Fruit Yoghurts

My kids *love* yoghurts. And because I've succumbed to bribery and blackmail on occasion and bought those squeezey fruit yoghurts just to get us all through a supermarket shop, they now want that kind of yoghurt all the time. Gath. Those squeezey yoghurts- even the organic ones- are all sweetened. Best case, it's with apple purée, or organic cane sugar, but it's turning a nutritious food into a lolly, and training their taste buds to want sweet and sweeter.

So I'm thrilled to have been able to remind my guys how much they love plain yoghurt or, better yet, yoghurt with added fruit and nuts.

I'm a huge fan or five AM yoghurt which is organic and has no added sugar. Barambah is another favourite of mine though it's harder to get.

I added organic frozen berries. I'm finishing off my last two packs of organic berries - they're great but the food miles make me weep (they hail from Denmark, Belgium and Chile) but until recently they were all I could get my hands on easily. I've just sourced Elgin berries though which are grown (I believe) in NSW/QLD. 

I like the yoghurt with the berries and nuts on top but my kids prefer it all mushed up so it looks like "real" (aherm- read crappy) yoghurt.

Beans

I love home made baked beans. They're so easy to make and a truckload better for you than their tinned counterparts. Don't mistake me; I have relied on tin beans in the past and will again. For quick, always-eaten dinners, they never fail to get my kids chowing down. But with a little more time up my sleeve, I love to make my own.

I blogged a recipe a little while ago. However, I've tweaked and improved it. So here's my baked beans, the 2014 version.

Ingredients

1 tin organic butter beans

1 tin organic kidney beans

1 small white onion diced

2 rashers free range bacon, diced (NB, replace with a teaspoon of mild paprika for a vegetarian alternative that's still bursting with smokey goodness)

1 celery stalk, finely cubed

2 fresh tomatoes, diced roughly

1 tablespoon good quality tomato paste

1-2 cups filtered water 

I tablespoon extra Virgin olive oil 

Herbs (optional- my master three currently won't eat any "salad", eg, anything green.)

Choose a heavy based pot with a lid- I use my le creuset Dutch oven. Over moderate heat, sautée onion and celery, then add bacon and cook for a few minutes, until a little browned. Strain and rinse the beans and add to the pot. Stir to coat in the onion mix. Add the chopped tomato and enough filtered water to cover. Lower the heat and cover, then cook for around twenty minutes. Remove lid, stir through the paste and cook for a further ten minutes to so. Check seasoning and adjust with a little coconut sugar or honey if necessary. Your beans are ready when the water has become a thick coating and the smell is making your tummy rumble. 

Here's the beta version in case you're wondering.

http://littlelunching.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/home-made-baked-beans.html?m=1

Morning Muesli

We just spent a week with one of my sisters and her family. It's always amazing to see how children grow and mature when they're put in the hot house environment of concentrated family time. My sister has three boys, two of them older than my two, and one younger, so you may be able to imagine the sheer volume and exuberance of the play!! My three year old now has a healthy obsession with "trashies" and "skylanders". It's adorable. In addition to this prep-aged toy indoctrination, my children are obsessed with muesli. Not just any old store bought mix of oats and nuts, either.  My sister and her husband make their own muesli and it packs an extreme nutritious punch. I had no option but to get their recipe and scoot out to the shops the day after we returned so that I could whip us up a batch. Oats, LSA, additional linseed, white chia seeds, amongst other things, topped with organic yoghurt and diced poached apples, it is a delicious way to start your day. And end it, too, for that matter - we've substituted this as our dessert and it is just a heavenly treat to look forward to. 

Spelt and Coconut Bircher Muesli

This is a kick ass way to start the day. All the better because you do the prep work the night before and just spoon in the next day. I went through a phase last summer of preparing Bircher muesli in baby food jars so I had my brekkie ready to go the next day. Such a great way to make sure you get a good hit of nutrients when you are rushing around in the morning. 

This muesli recipe has the added benefit of being pretty virtuous. I mixed spelt rolled oats with about 1/4 cup organic coconut paste (amazing ingredient, especially for diabetics like me as it's lower carb than it's sweetening counterparts and is completely natural). I also added 1/2 cup mixed dried fruit and around six figs, sliced lengthways. Stir together with 1/2 cup low fat milk and 1/2 cup low fat organic yoghurt (the one I buy is lower in sugar than full fat, check the label). To serve I topped with extra yoghurt, strawberries and some whole Brazil nuts. 

A sun for my son

This morning's brekkie- a copycat bacon and egg mcmuffin except with a difference. I made this with a wholemeal bun, organic FR bacon, a poached FR egg, and a vintage cheddar. Mandarins- the current fruit du jour - rounded out this yummy brekkie.

Home-made baked beans

Baked beans are an awesome meal option for kids for brekkie, lunch, dinner and snacks on the fly. But there is so much sodium and sugar in the commercially prepared tins, whereas they're quick and easy to make at home using your own ingredients.

Tonight, I made a pot for my son in around 20 minutes, and had enough over to freeze two full meals. I know the argument for tinned food- it's so easy- but for the investment of twenty minutes cooking time, I can now just pick a bag out of the freezer, microwave it for 2 minutes and there's dinner!

I sautéed an onion and two rashes of free range bacon(diced) until golden then added a tin of organic tomatoes and simmered until slightly reduced, then added a tin of organic butter beans. Add a tablespoon balsamic vinegar and a tablespoon honey to season, then leave to simmer.

It took around 15 minutes to thicken.

Talk about delicious! Actually, my husband and I cleaned up what Jonno couldn't finish, and we were fighting each other off for the last spoonful!

Banana and manuka honey Spelt pancakes

I made these very virtuous little pancakes for my two year old's breakfast over the weekend. Despite my wish that he be naturally moderate and abstemious, the little guy has absolutely got a major sweet tooth. I have to think creatively to give him yummy treats without poisoning him with with processed sugar, colours and additives.

Ingredients

1 cup spelt flour, sieved
1 tablespoon manuka honey
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg, whisked lightly
1/3 cup milk
Fresh ground nutmeg (just a pinch)
Sliced banana
Butter for frying


In a bowl, mix the sieved spelt flour and the baking powder until combined. Add the egg, honey and milk and whisk until combined. The honey will give it a gloopy, shiny consistency. Add more milk or flour as required until you have the consistency of a moderately thin batter.

Put a small teaspoon of butter in a pan, then take a paper towel and wipe out the excess, so only a thin film remains. Place pan over moderate flame.

Add about four slices of banana, well spaced. On top of each banana, dollop a tablespoon of the batter on top. Wait until bubbles appear and then flip. The pancakes are done when you see them "lift" a little.

Remove pancakes from the pan and repeat until all cooked. I served them with greek yoghurt.

These can be frozen.

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