My kids got my tastebuds.

When I was a teenager, I fell madly in love with natto. It's a japanese food - fermented soy beans. They're tiny and sticky and I have been pretty obsessed with them for two decades (yikes, showing my age). It's apparently unusual for someone who isn't Japanese to like natto. Or, at least, that's what the several hundred merchants I've purchased natto from over the years have assured me. My purchase always brings the question, first, to make sure it's actually what I meant to pick up. Then, confusion, "Do you actually like them?". 

They are unbelievably delicious, folks. Salty and sour, and sticky. I have to have them with a generous serving of finely chopped spring onion as the sharpness cuts through the natto perfectly. 

And now, I discover that my children not only love my edamame, and ask for them by name, but also natto. In the ultimate act of mummy sacrifice, I've just let them polish off my last tub (gah!) and, when they requested more, promised (for my sake as much as theirs) that we'll go to china town today to buy more!! 

I know, I know. Soy. GMO. Oestrogen. Whatever. I am proud of my dear little taste-bud-tastic kiddos!

Lamb Cutlets

Today, at childcare, kids were asked about the kinds of food they eat at home.

You have probably got the idea that I am reasonably intent on providing pretty healthy stuff for the kids. Treats are an exception rather than the rule. So you can imagine how I felt when the teacher said, with a laugh, that my son had said that "junk food is his favourite, even though it makes him sick." Ah dear.

Tonight, they're having one of our dinner favourites. This is a stove top to table dinner in under ten minutes. 

I boik chunky sweet potato "chips" (skin on for added fibre), and while that's cooking, I fry the lamb cutlets in macadamia oil for about 4 minutes each side. Then, I add greens (torn kale) and balsamic vinegar. Remove from pan, add prunes and water, reduce at high heat while you serve it up then drizzle the prune jus over the lamb. 

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.

Natural Remedies

My littlest one is sick today. She's running a high temp, and not even a bowl of glistening strawberries could induce her to eat breakfast today (they're her favourite- she scavenges them straight from the patch in summer). NB, she's wrapped in love courtesy of her "Arentie" Shay, who patched this gorgeous quilt for her before she was born.

So, I've just made a fresh lemon juice, and blended it with organic berries and a heap of Manuka honey, which I'm setting into little ice blocks in the hope it will cool her down and soothe her ills. Our house smells of eucalyptus and peppermint oils, too, which is gorgeous, and hopefully helpful. 

Do you have any natural remedies you swear by? 

Bad food day

Last night, I realised my kids hadn't eaten a single bit of fruit or veg all day! This rarely happens to us because well, I'm a planner. Also, I am obviously a little neurotic about kid nutrition. 

But yesterday, we seemed to lurch from one random thing to another, so that the kids had eaten:

2 pieces of rye toast (breakfast)

2 pieces of spelt raisin toast (morning tea)

Tuna sushi (lunch)

Popcorn (afternoon tea- home popped)

A Freddo frog each 

Ravioli with cheese (dinner).

As I mentally recounted their days' menu, I couldn't believe how stodgy their diets had been! A reasonably tragic scene ensued, one that will probably only be familiar to fellow parents, in which my husband and I ferried little bowls of strawberries and sliced banana into the kids- to eat while they bathed! Oh dear. 

The odd day of crap food is fine. Obviously! But I swung the other way today... Smoked salmon scrambled eggs with kale for brekkie (more on this later- it's one if my kids' favourite brekkies but it can be expensive unless you shop smart), nuts and fruit for lunch, a smoothie for afternoon tea, and now a dinner comprised of natural snacks. Busy lives make it tricky to keep an eye on their diets but it's so important to get it right, most of the time.

bath fizzies

These bath fizzies have become a favourite part of our weeks' activities. It's the gift that keeps on giving! 

Making them is a bit of fun, and the kids are learning to read the numbers on the scale, and then at night, they adore dropping one into the bath and watching it fizz and bubble. 

For me, they're fantastic because they have enough bicarbonate in them to act as a cleaning agent on the tub. No rims like you get with commercial ones and you control the quality of ingredients, eg, food safe and organic. 

Here's what I have done over the last few weeks, whilst firming up my own technique and recipe. The main thing is to use organic and food grade products to avoid allergies and irritation. Also, when adding the liquid to the dry, dribble it in so slowly, or else they'll fizz on impact and the jig is up. 

Dry Ingredients 

225g bicarbonate soda

113g Citric acid

113g Epsom salts (or other therapeutic salt)

113g organic corn flour 

Wet ingredients 

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted to liquid

1 tablespoon filtered water

1 teaspoon fragrant oil - I use food grade oils, such as organic rose or orange, or vanilla.

Optional, a natural food colouring- just a couple of drops.

Combine the wet ingredients in a small jug and set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Use your hands to make sure any lumps are broken up completely.

So slowly it feels unnatural, dribble to wet mix in and stir constantly. If it starts to fizz, quickly mix in more dry ingredients- this will halt the reaction.

Once it's all mixed in, you will be able to form the mix into balls. Shape them and set aside for about 20 minutes while they dry out and firm up. Store in an airtight container and use at will. 

Sometimes, inexplicably, I find the mix isn't liquid enough to form. Add a tiny bit more oil if this is the case.

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