Sweet Sunshine Curry

For le petite sir this evening, a yummy mild curry.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, diced
1 organic carrot, cubed
1 organic apple, peeled and cubed
1 organic potato, cubed
1/2 cup peas & corn (frozen organic if you can get them)
1 tsp each of cumin, turmeric and garam masala
1/4 cup low fat milk
1 cup filtered water
Greek yoghurt to serve

Fry off the onion in the butter over moderate heat until soft and translucent. Add the other veggies and stir until coated in the butter. Add the spices, stir again to evenly distribute, then the water. Leave to simmer for ten minutes- add a little more water if required. Add the milk and stir. Make sure it doesn't catch the bottom. I added a half cup of peas and corn at the last minute and stirred off the heat until thawed and warmed.

Serve with Greek yoghurt. Add a piece of rye toast or brown rice if you would like.

Pouch love.

I just bought these reusable pouches yesterday and I am so in love. I have seen them online and been meaning to order a pack, so imagine my glee when I walked into a healthy living store whilst on holiday with mum and there they were, winking back at me. This one is filled with mum's apple stew for my dear little ladybug to have at brekkie. They're completely reusable. At 2.5 my son still likes to eat from squeezy pouches sometimes, particularly if he isn't well or we are having a busy day, so I am sure these babies will get a workout!

Baby Bites- Bolognese

Cinnamon and Vanilla Rice Biscuits

I wanted to make a healthy snack option for the kids that emulates rice biscuits. These were super quick, and easy...and there's three ingredients. The thing I particularly love about making my own kiddy snacks is that I have total control of the ingredients, and I know the provenance of everything I include. So these were a cup of wholegrain organic puffed brown rice, a teaspoon of organic cinnamon and vanilla seeds just-scraped from the tail of a pod (maybe two centimetres to get about 1/4 teaspoon of seeds). I then added a couple of tablespoons of filtered water, squeezed with my hands to form toddler-size disks and baked for twenty minutes at around 200'c. Actually, I chose this temp because I'm roasting a chook for our lunch, but I would like to try doing these at a lower temp for longer. But for now- a huge success and a sweet little biscuit that is healthy too!

Apricot Delight

My husband is an apricot fiend and has been forever. As a small boy he called them Cotticots and played tirelessly at his grandma's feet begging for Cotticot after Cotticot after Cotticot. He has passed this gene onto our son, except he calls them "sollies", as in "special lollies".

You know those little cubes called Apricot Delights? They have like a smidgen of dried apricots and a truckload of sugars, but they are so delicious. I started off trying to replicate that flavour, but they morphed into something else altogether. A different flavour but equally delicious and so much better for you.

Ingredients
120g macadamia nuts
500g dried Turkish apricots (organic if you can get them)
125g dessicated coconut plus extra for dusting
3 tablespoons filtered water

Combine nuts, apricots, water and dessicated coconut in a food processor until it's completely paste like. Lay baking paper into a shallow baking tray. Sprinkle some reserved coconut then scoop in the paste. Flatten with your fingers until it is level. Sprinkle the top with extra coconut and refrigerate at least two hours to set. Cut into bite size cubes. Yummo!

Red chicken curry with wild rice- baby bites

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Coconut Jelly with banana floats and vanilla yoghurt

Seriously, the best kid treat ever. Tip a tin of organic low fat coconut milk into a small saucepan, add a tablespoon of powdered gelatine, and simmer for five minutes, stirring all the while, until gelatine is dissolved. Pour into a small container and leave to set... Add any fruits you would like (we used bananas). They will set within two hours, and I served mine topped with organic vanilla yoghurt. Seriously delicious, easy and I promise, once you make friends with gelatine powder you will never buy supermarket jelly mixed again. Use any organic fruit or veggie juice or smoothie and boom! You have a delicious dessert that kids just love...

Rice paper rolls

Dinner tonight for my sweet little sir is nice and easy, super quick and ultra tasty. A free range chicken breast, shredded, with a perfectly ripe avocado, served in softened rice paper. With a mandarin. I love this kind of meal. We had a huge day out today- starting in the city at 8am and then to breakfast out, then to a gorgeous beach front park, then to the city zoo (we saw penguins, lions, giraffes, monkeys, highland cattle, goats, fawns, pheasants and, my personal favourite, very old flamingos). Then back to the city to meet my husband for coffee...and finally home for naps and lunch before heading back out again in the afternoon. Phew! So a quick and easy meal like this that the kids love is a winner for this tired mama.

Pink Icing

This icing is made with 60g butter, 120g icing sugar and 4 organic frozen raspberries, whipped in the kitchenaid for about three minutes, until the colour bleeds into the icing and the butter is thickened.

The softest and most virtuous cupcakes, ever.

Yesterday when I blogged my recipe for banana rusks, I discovered that my one year old nephew (himself a delicious little morsel, utterly sweet and lovely) is currently eating just about only bananans, and certainly prefers finger food to being spoon fed. Ahhh, the moment a baby becomes an independent being. It's so wonderful and rewarding, but let's not forget, it's also incredibly hair-pullingly frustrating.

I am always experimenting and today, on my to-do list in the kitchen, was to have a play around with cupcake recipes. My daughter is turning one in less than eight weeks and I want to throw a party with yummy, healthy party food that doesn't send her running to a psychologist at eighteen, screaming, "My mum's a crazy weirdo health nut!" Which, FYI, I certainly am not. But since being diagnosed at 26 with type 1 diabetes, what has always been a bit of an interest in healthy eating for me ramped up a gear into a proper preoccupation, and I find myself steering the little kids away from all sorts of "treat" foods as often as possible.

So. You can imagine my delight when my first recipe experiment absolutey nailed what I am not too modest to call the best, most amazing, fluffiest, NO SUGAR cupcakes. As in, ever. Seriously. Make a batch and I dare you to disagree.

Ingredients

1 banana, mashed
100g unsalted butter - room temp
1 vanilla bean (please use fresh if possible, but, if like my sister-in-law you are on a dairy farm in you know, the middle of glorious nowhere, then a half teaspoon of vanilla essence will suffice....)
1 free range egg
1 and 1/4 cup organic spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 170'

Using an electic mixer, beat butter, mashed banana and vanilla beans of one pod at moderate-high speed until paler in colour. It will not fluff up the way butter and sugar does, but mix it for sbout three minutes to be sure you have whipped sufficient air in. While the motor is still going, beat in an egg and continue to beat for another two minutes at high speed until well incorporated.

Fold in the sifted spelt flour and baking powder until incorporate.

These quantities make 9 satisfyingly sized cupcakes.

Bake for approx 15 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Honestly, try to resist these. ...

Next step, I am trying out some different icings. I want to avoid using colours if possible... But this afternoon's configuration of icing sugar, butter and raspberries spoils the "no sugar" nature of these lovely bites. So. Next I am going to try cream cheese, the juice from an orange, and raspberries. Fingers crossed.

Carrot soup for the souls

As the weather turns colder, and the mornings start to have a really delightful crispness to them, the mind automatically turns to all foods comfort. Particularly to soups and stews, those winter stalwarts that have warmed millions of toddler tummies for generations. Yesterday was one of those delightful autumnal days. Crisp and clear with a refreshingly chill breeze, and I had a bunch of organic carrots just aching to be turned into something tasty. Enter, carrot soup with Greek yoghurt and basil.

I sautéed a heap of garlic and onion (anyone who says kids only like bland food is delusional), some cumin, then 5 chopped carrots and two cups of filtered water. I simmered it for about 45 minutes, blitzed it until it was soup like but still had some texture to it, and served it with a dollop of yoghurt and just-picked herbs.

The best thing about this is that I have some leftover, and I'm just thinking about what to turn it into. Half will no doubt end up as carroty scones, a re-take on their pumpkin counterparts, and for the other half, I'm thinking of a spinach, cashew nd cheddar ravioli with a carrot sauce. Watch this space!

Banana Biscuits (banana and date teething rusks)

Ingredients
1 ripe banana
2/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup rolled spelt oats
Small handful of dates
Small handful of brazil nuts

Preheat oven to 140'c fan forced.

Combine ingredients in a food processor and whizz until a dough forms. Use your hands to form into logs and bake for two hours in a low oven. Leave to rest for a minimum of one hour to really firm up. Be aware that they are slightly easier to chew because of the moistness of almond meal. You should never leave a baby unattended during meals, but especially not while eating rusks.

These are really good though- sort of like super hard muesli bars. I have already eaten two and Jonno keeps asking for more "banana biccies".

Molasses cookies

When I was grocery shopping yesterday, I saw these big boxes of cookies on sale. They were branded with children's characters and were obviously being marketed at the under-ten set. I wasn't actually overly concerned by the ingredients, although why anyone needs to buy cookies made in China with vegetable oil as the third listed ingredient is beyond me. Here's the packaging:

In terms of commercially produced kids' food, these aren't too outrageously dreadful, but I still felt compelled to make a batch of my own.

I decided to experiment with molasses which, depending on who you speak to, is either a mineral-rich superfood alternative to powdered sugar, or a carb-laden sweetener with no perks whatsoever. I have always loved liquorice and molasses has a flavour balance reminiscent of that aniseedy lolly, and you need less of it than its counterparts to give a gentle sweetness.

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

70g unsalted butter (room temp)
150g organic spelt flour
2 teaspoons molasses
1 tsp caster sugar
3 cubes organic dark choc to melt for the backs (optional)

Mix butter, molasses, sugar and flour until combined and a dough has formed. Turn out onto the bench and knead, then roll until 1cm thick. Cut desired shapes and bake at 180' (fan forced) until cooked through and lightly browned.

Use a pastry brush to paint melted chocolate onto the backs of the animals, if using.

Saffron and Apple Risotto

I am so excited by the dinner my kids are having tonight. And, let me tell you, so were they! This is a risotto flavoured with a hint of saffron, and packed with veg, and fruit. There's grated apple, zucchini, carrot, onion, cabbage and cheddar cheese, and the saffron just gives it a delightful depth of flavour. Crispy bacon was a concession to their addiction to all things pork.

Dinosaur eggs (amped up bliss balls)

Ingredients

100g pitted prunes
100g dried dates
100g brazil nuts
100g LSA
3 tablespoons black sesame paste (tahini will susbtitute)
1 tablespoon raw cocoa powder
1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil (or a mild olive oil)
Organic dessicated coconut (about 1/3 cup)

Combine all the ingredients except the dessicated coconut in a food processor until mostly smooth, though leave some nice chunky bits. Obviously bear the age of the eaters in mind... I made these suitable for my 10 month old daughter, so none of the lumps were large enough to represent a choking hazard. Don't have a food processor? Use a portar and pestle, or finely chop the fruit, and place the nuts in a plastic bag and roll a rolling pin over them until they're smashed down,

Scoop the mixture onto a plate and, with damp hands, roll into bite size balls. Cover in dessicated coconut and place straight into a tuppperware. Once they have all been rolled, place in the fridge for at least an hour to firm up.

Mini-moo burgers

This is one of my son's all-time favourite meals. Depending on his mood and hunger levels, he has a take-it-or-leave-it approach to the bread and salad toppings, but I can always rely on him eating the patty and some of the parsley chips (thanks Martha Stewart for the chip recipe).

I have, in the past, grated carrot and apple into the patty, but tonight I kept it simple.

For the patty:

1 small handful of organic premium grade beef mince
1 tsp organic tamari
2 tablespoons chemical free sesame seeds
2 sprigs parsley, finely chopped.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl using your fingers (it's messy and squishy) and form a nice, thick patty. Fry over moderate -low heat for around 5 minutes each side. Finish with a lid on and low heat until cook through. Serve with a good quality sourdough and whichever toppings take your little one's fancy- mine love avocado and cheese (usually).

Easter and other foodie delights

This post is a photo-journal of the lovely week I've been enjoying, full of family, food, friends and fun. We've hunted apples, gathered strawberries, and eaten SO. MUCH.

Sticky Chicky

We have our very adorable nephews visiting at the moment. They're older than my son, which makes them just impossibly cool to him, and every day he is learning new expressions and tricks. We had an awesome day together yesterday, playing tourists in our city. We went to a farm to forage strawberries and then had a delicious picnic in a park. We wrapped up the day at the city zoo, which has an unbelievably impressive complement of animals... We were pooped and hungry when we got home. A quick and tasty dinner was required. Enter, sticky chicky.

Ingredients
5 x free range chicken lovely legs
1 tsp butter
1/3 cup organic tamari
2 tablespoons manuka honey
1/3 cup filtered water
1 tsp flour
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)

Melt the butter in a saucepan over high heat. Add the chicken and fry off on both sides until brown, then lower temp and cover with a snug fitting lid. Cook for approximately 20 minutes, until cooked through and tender. Remove lid and add the tamari and honey and water. Use a spoon to ladle over the chicken and increase heat.

Remove chicken and set aside. Add tsp flour and stir to remove lumps. The sauce will thicken. Add sesame seeds if using.

I served this with my nephews' favourite-- mashed potato! And with the sauce on the side for dipping in to.
This is great for kids or grown ups alike. Such a yummy and simple meal at the end of a huge day.