brunch | Vegie Smugglers

Posts tagged brunch

Controversy and packing a (lunchbox) punch

January 19, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged brunch, feeding the family, fruit, lunchbox, recipe, treats

Awwwww. Mr Meat & Potatoes shows off the new shoes.

I’ve got a small case of writers block. It’s two weeks since my last ~~confession~~ post and I’ve got a new lunchbox planner to bang on about and yet… the words don’t want to come.

So I’m digging through my emergency ideas arsenal. It’s full of word combinations that are guaranteed to at least get you all started, even if I stay relatively quiet. Usually the phrase ‘fat kids’ gets the juices flowing. As does ‘cling wrap’ and yesterday on facebook I discovered that using both ‘wiggles’ and ‘creepy’ in a sentence together gets quite a big response.

Similarly the phrase ‘healthy lunchbox’ is enough to glaze over the eyes of even the keenest adults, which is why I’m going to launch the new planner with words like ‘variety’, ‘tasty”, ‘easy recipes’, and ‘seasonal yumminess’… And with that, I declare the Term 1 planner launched (cue champagne smash).

Keeping with tradition, here’s a free preview recipe. Previously you’ve enjoyed a beetroot sandwich spread and the cheese puffs (still my favourite all time recipe) so today I’m going sweet, with these carrot, muesli and banana muffins. Fulfilling all of the criteria for a good planner recipe, they’re seasonal, quick to make, store well, freeze well and the kids will happily eat them.

In case you’re not familiar with them, the e-book planners have a weekly recipe and menu plan to keep you inspired throughout the term. Other recipes include corn relish, classic corned beef, a pesto pasta salad and chocolate chip biscuits and all for just $4.95. You can view some pages on my sample page or just click here to buy one now.

My kids will hoover this, will yours?

Carrot & muesli muffins

1 1⁄2 cups self-raising flour
1⁄4 cup brown sugar
1 carrot, grated
1 cup muesli
1⁄4 cup grapeseed oil
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 overripe banana, mashed

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease/line a 12-hole muffin tray.

Sift flour into a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, carrot and muesli.

In another bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, egg and banana. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined.

Divide out into muffin tray. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

MAKES 12.

Comments (6) »

Turning fruit-bowl slop into dessert-bowl mmmmmmm

January 4, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged breakfast, brunch, celebrations, feeding the family, fruit, recipe

A few bit of fruit that have seen better days....

How was your Christmas, did you overindulge? I did. There’s just so much to tempt me, so much that’s ‘special’ and delicious to eat. In fact the days are barely long enough to fit in all of the eating. There are the breakfasts, brunches, lunches, afternoon teas, early drinkies, dinner, dessert and supper. It’s hardcore, trying to find the time to sleep when you’re so busy shoving good tasting stuff down your gob all day.

Anyway, needless to say, I’m feeling a little worse for wear now. I made the mistake of looking in the mirror. In profile my tummy is sticking out further than my boobs, which is a BAD SIGN. So I’m thinking detox and healthier foods. But to be honest, I suffer a bit of emotional trauma if I go from feast to famine too quickly. Far better for me to ease out of the festivities slowly.

Which is perhaps why I found myself in the kitchen this morning dreaming of fruit compotes. They’re perfect; the right mix of fruit freshness with a naughty sweet treat edge. And justifiable at this time of year, when stone fruit is so abundant. I do that thing in the supermarket where I just buy four peaches and four nectarines and four plums and four apricots (for my family of four). But of course I get home and they’re all too hard to eat. And the next day we check eagerly and find them still like rocks. And the next. Finally we forget about them, and after a particularly hot day I find myself with an expensive fruit bowl soup of wrinkly skins and too-soft bits that are starting to mold together.

So really with this dish, I’m not avoiding detox, I’m just being a frugal homemaker, ensuring that I just don’t waste anything. Of course, I wouldn’t serve this on icecream (noooooo, never), just a bowl of vanilla yoghurt is a better choice.

vegie smugglers peach and apricot compote

And abracadabra! Fruit divinity awaits you.

Peach & Apricot compote

2 peaches
3 apricots
¼ cup brown sugar
Juice of 1 orange
8cm lemon peeling
1 cinnamon stick

Cut a cross into the bottoms of the fruit. Pop in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over the top. After a minute or so, remove them and peel off the skins. Chop roughly (I like a non-uniform texture).

Place all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. After 5 minutes or so, turn off the heat and leave everything to stew together for a bit.

Serve warm or cold over yoghurt, pancakes, French toast (or icecream). And if you have it, a little drizzle of lime juice on top makes this really zingy and delicious.

Comments (8) »

Easily replaced (the ingredients, not you of course!)

August 9, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Ham/pork, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged brunch, cooking techniques, feeding the family, recipe, vegetables

Switch the flavours in this frittata often to keep dinner interesting

Don’t we all love a versatile recipe! You might possibly think that I would be a very well-stocked and organized cook (considering I’ve produced two cookbooks) and often I am (I do try to menu plan and do one weekly shop), but quite often I’m a harried and hassled mother who find herself sifting through a range of recipes and finding myself one crucial ingredient short each time.

Which I why I try to shove as many flexible recipes as possible into my cookbooks. Sure, if you don’t have meat, the chilli recipe isn’t going to work out so well, but generally I’m more than happy for you to swap ingredients to suit both the taste buds of your family and the contents of your fridge.

This frittata recipe is a perfect example. Keep the core recipe true (eggs/flour/cheese/milk etc), but vary the meat & vegie flavours as much as you like. Just keep the quantities vaguely equivalent and you’ll be right.

Mini frittatas

Canola oil cooking spray
1½ cups cooked small pasta (such as macaroni)
1 cup cauliflower, chopped super-fine (so it looks like you’ve grated it)
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, grated
2 cooked sausages, finely chopped
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp chopped herbs (chives and parsley work best)
6 eggs
¾ cup milk
1 tsp minced garlic
¾ cup self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a 12-hole muffin tin with cooking spray (this is a recipe that works fantastically well using silicone muffin trays).

In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, vegies, sausage, cheese, herbs, salt and black pepper.

In another bowl or jug, combine the eggs, milk and garlic. Use a whisk to stir in the flour and remove any lumps (give it a good hard stir and they’ll come out). Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well
to combine.

Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin holes and bake for 20–25 minutes or until golden and set.

MAKES 12
____________________________
If you like this recipe, make sure you try…
Tuna & rice puffs
Salmon Pikelets
____________________________

Comments (5) »

What the kids eat in… Malaysia

May 23, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Fish, What the kids eat in... · Tagged brunch, feeding the family, recipe

Lucky children in Malaysia grow up eating these delicious prawn fritters called Cucur Udang.

Super easy to make, they’re a good way to get the kids eating a new protein. Not that I desperately need them to grow fond of expensive seafood, but sometimes my best friend and I like a bit of adult gourmet, and this recipe is a way to deliver both a kid-friendly and adult-tasty dinner in one dish (just sprinkle over some chilli, spring onions and coriander for the adults).

And they’re cooked in no time at all, completing the recipe golden triangle of interesting, easy and delicious.

Makanan ini enak!

Cucur Udang

1 cup self-raising flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground turmeric
(for colour, optional)
250g cooked prawns
4 spring onions,
thinly sliced
125g can corn kernels, drained
Handful of bean sprouts
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 eggs, whisked
Canola oil, for frying
White pepper

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and turmeric (if using).

Peel and devein the prawns then chop them into a texture to suit your family (I need to nearly mince mine). Add to the bowl with the spring onion, corn and bean sprouts.

Mix it all together and add the chilli sauce, egg and pepper. Add 1 cup water, a little at a time, until you have a good batter consistency.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat. Spoon in ¼ cup amounts of the mixture and cook for a couple of minutes. Turn over and cook the other side until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towel.

Serve the fritters with salad and bean sprouts.

MAKES 16

Comments (2) »

Crowd pleasers – feeding 4, 14 or 40

April 15, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News · Tagged brunch, feeding the family, mealtime, parenting, recipe, vegetables, vegetarian

School holidays and my home is abuzz with a variety of children coming and going. After 18 months at school, we are now firmly entrenched in the local community and I’m having kids (with siblings) dropped off for a few hours, then all picked up and taken elsewhere – without tears or clinginess, just excitement and adventure.

It’s a nice contrast to those early baby days, where I was home, alone for 12 hours at a time, barely even knowing neighbours, with a whole long depressing day stretching out ahead of me. Now it’s all action and I love it. A little magic mirror to this time would have made those endless first days of motherhood much easier.

These days my biggest parenting stress is figuring out how many kids I’m going to be feeding each night, which is why I’m sticking to a range of flexible recipes that easily stretch out to serve everyone.

Sneak vegies into heaps of kiddies with ease!

Corn & chickpea fritters

If your kids are chickpea-phobic, blitz them up in a hand-held food processor before adding to the mix.

²/³ cup self-raising flour
1 egg
²/³ cup milk
315g can corn kernels, drained
1 medium carrot, peeled, grated
400g can chickpeas, rinsed, and drained
4 spring onions, finely chopped
Handful of basil and parsley leaves, finely chopped (optional, but recommended)
Black pepper
Canola oil, for frying
Salad and lemon wedges, to serve

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Slowly add the combined egg and milk, whisking as you go to avoid lumps.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the batter and mix until evenly combined.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the canola oil and ensure it is nice and hot before adding ¼ cup amounts of batter to the pan.

Cook for 3 minutes then flip over and cook on the other side for a further 3-4 minutes until nice and golden. Repeat with remaining batter. Drain on kitchen paper.

Serve warm with salad and lemon wedges.

MAKES 10

By the way, do you MAMABAKE?
If you love to make big batches of food for the freezer, don’t forget to track down your local Mamabake group, where you can team up with local parents and have lovely big social cook-offs. Feed everyone AND join in with your local community. Perfect!

You also might like to try these flexible recipes…

Cook the meatballs ahead then stretch the meal with extra pasta

It’s easy to double or triple quantities of these Vegie Dots

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.

What Juanita eats when she’s not reading the news…

September 30, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, Fish, News · Tagged brunch, dinner, eggs, family, feeding the family, mealtime, parenting, recipe, salmon, vegies

With the Vegie Smugglers cookbook so fresh off the presses, I’m still a bit chuffed whenever I receive positive feedback about it. Setting up as an independent publisher of quality publications has not been easy. I love it when people tell me how nice the stock is, how gorgeous the photos are etc etc. That’s all great, but what I REALLY want to know is how are the recipes working in your household?

A smattering of copies have made their way around town, and one person who instantly sprang to mind to send one to was Juanita Phillips, broadcaster and author of A Pressure Cooker Saved My Life. She seems like a nice lady. And a busy one. With small kids to boot.

And apparently she is nice, since she emailed me straight away – a chatty note about the food battles at her house (food boredom, with a small and over-used collection of dinners on high rotation). I was VERY chuffed when she said…

“I love your book! I’m very very excited about it. It looks gorgeous but more importantly the recipes are terrific. I made the salmon pancakes on Sunday night and the only sound at the table was quiet scoffing as every last pancake was eaten.”

She plans to work her way through the book AND tell all her friends about it. Awwwww she IS a REALLY nice lady. So in tribute, I’m renaming the Salmon Pikelets after her…

The pikelet that more journalists trust.

Juanita’s salmon pikelets

These little miracles are delicious fresh, reheated or from the freezer. The smaller size makes them perfect for toddlers seeking a bit of feeding independence.

2/3 cup self-raising flour
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
400g can red or pink salmon, drained, flaked
2 cubes frozen spinach portions, thawed (or ½ cup fresh English spinach, finely shredded)
1 small red onion, finely diced
125g can corn kernels, drained
2 tbsp chopped chives or coriander (optional)
Black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and milk and whisk out any lumps. Use your hands to crumble in the salmon (crushing up any bones), then stir through the spinach, onion, corn and herbs (if using) until evenly combined. Season with pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add 1-2 tbsp of batter to form pikelets 5-6cm wide. Cook for 2-3 minutes then use a spatula to turn over carefully. Flatten with the spatula and cook for another couple of minutes until golden brown on both sides. Repeat in batches with remaining batter.

Serve with green beans and lemon wedges.

MAKES 20

STORAGE Place cooked pikelets on a plate for 10 minutes to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Reheat in the frying pan, oven or microwave.

FOR THE ADULTS Serve these on a bed of rocket and smother them with sweet chilli sauce and a squeeze of lemon.

Comments (14) »

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) »

What the kids eat in…. Japan (part 1)

July 9, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, Ham/pork, What the kids eat in... · Tagged brunch, feeding the family, ideas, Japanese, recipe, vegies

Let’s trawl the recipes of the world to come up with some new ideas about how to get vegetables into our children. Known as “Japanese pizza”, the basic okonomiyake is a delicious cabbage pancake. It’s a great lunch option – healthier than a toasted ham sandwich and as quick to make.

Sneak cabbage and carrot in with this super-quick dish.

Okonomiyake

4 tbsp self-raising flour
3 tbsp water
1 egg
¼ cup diced ham (optional)
½ cup grated Chinese cabbage, finely shredded
¼ cup peeled, grated carrot
1 spring onion, finely sliced
Canola oil cooking spray

Mayonnaise, to serve
BBQ sauce, to serve

Put the flour in a bowl, add the water and stir well to remove any lumps. Add the egg and mix well. Stir in the ham (if using), cabbage, carrot and spring onion.

Heat a small non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Add the amount of mixture you want to get the pancake size you desire. Keep pancake 1cm-thick or less (otherwise it will be soggy in the middle).

Cook 3-4 minutes each side until golden. Place on a plate. Cover with a thin layer of mayonnaise and a swirl of BBQ sauce. Serve immediately.

SERVES 1 ADULT OR 2 KIDS

MAKE IT PRETTY by cooking the mixture in silicone egg rings which come in a variety of shapes.

This recipe is from my Kitchen Collection cookbook!

Comments (13) »

The best mother’s day pancakes

May 6, 2010 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged breakfast, brunch, celebrations, family, food, fruit, kids, mother's day, parenting, recipe, treats

It’s Mother’s Day in Australia this Sunday. Time to ooohh and aaaaahhh over colourful bits of cardboard stuck together and a painted footprint trodden on a paper love heart. Time to dig coins out of my purse to give to Miss Fruitarian to spend on pot pouri at the school Mother’s Day stall.

Luckily this year, things are looking up. Miss Fruitarian has won a prize in the local council’s “my mum’s a star…” competition, which means she and I are off to a local playcentre to collect our mystery prize. I’m hoping for a lovely pamper pack, but might have to settle for a free entry voucher at a local ladies gym.

I asked what she had to do for the entry, and wondered if perhaps she had submitted the portrait she did of me a few weeks back which included every single wrinkle. I looked like a cross between a cabbage patch baby and a zebra. It would win the pity vote for sure.

Apparently it was just a 25 words or less thing, and she wrote that “she gives me big squeezy cuddles”. Which is nice, but considering the amount of time I put into catering for the family I would have hoped for more of an ode to my cooking. When I pursued this line of questioning, she looked at me a bit blankly “But Dad’s the good cook”.

Yes. Here’s why… Sunday mornings at our place are Dad’s tribute to all breakfasts sweet and salty. Just saying. Not complaining. At all. Because here’s a good example of something that Dad whips up quite often. And he does the dishes afterwards too, which means that every Sunday is Mother’s Day at our place….

Mum will really love you if you whip up a couple of these

Oaty Banana Pancakes

3/4 cup oats
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 small banana, mashed
1 tbsp melted butter
Spray oil

Place the oats in a bowl and pour over the milk. Leave them to soak for 10-15 minutes (up to 30 minutes if you have time).
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl.
Mix the sugar, egg, banana and butter through the oat mixture. Pour this mixture into the flour and mix gently. If you have time, leave the mixture to sit for 20-30 minutes, otherwise it can be used straight away.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Spray with oil. Add 1/3 cup amounts to the pan. Turn once bubbles appear and the pancake is golden. Each side takes 2-3 minutes.
Serve them with maple syrup and more fruit – diced rockmelon and strawberries are really fantastic.

Did you try these? How did they taste? I’d love to hear your feedback…

Comments (6) »

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