cooking techniques | Vegie Smugglers

Posts tagged cooking techniques

Don’t forget the daggy ingredients

February 28, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged chicken, cooking techniques, feeding the family, parenting, recipe, vegetables

Do you own some?

We’re all so terribly well educated when it comes to food these days, aren’t we? We’ve all sat on the couch and watched enough Masterchef to know that there are two different types of truffles (best not get them confused), we know that fois gras comes somewhere from inside some kind of poultry and a jus needs to be made with ‘exemplary’ stock.

Armed with this knowledge, we live our pre-kids lives throwing fabulous dinner parties and drinking way too much wine. But once the wee children arrive on the scene and tell us to shove our gourmet ingredients up our bums, we find ourselves ill equipped for the challenges of feeding a family on a daily basis.

Do you find your cooking style has changed considerably these days?

There are so many dishes that I’d never made before children – cheese sauce, muesli bars, pasta bake, sausage casserole (!) etc etc etc.

And there are so many ingredients that I wouldn’t have bothered with either. In the past, my curries would have been made with spice pastes and a million added extras, but these days they’re a milder affair to suit the very discriminating palate of Miss F. So I’ve gone back to curry powder. And so gorgeous it is in its cheery little tin. And so good at introducing a bit of flavour in a friendly way.

A good saucey serve of this curry on a fat bed of rice with a beguiling papadum and my kids are in heaven.

Some adults might secretly prefer this creamy mild flavor too, but those who crave a little more heat can add a big handful of fresh coriander and some chopped up fresh chilli on top of theirs.

Easy to make and delicious for everyone.

Mild (& creamy) chicken curry

1 tbsp olive oil
500g chicken thigh fillets, excess fat removed, cut into 4-5 pieces
1 onion, peeled, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled, diced
1 finger eggplant, diced (peeled if your kids hate the skin)
1-2 tsp curry powder (depending on your kids)
400ml lite coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups pumpkin, peeled, diced
1 cup peas

Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium/high heat. Add the chicken pieces and brown all over (takes 4-5 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the onion and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes before adding the carrot and eggplant. Stir regularly for 3-4 minutes until everything is starting to soften. Sprinkle over the curry powder. Stir until fragrant and everything is well coated.

Pour in the milk and stock. Add in the pumpkin and return the chicken (plus any juices) to the pot. Mix well, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover, add the peas and simmer another 5 minutes until the pumpkin is tender and the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with rice and papadums.

Serves 2 adults & 2 kids.

PS: I cook my papadums by spraying them with canola oil spray (optional) then chucking them in the microwave on HIGH. Watch them CLOSELY, they suddenly sprout and are done in a matter of seconds. – They’re not as delicious as traditional ones, but they’re quick and easy and an essential lure for getting the kids to happily tackle this curry.

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When good food styling turns bad

February 21, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Sweets & treats · Tagged cooking techniques, ideas, recipe, treats

I need to be careful with this post and word things very delicately indeed, just so that Google doesn’t relegate my entire site to the ‘smut’ category without realising that I am just reporting on a pretty average food styling day in the kitchen.

Things started out well enough – first round testing on some new recipes. Always a risky endeavor, the first go at a recipe is rarely perfect and often needs quite a bit of tweaking. Also rare is photographing a recipe at this stage, but for some reason on this occasion, I decided that I would. So the camera was all set.

Inspired by nut cake recipes, I’d decided on devising some little nut ‘puffs’ – cakes in patty pans. And with walnuts and other good ingredients, these are a treat with a bit of fibre and not too much sugar.

And the little things turned out quite well. Yummy straight out of the oven – quite bready and not too sweet. But deciding that they could be more ‘special’, I decided to ice them – something rarely done in my kitchen due to the hassle, the sugar factor and the impatience factor as both I and the kids are keen to get stuck in. Still, combining icing sugar mixture and lemon juice together is hardly a bother and away I went. Deciding on a ‘rustic’ finish to suit the look of the cakes, I splashed the gooey white stuff about. Standing back to examine my handiwork I could immediately see my error of judgment. Instead of ‘Donna Hay’ gorgeous rustic, my cakes look like soiled props from some nasty adult film. Bless those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about.

Hmmmmmmmmm

Dismayed, I decided that leaving them as is would only lead to much mirth from my best friend (and much humiliation for myself) – the only thing that could save them (and me) now was chocolate. So my healthy little nut cakes ended up with not one icing, but two! Still the kids were happy enough and I must say they tasted pretty good.

Dark chocolate and lemon icing nut puffs

Better.

But as with all recipes, a second go at them made the world of difference. A bit of mixed spice to jazz up the flavour and I’ve given the cum icing a miss – just some dark chocolate melts, melted and spooned over, then topped off with a pecan. Despite their soft-porn history I refuse to rename them, thus here are my dark chocolate nut puffs. Enjoy.

Take two – delicious.

Dark chocolate nut puffs

1 1/2 cups self raising flour
2/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (or hazelnuts)
1/2 cup oatbran
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp baking powder
50g softened butter (if you’re not scared of fats, they’re even better with 75g)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 cup full fat milk
Pecans or almonds (optional)

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease 24 patty pans.

Sift the flour into a bowl then mix in the almond meal, walnuts, oatbran, spice and baking powder.

In another bowl, use a hand held mixer to cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the dry ingredients. Mix through the egg and milk. Divide between the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Eat warm with some sifted icing sugar sprinkled over the top, or top with melted dark chocolate and pecans or almonds.

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Foolproof roast chicken & cous cous salad

November 29, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, Food experiences, News, Vegetarian · Tagged celebrations, chicken, cooking techniques, feeding the family, mealtime, parenting, vegetables

On the fridge all year - Miss Fruitarian's 'to do' list for 2011

Each year I have a ‘to do’ list. You know, a list of things that I’d like to master in the coming year. Important stuff like “make choux pastry” and “be thankful every day”. Miss Fruitarian jumped on the bandwagon this year and has done well on her list, which included ‘get a kitten’ and ‘skip to 100’.

My list was blown out of the water by a house purchase, house sale, house move and job change (husband). I’m still catching my breath, and actually can’t even remember what was on my list for this year, let alone WHERE the piece of paper might actually be.

So with the year hurtling to a close, it’s lucky that my list in 2007 included ‘cook a perfect roast chicken’ – you know, where the vegies and meat are all cooked perfectly and AT THE SAME TIME. It’s a skill that comes in handy during the festive season.

Just in case you’ve got the chicken cooking thing on the list for next year, here’s a recipe that will cut you a bit of slack – a roast chook with a cous cous salad that is SO delicious and suited to hot Australian nights.

This cous cous salad is the best I’ve tried – it’s based on a recipe from Ainsley Harriott’s Barbeque Bible. It’s his spice combination and cooking method, which seems to produce perfectly fluffy cous cous. I’ve just added in a stack of vegies (of course).

Do my kids eat this salad with all the green flecks and pumpkin (their least favourite) bits? Surprisingly yes. The first time I made it, I thought they wouldn’t, which really vouches for how yummy it is. I do have to cut up Mr M&P’s chicken and mix it through as a lure, and Miss F does gag if she hits a chunk of coriander, but apart from that it disappears.

Now, if only I could get my kids to eat with their cutlery properly and have some vague semblance of table manners, I’d be feeling pretty accomplished. I guess I better put it on the ‘to do’ list for next year.

Fancy enough for the festive season, methinks.

Roast chicken with a delicious cous cous salad

1×1.8kg chicken
1 lemon, halved
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

¼ cup pinenuts

2 cups pumpkin (Jap is good), peeled and cut into a 1cm dice.
2 tsps honey
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp sweet paprika
¾ cup cous cous
¾ cup chicken stock
Pinch saffron (optional)
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, grated
½ red capsicum, finely diced
Handful fresh herbs (any combination of mint, parsley & coriander)
Juice ½ lemon (plus the zest if you can be bothered)

Preheat the oven to 170C fan-forced. Have a rack down low (for the chook) and one up high (for the pumpkin).

Don’t be squeamish and don’t think about how a wee chicken carcass feels vaguely like holding a baby… Wash the whole chook well. Use paper towel to dry it both inside and out. Place a rack in a roasting tray then pop the chicken on top (breast side down). Pour about ¼ cup of water and the juice of half a lemon in the tray. Shove the squeezed half and the full half of lemon inside the birdie. Close up the legs (a girl’s gotta have some dignity), drizzle over olive oil & salt & pepper.

Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile…

Pour your dry cous cous into a heat-proof bowl.

In a small non-stick pan, toast your pinenuts and set aside. Add about one tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, then fry off the garlic, coriander, cumin & paprika for a minute or so. Pour in the chicken stock. Add the saffron (if using) and the spring onions (this takes the onion tang out of them). Pour into the cous cous bowl. Use a fork to quickly combine, then cover with plastic wrap.

Spread the pumpkin out on an oven tray (lined with baking paper), drizzle over olive oil and honey. Toss lightly.

Pull out your chicken. Turn over (carefully), baste or drizzle a touch more oil. Season. Pop back into the oven & also put in the pumpkin (on the top tray).

Bake everything for about 40-45 minutes, until the pumpkin is soft and the juices of the chicken run clear. (There’s a demo of how about 1:40 into this video – or push a skewer in behind the drumstick then press to see the colour of the juice)

Cover the chicken with foil for a bit while you fork through the cous cous then toss in the rest of the ingredients in. Then carve the chicken (good ‘how to’ video about carving chickens, turkeys etc here), serve and EAT. Yum.

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A bit jammy

November 15, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged celebrations, cooking techniques, fruit, recipe

Scared off by talk of pectin variability and techniques of jar sterilisation, I’ve never been a jam maker. Add to that a couple of preserving disasters in my youth (a large disgustingly mouldy jar of roasted capsicums and 4 litres of rancid preserved lemons), and I’ve been happy enough to grab my jams and chutneys at markets and on election day outside the church hall from kind, elderly ladies.

But the other day on my doorstep, stood my mother, with a kilo of cumquats from her tree and a photocopy of a page from an old microwave-cooking cookbook.

So I’ve given it a go, and am happy to report that it was easy and I’m a bit inspired. I know some of you are vehemently anti-microwave so this recipe is not for you. But for the rest of us, who figure that a few micro-waves in moderation are ok, this recipe is great. Here goes…

Sterilise your jars

Don’t be scared. I followed Sally Wise’s advice from ‘A year in a bottle’, which has been on my shelves for a while (secretly, I’ve been coveting the role of preserve princess). Wash your jars in hot soapy water. Rinse and place on a tray in your oven. Heat to 110C, then turn off and leave for at least 10 minutes. Take the washed lids and simmer in boiling water for 2 minutes (this is where I went wrong with my lemons).

Blitzing the fruit means it cooks quickly and it is peel chunk-free

MAKE THE CITRUS JAM
This recipe is from either a Woman’s Weekly or Family Circle Microwave cookbook – I’m not sure exactly, I only have a photocopy of 1 page).

½ kilo citrus fruit (I used cumquats)
1 ½ cups water
3 cups white sugar

Wash the fruit well, discard any mouldy ones. Cut roughly and remove any seeds. Add the fruit to a food processor (I did two batches in my mini-one) and blitz well.

Place in a large microwave-proof bowl. Add the water and microwave on high for 10 minutes.

Add the sugar and mix well. Cook for 18 minutes more in total – do 3 x 6 minutes and give the mixture a stir each time.

TEST FOR SETTING

This is the bit that always makes me sigh and turn the page in recipe books, but actually it’s easy. Again, Sally Wise’s advice is good – put two teaspoons of jam onto a saucer. Pop into the fridge for a couple of minutes. Run your finger through it – if it wrinkles, it is ready. If it doesn’t, it might need another couple of minutes of cooking.

Leave the jam for a few more minutes to start to cool, then pop into your warm jars. Seal while warm.

You've bothered to make jam - go all the way and give them frilly hats.

DECORATE

If like me, you’ve got an expensive pair of pinking shears that rarely see the light of day, dig them out and make some pretty frilly caps for your jam. It is nearly Christmas after all.

And there you have it. Pretty painless. I’m off to woo my neighbour, Gloria, with a jar. Who will you woo with your uber-housewife homemade? I’ll be back later in the week with a yum recipe that actually uses up some of the jam too. See you then…

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How to have them begging for zucchini (in their lunchbox)

October 12, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, lunchbox, parenting, recipe

Now I don’t like to brag, and I generally am a very self-effacing person, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this recipe is possibly the most genius recipe I have ever formulated! It is just SO good. When my kids see me making these, they start JUMPING AROUND.

It meets all of my usual vegie-smuggling criteria – easy to make, full of all sorts of good ingredients, stores well and is tasty enough for kids and adults alike. You can eat them hot or cold – so whip up some for a side dish for tonight’s dinner and then pop the rest into tomorrow’s lunchboxes.

Did I mention that this recipe is from the complete Vegie Smugglers lunchbox planner? I like to give one recipe away for free (last term was the easy beetroot dip/sandwich spread). I know I’m banging on about the planner, but without a few sales here and there, the Vegie Smugglers blog ends up being a time-consuming and rewarding passion that I have to squeeze in between my other money-making commitments. But nearly every mum I talk to has some intriguing online venture going on, so you all know what I’m saying.

Anyway, enough blatant spamming. Here’s the recipe to enjoy.

Delicious. Yum. Easy. Yum. Lunchboxes. Yum.

Cheese Puffs

½ cup milk (soy is fine)
1 egg
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 zucchini, grated (peeled first if your kids hate green)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 cups grated cheese (cheddar is best)
1 cup self-raising flour

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a baking tray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and egg. Add the paprika, zucchini, spring onions and cheese.

Sift over the flour. Mix well (it becomes a thick paste). Dollop out portions. Bake for 20-25 minutes until deep golden brown and cooked through.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for several days.

MAKES 16

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Meringue-o-tangs (and other birthday party stuff)

September 19, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged celebrations, cooking techniques, family, ideas, kids, recipe

Yes, I know, the sheep has a moustache.

As if moving house and launching a new cookbook wasn’t enough, I’m rounding out my fortnight with Miss Fruitarian’s 7th birthday. With no chance of letting it slide by unnoticed (and fuelled on by guilt at moving the kids mid-term), I’ve had to bite the bullet and take on party hosting 2 weeks into a new home.

As regular readers will know, I love to try and keep party things pretty simple with small menus and a strict one-colour birthday cake policy. So you can image my horror when Miss F presented me with Annabel Karmel’s “My first cookbook” opened at farmyard cupcakes and an announcement that she’d happily forfeit a big cake in favour of these. Now I’m known to be generally undaunted by creative pursuits (being that I make a large proportion of my income as an illustrator) but even I was unprepared to take on the doggies, opting instead for these cute Betty Crocker chickens. They turned out well and the kids loved them.

Topping up the sugar, I also whipped up some swirly biscuits (also from Karmel’s book) and of course, a party isn’t a party without meringues. They cost bugger all to make, can be made a few days ahead and are SO pretty. Don’t be scared of them. Just remember – use eggs at room temperature, use a really clean (not plastic) bowl, NO YOLKS (not even a tiny bit), and cook without the fan-forced option.

So pretty! So cheap! So easy to make ahead!

These days I stick to a recipe from Stephanie Alexander’s bible, but increase the quantities a little.

Sue’s meringues (excuse my paraphrasing)

3 egg whites
¾ cup caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 150, line two trays with baking paper. Beat the whites until stiff peak stage (the mixture stays standing upright when you pull out the beaters). Add the sugar gradually. Add the vanilla. Beat until the mixture is no longer grainy (rub it between your fingers to test).

Dollop amounts onto trays (they don’t spread, so load them up). Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, open the oven door slightly and leave them to cool completely.

Makes 36.

It’s worth buying one of the disposable piping bags and having a go. It’s really fun, you get a fantastic result and feel just a bit uber-parent when looking at the final product.

Like rolling a turd in glitter, a piped meringue will mesmerise, regardless.

And am I cheating with this photo of them all sitting there perfect and… raw? Well yes, but with a new oven that I’m still getting to know, it was inevitable that I’d burn a few.

Never fear, even a failed meringue is delicious crunched through yoghurt and chopped fruit.
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For other party food, try…
Chocolate nipple cakes
Fuss-free party cakes and mud-bread
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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
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If you like this recipe, make sure you try…
Tuna & rice puffs
Salmon Pikelets
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The best way to smuggle… red lentils

July 31, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, The best way to smuggle..., Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, recipe, vegetables, vegetarian

I think quite possibly, red lentils are the holy grail of vegie smuggling. They have that unique flavour of… well… dirt really, that makes them tricky to hide in a delicious, kid-friendly meal. I have tried all sorts of dahls & stews. I’ve tried to hide them in chillis, fajitas (a way that works briliantly with brown lentils) but time and time again I’ve served them up and gotten a big ‘not happy Jan’ from the kids.

But finally after 18 months of trying and trying I’ve cracked it with this amazingly good pumpkin soup recipe. It is a magic recipe. My kids don’t like pumpkin and they don’t like lentils, but this dish makes them swoon. Admittedly, the quantity of lentils is small, but from modest beginnings I can build. It seems like the trickiest part of vegie smuggling is discovering the first acceptable dish that contains a forbidden ingredient. Once the first meal goes in, the taste seed is planted and you can move on to bigger and bolder things. From here I’ll build a dahl recipe with similar flavours and before I know it, the kids will be pestering ME for a trip down to the local Indian.

vegie smugglers pumpkin and lentil soup recipe

Food alchemy.

Pumpkin, corn & lentil soup

1kg butternut pumpkin, peeled, chopped into 1.5cm cubes
Olive oil
1–2 tsp Moroccan spice mix (the better quality the mix, the better the flavour)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 litre good-quality chicken stock
¼ cup red lentils, picked over, rinsed
420g can creamed corn
Baguette
Grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 220°C.

Line a baking tray with baking paper and top with the pumpkin in a single layer. Drizzle with oil and as much spice mix as suits your family. Toss to combine and bake for 15–20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft but without too much colour.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan over medium–low heat. Add the onion and cook for 6–8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the pumpkin, stock and lentils to the pan. Stir well and cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes until the lentils are tender.

Stir through the corn and black pepper. Remove from the heat and use a stick blender to blend until creamy.

Slice the baguette, scatter with cheddar and grill under a preheated grill on medium until it is melted and golden. Cut some slices into cubes and keep some whole.

Serve the soup in cute bowls, with both cheesy cubes hidden throughout and a large slice on top.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

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If your kids like soups, why not try these other recipes…

Chicken, vegie & pasta soup

Witches Stew

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In season: apples & snow

July 14, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged cooking techniques, fruit, heirloom recipes, recipe

.... well in Australia, we call this 'snow'....

Last weekend the Vegie Smugglers family had a jaunt out to the country. We had a fantastic time at Orange, which is about 4 hours inland from Sydney. Great drive, great foodie spot, great adventure playground for the kids, and spots of snow up on Mount Canobolas. Well, patches of dirty ice really, but for never-seen-snow kids like mine, it was the ultimate thrill and they were happy to frolic in the sub-zero mud for an hour (I had to retreat to the car with frostbite about 45 minutes in).

We struck gold and happened to be in town on the weekend of the farmer’s market. The produce was fresh, tasty, local, and heavenly. And I couldn’t leave without stopping by one of the little unattended roadside shacks where you pick your box of produce and leave your money in the honesty box. Love it. Funnily enough, you don’t see those boxes too often in the city.

How could I resist!!!

So now we’re eating our way through 7kg of apples. I’ve dug out ‘Lady Hackett’s Household Guide’ and am trawling through the chapter on ‘hot fruit puddings’. Most of them all start with the premise of stewed apples, which they mainly do with heaps of water. Sounds a bit insipid, so I’ve dug out my own stewed apples recipe. And with the final product I’m going to have an experiment this weekend. I like the look of the apple rice meringue. Combine the mashed apples with cooked rice and 2 egg yolks, and then top with the egg whites whipped up with caster sugar. Set in the oven for a few minutes until brown. Yum.

Here I've dropped the apples onto a rice pudding... recipe in the book...

Stewed apples

2 large or 3 small apples, peeled, sliced
2 tbsp water
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger (optional)
2 cloves (optional)
1 tbsp butter

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Mix well, cover and bring to a simmer. Cook until the fruit is soft (8-10 minutes), stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Cool. Discard the cloves (if using).

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Controlling, fat and unnecessary

June 13, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, mealtime, vegetables

Aren’t commas great? They make a mundane, uptight phrase so much more interesting.

You see, “controlling fat and unnecessary additives” should really be today’s headline, but it’s a bit dry, isn’t it. I much prefer ‘controlling, fat and unnecessary’, which sounds much more salacious and intriguing. You read that and think, “Is she talking about herself, her mother-in-law, who else?”

But actually, I’m talking about how just a little effort can go a long way toward improving your family’s diets.

Now, I’m as big a fan of convenience foods as the next stressed-out-over-scheduled parent, but there’s one mass selling processed food that I just don’t understand – frozen chips. And here’s why…

You have to preheat the oven to 200C. Open the packet; pour them onto an oven tray. Bake 10 minutes then turn and bake for another 10. And then you have a half soggy chip that has been processed in a factory and shipped in plastic, then bought (at a premium) by you and prepared.

Here’s what I do for my chips.

My new fav kitchen toy - makes vegies instantly more fun

I buy potatoes. Not in plastic. I preheat the oven to 200C. I peel my potatoes and chop them with my new favourite wiggly chopper. It takes about 3-4 minutes to do 3-4 potatoes. I put them on the tray, and toss them with olive oil, salt & pepper. After 10 minutes, I sprinkle over parmesan cheese and bake for another 10-15 minutes until they are golden and crunchy and delicious.

REALLY yum, REALLY easy.

So my total extra effort isn’t much. And the result is SO much better. You can control the amount of olive oil and salt that you use (remember that every teaspoon of olive oil contains 4.5g of fat – .621g of which is saturated).

Like my muesli bars and beetroot tzatziki, sometimes we can easily produce a better tasting, healthier version of ‘convenience’ foods at home. Just sayin’.

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