Rice Crispie Easter Eggs

This was a really easy thing to make and would make great easter gifts for kids or grown ups alike. You could definitely make them smaller than I did, but this is the mould I had to hand!

It's about 2 cups organic puffed rice kernels, mixed with about 250g to 300g melted chocolate and a few tablespoons of coloured sprinkles (definitely optional - I figured this amount of colouring and sugar as a special treat wouldn't break the healthfulness bank...but they'd also look great with some finely chopped goji berries and orange zest, or grated white chocolate). 

Also, the plan with this was to wrap it in cellophane and top it with a bright yellow ribbon, but as you can see from the above pictures, once the kids saw it being made, they wouldn't rest until they had tasted its bounty!! 

Hot Cross Buns - Easterlicious.

I'm not ashamed to admit it. I LOVE EASTER. My Easter cards went into the post two weeks ago. We have an actual storage crate for Easter Decorations. And I don't blame Easter. I blame Christmas. I am so in love with that annual celebration that, when December gives way to January, and the tree, the gingerbread, the tinsel and lights are all put away, I feel an emptiness that only another festive event will answer. Sure, New Years does its bit, but that's not really child-centric. 

Easter, on the other hand, in our house at least, is all about the tiddlywinks. We do a fair bit of crafting and celebrating to mark the event. 

Today, I made spelt hot cross buns for the kids, and they were so, so, so, so sinfully good. 

Ingredients

500g spelt flour + a little extra for the flour paste

300g mixed dried fruit, diced (I used a mix of dried fruits and nuts - cranberries, pistachio, sunflower kernels, raisins, apricot)

1/3 cup tepid water

2 tablespoons of yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

C. 1 cup tepid water

Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a cup, stir, then cover with a saucer. Leave for ten minutes so that the yeast can 'activate'. Meanwhile, sift flour into a large mixing bowl and add the dried fruit and cinnamon. Stir until combined. Once the yeast is well and truly frothed, add it to the dry mix. 

I use my trusty kitchenaid (for anything I possibly can) but I've made these by hand and it's a cinch. Add extra tepid water until you get a dough like consistency - about 1/4 cup at a time, then stir, knead, etc. You'll know when it comes together but doesn't feel 'sloppy' that it's just right. Knead until it's elastic (you can press a finger into the dough and it immediately bounces back). 

Leave to rise around thirty minutes, then knock the dough back to its original size. Preheat oven to 180'c fan forced. Slice the dough into equal portions and roll to form balls. 

TO make the crosses, you can either score the buns (traditional) or make a flour paste, which I did (I always did love that crispy dough!). Just mix flour and water until you get a thick paste and then use a piping bag (or plastic sandiwch bag with a corner snipped off) to lay down your crosses. I know some people who make a really thick dough and roll out long snakes and place it on top to form the crosses. Whatever works for you. 

Bake for around 20 minutes. You'll know they're done when they smell divine and their bases sound a little hollow. Now, this is optional, but I like to top mine with a sugar syrup - a couple of tablespoons of good brown sugar mixed with water until it's thin and spreadable, massaged into the top of the buns while still warm. 

and there you have it! Easy, delicious and healthy hot cross buns. Perfect!

Food and things.

From the moment my kids showed a tentative interest in food (circa four months old), I've relished introducing them to different flavours and textures. Guiding them to become food appreciaters has been a true pleasure. Recently, though, we had dinner with a couple of our friends who have a daughter smack bang in the middle of my two kids. Like me, our friend loves food and has helped her daughter become a true gourmet (she counts tabbouleh and home made beetroot dip amongst her favourite things). However, unlike my unruly duo, this little one has just about the most impressive table manners I've ever seen. She knows the rules. She has to try everything on her plate, even if she doesn't eat it all. She has to ask before she leaves the table. She uses cutlery. She sips her water quietly. And after her meal, she goes straight to the bathroom to wash her dear little digits. I realised with abject horror as my two held their own slimy fingers perilously close to the immaculate white suede dining chairs, that I had dropped the ball somewhat when it came to dining etiquette. I had the best intentions. Truly, I did. I loved and lived by Pamela Druckermann's French Children Don't Throw Food, but somewhere along the way, the necessities of life meant I couldn't quite follow through. Meal time is when they're held still and captive, and (because our house is tiny and I could hear choking noises from any room) I use their restful states to zip around and do chores (laundry, that never-ending mountain of clothing). But not sitting with them, or at least being there and overseeing their meals, has meant they are slightly, well, aherm, savage. 

And so, it begins. Retraining my beautiful little messes. 

I might be painting a bleaker picture than is strictly true. We have many other little friends who seem to partake in meals in the same slap-happy and totally absorbing way that my kids think essential. It is an holisitic experience! 

Nonetheless, tonight I started to try to reprogramme them. Just a little. A little tweak towards juvenile civility. I started off with a shared cheese course (thank you, Pamela Druckermann, for making me appreciate that even toddlers can diferrentiate between their brie and blues). An organic apple sliced thinly with some dried locally grown and dried dates and an organic blue was the start to their dinner.

 

For mains, they shared a tasmanian salmon fillet (farmed, but antibiotic free) with organic vegetables. Part of this process was teaching them to squeeze a wedge of lemon over their seafood. This dinner will be blogged in more detail later. It's one of my after-work meal solutions. Eleven minutes from frozen and always a hit with every kid I've ever made it for.

For dessert, a local greek style yoghurt with these delicious apricots (from a cousin's back garden) I preserved before Christmas. And by preserved, I mean slow baked with raw caster sugar, brandy and vanilla beans until they were sticky and sweet. I chopped them into small pieces tonight and stirred through the yoghurt. Shockingly, my little mister did not like "the orange stuff" but little miss one ate with absolute gusto - all three courses. How she is such a tiny thing is beyond me!! 

Easy Roast Dinner

This dinner is the perfect meal for my little duo. It's healthy, affordable and involves a minimum of effort. Best thing about it? My kids, at least, polish off their plates completely when this is on the table. 

It takes 29 minutes to make this roast, from first heat of the pan to placing it on the table. That's about the time an episode of Dora lasts, for anyone keeping count. 

Ingredients

1 Free Range Chicken Breast

1/3 sweet potato - diced

1 carrot - diced

2/3 cup frozen peas

A few sprigs of mint, finely chopped, 

about 150g butter

2 tablespoons spelt flour

1 tablespoon fruit jam (optional)

1/2 cup filtered water

Pre-heat oven to 200'c fan. 

Heat a small knob of butter (about 40g) in an oven-proof pan over moderate heat. Add the chicken breast to sear, then the orange vegetables. Don't shake the pan. You'll flip the chicken breast once, and at this stage, you'll want to gently toss the other vegetables to coat in butter. This will take around four minutes.

Place the pan in the oven and leave to cook for twenty minutes. Have a glass of wine, or cup of tea, depending on which way your preferences run. Hands up, I sorted laundry with a strong black coffee <3

After 19 minutes, place 1/2 the remaining butter into a small saucepan with the frozen peas and mint. Stir intermitently - they will just gently heat over the next few minutes.

Next, remove the pan from the oven and place back on the stove top. Gently transfer the chicken and vegetables to a chopping board, leaving about three cubes of veggies in the pan. 

Because the chicken breast is skinless and a low-fat cut, there will not be much fat left in the pan - don't worry about that. Heat the pan and the remaining butter and the spelt flour. Stir until a paste forms, mashing the veg as you go. Add the water, and a tablespoon of jam if using, continue to stir over low heat for one minute. A gravy should now be bubbling away contentedly, ready to go. 

So easy, and such a lovely dinner for little people. Happy cooking!