lunchbox | Vegie Smugglers

Posts tagged lunchbox

Dig out the lunchboxes… again

January 22, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Sweets & treats · Tagged feeding the family, lunchbox, parenting, treats

How are you feeling about the upcoming return to school? I’ve enjoyed spending time with my kids and I’ve had a house full of them and their friends throughout January (I actually did a tally and I’ve had a total of 34 different kids pass through my doors!) – it’s been nice to listen to them all play and get to know the personalities of my children’s friends.

But the prospect of the return to routines and of empty lunchboxes staring at me every morning does fill me with a bit of dread. As always, I’ll turn to my Lunchbox planner, which has 40 weeks of plans which takes some of the thinking out of it! I keep everything pretty simple, but throw in a weekly recipe and use lots of seasonal fruit and veg to keep things interesting. You can buy a copy of the e-book here.

There’s been a bunch of great posts around lately full of back to school ideas and advice. I liked this post from Natural New Age Mum with biscuit ideas – they all look great! At the moment I’m working on a new quick-bake e-book and here’s a little preview. It’s another biscuit suggestion that pops a bit of fibre into the lunchbox and gives them some energy for the afternoon session.

Best wishes to all of those sending off your kids for the first time. I did that last year, and it was extremely bittersweet. This year is much more relaxed, there are no nerves, just excitement about which class we’ll be in with which friends. What a difference 12 months makes!

Biscuits. They make me happy.

Oat, sultana and sesame biscuits

½ cup self-raising flour
1½ cups oats
¼ cup Allbran cereal
3 tbsp sesame seeds (optional, but recommended)
¼ tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
½ cup sultanas or currants
60g butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line two oven trays with baking paper.

Sift the flour into a medium sized bowl. Mix in the oats, bran, seeds, cinnamon, salt and sultanas.

In a separate, larger bowl, use hand-held beaters to combine the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg and mix well.

Use a spoon to fold in the dry ingredients. Pop on kitchen gloves to avoid mess and roll out ping-pong sized balls of mixture. Place on the trays and bake for 12-15 minutes until just brown.

MAKES ABOUT 24.

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What my children and twitter have in common

December 13, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Sweets & treats · Tagged celebrations, Christmas, family, ideas, lunchbox, parenting

I’ve been trying to teach my kids the finer art of conversation.

Talking isn’t a problem for them but actually having a two-way discussion around a topic is. Most of the time, they are like a twitter feed brought to life. Short-sentence comments unrelated to anything else (eg. “my brain is itchy”). Often they don’t make any sense at all (eg. “you blew big underpants”). Private jokes and brains farts that I have neither the understanding nor patience to reply to.

Despite my public urgings for families to eat together (it’s great for kids to see adults eating healthily and provides a positive and happy opportunity for family bonding), during the week the VS household rarely manages it. We make sure we have both breakfast and dinner together on the weekends, but I suspect more regular family dinners would improve the quality of their chatter quite a lot.

Like many families, we have little choice – Mr VS is off working long hours at Temple & Webster, providing Turkish towels and cushions for the needy, so the kids and I are left to our own devices. Half the time I let them eat alone (sometimes even with the TV on), the rest of the time I eat with them and that’s when I drill them on the finer points of using cutlery and how to have a good and rewarding discussion.

It seems to be working, gradually. Last night Mr VS did make it home and as he sat down, Mr M&P piped up with “and how was your day, daddy?” It was cute.

Apparently the other kids in infant’s school are unbothered by the Tourette’s-style conversation from my children. Somehow they have made a bunch of friends and we’ve reached that time of year where they all start loading each other up with Christmas cards and candy canes. Poor teachers.

Perhaps unluckily for my kids, I still had half a batch of gingerbread dough in the freezer. So I made the biscuits (little tiny ones) and then they spent an hour decorating them. We handed them out yesterday and they were a big hit. Of course, they’re no good if your friends have allergies, but luckily we’ve only got one BFF affected and we’ve bought her a little notepad instead.

It was raining, so I had a Martha Stewart moment.

They were concentrating so hard they even stayed quiet for a bit.

Just add a sprinkle of icing sugar and they’re good gifts for adults too.

Naughty and 40

November 18, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged celebrations, chocolate, lunchbox, treats

Have you ever had that experience of waking up, looking in the mirror and being a bit shocked by what you see? I had that moment over the weekend when I looked and welcomed another significant wrinkle. Not content with adding to my collection of laugh lines, this one actually crosses over the laugh lines forming a nice mesh, reminiscent of fishnets but far less alluring.

Apparently the phrase ‘aging overnight’ is based on fact, not fiction. It’s true, people don’t age gradually, but in ‘clunks’ and after the age of 35 we’re in aging freefall.

Having a second non-sleeping baby at 34½ apparently gave me a double whammy of aging. My ‘overnight’ seemed to stretch for one blurry four-year period and then when my focus cleared enough to look in the mirror, I was 38 and not the youthful flower I had been seven years earlier when I breathlessly announced my first pregnancy. (Incidentally, women feel at their most beautiful at age 32).

Searching the web on all things aging, I was thrilled to discover ‘Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome’ which is the sudden aging of soap characters. Like when Bridget Forrester suddenly got old enough to be in a love triangle with her mother and Deacon. And I’m wondering if all those university hours spent watching ‘The Bold & The Beautiful’ was detrimental to my health and somehow it twiddled with my gene structure to leave me stuck with that syndrome. You see, in my mind, I’m still 25. Which is weird, because my daughter turns 9 next birthday and she’s nearly as tall as me.

Actually the truth is that I’m pondering all these things because I’m turning 40 this week. And no matter how I try to deny it, people keep doing things like giving me birthday cards with ’40 and naughty’ on the front and cheery messages like “you’re another year more wonderful”. The sentiment is sweet, but I can’t help but think of people saying, “gee you must be lucky” when a bird craps on your jacket. They’re trying to make you feel better, but really, it’s all a little bit bullshit.

So sticking with sweet, it seems right to do a chocolate slice recipe this week. And when you bite in, think of me, huddled in the old lady corner, lamenting the loss of my youth.

Happy birthday to me, I live in a tree…

Chocolate slice

1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup oat bran
40g butter, melted and cooled
140g tub apple purée
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs, lightly whisked

Icing
1 1/4 cups icing sugar mixture
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2-3 tbsp water
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180c. Line a lamington/slice tin with baking paper (leave some to hang over the two long sides).

Sift the flour and cocoa into a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugar, coconut and oat bran. Mix lightly.

In a separate bowl or jug combine the butter, purée, eggs and vanilla.

Pour the wet into the dry and fold until totally combined. Spoon the mixture into your tin and patiently spread with a spatula until even. Bake for 25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tray.

Sift the icing sugar mixture and cocoa into a bowl. Add in the water and mix well then pour over the slice and leave it to harden in the tin.

Use the sides of the paper to lift out and slice into 20 pieces.

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You’re vegetarian, but the kids aren’t

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

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

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

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

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

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

Big batch and freeze it

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

Versatile dinners

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

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

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

vegie smugglers plum sauce chinese-style meatballs

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

Chinese-style plum sauce meatballs

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

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

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

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

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

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

Makes 30ish.

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The easiest cupcake recipe ever

September 9, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged celebrations, feeding the family, freezer, lunchbox, parenting, recipe, treats

It’s true that I own an embarrassing amount of cookbooks. It’s a compulsion that lures me into every second hand bookstore I pass. There are cookbooks for baking with yeast, Danish sandwich making and Pritikin diets. Most are curiosities, mostly unused. But amid the novelties are essentials and the Sally Wise cookbooks are ones I refer to over and over again. Possibly because her food is a perfect fit for me and how I cook. Family food. Flavour over fancy. No smears, no complicated reductions, just page after page of family winners. Her gluten free book should be a first port of call for those of you needing help in that area. Her slow cooker book is fantastic and her preserves books are the only ones you will need (should that be your thing).

So I was keen to get her new book, ‘Sweet’. It’s perfect for those of us heading towards a spring season of cake stalls and fete days.

Our school fundraiser was last weekend and I’d pledged 24 cupcakes. Thinking I’d be making my life easier, I went to buy a packet mix. Looking on the back I saw I’d need to add my own eggs, oil and milk. Soooo…. ummmmm…. what exactly is in the packet then? Just flour, sugar-like substances and a stack of preservatives, thickeners and colourings. I popped it back, pretty sure I could do better.

So straight to Sally and she came to my rescue. This cake mix is SO incredibly easy and the cakes were really good.

A tiny teddy never goes astray.

Sally Wise’s Chocolate Cupcakes (from Sweet!) My comments are in italics.

Makes 10 (although I made a triple batch and ended up with about 3 dozen).

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup milk
1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
90 g butter, melted

Heat oven to 160C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Place all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for two minutes until thick & creamy. (YES, TRULY, THIS IS ALL YOU DO!!!!)

Fill cases to 2/3 full and bake for 12-15 minutes or so until the middle of the cake is springy (IN MY CRAP OVEN, THE COOKING TIME WAS ACTUALLY JUST OVER 20 MINS)

Cool completely, then ice.

Icing
180g icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp softened butter
boiling water.

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl, mix in the butter and enough boiling water to make a smooth consistency.

I dipped my iced cakes in sprinkles and topped with a tiny teddy. I noticed during my time of the cupcake stall that lollies and really colourful toppings were MUCH more popular than the more measly, spartan looking ones.

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Giveaways (with FREE STUFF)

August 24, 2012 · Filed under News · Tagged lunchbox, treats, vegetables

Regular readers will know that I generally steer clear of PR posts (and PRs generally steer clear of me).

I’ve discovered the hard way that, ‘we’ll pop some [insert product name] in the mail for you to review’ actually translates as ‘we’ll bribe you with free stuff in return for favourable comments’. So after initial gushing from PRs about the AWESOMENESS of my blog, the silence has been deathly once I’ve posted truthfully about the product they’ve been flogging.

I prefer to make a buck selling my own products and I’ve worked pretty hard to gain the trust of my readers. I don’t want to insult you all by PROSTITUTING myself for the sake of some free biscuits. (Although I must say, I was recently sent a bunch of dairy & gluten free biscuits from Eskal and they were FANTASTIC and definitely worth seeking out).

But sometimes the planets align and I get approached by people who are promoting brands or causes I support and who are happy to offer a giveaway. Then I find myself quite amiable. As Kerry Packer was reported to say, “There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?”. Mine is apparently about $4.35 for a packet of Eskal chocolate wafers. So here we go…

See, I even popped the branded bag in the background!

Giveaway #1

Bakers Delight is launching their new Chia & Fruit bread. I’ve had a munch of it and it’s good. Less sweet than a supermarket fruit bread and much more substantial. I’ve compared the nutrition panels of the chia loaf vs. a regular raisin toast and the BD one wins in every single category (plus it packs in Omega 3s), which makes it a really good afternoon tea or lunchbox option. My preference was for the loaf covered with chia seeds rather than the sunflower kernels. Anyway – cut to the shizzle – Bakers Delight have given me 3x$10 vouchers to give away so that you can buy some a loaves of your own to try. To enter, leave a comment below about what your favourite BD product is and why. Just for the record, mine is definitely their MINCE TARTS. They are so good that I don’t even bother trying to make my own. Just buy theirs.

Giveaway #2

More altruistic, this giveaway is sponsored by Aussie Farmers Direct in collaboration with the GI Cancer institute to help promote their Gutsy Kids challenge. Note, gutsy kids, not gusty kids, which is the typo I keep making (this version would be for those on an all cabbage challenge). You can read all about the fabulous program here.

The challenge helps to encourage kids (adults, you’re welcome to join in) to eat 2 serves of fruit and 4 serves of vegies every day for a week. And while you’re getting healthier, you’re raising money for cancer research. Did you know that 26 Australians die each day from gastro intestinal cancers? I didn’t.

If you have Vegie Smugglers 2 then you can flip to the handy visual reference of serving sizes to see what 2/4 actually entails.

Here’s a suggestion of how to reach your daily quota: have a banana on your cereal, a carrot at recess, some spinach leaves on your sandwich, an apple for arvo tea, some cucumber & green beans for a pre-dinner snack (try serving them with beetroot dip for extra points). Then for dinner… well… welcome to Vegie Smugglers, pretty much any dinner you serve the kids will get you to your target.

To win the Aussie Farmer’s Direct fruit box, comment below about your favourite Vegie Smugglers recipe, including which vegies you can now sneak into your little lovelies thanks to this site or the cookbooks. And please do visit the Gutsy Challenge website.

Right then, tarting done. I’ll pop my bustier and feather boa away and see you all next week with a great end of winter dinner!

*Thanks all competition now closed. Congratulations to Kirsty for winning the Aussie Farmer’s Direct box, and to Claire, Rebecca and Laura for winning the Baker’s Delight vouchers.*

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Chocolate, bran & zucchini muffins

August 19, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged feeding the family, lunchbox, recipe, treats, vegetables, zucchini

Well, there was much interest in these little chocolate morsels when I put up a preview pic the other day over on Facebook. So rather than making you wait, I’ve fast-tracked them onto the blog for you all to bake up this week. Rather than being puritanical about food and healthy eating, I like to acknowledge that the vast majority of us mortals WILL eat chocolate; so the least I can do is pack a bit of extra fibre into the mix to make them just a tiny bit healthier.

They’re nut free and easily made dairy free too, which means that most lunchboxes should cope with them nicely.

Now I know you’re all out there, I can hear you breathing. Well actually, I can see my traffic stats. But none of you ever really comment on here. Why is that? I know we all chat over at FB, but my poor old blog gets a bit lonely from time to time. I always love to hear about if you try out a recipe, how it goes and what variations you need to make for your family.

Don’t be shy. Remember then when you post recipe comments with the posts they get kept for future reference. On FB they just get forgotten in the jumble of cyber junk.

Both you and the kids will be happy with these!

Chocolate, bran and zucchini muffins

1 ¼ cups self-raising flour
¾ cup Allbran cereal (or any type of bran bits)
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1 egg
¾ cup milk (soy works great)
¾ cup vegetable oil (I like grapeseed, but canola is cheaper)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 zucchini, grated (fearless VS testers report back that small/medium zucchini will work best, or a large one may need to have liquid squeezed out).

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 12 cup regular muffin tray (I just use spray oil since I’m too lazy to melt and brush on butter).

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, bran, cocoa, sugar and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl or jug, mix together the egg, milk, oil, vanilla and zucchini.

Pour wet ingredients into dry, mix gently until well combined. Divide evenly between your muffin holes and bake for 25 minutes or so, until they spring back when touched and a skewer comes out clean.

Makes 12.

Optional extra: a ½ cup of choc chips will make these extra chocolatey!

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Finding winter time joy (in sugar)

August 11, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged brunch, fruit, lunchbox, recipe

A couple of weeks ago I slipped on my wooden stairs and slammed down on my arse. It was a graceful, elegant move designed to demonstrate to the children exactly why we don’t run on the stairs in our socks. After a couple of visits to a lovely (medically trained) young man with strong hands I’m now feeling alot better and am knowledgeable about C8, T3 and S4. After giving myself a fair whack, I have several ongoing symptoms, one of which is chronic GRUMPINESS, no doubt helped along by continued cold weather and the fact we’ve not had a decent holiday since this trip, which I sadly see is nearly two years ago.

How are you other Southern Hemisphere folks all travelling? Over it? What measures do you put in place to survive winter? I like to think that I combine a noble combination of exercise, interesting projects and a Zen attitude about the ebb and flow of nature to get me through, but actually I just tend to eat more sugar, wear ridiculous amounts of clothing and whinge. A lot. I whinge about the cold. About how unfit I am. About how much my children whinge. About the consistent stream of people telling me I need to read Sarah Wilson’s “I quit sugar” in order to pick myself up a little. Don’t they understand that sugar is my winter lifeline?

In defiance, here’s a cakey-bread loaf that I highly recommend for a little shot of food pleasure. As with most of my sweet stuff, there’s a silver lining of nutrition to ease your conscience and make that second piece seem more acceptable. It’s delicious straight from the oven, or do the classic banana bread thing, of toasting slices and spreading your sugar with lard.

See! Smiling already.

Ricotta, nut & currant bread

250g tub ricotta cheese
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1¼ cups self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
Rind of 1 orange
1¼ cups nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts & almonds are good), roughly chopped
¾ cup currants

Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and line a 14x20cm loaf tin.

In a large bowl, mix together the cheese and sugar.

Sift over the flour and baking powder. Pop the zest, nuts and currants on top and fold it all in together.

Bake in the oven for an hour or an hour and 10, until the top bounces slightly and a skewer comes out clean. While warm brush the top with warmed honey.

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Remembering to press pause

July 16, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Fish · Tagged family, lunchbox, pasta, recipe, vegetables

A while back I woke up with a headache, slightly hungover and it was January 1.

Then I blinked, cried as Mr M&P started school and then sneezed and it was April. After a shower and another hangover it was June and two report cards later the year is half way done and I’ve still not hung up my 2012 calendar.

It’s frightening to watch life accelerating away.

Yesterday, we pulled the reigns on the year and packed up the family for a day of adventure. Off early, we were breakfasting by the water by 9.30 and then on a ferry over to Scotland Island for a bush walk. We were back home by 2, energized and happy to have spent some fun time outdoors, together, creating a memory.

There was a waterway, bacon, eggs, coffee and a happy family.

Without meaning to we’ve been too busy and just let the year slip by. Yesterday was a good reminder about how important it is to force life to stop from time to time, to find some quality family moments. It’s true, the kids grow up too fast and it won’t be long until they don’t want to be with us at all, let alone walking along, holding our hands, being so incredibly gorgeous.

So back we go to term 3. Back to routine (sigh) and lunchboxes (sigh sigh). This lunchbox pasta salad recipe is from my Complete Lunchbox Planner – it has a little dose of vitamin C to help you through the rest of winter and it’s also a nice way to break out of the sandwich rut.

Something different for the lunchbox

Citrus pasta salad

375g pasta spirals
½ punnet cherry tomatoes, quartered
200g mild feta, diced
1 carrot, peeled, grated
2-3 tbsp pinenuts, toasted
½ tsp zest of each a lemon & orange
400g tuna in springwater, drained

Dressing
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp minced garlic

Cook the pasta according to packet directions.

Place all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Toss cooked pasta with other ingredients and the dressing.

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Sunshine in a can. Why 1970s mums were right, after all.

July 4, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Sweets & treats · Tagged feeding the family, fruit, heirloom recipes, lunchbox, recipe, treats

Instant happy.

Buying fruit at the moment is a bit bleak, isn’t it? The oranges are nice enough. The apples are good. There’s been a bright spot of QLD strawberries, but really my cold feet and numb fingers are longing for something warmer, something more evocative of sunny climes.

So it was with enthusiasm that I found a tin of pineapple pieces shoved up the back of my pantry. Proving my theory, that sometimes disorganisation can indeed lead to happy moments.

Is this little pineapple can making you feel nostalgic? Did you eat much of the stuff when you were growing up?

My mum was possibly one of the only mums in the 1970s who resisted the urge to add pineapple to every salad, rice dish and dessert, so my approach to it is untainted by scary childhood memories of ‘Hawaiian Chicken’ or ‘Rice al la Tropicale’. Still, without those fond memories to guide me, I’m a bit hesitant to bung it into too many savoury dishes. But I promise to have a go. I’d love to hear about your MUST TRY pineapple dishes. Any culinary treat that I’m really missing out on?

While I search far and wide for new taste sensations, these happy little cakes will hit the spot for a bit of school holiday baking. Miss F helped me ice them. It made me feel all old-world ‘mom’ and I like the fact that they look fairly plain, but then you crack them open and are gifted with a world of sunshine. All that pineapple! Well, and all that butter… but hey, it’s a recipe for a fun time, not a long time.

Testing your ‘mom’-ness, I’ve written this recipe up old-school style, with minimal instructions, and an assumption that you know your plain from your self-raising, that creaming butter and sugar is just what you do most days and oven temps need not be discussed.

Looks quite sedate…

Hawaiian pineapple & coconut cakes.

Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tray and line with paper cases. Heat your oven to moderate. Cream 140g butter with 2/3 cup caster sugar. Add 4 eggs, slowly and beat well after each. (Adding a tablespoon of flour with each egg stops the mixture splitting). Fold in the remains of your 1 1/4 cup of self-raising flour, 2/3 cup desiccated coconut and the drained fruit from a 440g can pineapple pieces (reserve the liquid). Bake the cakes for 20-25 minutes.

Ice with icing sugar mixture combined with enough of the reserved pineapple syrup to form a thick glaze.