Vegie Smugglers

How exciting! A competition! With a prize!

March 3, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian · Tagged competition, lunchbox, recipe

I’ve got a great prize today from Superfoods for Kidz. The lovely Vanessa recently sent me a bunch of their products to try and now it’s your turn to win some for yourself. If your kids are fussy, then a combination of vegie smuggling and popping these powders into some recipes will be all you need vastly improve the health of your family. This is what’s up for offer…

Worth $158!

I run competitions rarely, and I don’t get paid to run them. I asked Superfoods for kidz to team up with me for this one because like to support local small businesses that are focused on helping the health of our community. You can read all about them here.

So I’ve been experimenting and adding the powders into heaps of things really successfully. The C Berry Blast was a big hit in this smoothie…

Bananas, yoghurt, milk & C Berry Blast powder.

A sprinkle of the choc berry blast has been gracing the top of our yoghurt and the kids were BEGGING me for the Berry choc chunk superfood bars. They’re a great snack size for younger kids and another great idea for lunchboxes.

And the Vital Veggie Powder worked a treat in these cheese & vegie muffins.

Perfect way to get vegies into a lunchbox.

Cheese muffins

1½ cups self-raising flour
2 cups grated cheese
125g can corn, drained
½ cup mushrooms, very finely diced
2 tbsp tomato relish
1 egg
¾ cup milk
60g butter, melted
Chives (optional)
2 tbsp Vital Veggie Powder (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 12x125ml muffin tray.

Mix together the flour, cheese, corn and mushrooms in a large bowl.

In a separate jug or bowl, combine the relish, egg, milk, melted butter and chives.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. Divide between your muffin holes and bake for 25-30 minutes until very golden and cooked through.

MAKES 12

To enter, you must be a subscriber to this blog. Then below, suggest how you would use the powders at your place. You don’t need to supply a full recipe, but links are always fun. And links to MY recipes are bound to be popular really, aren’t they!

And it’d be great if you’d support Superfoods 4 kids on Facebook.

Entries close 11pm AEST, March 6. Winner notified via email March 7 and published here.

*7/6/13 – CONGRATULATIONS TO COLEEN SUMMERS – YOU’RE OUR WINNER! VANESSA FROM SUPERFOODZ & I LOVED THE IDEA OF POPPING POWDER INTO RICEBALLS!

Comments (81) »

A mummy-fail as my daughter gets fillings.

February 28, 2013 · Filed under News · Tagged feeding the family, lunchbox, parenting

Friend & foe.

Like a plumber with leaky pipes or a cleaner who lives in squalor, it would appear that I am teetering close to the word ‘hypocrite’.

You see on Miss F’s recent trip to the dentist, we discovered that she needed not one, but two fillings. Both in baby molars, but ones that need to stay put for another 3-4 years.

Turning up for our second appointment, I was primed and ready for the SCORN. Dentists specialise in it, don’t they? This dentist, who appears to be extremely nice, still couldn’t help but have a bit of a dig.

“So, we need to discuss her diet.”
Sigh. Heart sinks as I prepare for battle, because frankly, I’m a bit perplexed myself at how she’s managed to accrue TWO holes when I do what I do.

“Does she drink juice?”
No. No juice.
“Soft drink?”
Very rarely.
“Does she eat too many sweets?”
We both look at my skinny-mini daughter, who quite frankly could use a bit of fattening up, and it’s pretty evident that she doesn’t eat too many sweets.

But the inquisition continued.

“Does she eat fruit?”
“Well, yes.”
“Much fruit?”
I refrain from explaining that her name in blog-land is Miss Fruitarian, but concede that yes, she eats A LOT of fruit. Breakfast, fruit-break, recess, afternoon tea and sometimes dessert.

And there you have it. It turns out the problem is fruit. That and more generally the dawdling pace at which she eats. We have a joke about ‘Little Lulu bites’. She takes the tiniest bite and can make something last for an eternity. My mum will verify that one time she took AN HOUR to eat a Tim Tam. She can stretch a lolly bag out for several days, a bunch of grapes takes an entire afternoon and an ice block will have melted before she can finish it. From now on, after experiencing the joy of the dentist’s drill, she’s pledged to eat a whole lot faster.

DS (Dentist Scorn) shared the Lolly Bag policy that she enforces with her kids. You have until the car pulls up at home to eat the lot. After that it’s gone. And she really wishes that there wasn’t a ‘crunch & sip’ type breaks so close to recess. It’s just more hours of the day when sugars are dwelling near children’s teeth.

From now on, I’ve been ordered to supply carrot sticks, celery & capsicum sticks for one of these breaks. No more grapes or stone fruits. Also, I have to encourage the kids to rinse their mouths with water after they eat. Apparently sugar-free yoghurt is a good way to finish or a piece of cheese that will help to neutralise the sugars.

Sheesh. Perhaps calling myself hypocrite is a bit harsh, but it was a reminder that just like motherhood, healthy living is a complex beast and one that you often feel you can’t quite succeed at all the time.

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Five chicken dinners

February 26, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken · Tagged chicken, feeding the family, mealtime, recipe

Well, need I say more? Here are five dinners made with chicken, which apparently Australians eat more of than any other meat. This year each of us will consume an average of 44kg of the stuff. Fact.

These recipes should give you a couple of kilo’s worth of inspiration (unless you’re a vegetarian, in which case you might prefer to click here.)

Click the pictures to link through to the recipes.

Chicken & brown rice salad.

From the Lunchboxes planner e-book…

Chicken nuggets.

From Vegie Smugglers 2…

Sang choy bao.

A classic from Vegie Smugglers 1…

Chicken sausage rolls.

From Vegie Smugglers 2…

chicken and tarragon one pot winter warmer by vegie smuggers

Chicken & tarragon one-pot.

Do any of these take your fancy? How else do you like to cook chicken for your family?

Comments (8) »

Every (odd) day I’m shuffling (and taking a stand)

February 24, 2013 · Filed under News · Tagged ideas, parenting

Generally my kids are fairly dismissive of me and my quaint ways. The abilities that I do have are of little interest to them. In fact, considering my ineptitude in so many areas (ie, I can’t catch or burp on cue and I don’t know the difference between a guinea pig and a hampster), my kids were astonished to discover that I am surprisingly skilful at shuffling cards. It’s a quirk left over from a life before screens, when instead of reading the ipad in front of TV, I would play endless games of solitaire. My secret skill was revealed during a holiday bout of ‘UNO’ and it was insanely ~~frustrating~~ interesting to watch my screen-savvy kids fumbling and dropping real cards all over the place. They just didn’t have the fine motor skills to cope. It did remind me of just how screen-dependent we have become. And I was quite frightened.

But even I hadn’t touched real cards for quite a few years. Shuffling cards is pretty annoying. Much easier to just hit the ‘shuffle’ button. Looking in my luggage I realised that all my holiday entertainment was screen-based too. A kindle full of books, puzzles and games on the ipad. Work emails and facebook on my phone. I did take a pen and notepad, but found no need for it.

This screen world is so invasive and complete, and myself and the kids are so entirely addicted. The tantrums over games and the pestering and obsession over how much screen time has forced me to put my foot down. Last year we trialled ‘screen free Mondays and Tuesdays’. No games, no TV. The only computer use was if we had online homework to complete on Mathletics.

The first week was tough. The second much easier and the third no problem. It went so well and stopped all sorts of tensions that we’ve happily gone back to it this school year. I snapped this pic of my kids on Monday last week. Absorbed in their creative games. Calm. Happy.

Which is why I’m sharing it with you. Usually I don’t offer parenting advice – whatever works at your house is ok with me. But this is going so well with us, that I thought I’d share.

And after Tuesday? Well, they get tired as the week goes on. So we continue with no games (keep them for the weekends) but we have a bit of tele on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, so that they can ‘veg out’ a bit. Everything in moderation, after all.

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What’s Jamie’s best cookbook?

February 20, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Vegetarian · Tagged cookbooks, feeding the family, noodles, recipe, salad, vegetables, vegetarian

Chuck a heap of coriander, mint and chilli on the adult’s serves.

The inspiration for this recipe is a noodle salad from Jamie Oliver’s ’30 minutes meals’ cookbook. I’ve evolved it quite a bit to suit my family and added a stack of extras (since that’s my thing really, isn’t it). We’ve been eating it every week for most of the summer since it ticks all the dinnertime boxes. It’s easy to make, I can make it ahead and serve it cold. And it’s delicious.

Do you think ’30 minute meals’ is Jamie’s best book? I do. It’s the cookbook of his that I return to often. Heaps of great flavours, all very accessible. Each time I browse through I find something else I want to make. The food is more healthy than his early recipes which featured meat, meat and a bit more meat but not as simplistic as the recipes in ’15 minute meals’, which I didn’t like so much. I can’t quite put my finger on why I don’t cook anything from that book. Am I missing something there? I flip through that repeatedly and don’t bookmark anything. Perhaps point me in the direction of the recipes you like from that one and I promise to give them another look.

Noodle salad

250g dried egg noodles
1 red onion
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp grapeseed oil

1 carrot, peeled, grated
1/2 red capsicum, finely diced
125g can corn, drained
1/2 cup cashews or peanuts, chopped
1 cucumber, halved, seeds removed, sliced
Mint & coriander to taste (I like heaps, the kids like none).
Lime wedges (optional)

In a mini-food processor, blitz together the onion, lime, sauces, sugar and oil. Set aside.

Cook the noodles according to packet directions. Drain, return to the saucepan and pour over the blitzed sauce while they’re still hot (the onion will cook and mellow a bit). Mix through the carrot, capsicum and corn.

Once the initial heat fades, you can add in the nuts, cucumber and herbs.

Serves warm or cold.

Serves 2 adults and 2 kids.
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Your family likes noodles? Try these dishes…
Beef Pho
Chicken & udon soup

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A chocolate cake that will make grown men cry

February 18, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged chocolate, cooking techniques, treats

No, it’s ok! See! You serve it with raspberries!

Admittedly, this cake is scraping into the Vegie Smugglers repertoire on an almond-meal technicality. I considered calling it ‘adult nut cake (with rum and a block of chocolate)’ but I have to concede that it doesn’t contain anything healthy at all. The truth? It’s a flourless dark chocolate, almond & rum cake that is SO delicious that Mr VS loved me more after I made it for him on Valentine’s day.

Being a fan of all things tasty, I thought it worth sharing in case you know an adult in need of spoiling sometime soon. It starts off like a mousse cake, then after a day in the fridge becomes a sinful truffle cake that lasts several days.

The recipe is from Claudia Roden’s ‘The Food of Spain‘, but it’s not her recipe either, apparently it dates bake to Spanish cookbooks from last century.

Chocolate, almond and rum cake

150g dark cooking chocolate (best quality you can afford), broken into pieces
3 tbsp water
150g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp dark rum

Topping
50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp water
1/4 cup caster sugar
25g unsalted butter, cubed

Heat the oven to 160C. Line a 23cm springform pan with baking paper.

Melt the chocolate with the water in a double boiler (a bowl, over a pot of boiling water – but don’t let the bowl touch the water or it will burn, you just want the steam to be a nice gentle heat source – still not sure how? Watch this video).

Stir constantly and once the chocolate is nearly melted, add in the butter and stir them together into melty-awesomeness. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, almonds, baking powder and rum. Add in the melted chocolate and mix really well.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks (when you lift up the beaters, the peaks stay up in the air – if they flop to the side, they are ‘soft peaks’ and you need to beat them a bit more.

Add 1/4 eggwhites into the chocolate mix and combine in gently with a spatula. Repeat with 1/2 the remaining mix and then again until all the eggwhites are combined in – there’s an ok ‘how to’ video here about beating and folding in eggwhites).

Pour into the tin and bake for about 35 minutes until firm.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan (it will sink – totally fine).

Release the cake from the pan and transfer to a cake plate. For the topping, melt the chocolate and water as above, add the sugar and butter and melt and mix well, then pour over your cake, easing nice drips down the side every now and again.

SERVES 8 ADULTS.

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My kid’s brains have been sucked out by advertisers leaving only kid-bots

February 15, 2013 · Filed under News · Tagged family, parenting

Who says advertising to kids doesn’t work?

I’m thinking of changing my little boy’s name from Mr Meat&Potatoes to TAD. Not Ted, TAD. The. Advertiser’s. Dream.

He came to me the other day and stood slightly closer than usual which implies that he has SOMETHING IMPORTANT to tell me. I looked into his very serious eyes.

“Did you know mummy, that the happiest place on earth just got happier?”
Silence fell between us. Him looking up with wide eyes and a slight slow nod and me, perplexed, trying to place the phrasing, knowing that I’ve heard it before.
“And what place would that be, matey?”
Dramatic pause. Then a whispered reply as we leaned in so close that our heads were nearly touching.
“Disneyland.”
More slow nods.

Those who follow VS on Facebook, will have seen TAD’s drawing of the cricket, complete with the Vodaphone logo. This was funny, and after posting it on Vodaphone’s wall, it won him tickets to the test match and a signed Michael Clarke shirt.

Now I’m wondering if I can get him going on a large scale artwork with the full Disneyland map with a lovely QANTAS plane flying us there. And maybe a little Tiffany’s store down in the corner with a portrait of me, deliriously happy outside. Perhaps I could shop that around social media to the benefit of me my family.

TAD only wears labels.

Seriously though, I’m quite shocked by how much he absorbs from corporate messages that I totally tune out. Perhaps it’s because he usually watches ad-free ABC channels, so when he does see a thrilling 15-second snippet he pays attention? Perhaps in my vigilant anti-commercial stance I’ve done him a disservice and set him up to be the most gullible consumer of all time?

There’s good advice here from Raising Children about how to counteract it all.

Do you have an ad strategy? How ~~gullible~~ trusting are your children?

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Is your kid a fussy eater? Here’s where to start…

February 13, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family, freezer, ideas, mealtime, parenting, pasta, recipe, vegetables

Start simple. Here.

Today’s recipe is for all the parents whose toddlers get pleasure from winding their mummies and daddies up as much as possible during each meal.

Look! They think. Daddy’s face goes so red when I refuse to eat that! Look! Mummy’s head is about to explode each time I shriek! How about I drop the rest of my dinner ON THE FLOOR – won’t THAT reaction be hilarious.

Ah yes. Lovely mealtimes like that with Miss F are the reason why Vegie Smugglers exists. We had SO MANY unhappy dinners together. So much scraping of uneaten food into the bin. So often I was SO CLOSE TO LOSING IT. We were locked in an ongoing food battle.

I was determined to win the war, because I love to eat and I hated that dinnertime had become so miserable. And last Friday night when I watched a now 8-year-old Miss F crunch happily through a salad of corn/snow peas/broccolini & cos, I realised that I HAD WON.

But how did I start to turn things around? Well Miss F liked cheese, so I started there. I made her cheesy pots. And she liked bread, so I gave her salmon pikelets (at first without the green bits). I started with what she DID eat and expanded out from there.

So if your little food fascist likes tinned spaghetti, then this recipe might be your starting point. Do whatever you need to do to have some dinnertime wins and if that means sneakily replacing a junk favourite with a healthy home-made version then DO IT.

If they eat this happily then next time you could make it with wholemeal pasta. Or put in some grated carrot. Then, in a while, try little chunks of carrot instead. If they like these flavours, migrate them to a lasagna, cannelloni or a lentil pasta sauce that has more smuggling potential. As time goes by, you’ll have to do less and less to hide anything, until they happily just eat a raw carrot or snack on grape tomatoes.

Watching Miss F munch through her raw greens, I was so glad that I’ve put all the effort in. Most toddlers are fussy eaters and without intervention many will grow to be fussy tweens/teens & adults. Teaching them how to love healthy food is a gift they will carry for life.

Couldn’t help myself.

Home-made tinned spaghetti

I don’t usually stipulate organic products, but think in this simple recipe they’re essential.

2 cups pumpkin, diced
250g organic spaghetti (half a standard pack) – broken into short lengths
125g can 4-bean mix, drained, rinsed
700ml jar organic passata (find it near the pasta)
1 tsp brown sugar

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the pumpkin and cook until soft (about 7-10 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces). Use a slotted spoon to remove the pumpkin and pop it into a drainer (keep the water boiling).

Pop the spaghetti into the same boiling water and cook according to packet directions.

Put the beans, cooked pumpkin, passata and sugar into a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to the simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Use a stick blender to blitz everything up into a smooth sauce.

Drain the spaghetti then add into your tomato sauce.

Serve topped with Parmesan. For a more substantial meal, top with crumbled crispy bacon or pop in some meatballs (try this lamb meatball recipe).

MAKES ABOUT 8 TODDLER PORTIONS (freeze some for easy dinners in a flash).

This recipe appears in my new "Kitchen Collection" cookbook, with a toddler-feeding tips and family-friendly recipes.

This recipe appears in my new “Kitchen Collection” cookbook, with toddler-feeding tips and 125 family-friendly recipes.

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Need more help with fussy eaters? Try these posts…

Please help Vegie Smugglers, my child only eats…
How to get fussy kids to try new foods.
My top 10 tips to smuggle vegies into children.

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A free printable that keeps shopping simple

February 10, 2013 · Filed under News, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family, ideas, organising

A quick ‘this-might-help-you’ today. A nifty printable that keeps your shopping and meal planning all together. This is how I like to organise myself. I like to jot down what we’re eating for the week along with the list, so that when I’ve gone brain-dead in Aisle 3, I can easily remember WHY it is that I need such a large jar of pickled herring.

It’s divided up into categories too – with fruit & veg coming first – it’s the most important after all, and also the first section of most Australian supermarkets.

Hope this helps you!

Practical AND just a bit cute. Click to download yours.

Of course, you might like to get some ideas for meal plans from my Vegie Smugglers Meal Plans e-book. And remember to print out the kid’s visual shopping list – which will keep them busy for a good 5 minutes, maybe even 10.

Comments (4) »

Jerk Chicken

February 5, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken · Tagged chicken, feeding the family, recipe

Funny how you phase through ingredients. Often it comes with wider food fashions. A few years back there was the balsamic/basil/bocconcini thing. And then the Moroccan thing, with lots of cumin/coriander combos. And of course sumac – I still pour that all over so many things.

My latest thing is Allspice. I managed without it nicely for years, but it’s made an appearance lately. Possibly since it adds some tang without heat, which is perfect for kids. If you pick up a jar soon, you can make this delicious jerk chicken, which is the ideal protein to go with last week’s Caribbean rice. I’ll do my best to post some other recipes using it soon, too, so that the jar doesn’t sit unloved in the back of your cupboard.

‘Jerk’ chicken. Which seems harsh, especially when it’s so delicious.

Jerk Chicken

1 small onion, peeled, roughly chopped
1/4 tsp chilli powder (I use a mild Mexican one)
1/4 tsp Allspice
Thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1/2 bunch thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
600-700g chicken wing nibbles (they’re wings, but with the pointy ends chopped off – my kids find them easier to negotiate) OR chicken drumsticks

Blitz all the ingredients, except the chicken, together in a mini-food processor or blender. Pop the chicken into a deep ceramic or glass bowl and pour over the sauce. Mix well and leave to marinade (in the fridge) anywhere from 1-12 hours. Obviously, the longer you leave it, the better the flavour.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line an oven tray with foil and spray with oil. Place the chicken pieces in a single layer on the tray, pouring over the excess marinade.

Bake until cooked through and the skin is starting to blacken. Nibbles take about 30-35 minutes, drumsticks need about 45 minutes.

Serves 2 adults & 2 kids

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YOUR FAMILY LIKES CHICKEN? Try these…

Oven-baked chicken nuggets
Chicken & cashew stirfry
Chicken meatballs
Chicken & tarragon one-pot