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What the kids eat in… Mexico (part 2)

February 17, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques, What the kids eat in... · Tagged cooking techniques, dinner, feeding the family, ideas, recipe, vegetables

Recently we were having all sorts of discussions about quick summer dinners and the challenges of vegie smuggling in salads. Hiding vegies in salads is much harder and these dishes are best for kids further along on the smuggling scale (ie, they’ll tackle vaguely identifiable stuff).

If you’re lucky enough to have herbivorous kids like that, then you’ve got a great range of tasty dishes awaiting you. Including these Mexican-inspired side dishes. They’re perfect in tortillas (jumbled together, with or without some grilled chicken or fish) or dollop small amounts on crackers for pre-dinner snacks. They’re even good on burgers and on top of hotdogs.

Adults can top theirs with some pickled jalapenos or fresh chilli and before you know it, dinner is served. Quickly, freshly and packed full of nutrition.

I’m giving you my guacamole recipe here. For the salsa and mexi-beans recipes…. well you’ll find them on page 121 of the cookbook.

Margaritas, sombreros and a bit of goodness on the side

Guacamole

1 avocado, peeled, diced
2 spring onions, finely diced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 garlic clove, crushed (optional, but recommended)
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander (optional)
Salt & pepper

Combine everything in a small bowl. Season to taste.

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in”

January 18, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family, kids, parenting, vegies

Can you place the quote? That’s right! This week I am channelling Michael Corleone in the Godfather Part III. Why? A family blood-feud? No, just that these words were squealed (with an edge of small child hysteria) at my dinner table last week;

“Mummy, is this ONION?, you know I don’t like ONION!”.

What, little child!?! You don’t like onion? Since when??? Onion has been liberally used throughout most of our meals for the past few years, but suddenly this week, it is being identified and picked out of everything. Then with a face screwed up in disgust, the child is smearing half chewed chunks over the table and turning a peaceful family meal into a battle scene.

Just when I thought I was on the home straight of Vegie-Smuggling I realise that I still have many years of food fads to go.

What to do when these phases hit?
1. Keep calm. Don’t inflame the situation by arguing, particularly if you have one of those argumentative little lovelies who enjoy nothing more than a battle.
2. Stay in charge. Try to get your kids to eat it all up, assertively reminding them that they’ve eaten it before and loved it before.
3. Serve a similar dish again within a few days. See if the aversion was a once-off, or something you are going to have to deal with.

If it’s a definite new food problem, head back to your vegie-smuggling basics. If you’ve been cooking with nice big chunks of the culprit veg, go back to grating it for a while, or replace with a variation. For me, grating the onion or replacing it with spring onion has been enough to keep the last couple of nights calm (and the dinners still tasty).

Within a week or two, just go back to normal. Your lovely fickle offspring will (hopefully) have forgotten all about it. Kids are good like that. Unlike the Corleones.

This was my first vegie-smuggling recipe!

Cheesy Pots

This recipe is one I return to again and again as a fail-proof dinner that smuggles nearly anything.

2½ cups of any fresh vegetables, chopped super-fine or grated. I use peas, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrot and canned corn.
50g ham, diced (optional)

Cheese sauce
40g butter
2 tbsp plain flour
1½ cups milk, warmed
125g cheddar cheese, grated
Salt & black pepper

Preheat oven to 180C.
Microwave or steam each of the vegies separately until just starting to soften. Mix them together with ham, if using, and distribute evenly among overproof dishes.

For the cheese sauce, heat the butter in a non-stick saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the flour and use a wooden spoon to stir for 2 minutes. Gradually add the warm milk. It is important to do it gradually and stir constantly. The mixture will thicken into a paste before smoothing back out into a glossy sauce.

Bring sauce to the boil, remove from the heat and add the cheese. Stir until melted. Season to taste.

Divide sauce evenly among the ovenproof dishes. Place on an oven tray and bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and golden.

MAKES 5 CUPS (divide between ovenproof dishes to suit your family).

Comments (14) »

Bring a plate

December 15, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian · Tagged celebrations, Christmas, feeding the family, pastry, recipe, vegetables

It’s night after night of celebrations this week. Picnics, carols, swimming parties. It seems never ending. So to avoid the kids eating 16 straight meals of chocolate, chips and candy canes, these little swirls provide a vague notion of health on these balmy evenings.

Have a great party season, I’ll see you all next year…

Stop, go, stop, go, stop go, slow down!!!!!

Traffic light swirls

3 sheets frozen puff pastry

Red
1/2 cup roasted capsicums
1/2 cup semi-dried tomatoes

Amber
125g creamed corn
1 small carrot
Handful grated cheese (mozzarella or pizza cheese is good)

Green
Store-bought pesto
1 small zucchini, grated

Egg, for glazing

Preheat the oven to 200C. Cover two baking trays with baking paper. Separate out the pastry sheets and leave to thaw.

For the red: blitz together the capsicums and tomatoes. Spread over the entire pastry sheet.

For the amber: blitz together the corn and carrot. Spread over the entire pastry sheet. Sprinkle cheese over the top.

For the green: Spread the pesto over the entire sheet. Scatter over the grated zucchini.

Use the plastic backing on the pastry sheets to help you roll them up into a swirl. Cut through the roll into 15-20mm slices. Place on the trays (so they look like little sushi rolls). Brush with egg. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden.

MAKES 30

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‘tis the season…

November 15, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian · Tagged celebrations, feeding the family, kids, parenting, recipe, vegetables

…for tacky concerts tra la la la laaaaaa la la la la.

December fast approaches and around town the extracurricular schools are competing to convince the parents of their students that all the money forked out throughout the year was worthwhile (and therefore we’ll see you again next year). There are concerts, art exhibitions and martial arts displays bombarding thousands of poor parents who are already brain and schedule overloaded as the logistics of Christmas looms.

This is Miss Fruitarian’s first end of year concert. And I am in a state of shock. When I chose the local ballet school, it was on the grounds of proximity, parking and convenience. I had seen the snazzy-troupes-in-fluorescent-lycra pictures in the foyer, but was sure the whole escapade wouldn’t be too bad.

The notes started arriving mid-year. ‘Save the dates’ for concerts, rehearsals and photo days. Scary amounts for costume deposits were mentioned. I started to feel scared.

Reality hit in earnest two weeks ago with the arrival of a skimpy costume covered in metallic polka dots. With matching headband and bike pants that cost me a small fortune. Miss F is delighted with it all and I don’t want to taint her happiness with my own misgivings. But I am wondering what it is in our culture that has turned a simple dance concert into a Jon-Benet Ramsey tribute night? Why the curled hair, red lipstick and tacky costumes?

And why my passive acceptance of the situation? I did complain about the make-up requirements and was treated with disdain, told “they look too washed out on stage without red lipstick”. Other mothers seem fine with it all. Am I alone? My pathetic protest is to use lipgloss only and make plans for new activities next year. Which is a shame. Dancing has been good for Miss F’s coordination and confidence. And performing in front of an audience is good experience. But why all the pizzazz? What’s wrong with a bit of age-appropriate low-key pink tulle? My daughter is 6, and has so many years ahead of her to be a slut. I don’t need the sexploitation of women to be bombarding her just yet.

I look forward to gymnastics next year.

In an attempt to reclaim some innocence, here’s a healthy and cute pink dip to serve at your end of year celebrations.

Just a bit of innocent fun

Beetroot tzatziki

1 small cucumber
200ml plain Greek yoghurt
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed (to taste)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt & black pepper
225g can sliced beetroot, drained

Water crackers and carrot sticks, to serve

Grate the cucumber. Drain excess liquid and then press with paper towel (this will stop your dip being too runny) and place in a bowl. Mix in the yoghurt, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. Season to taste.

Blitz the beetroot in a stick blender. If needed, add some of the yoghurt mixture to the blender to give the beetroot a nice smooth consistency.

Mix the beets into the yoghurt mixture (little girls like this stage), and mix until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with water crackers, carrot sticks, green beans, breadsticks, falafels, grilled chicken strips for dipping – anything that takes your imagination. Also delicious on Turkish bread salad sandwiches.

MAKES 2 CUPS

Comments (3) »

Yes we can!

October 21, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian · Tagged brunch, feeding the family, recipe, shopping

...preferably with butter, sugar and cinnamon.

The other night when I was buttering up a toasted piece of Baker’s Delight cinnamon fruit loaf I had a nostalgic flash of good old fashioned cinnamon toast. Remember it? Back in the 1970s when there were still cafeterias and rather than table service, you got to slide a tray down a length of metal grill. There was no finer snack than thin white toast smothered in butter, sugar and cinnamon.

So WHY exactly, rather than spending about 25 cents on the components needed to create my own, am I spending $4.60 on a mini loaf of artisan bread instead?

Somewhere between age 8 and 38 I have become a domestic retard. Bombarded with niche products that ‘simplify’ our lives, I’ve been brainwashed away from the joy of simple things. Even trying to buy white bread is complicated these days. (There’s an interesting article here on Australia’s bread buying habits). Which vitamins do I want embedded in my loaf? How MANY grains are there in my slice? More proof that nothing easy is actually easy.

So I move on to the topping. Do I want sugar? Or a synthetic substitute. There’s a choice of saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, acesulfame potassium, and stevia. And the cinnamon? Is it really cinnamon, or cassia? My guilty pleasure of the occasional cinnamon scroll doesn’t seem so fun now that I know there’s not actually any cinnamon in it.

So anyway, next time you pop by, how about I whip you up a chia slice with olive oil spread, splenda and cassia powder?

No, maybe not, because even though the world around me gets more crazy every day, and despite being constantly seduced by the thousands of items surrounding me in the supermarket, I have the power to say STOP! I just want cinnamon toast. And YES I CAN make it, too.

Yes you can, cinnamon toast

Whip this comfort food up for your littlies. They’ll love it as much as you used to.

1 slice white bread
Whatever yellow spread you have, for buttering toast
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp sugar

Toast your bread. Slather on the spread. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and sugar. You’re done.

Because the simple things in life are often the best

October 5, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian

Miss Fruitarian toils (and delights) on the farm

Once we get away from our regular lives it’s possible to gain a bit of perspective on them. From the luxury of a relaxed holiday, the craziness of our day-to-day is clear. The odd things we pour energy into!

The Vegie Smugglers family is on holidays at the moment. A week on the beach, then a week on the farm. Bad weather hasn’t halted the relaxation process. The first week was a strange ebbing of stress. The second week is a revelation. Personalities shift, priorities change.

I thought my kids were pretty chilled out little individuals, but I’ve been surprised to see the change in them too. I didn’t realise how stressed out they were. I’m a bit ashamed.

At the end of last year I quit my job, knowing that the constant push and pull of daily deadlines wasn’t doing any of us any favours. This year we’ve been deliberately unscheduled. Just one extracuricular class for Miss Fruitarian. Mr Meat & Potatoes does short daycare days and nothing else. Not even swimming classes (too frantic, noisy and cold). Weekends are empty.

The choice to make home a sanctuary and respite from the world has been deliberate. But also, apparently, not entirely successful. Here, away from the pressures of mum and dad needing to make a living and the kids needing an education, I’ve watched them de-stress in the same way adults do.

Are we making a mistake, thinking these resilient little people are immune from life’s stresses? Usually we have no choice, so we blinker ourselves from seeing their distress. We have to wake them or we’ll be late for daycare and work. We have to snipe at them to get them to hotfoot it to the bath, or put their shoes on and get to the car. Some days in big city life it feels like my sole role is chief pesterer and nag. It’s not a good feeling.

So what a relief to revel in the simple things and remind myself of what’s important. And of course when we return to the big smoke we’ll maintain our relaxed state… at least until we’re late for school and the kids haven’t yet got their shoes on.

Simple baked eggs

Each ramekin can be filled with ingredients that suit the different tastebuds of your family members.

For each portion:
Sprinkle of sliced ham
2-3 cherry tomatoes, halved
Finely chopped english spinach
½ spring onion, finely sliced
1 egg
Sprinkle cheddar cheese
(on an indulgent day, add a little drizzle of pouring cream)

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Grease a small ramekin dish (or ovenproof cup) with butter. Add in the ham, tomatoes, spinach and spring onions to taste.

Carefully crack an egg into a cup, then pour over the mixture, keeping the yolk in tact. Season.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until cooked to your liking.

Serve with sourdough toast.

Because there’s more to life than slaving in the kitchen

September 7, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged dinner, Fast food, feeding the family, mealtime, parenting, pasta, recipe, vegetables, vegetarian

For someone with a devotion to feeding my family healthy food, I have a strangely mixed relationship with the kitchen. I am not a chef. I am a care-giver. I think, like me, most parents have times when it feels like they are trapped in the kitchen, trying to conceive and prepare tasty things that their kiddies will eat with the minimum of fuss.

Perhaps my devotion to Vegie Smuggling recipes is actually laziness-based. Parenting is exhausting and I really like to clock off at the end of the day. I love to feed them, bath them, and pop them into bed, with a clean conscience about their nutritional welfare. Because then what I really love is to sit with my hunky husband, a BIG glass of wine and a variation of whatever meal I whipped up earlier.

So a basic necessity for all VS recipes is that everyone will enjoy them. At the very least, they need to be super-easy to adapt for adult palettes. Because there is more to life than being in the kitchen all night, and I just won’t cook and clean for the kids and then again later in the night for the adults. This recipe is a great example of how with the addition of a few extra ingredients (add them after you’ve served the kid’s meals) you can take a kid friendly meal into the realm of adult gourmet.

We’ve happily made many concessions to be a family, but eating boring food and being a kitchen slave just isn’t among them.

Serve the kids this, then add a few little extras and VOILA, a tasty grown-up meal.

Ravioli with orange sauce

This sauce can be made in advance and stored in the fridge. At the end of the day, cook your pasta (home-made if you’re a saint or store-bought if you’re like the rest of us) and toss through the sauce and other ingredients.

1½ red capsicums, deseeded, cut into large chunks
¼ cup cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 tbsp sun-dried tomato slices in oil
600g packet beef ravioli
125g can corn kernels, drained
1 punnet cherry
tomatoes, halved
TO SERVE (all optional, to suit different family members) basil leaves, olives, toasted pine nuts, parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat grill to high. Pop the capsicum under the grill skin-side up and leave until black and charred. Don’t be shy about it – the blacker the skin, the more easily it will peel off. Remove and cover with a tea towel for 10 minutes, then peel skin off and discard.

Chop capsicum flesh roughly and place in a stick blender. Blitz until smooth. Add cottage cheese and sun-dried tomato and blend until smooth.

Cook pasta according to packet directions, then drain and return to the saucepan. Poor the sauce and vegies on top and toss to combine. Scatter with basil.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

Like this recipe? Check out my cookbooks to find a bunch more meals that your family will love.

Comments (8) »

How to avoid the sneering barista

August 12, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian · Tagged breakfast, brunch, family, feeding the family, kids, oven-baked, recipe, restaurants, vegetables, veggies, vegies

Where will you be this Sunday, will you be tucked up at home, savouring your children and some home-cooked treats, or will you be valiantly going forth and trying to deny that your ‘parent’ status has impacted on your café lifestyle?

Ah the joys of brunching out with children.

It goes something like this; stressful car trip, struggle to find a parking spot. Carry offspring to avoid stroller jam. Outdoor table so that tantrums blend into the traffic noise. Wedge kids into hard edged chairs. Mr Meat & Potatoes headbutts table (first of 7 times) and wails. Look around café and see it is half packed with family scenes just like yours and half packed with childless folk, who are hating us.

An unimpressed waitress finally appears to take order just as Miss Fruitarian screams “I WANT SMOKED SALMON”. Smile apologetically – you have no idea how your child learnt how to be so pretentious. Order raisin toast.

The service is slow, so the kids have played maracas with all the sugar sachets, sucked them, busted a few and put them back in the container before the food finally arrives. Inevitably the wee arrives then too.

Drag sugar covered-sticky child to the grotty bathroom. Child assures you “don’t worry, mummy, it’s just a little bit wet”. Fish out spare undies from bag (which also stocks baby-wipes, nappy bags, spare cars, books, crayons, notepads, water bottles and sultanas). Child then decides they actually need to poo. Settle in; try not to touch surfaces. Wait. Finally done. Dress, wash hands, back to find food is cold. Other child being restrained by partner who is grimacing but assures you they’re having a great time.

Eat cold food as partner goes straight to counter to pay – you don’t have time to wait for hungover waitress to get your bill. Back to car. Strap in. Drive home only to realise you left blankie behind.

Next time, do everyone a favour and just stay home. Make these healthy hashbrowns and avoid all those (other) wretched children.

Save yourself on Sunday mornings with home-made hashbrowns.

Oven-baked hash browns

The combination of onion and parsnip is absolutely delicious in this dish. Microwaving the whole vegies first speeds up the cooking time and gives a nice creamy texture.

1 potato
1 swede
1 sweet potato
1 parsnip
1 onion, peeled, grated
1 tsp parsley or chives, finely diced
Salt & black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for cooking

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a large oven tray with baking paper.

Soften the vegies individually by cooking them whole in the microwave. Try 3 minutes on high for the potato, 2 minutes for the swede, 2 minutes for the sweet potato and 1 minute for the parsnip. Allow to cool slightly. Peel off the skins and grate the soft insides. Transfer to a mixing bowl, mix through the onion, herbs, seasoning and olive oil. Use your hands to combine well.

Form thin patties. Place on the oven tray, drizzle with oil and cook for 25 minutes, turning once during cooking.

MAKES 8

Comments (7) »

Potato détente

August 2, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged cooking techniques, dinner, feeding the family, freezer, ideas, kids, mealtime, potatoes, recipe, vegetables, veggies, vegies

At the risk of trivialising and being flippant about the Anzac legend and the atrocities of World War I, dinner time at my house does on occasion have me contemplating the war strategies faced by the German leaders of the time. Just as things calm down on one front, another opens up and just as the French are learning to sit still and eat their peas, the Russians start screaming “I don’t want anything mushy”.

What I’m clumsily saying is that the food and vegetable fight is fought on two battlefronts at my house. There’s the flavour battle, which is one I’m winning, thanks to my ever-growing stockpile of smuggling recipes. But then there’s the texture war. While Corporal Meat-and-Potatoes refuses mush or any soft food, Lieutenant Fruitarian fights anything too chewy or requiring too much utensil work and I struggle to find a happy balance.

Unlike the mums on the homefront in 1914, I do have a few mod cons working to my advantage, the freezer being a particularly useful one. Whilst I refuse to cook two dinners in one night, I do have to make textural concessions. I can get them eating the same piece of protein (ok, yes, perhaps it is just sausages), but potatoes for Mr Meat-and-Potatoes are best served chopped into chunks, tossed in oil and baked for 25 minutes and Miss Fruitarian gets a serve of this mash.

To avoid daily inconvenience, make a huge quantity of this recipe. Freeze large spoonfuls on oven trays and when solid, transfer to freezer bags for easy storage.

End the war with a stockpile of mash in the freezer.

Vegie Mash

1 carrot, peeled, diced
1 swede, peeled, diced
4 potatoes, peeled, diced
1 zucchini, grated (peel first if your child is scared of green bits)
1 cup grated cheese
¼ cup milk
Olive oil
Salt & black pepper

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the carrot and swede and boil for 5 minutes. Add the potato and boil for 10-15 minutes more. Use a fork to test that the vegies are cooked enough to mash easily. Drain.

Meanwhile, place the zucchini in a microwave-proof dish, cover and zap on high for 1 minute. Drain any excess water.

Mash the carrot, swede and potato for as long as you need to get the texture your kids will enjoy. Stir in the cheese and zucchini – the cheese should melt nicely. Add the milk and olive oil as needed to get a nice creamy texture. Season to taste.

On a good parenting day, serve this with fish fillets baked in lemon juice and herbs. On a bad day, add drained canned tuna. On a terrible day, serve with an enticing dollop of tomato sauce and peas.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 4 KIDS AS A SIDE DISH

FREEZING & DEFROSTING INSTRUCTIONS
Scoop separate portions onto an oven tray, cover with a large freezer bag and freeze for a couple of hours. Once frozen, snap them off the tray and store in a freezer bag back in the freezer. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible. Use within 1 month. Reheat in the microwave, stirring every minute until steaming hot.

Comments (5) »

The best way to smuggle… spinach

June 29, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, The best way to smuggle..., Vegetarian · Tagged dinner, family, feeding the family, mushrooms, parenting, pasta, recipe, spinach, vegetables, vegetarian, veggies, vegies

In just the same way that a vegie, is a veggie, is a vege – you can get chard, silverbeet and the true English spinach and they can generally be interchangeable in most recipes. All are in season during the winter months and contain huge amounts of vitamins C, K, iron and nearly every mineral known to man.

So which spinach to use? Generally any of them can be used in recipes (except for salads, where the light English or baby spinach leaves are best), they’ll just need different preparations.

Frozen spinach just needs to be thawed (the microwave works ok for this) and the excess moisture squeezed out. The thick leaves of fresh chard and silverbeet need to be dunked in boiling water for a minute or two then drained and chopped. English spinach can just be chopped and chucked in.

For this recipe, I like to buy a bunch of fresh silverbeet and do the blanching thing. It does add 10 minutes to your prep time, but gives a really fantastic flavour that the kids will love. If the green flecks are going to cause grief for you, use a blender and pulp the spinach and it will hide in the recipe more easily.

I find though, that the amount of cheese in this bechamel-free lasagne overcomes any vegetable obstacles.

This meal hides spinach, carrot, mushrooms and broccoli and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it IS the best ever!

The best-ever vegetarian lasagne

Ingredients
Cooking spray

Tomato sauce
800g can chopped tomatoes
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup sliced black olives (optional)
2 cups finely diced vegies (try broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms and carrot)
2 tsp dried Italian herbs
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

FREEZING & DEFROSTING
Wrap slices of lasagne in two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze on oven trays to maintain its shape and then transfer to freezer bags. Stores well for 3 months. Reheat by thawing in the fridge for 24-36 hours before microwaving until steaming hot throughout.