Date & Malt Bisuits

In grappling with the rather diminutive size of my littlest one (at two, she's still barely fitting in size one clothes) I started looking at nutritious ways I could up her calorie intake. We had peanut butter & honey ice creams (amazing and dangerous because I just wanted to eat them all myself), lots of banana based treats, and malt extract, liquid, in its purest form. 

I was attracted to malt because not only is it high calorie and high carb, it's also filled with nutrients, and boasts some great side effects. According to the folk over at livestrong, malt "contain vitamins B2, B3, B6 and B12, iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, as well as some amino acids that can be used by your body to build protein...Drinking malt extract beverages at night might help you get to sleep more easily because of the mineral content, which relaxes your muscles. The maltose in malt extract is easy for your body to digest and provides a quick source of energy. B vitamins are needed for metabolism and energy production. Minerals are needed for normal muscle tone and strong bones."

And so, today, we set about baking some snacks using malt and dates for the sweetener. In fact, these awesome little guys have five ingredients (six including the optional 70% dark chocolate I finished them with). 

(Measuring and mixing is a SERIOUS business!)

Ingredients: 

1 cup sifted spelt flour plus a little extra for kneading

1/2 cup LSA

1/2 cup roughly chopped dates

1/3 cup liquid malt

75g butter, melted

Dark chocolate (optional)

Preheat oven to 125'c fan forced, and line a baking tray with baking paper.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except the chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Turn it out onto the baking tray and shape into a rectangle. 

Bake for twenty minutes then increase the temperature to 180'c and finish for five minutes. 

Remove from oven and cut into bite sized pieces immediately. 

Set aside. If you're using the dark chocoloate, melt it eithet in a microwave or using a double boiler, and spread over the bottom of the treats. I drizzled a little over the tops, too. 

The kids smashed these. They are sweet in the best possible way, and with a really great depth of flavour owing to the malt. I hope you like them as much as we did!

Here's a blog I wrote when we first discovered my little one is teeny weeny (funny, I remember feeling so distraught, and now her pocket-rocketness is just another awesome part of her!): http://littlelunching.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/thumbelina.html

And here's that sinfully wickedly yummy peanut butter ice cream recipe: http://littlelunching.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/honey-and-peanut-butter-ice-cream.html

Courgette & Kale Gnocchi

I feel as though my gnocchi is getting further away from the traditional version every time I make it, and I'm well aware that this recipe might shock puritanical pasta lovers. But, surprisngly, this clean and green version of the well-loved pasta is nutty and delicious. The trick was in pureeing the greens to such a point that they were pretty much slush. 

Ingredients

1 x courgette, washed and sliced. 

1 handful of kale, washed well

1 free range egg

Approx 1 cup spelt flour

In a food processor, combine first the courgette and kale and blitz until a paste like consistency is achieved. Add the egg and half the flour and blitz. You want to form a dough only a little wetter than a pie pastry dough. Continue adding flour, a spoon at a time, until it comes together. 

Turn out onto a chopping board and knead for a moment, then wrap in gladwrap and refrigerate to firm (approx ten minutes). 

Remove from the fridge and section it - we did four sections. On a lightly floured work surface, and using your fingers, roll the dough into long snakes. Slice into one cm pieces. (Older kids can do this with a butter knife, under supervision.)

Meanwhile, set a pan of water to boil on the stove. Add the gnocchi and cook until it has begun to float to the surface of the water (five minutes-ish). 

For the kids, I heated a little olive oil and truffle oil and sauteed the boiled gnocchi with some grated cheese. Voila! Easy dinner, and doesn't it look vibrant? (For grown ups, I would have made a sauce with capers and anchovies, oil and garlic, to set off the nutiness of the gnocchi.)

Mid-Week Baking: sugar-free muffins

I've posted before about how hard I find it to shake off my control-freak nature and let the kids help me in the kitchen. The thing is, it really is a great activity for them. My son, particularly, loves cracking eggs, stirring things, measuring out dry ingredients and counting the components of recipes.

Looking for an activity today, we settled on baking (my kids love to eat, and as you know, I prefer that they eat treats we've made ourselves).

These berry muffins are organic and sugar free, and so simple that even with a three and a two year old at the helm, they turned out beautifully.

Ingredients
1 cup organic spelt flour
1 tablespoon gluten free baking powder
1/2 cup LSA for extra fiber
3/4 cup organic yoghurt
1 cup berries (mine were frozen organic)
2 tablespoons coconut spread, melted
2 tablespoon manuka honey

For the icing, I used a handful of frozen berries, a cup of cream and a tablespoon extra of honey.

Pre-heat oven to 180'c fan forced.

The most important thing with ANY muffin recipe is not to over mix your batter. I don't understand the science behind it, but once you've added your wet ingredients to your dry, you only get three or four whips of the spoon to combine the components. Anythign more than that and they miraculously turn out rubbery and evil.

So, sift your dry ingredients together and stir to combine (I let my kids wear their arms out here - it's no fail). In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Make a whole in the center of the flour mixture and add the yoghurt/berries etc. 

Gently bring it together, again, being careful not to beat the fluff out of it.

Spoon mix into prepared muffin tins, and bake for around 15-20 minutes. Do the skewer test to check they're cooked through. If they are browning too much on top, cover with alfoil while they finish.

I served generously heaped with icing (I'm trying to put kilos on my littlest one!) but they are great without. Just a bit of warm butter would finish them nicely. And yes, the eggs are intentionally left out - they don't need them here. This is a matter of economy, really - we must go through two dozen eggies a week in our house, so any recipe I can get away with cutting them out, I do... 

I'm a fan of sugar-free muffins, using natural ingredients like banana, honey or coconut spread to sweeten instead. Here's a recipe I did a while back for banana and coconut muffins.

Fish & Chips

I suppose it was reasonably inevitable that my little guys would turn into foodies. The inevitability in no way detracts from the pride I feel when I hear my son evince appreciation for good flavour. He loves fish and chips, and asked for them tonight. When I make them at home, I use good quality veg, responsibly fished salmon and wholemeal crumb, so I love this dinner for the healthy side of it, and the fact I know it will get polished off. 

Plus, as my son is nudging closer to four, he's getting more and more helpful in the galley. You might be surprised to hear that I'm not one of those mums relishing the chance to let the kids loose in the kitchen. I'm a control freak by nature, and the kitchen is unequivocally MY domain. I'm also a bit of a neat freak and there is nothing neat about kids and cooking. Nonetheless, all that has had to fall by the wayside somewhat, given my son's interest in 'helping' me cook dinner. It's a great chore for him to feel a part of (what is more central to a family than meal preparation?).

So tonight, he crumbed the fish, taking great care to equally coat the pieces (and spilling - gulp - less breadcrumbs on the  bench than you might have expected). 

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Kale Pesto

This is deceptively simple and quick. I've wanted to try a vegan gnocchi for a while and I cannot get over how Amazeballs this is.

I used about a cup of organic raw pumpkin, cubed, which I boiled until al dente. Then, I drained and put in a large bowl. Add between a cup and a cup and a half of spelt flour and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms, then turn out into a chopping board and knead some more.

I find the best way to make gnocchi is to roll it into long snakes and then chop into 1cm pieces. 

Put the gnocchi pieces into a bowl and refrigerate for twenty minutes until firmed up. Meanwhile, set a pot of water boiling and add some olive oil and salt. 

(My little helpers love to watch the cooking action)

Boil the gnocchi pieces for around 3-5 minutes and then strain.

 Serve with your topping of choice (I made a kale pesto with kale, walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, evoo). 

Home made Pesto Pasta

I know it doesn't look it, but this pasta is a super quick and easy dinner for mid-week. The only downside is it makes a few pots and pans, and nobody likes doing dishes, right? Still, the domestic disturbance of dirty-dishes is definitely worth it for the taste of this super divine dinner. 

Ingredients: 

a handful of basil/parsley - I used what I could get from my garden. 

about 50 - 100g parmesan cheese, roughly chopped. 

a handful of Brazil nuts and walnuts

1/4 cup organic olive oil. 

a cup of dried pasta - I used organic penne. 

Optional 'serving suggestions' - a soft poached egg on top, and a balsamic reduction on the plate beneath. 

Get two pots of water boiling (if you're doing an egg - one for the pasta, one for the poaching biz). Onc eit comes to the boil, add the pasta to one pot, and to the other, a dash of white vinegar then let it come back to the boil. 

Meanwhile, in a food processor (if you have one, if not, I've made pesto by hand for years, just by either chopping finely or with a morta & pestle), combine the washed herbs, parmesan, and nuts, and blitz on high speed, whilst drizzling olive oil in. You might need to stop to scrape down the sides a couple of times to be sure you've incorporated all ingredients. 

Once the pasta is cooked according to packet instructions (usually about eight minutes) strain it and return to pot. Add the pesto, and stir until combined. 

Leave to cool a little whilst you do the eggie. 

Crack an egg or two into the rapidly boiling water then put the lid on. Once it's about to froth and bubble over, turn the heat off (remove from heat if using electric). Remove the egg from the water using a slotted spoon and serve on top of the pasta. 

As for a balsamic reduction - I love this for it's sweet/sour nature. When you put balsamic in a pan and add heat, it quickly thickens and reduces, courtesy of the natural sugar content. It will be piping hot pretty quickly so handle with care!

Chicken Nuggets (Super Healthy!) GF, Dairy Free.

I was speaking to a friend of mine yesterday about the junk foods our kids have come to love (despite best efforts to steer them into making better food choices - kids are human, too!). My friend was saying that chicken nuggets are her daughter's weakness. Having eaten them once, she is smitten! Once I got off the phone, my own little brood were jumping up and down begging for nuggets - whoops. 

Fortunately, I had some free range chicken thighs in the fridge. I actually find these are a reasonably easy dinner to make. Not quick, but there's something quite methodical about the technique, so long as your little people are under control (mine were watching Frozen, aka, the ultimate distraction). The best thing about this recipe though is the hidden veggies. You can use whatever you have to hand to form the base and simply add the protein (if you're vegetarian, a fetta or cheddar is great). 

You'll need:

A mix of veg (I used 1 celery stick, 2 mushrooms, a whole zucchini, a whole onion, a whole carrot, a little cauliflower). 

1 - 1.5 cups spelt flour (rice flour will substitute)

2 small chicken thighs

rice crumbs or similar for finishing

Oil for frying (I always use organic extra virgin olive oil but coconut is fine too, just lower your temp a little). 

Preheat oven to 175'c fan forced. 

In a food processor, blitz all the vegetables until a thick paste forms. Add the chicken and continue to blitz until incorporated. 

Add the spelt flour, a half cup at a time, until you have a wet dough (don't worry that it IS wet - if it's too dry they will be tough). If your kids are older and into seasoning, add a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of nutmeg or some pepper. Don't salt them if you can avoid it. 

Transfer the mixture from the food processor to a bowl. 

Put the crumbs in a separate bowl. Take about a tablespoon of the dough and form into a ball. Place into the crumbs, coat both sides. 

Heat the oil in a large pan on medium high heat and place the nuggets in. Fry until browned on both sides (about five minutes). Finish on the oven - around 175'c for 25 minutes. 

Leave to cool then serve. These quantities made 24 nuggets, which would have been enough for three meals for my two children. If my husband hadn't eaten all the leftovers!!