vegies and all.

Comments (8) »

I could have eaten Kermit…

July 21, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Red meat · Tagged beans, dinner, feeding the family, lamb, meatballs, parenting, recipe, vegetables, veggies, vegies

G’day. I’ve been out in the bush. Super tops out there in the real Australia. Lots of drivin’, visitin’ stuff and good wholesome country fare…

Well actually the driving bit is true, about 1000 kms which in a country this size is nothing, but with two kids under 6 in the back it can be a challenge. I didn’t quite reach the stage of needing to place a wooden spoon on the dashboard, but it did get close. The travelling CDs I’d made worked quite well at keeping them entertained. I’ve been training the kid’s ears at the same time as I’ve been training their pallettes. They like everything from Steve Aoki to the Beach Boys. Although most of the time is spent clarifying song lyrics. “No mate, he’s actually singing ‘message in a bottle’, not ‘message in a bottom’ and, no, Johnny Cash walks the line, not a lion.

And visiting stuff, well lordy, did we what! We rode bikes at a zoo, saw model trains, visited massive adventure playgrounds and slipped into quite a few wineries for mummy and daddy’s sanity. And we spent a full day at a farm field day, learning about straw bale houses, composting, fencing systems and butchering entire animals. It was GREAT! Super-good fun for us city slickers.

But the good wholesome country fare… well, some good, some great, some bad. But SO much meat. Out and about it’s all meat with chips, or meat with potatoes, or meat with pastry. Obviously my little Mr Meat and Potatoes was pretty thrilled with the whole arrangement, but me? I would have killed for something green to munch on.

Perhaps getting roadside kiosks and bakeries to love lettuce is asking too much, but what about next time they whip up a meat and bread option, they try these little rissoles? Just so that we can sneak a few vitamins in while we’re devouring half a sheep.

Rissoles with yummy stuff smuggled inside!

Come home to these when you realise the grass isn\’t always greener.

Spicy lamb & bean rissoles

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 cloves garlic, crushed
2 slices multigrain bread
400g can four bean mix, rinsed, drained
1 carrot, peeled, roughly chopped
500g lamb mince
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil, for frying

To serve
Flatbread or burger buns
Cream cheese
Tomato chutney
Cucumber, sliced
Lettuce

Dig out the big food processor to make this recipe quick and easy.

Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened. Add the cumin, coriander and garlic and fry another minute. Set aside.

Blitz the bread in the food processor into breadcrumbs. Remove and set aside.

Add the four bean mix and carrot to the food processor and whizz well. Add the onion mixture and lamb and blitz. Add the egg and breadcrumbs and blitz further until combined.

Use wet hands to form 5-6cm rissoles (warning – remove the processor blade before you handle the mixture!). Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook the rissoles for 4-5 minutes each side until cooked through.

Spread flatbread with cream cheese and chutney. Top with rissoles, cucumber and lettuce.

MAKES 16 RISSOLES

Toddler Recipes: What (and how) to feed fussy eaters

Advice on how to get your toddler eating a wide variety of vegetables with 26 clever recipes that smuggle the healthy ingredients in.

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Vegie Smugglers