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The toys look as tired as I feel

January 7, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian · Tagged parenting, pasta, recipe, vegetables, vegetarian

Looking around at the constant mess that is my house during the school holidays, I keep seeing signs that the toys are feeling my pain. I suspect that ‘Toy Story’ is real after all.

Frazzled (with my body on backwards).

Askew (and just slightly stabby).

Confused (don’t know up from down).

Queasy (although the holiday hangover is passing).

In need of a good lay down (when does school go back?).

Funny how I was looking forward to these school holidays so much. Now after almost three weeks of it, I can’t actually discern any difference between the school and non-school parts of the year in terms of my workload. Actually during the holidays I have more interruptions and there isn’t a half hour where the house stays in order.

So the exhaustion levels are the same but the tasks have changed. Instead of packing lunchboxes and endlessly turning socks inside out and matching them, I’m now constantly washing the sand out of beach towels and applying sunscreen (my most hated job, but I can’t trust them to do a good job on their own).

The calendar tells me that the New Year is underway and many people’s holidays are over. Once more I’m reminded that mums don’t ever really get a holiday, do we? Yesterday, I did sneak an hour and a half on the deck with my kindle and a gin & tonic. I guess that’ll have to do.

Am I the only one feeling a little ripped off? What are your best ways to find some relaxation amongst the holiday chaos? Let me know QUICK! The kids don’t have to get off the PS3 for another 45 minutes – that’s my downtime slot for today!

In return, I’m offering you an easy dinner to ease your workload. It’ll use up all that basil which is probably going to seed in this heat. It’s from the Complete Lunchboxes Planner e-book.

Easy to make and yum either warm for dinner or cold on picnics.

Pesto Pasta Salad

1 large clove garlic
¼ cup pine nuts
1 bunch basil leaves
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup grated parmesan (please don’t use the powdered stuff)
250g pasta spirals
½ punnet cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

In a food processor (mini one is best), blitz together the garlic and pine nuts. Add the basil and blitz well. Combine in the oil (a little at a time). Stir in the cheese. Set aside (all day if you like).

Cook the pasta according to packet directions. Scoop out 1⁄2 cup of the water and set aside, then drain pasta and return to saucepan. Pour over pesto and mix through. Use more oil or reserved cooking water if too dry. Stir through the tomatoes.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS.

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Just because

November 27, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Fish, Vegetarian · Tagged Christmas, parenting, pasta, recipe, tuna, vegetables

Miss F and Mr M&P were outside on the weekend, setting the ground rules for an imaginative play game. Being a Virgo, Miss F likes to have the back-story fully told, with characters thoroughly fleshed out before the playing begins. Usually she will transform herself and her brother into animals, so the species, colour, familial relationships, full names, colour preferences and purpose of journey/adventure will all be established before she get into character (and the dirt) ready to play.

Mr M&P is a less complicated fellow but happily goes along with it all. He was nodding away, agreeing to all the details and finally added his own, “and all their last names will be ‘Doodle’”. Smirk smirk snigger.
“Why?” demanded Miss F, more than a bit annoyed by his flippancy.
“Just because” said Mr M&P with such a sense of finality that I was impressed.

I loved evesdropping on perfect a moment of childhood. Just because. There is no reason. Just because doodle is a funny word and it makes him (and me) laugh.

I realised that I don’t do much ‘just because’. There doesn’t seem to be much room for ‘just because’ when you’re an adult. Everything seems to need a reason, a justification for why I’m spending energy on it. Things can be fun, but they are usually with purpose.

Perhaps this is why I love summer so much. There’s a whole lot more opportunity for ‘just because’. Sure you have a swim for the valid reason that you need to cool down, but while you’re under water it’s nice to have a glide about and pretend you’re a mermaid (if only for a few seconds). Just because it’s good for your soul to have a bit of silly fun from time to time. And I’m thinking that the pursuit of ‘just because’ might be one of my new goals for 2013.

Before that though, we’ve got the Christmas season to get through. The barrage of upcoming events is likely to cause havoc to your usual routines, which is why I’m proposing a pasta salad this week. Make a batch of it and you’ll have instant dinners and lunches ready to go whenever you need them. Should give you more ‘just because’ time.

Basic balsamic salad dressing
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup lemon juice
¾ cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine all of these ingredients and mix well. Keeps for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Ready, delicious and waiting (in the fridge)

Tuna pasta salad

500g pasta (I like orecchiette)
½ quantity basic balsamic dressing (if you like really glossy salads, you may want to use more)
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
5 spring onions, finely sliced
400g can tuna in spring water (drained) – Omit this ingredient for a vegetarian salad!
1 large carrot, peeled, grated
½ red capsicum, finely diced
400g can corn kernels, drained
Olives
Basil
Pepper

(other yum ingredients include fennel, cannelini beans, red onion, artichoke hearts, green beans and banana chillis)

Cook the pasta according to packet directions. Drain quickly and return to the hot pan. Pour over the salad dressing and toss through the tomatoes and spring onions (the residual heat of the pasta cooks them slightly).

Mix through the rest of the ingredients. Season well with pepper. Serve warm or pop straight into the fridge and enjoy later on, cold.

Serves a family of four for dinner, then enough for lunches the next day too.

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You’re vegetarian, but the kids aren’t

November 5, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Ham/pork, Vegetarian · Tagged Chinese, feeding the family, freezer, lunchbox, parenting, recipe, vegetables

So you’ve been a vegetarian for years, happily sitting on the bacon sidelines and letting the world of steaks, mince and roasts pass you by. But then you have a baby, who after a delightful vegetarian life reaches the 8-9 month mark and is ready for a bit more protein. What do you do?

Perhaps your reasons are ethical, environmental or just plain taste-based, you now have a bit of a dilemma about how to feed your family and do the best thing for your kids’ health.

There is no reason why you can’t raise vegetarian children. It does mean that you need to pay special attention to their diet to keep it nutritionally balanced. There’s a good article here and resource here to help guide you.

Kids need much less protein than we often think. Here’s a link to just how much they require. Often you can fill their need for animal protein with milk, cheese and eggs. Ideally though, you should take a visit to a nutritionist or dietician to ensure there is no deficiencies anywhere in your eating plan.

Possibly the biggest battle you’ll face is the opinions of concerned grandparents and friends who really can’t fathom that your little lovelies can survive without the occasional chop. And perhaps they have a point. Unless you’re being really vigilant, then it might be a good idea for the kids to get a little dose of animal protein and iron a couple of times a week. If you’re ok with this, then here are a couple of ways to do it without you having to handle meat too often.

Big batch and freeze it

Make double batches of bolognaise, fajita mince or chilli and freeze them in small portions. These lamb sausage rolls are also good. That night the kids can have their meat fix and you can enjoy your Indian-style tempeh all by yourself.

Versatile dinners

Heaps of dinners can be made to a point, and then modified to suit the meat and non/meat-eating members of your household. Cheesy pots can be customised easily, as can rice paper rolls (cookbook 2) and pasta bake (just make individual ones).

This recipe for Chinese meatballs is perfect too. Make a double batch and freeze them. Then next time you whip up a stir-fry, add a few reheated meatballs on top of the kid’s serve.

Remember, if handling meat is a problem for you, maybe ask the concerned grandparent if they wouldn’t mind whipping up a meatball care parcel for you from time to time. I reckon they’ll be so relieved that they’ll be happy to help.

vegie smugglers plum sauce chinese-style meatballs

Serve meatballs on whatever vegies and noodles you like. Top with another dollop of plum sauce and some coriander.

Chinese-style plum sauce meatballs

Canola oil spray
1 slice bread (any flavour)
1 large clove garlic
½ tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
1 zucchini
500g veal/pork mince
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp plum sauce
Sprinkle white pepper (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line an oven tray with foil and spray with the oil spray.

Use a food processor (I like my mini-one) to blitz the bread up into breadcrumbs. Add in the garlic and 5-spice and blitz so that all the crumbs are a garlicky-aromatic source of yum. Add to a mixing bowl.

Pulse or grate the zucchini and add the bowl. Also add in the mince and all the flavourings.

Wear kitchen gloves and mix this all together well (or you can do all this in a large food processor if excessive handling of meat makes you queasy). Roll into bite-sized balls and place on the oven tray.

Spray meatballs with oil spray and bake for 15 minutes. Remove, use tongs to carefully turn over, spray again and bake for another 10 minutes until cooked through.

Makes 30ish.

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Why mini food-fascists shouldn’t ruin your day

October 16, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family, mealtime, parenting, recipe, salad, vegetables

So delicious, the kids might just join in after all.

So you’ve looked at the picture and now I can hear you screeching, “Has she gone mad! There’s NO WAY my kids would eat that”. And possibly you’re right. The vegies are all on show, there’s A LOT of them and there’s even little bits of poison like olives included in this panzanella.

But the thing is, kids are never going to eat a salad like this if they’re never introduced to it. I get sick of parents saying to me “my kids just WON’T eat (insert item name)”, to which I say, “do you ever serve (insert that item name)”, then usually they sheepishly admit that no, they never do.

I understand that you’re battle weary, but how on earth will your kids ever eat a wide variety of food if you’ve stopped serving it?

The kids shouldn’t hold us hostage, destined to a life of sausages and carrot sticks. They need to understand that while you do spend time creating their favourite dishes, sometimes they have to join in with your favourite dishes too. They need to see adults enjoying healthy food. And if you serve this at your next BBQ, they can see lots of adults oohing and aahing over it. Being that kids are such classic joiner-innerers, they might even have a stab at it. At this stage, my kids will munch on the bread, capsicum, cucumber and olives.

Who knows, by the end of summer, after seeing and eating it multiple times, I’m betting that they’ll just tuck straight in.

If cooked till nice and black, the skin will peel off the capsicums easily. No need to place in bags/tea towels or anything.

Panzanella

½ red onion
2 red capsicums
½ Baguette (or slices of sourdough – it’s delicious and chewy)
2 large cloves garlic
1 large Lebanese cucumber
2 punnets of cherry or roma tomatoes OR 3 big vine ripened OR 4 roma tomatoes
Handful of olives
½ bunch basil
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Slice the red onion and place in a cup of iced water. This takes the ‘bite’ out of the onion but still leaves it firm and crunchy. Leave to soak for at least 10 minutes then drain and set aside.

Cut the cheeks off the capsicum and place under a hot griller until totally blackened. Remove and set aside until they’re cool enough to handle. Once they are, peel and discard the skin.

Grill the baguette or sourdough slices until toasted. Do both sides then remove. Rub garlic over one side while the bread is still hot.

Chop your tomatoes (just in half for little ones) and add to a salad bowl. Add in the chopped cucumber and chopped capsicum flesh.

Tear over the basil and the toasted bread. Toss through the onion and olives.

Mix the oil and vinegar together (whisk with a fork) and pour over.

This salad can be served fresh but its nice to leave it sit for a couple of hours so that the flavours can combine.

Serves 8 as a side dish.

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Dinner for you two, dinner for me too

August 6, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family, parenting, pasta, recipe, vegetables

One dinner, two ways.

Pretty much any parent I chat to starts the food conversation with “my kids are pretty good eaters”. I nod in admiration of their parenting prowess. But I wait (not smugly, I promise). Invariably a BUT is inserted next.

“But devil child won’t eat meat and Lucinda only eats greens if you let her hold a pink jelly bean and I sing ‘rock-a-bye-your-bear’. But apart from that, they eat everything”.

Battle weary parents tend to confuse ‘good’ with ‘normal’. Jumping through hoops every mealtime becomes just what you do and you forget that actually you might be able to tweak things and get away with doing much less. Like cooking one meal a night. Which would leave you more wine time and lower stress levels.

Which is something I aim for with my recipes. I’m too lazy (actually no, just too busy) to cook multiple meals, so I like to cook one basic dinner for everyone. Being a realist though, I understand that the same presentation won’t suit all members of the family, which is why in my books I often have tips for ways to convert a pretty basic dinner into something more gourmet for the adults.

This tomato & lentil pasta sauce recipe is the perfect example.

Mr VS & I like it with olives, tonnes of herbs, pepper and parmesan. It’s a healthy and yummy grown up meal. My kids will skip the accompaniments and have the sauce mixed through their current pasta of preference (spirals at the moment) with grated cheddar cheese on top.

If you have toddlers, take the time to spoon mouthfuls into large pasta shells and scatter cheese on top. Just serve them a few and watch greedy little hands shoving the mouthfuls straight in. No spoon middle-man to overcomplicate matters. Even if your fussy eater only eats a few, you’ve probably got some scraps of veg and a couple of lentils in, which should tide them over until next week.

I know it’s only Tuesday, but cheers. Here’s to you for being awesome.

Tomato & lentil pasta sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 large fresh tomato, diced
1 carrot, peeled, grated
1/2 red capsicum, finely diced
800g can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste (or 1x2tbsp concentrate sachet)
400g can lentils, rinsed, drained
Pepper

Optional extras: Fresh parsley or basil, olives, parmesan, crumbled feta.

Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and fry the onion for several minutes until softening. Add the garlic for a minute then scatter over the brown sugar. Keep stirring until well combined before splashing in the vinegar.

Mix in the dried herbs, fresh tomato, carrot and capsicum. Stir through really well before adding the tinned tomatoes, paste and lentils.

Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Season to taste. Serve however suits your family.

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Can’t help myself… bad habits

July 26, 2012 · Filed under News, Vegetarian · Tagged breakfast, feeding the family, parenting, recipe

My life saved by a stamp, contact and some blu-tack

Inevitably, with modern life being the tricky thing that it is, parts of our lives fall into ruts and nasty little habits emerge. They evolve slowly and sometimes it can take a while before we notice that they’re there.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a little ‘perspective’ fairy hovering in the background, ready to tap me on the shoulder and give me a bit of rude truth from time to time. She could let me know how many nights I’ve missed readers this week, point out that there’s a pile of unopened mail under the kitchen table and possibly even let me know if my current love of leggings is unsuitable for a lady of my age.

Tough gig though, being a perspective fairy. No one likes to realise they’ve been doing a bad job of anything. She’d need to be a fast flier to avoid the swats and insect knock down spray.

So it takes a little courage to take a step back from time to time and reassess how life is going – and look for the little (or big) signs that are telling you when it’s time to have a think and take steps to make adjustments and repairs wherever needed in order to obtain better outcomes.

For me recently, I’ve needed a big overhaul of my discipline system to accommodate my growing kids. Old parenting techniques weren’t working and most days I was just being the house shrew. “Gee your throat must be sore after all that yelling” said Mr Meat & Potatoes (AKA the perspective fairy).

So I’ve pulled my socks up and we’ve got a new star chart in place. Elegantly executed by the ever industrious Miss F (who individually contacted 40 star stamped pieces of paper), we’ve got a new system where stars are pretty easy to earn and can be transferred into either 5 minutes of iPad time or 25c. Took a bit of effort to get it going but it has totally turned the dynamics around from me yelling and them ignoring, to them looking for ways to be good.

On the food front I noticed that my own breakfast routine had come unstuck. I used to be a muesli girl, but I’d tired of my favourite brands and started buying other cereals that are on the healthy scale, but are still outrageously sweet.

My second perspective fairy was Rosemary Stanton (she specialises in Rude Truth, doesn’t she?!). I’m reading her “Choice Guide to Food” (which is really practical and great) and she pointed out that even those of us who read the product labels are possibly being duped. Instead of admitting to a cereal being 50% sugar, many manufacturers use two or three sources of sugar, so that each percentage is lower and they can appear further down the ingredient list. She offered such an easy fix that I feel stupid for being lazy and buying the boxed stuff. MAKE YOUR OWN. It’s cheaper. Yummier. Healthier.

This morning I tucked into my homemade muesli and it was so yum, that the extra 10 minutes it took to make the huge batch seemed entirely worthwhile.

Toast some bits (like nuts, oats & coconut) to increase the flavour and it’s delicious.

Toasted muesli

Use whatever grain, seeds, nuts and dried fruits you like.

Rolled oats
Flaked almonds
Pecans, roughly chopped
Shredded coconut
Pumpkin seeds
Oat bran
All bran
Currants

Spread the oats on a tray and bake at 180C – stir once or twice until golden.

Repeat with the almonds, pecans and coconut (stay near – they burn quickly). Toss together in a container with the other ingredients and you’re done.

PS. Did you know that most cereal serving sizes are ½ cup? Might be worth measuring your cereal out into a bowl to see just how much that is – I’ve been having waaaaaay more.

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Get the machines to do the work (cause I’m guessing you’re pretty busy)

May 31, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Vegetarian · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, ideas, kids, mealtime, recipe, vegetables, vegetarian

The MACHINES will do my work!

Have you noticed a bit less Vegie Smugglers chatter lately? I’ve been a bit scarce, having just started back into magazine land, working on a 6 month, part-time contract. A two-day a week job doesn’t come along every day, and I would have been an idiot to say no. I should be able to do it and keep VS running as well, with no discernable difference to you guys (maybe a few more spelling miztakes).

Heading back into the traditional workforce means that my CV gets updated, there’s enough cash to get the gutters fixed, the kids finally get to join their friends at after-school care and I’m plonked back into the time-poor, stressed, parenting cycle.

I used to work three days a week, so two should be easy, right? Sigh. I’m slowly getting back into the swing of it, but getting everyone out of the house by 7am is stinging a little.

At least the kids are a bit older now and night-times aren’t the disaster zones that they used to be. There’s nothing quite as harrowing as picking up toddlers at 6pm (lets not even discuss how bad the guilt levels are when your child is the last one to be collected), getting them home (singing songs the whole way, so they don’t fall asleep in the car), washed (mid-tantrum) and somehow fed (banana, anyone?). These days I have a bit more time before their behaviour turns rancid, but without a hot, daycare-supplied lunch, I’m more on the hook for providing a decent dinner each night.

So I’m turning to my fabulous kitchen machines to help me out. I’ve just bought a slow-cooker (I never had the space to store one before I moved to a house) and so far I’ve made beef stew, Italian casserole, pulled pork, chicken mole and poached pears! I need to tweak these recipes, but will try to post one or two of the best soon. And I’ve had my rice cooker working overtime. With my love of rice, I’ve always found this gadget to be extremely worthwhile. I’ve got a slightly fancy one with a sauté function. If you do too, then HOORAY, this recipe is especially for you (although you can still make it without)…

Pilaf. Fun to say and good to eat.

Cauliflower and cashew pilaf

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 1/2 cups cauliflower, finely chopped into tiny bits
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods (give them a smash with the back of a knife)
1/2 tsp cumin powder
3/4 cup brown rice, rinsed
1 1/2 cups basmati rice, rinsed
4 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 carrot, peeled, grated
1/3 cup sultanas
2/3 cup cashews, roughly chopped

Heat oil in the rice cooker (on the sauté function, if it has one). Add the onion, stir then cover for two minutes. Add the cauliflower and spices; stir then cover for another two minutes.

Add in the rinsed, drained rice and the stock. Stir well, cover and leave the cooker to do its thing on the regular cook setting.

Once done, add in the carrot, sultanas and cashews, mix and leave on the warm setting for 5-10 minutes.

Cook this the day before work (cool quickly and refrigerate), and then you can reheat it (topped with frozen peas) and fry up a couple of cutlets to pop on top. Delish!

*NO RICE COOKER? Cook everything in a saucepan, as described. Cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer until the rice has absorbed the liquid & is tender.

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Do you cook with tubular herbs?

May 16, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, News, Vegetarian · Tagged chicken, dinner, ideas, mealtime, parenting, recipe, vegetables

I don’t often do PR-type posts. It’s not my thing to run a food/parenting blog then suddenly start posting about the awesomeness of a chainsaw – how easy it is to use, the sexy ear muffs etc etc. It makes for boring reading.

But I was sent a bunch of herbs in tubes from Garden Gourmet, on the proviso that I use them in some recipes and post about it. I’m happy to join in a ‘blog off’ if the products are relevant.

Now I’m sorry Garden Gourmet, but generally I like my herbs fresh – you’ll never convince me that anything from the supermarket is better than something freshly picked from my garden. HOWEVER, I can see two definite benefits to the tubular stuff… 1. when you want to use a herb that’s out of season and 2. convenience. So I’ve tested them out on two recipes that fit these categories.

1. OUT OF SEASON

Basil is the perfect example of a herb that really disappears during winter and seeing as the dried stuff is a waste of everyone’s time and money, I’m happy to have a go and see if I can get a bit of summer-loving into my cold nights.

All summery tasting, even though its winter…

I’ve tweaked my vegie lasagne recipe, using the tube garlic and tube basil. It worked out great…

The best-ever vegetarian lasagne

Tomato sauce
800g can chopped tomatoes
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp tube garlic paste
¼ cup sliced black olives (optional)
2 cups finely diced vegies (try broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms and carrot)
3 tbsp tube basil
Salt & black pepper

Spinach layer
250g grated mozzarella
300g cottage cheese
150g other cheese of your choice (crumbled feta, grated cheddar, grated parmesan)
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 bunch silverbeet, blanched and chopped or a frozen 200g box of spinach, thawed, with the excess liquid squeezed out

500g box instant lasagne sheets
Handful grated cheese, for topping

Preheat oven to 180C. Spray a 5-litre lasagne dish with cooking spray.
For the tomato sauce, place all the ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the initial crunch is taken out of the vegies and onion. Everything gets baked later, so avoid overcooking at this stage.

For the spinach layer, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Use your hands to get everything mixed through well.

Now you’re ready to begin layering. This is the order: enough tomato sauce to cover the bottom of the dish, then pasta (break sheets to cover entire layer), half the spinach, pasta, half the remaining tomato sauce, pasta, rest of the spinach, pasta, rest of the tomato sauce. Did you keep up?

Top with a little more grated cheese and bake for 45 minutes or until golden and YUM.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 4 KIDS
_________________________

2. CONVENIENCE

I was intrigued by the tube of Thai seasoning. With one squeeze I’ve got lemongrass, ginger, coriander & chilli. I can dig that. Here’s what I did with it…

Four herbs in one squeeze was pretty handy…

Asian chicken meatballs with udon noodles & vegies

2 slices wholemeal bread
1 zucchini
5 spring onions
1 egg
500g chicken mince
2-3 tbsp tube Thai seasoning (start with 2 if your kids are fussy)

Sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp tube garlic
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce

Serve with…
Udon noodles, beans & carrots. A sliced up spring onion for a garnish would be great.

For the sauce: Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes until syrupy. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

For the meatballs: Use a mini food processor (or stick blender, whatever you want to call them), to make breadcrumbs with the bread. Add it to a large bowl. Use the gadget to also quickly blitz up your spring onions and zucchini. Add them to the bowl, then add in the rest of the meatball ingredients and mix well. I use kitchen gloves to finish mixing by hand then roll out the meatballs.

Heat 2 tbsp peanut oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning until golden all over and cooked through (takes about 10 minutes). Do this in batches rather than overcrowding the pan.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to packet directions. Leave the carrots & beans raw, or steam or microwave them slightly.

Pop everything in a bowl and you’re done. Somehow a splurt of coriander from a tube just doesn’t make a good garnish – next time I’ll make sure I have an extra spring onion to slice and scatter over to make it look pretty.

___________________

So yes, fresh herbs in plastic tubes are handy, and I’m looking forward to experimenting with them a bit more – at least until I can get my basil plant going again next summer.

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Fifty shades of red (the best way to smuggle… raw tomato)

April 12, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, The best way to smuggle..., Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, recipe, salads, vegetables

There are some current trends that I’m managing to avoid. One Direction, orange jeans, and MKR have been easy to skip. The Fifty Shades of Grey e-book though, piqued my interest as soon as I heard it classified as ‘mummy porn’. Realising that I’m their target market and determined to do my best to stay up with the trends I downloaded it IMMEDIATELY. Admittedly around page 40 when first introduced to the ‘playroom’ I had second thoughts. I don’t want to seem like a prude but I’m a bit of an Elizabeth/Mr Darcy kind of a girl and 480 pages of bondage wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind. Still I’ve done my best and have gallantly just finished book 2. I’ve stuck with Grey and Annnnaasssttaaaaassssssia through romps in bed, in the boathouse, on boats and in the playroom (eeewwwwwww).

As a way to spend some time, it’s somehow reminding me of a sexed up, book version of ‘Escape to the Country’ – I’m glued with promises of the next scene, the next escapist fantasy, a new reception room (where of course they will stop for a dalliance). Basically a bunch of absorbing snippets that compile to make a vaguely dissatisfying whole. At the end I’m feeling slightly hoodwinked and not sure why I’m spending any of my life consuming it.

Anyway despite posts on porn film food, and an admission that I had inadvertently introduced my toddler to internet nudity, this blog is supposedly about good food, not erotica and the real point of today’s post is to tackle a tricky ‘best way to smuggle’ – raw tomato.

Unlike other vegies that are easy to sneak into gorgeous meals (like spinach, mushrooms & cauliflower), raw tomato with its high acid content is pretty tricky to hide. While the kids like a mushed up raw tomato pasta sauce, gazpacho isn’t quite floating their boats just yet. And hiding it raw can be tricky, so my best option is to dress is up, Fifty Shades style, with a delectably kinky dressing.

My hubbie concocted this quick salad and my kids LOVE it. Dolloped into wraps, and onto burgers – it’s been a real success. And yes, before you email me with outrage, I know that it has SUGAR in it (the irony is not lost on me that porn will make none of you irate, but sugar is akin to the devil). It melds with the balsamic and cuts through the acid. I have no qualms about the sweet content – anything that gets mouthfuls of vitamin rich, raw tomato into my children’s tummies is just fine with me.

Laters…

Dressed up, with somewhere to go.

Adam’s ‘dressed up’ tomato salad

8 roma tomatoes (or equivalent quantities of cherry, grapes or vine tomatoes)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
Salt & pepper (be generous – they are essential to balance out the sweet/salty combo)

For the adults: chopped parsley.

Chop the tomatoes finely, pour over the vinegar, sprinkle the sugar, season generously and stir. Garnish with parsley if you like.

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The parenting F word – frustration

February 5, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian · Tagged dinner, family, parenting, pasta, recipe, vegetables, vegetarian

The new VSHQ. A spot for everyone, even the papertoy monsters.

Recently I spent two days up a ladder turning my spare little gimp room into a family office. I lovingly tended every square centimetre with 3 coats of white paint to turn the dark dump into a THING OF BEAUTY that the whole family could share. Each of us had a spot. A desk. A pencil holder. One of those cool, Smiggle 6-colour pens. We all belonged.

The result was so gorgeous that I was quite in love with myself. I wanted to just go into this room and lay on the floor and lick it. It was deliciously schmick and we all moved in.

One week later I discovered that Miss Fruitarian had decided to show Mr Meat & Potatoes the joy of splatter painting. In the new office. She had procured a toothbrush from god-knows-where, dug out her full palette of watercolours and GONE FOR IT on her desk. And since it is HER desk, she didn’t feel the need for any kind of time-wasting preparation materials such as protective newspaper.

I am of course, piecing events together in a CSI fashion, but it seems apparent to me that mid-way through her masterpiece she had second thoughts. So the ~~blood~~ paint trail changed from a fine spray to dollops across the carpet as she made a quick getaway to the back deck. And across the back deck, to the table, where the splatter-fest continued. But at some point, clean up was required, so the large water container was emptied over the railing. Which was possibly a good idea, except that below at that point, was the path, so the now browny-green water was splattered over the railing, down the side of the house and all over the stone pathway.

Now I wouldn’t have discovered this so soon if we hadn’t decided to eat outside that night. Which of course we had to do because all of the dining table chairs were being used to hold up the lounge room cubby, which was full of every single stuffed toy from the two bedrooms upstairs. Plus most of the plastics from my kitchen. Apparently the toys were whipping up dinner.

And did I mention that later that same day, Miss F went on to ‘create’ a kangaroo made from tissues, wading and reused bits of fluff from her end-of-year ‘Cats’ dance costume? Again, in the newly refurbished office.

By the end of the day I was ready to kill. My best friend and I did paper, scissors, rock to work out who got the enviable task of dishes and cleaning the entire kitchen and who was going to be in charge of getting the kids washed, teeth brushed and into bed. I won and spent a delightfully quiet half hour cleaning up all of the breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes….ahhhhhh bliss…

Did you read the Huffington post article about parenting recently? Summed it up nicely, the dichotomy between overwhelming parental love and the tedium and hell of the every day. There is SO much work and slavery and boredom in being a mum that it really does grind you down. I can totally see how various pressure points compete and healthy food gets shoved further down the list in favour of sleep, silence and compliance.

The trick is though, to realise when food is actually the answer to the other problem areas as well. Well fed children, full of nutrients tend to behave better. They have full tummies, steady sugar levels and enough (but not too much) energy. They will play without crashing but sleep well at night. They get sick less often too. So perhaps it’s the times when you’re in your parenting lows that you need to stop, focus and rethink things, find the motivation to take on the food battles and get some healthy food into your little lovelies and see what difference it makes.

But trust me, they still make mess, regardless. It appears no amount of vitamins can stop that – sorry.

Here’s a nutritious dinner that is quick to cook and sneaks in heaps of vegies – even cannellini beans.

Get through to the end of the day, no worries.

Quick pasta bake

250g pasta (shell or penne is good)
1 cup broccoli florets
400g can chopped tomatoes
400ml bottle tomato pasta sauce
400g can cannellini beans, rinsed, drained
½ red capsicum, seeded, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, grated
125g can corn kernels, drained
Handful of basil or parsley, finely chopped
2 cups grated cheese (cheddar/mozzarella mix is good)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Cook the pasta according to packet directions. Drain and set aside.

Place the broccoli in a microwave-proof dish with a drizzle of water, cover and zap on high for 1 minute or until just tender. Feel free to blitz the broccoli with a stick blender if your kids will pick out bits.

In a large bowl, mix together the pasta and all of the vegies, sauce, beans and herbs. Season with black pepper to taste. Mix through half the cheese. Spoon the pasta mixture into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until golden.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 3 KIDS
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You might also like to try….
Baked tuna and tomato rice
Lulu’s favourite Tuna pasta bake

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