BBQ Pork Ribs

“Heidi, can you bring the coleslaw?” – this is the go-to answer if I ask the question of what can I bring to a weekend BBQ with our friends, BUT I know that after tasting these amazing ribs – next time it will be ‘Heidi, can you pleeeaaase bring those ribs?” followed by “and make sure you double, or TRIPLE the recipe!!!!”

I know you can buy those already pre-marinated ones from the shop, cut open the packet and – boom – they are ready to cook. But there’s no fun in that!! Plus, I’m not a big fan of any preservatives, artificial flavours, blah blah blah. If I can make it myself, I normally will.  Plus, because these cook in the slow cooker – there’s not much too it. These finger licking ribs will have everyone coming back asking for more!

Fluffy Chocolate Avocado Mousse

I’ve been trying to find a way to get my little one to eat avocados … FOR-E-VER.  I wanted to introduce avocados back into her diet for the monounsaturated fat content (good fats). Functional Medicine doctor and educator Chris Kresser notes that interestingly, monounsaturated fats seem to be the only fats that typically fat-phobic groups like the AHA and fat-friendly groups like Atkins and other low-carbers can agree are completely healthy. Little Miss ate Avocados as a baby, then went right off them for a few years, and through perseverance and continued taste testing, different recipes and food education, they are back on the menu. But before she’d joyously scoop into half a raw plain avocado we’ve been through a myriad of recipes that include hidden avocado and dessert avocado. And this is one of them.

Welcome 2018

Happy New Year all.

It’s all about big goals this year – in 2018 you can expect more regular recipe posts, more recipes that integrate into family life and a more interactive blog! 2018 is about working with different communities and bringing healthy cooking to more people. I’m taking it live and making it real 🙂 Make sure you SIGN UP (over on the right side there) if you want to hear about these live events and be the first to know. Forgive the lack of technology with embedded link to sign up, (ahem) that is also one of the 2018 goals!!

Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one. Bye 2017, Hello 2018! I’m ready – are you?

Reply below with any recipes, tips or topics you’d like me to cover this year. As usual, it’s about #cookingwithkids #cookingforkids #busymums #healthyfood.

From our kitchen to yours, Happy New Year all. xx

 

Chocolate donuts cure the world!

My heart always skips a beat when I see the school number light up on my phone. Today it was the school nurse calling to say that one of my girls has fallen flat on her face. Oh dear! Cancel afternoon activities. Cancel school pick up arrangements. Cancel a productive day in the office before the weekend. Cancel afternoon exercise me-time.

So… HELLO chocolate covered pumpkin donuts! Isn’t it funny how something as simple and cute as a mini donut can forgive and forget, washing away the day’s troubles and ‘cure’ a 6 year old with a fat upper lip.

Red Seafood Rice

“Mummy, there is an octopus in my dinner!!”

This statement is not a lie and led to an interesting dinner time conversation followed by a meal of seafood trading around the dinner table … which in my books is allowed as long as you try a little of everything. It occurred to me as a mother I have assumptions on what my children will and won’t eat and I need to try more often testing and disproving these assumptions. A friendly chat with other mums recently confirmed that it wasn’t just me presuming and preselecting the tastes, textures and cuisines that I think (or hope!) my kids will eat. Continuing to offer the same flavours time and time again may lead long term to a limited palette and closed mind on food choices, but yes there is no argument that at least they will have something in their body before bedtime!

Carrot Soup with Bunny Ears

“What’s for dinner mummy?” asks Amelia. “Orange soup with bunny ears!” I reply.

A little nose edges up to the side of the kitchen bench and then on tippy toes, two big eyes peer over the top of the bowl. A smile breaks out on her face when she sees a vague bunny nose & eyes (natural yoghurt drop), bunny ears (homemade sourdough bread) and a big bowl of orange soup (carrot & ginger soup). It helps that she is in orange class this year at school so the more orange in her life the better!

A good friend recently asked me how to get her 2 year old to eat more variety of foods. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I do hope that people can learn from what we’ve had success with in our house.  

The Urban Gardener

I call out from the kitchen window “Evelyn, show Daddy where the big eggplants are in the garden so he can help you pick one. I need it in the kitchen now for dinner!“. The deep purple skin is so firm, fresh and shiny it blows my mind that it grew in my own garden and it’s still warm from being on the plant enjoying the last of the day’s sunshine. I slice it, dress it with no more than a drizzle of olive oil, ground sea salt and a little black pepper, then just before placing it on the grill I decide that a sprinkle of fresh thyme from the garden that will finish it off nicely. Bliss… I’m in my happy place. It was the sweetest most tender eggplant I think I have ever eaten, but it my judgement may be clouded by the serene picture of my little girl running to the garden bed where the eggplants are and pointing out the purple beauties that have grown with little more than water and a bit of sunshine in our own backyard! I wear a smile ear to ear watching the kids jump off the garden edging, as they navigate the meandering sweet potato shoots now breaking the boundaries of the garden beds and watch them swoop down to pick a bean and munch on it straight from the garden, or pull our a carrot and run inside to wash it for immediate eating.

So, where does food come from?

Baked Sweet Potato, Vegetable and Halloumi Fritters

I’ve been in love with sweet potato for a little while now. Grilled sweet potato wedges – mmh! Sweet potato hash with poached eggs – mmh! Shepherd’s pie with sweet potato & parsnip mash – mmh! With the need for a big plate of vegetables packaged in a way the kids will scoff them down, these baked sweet potato, vegetable and halloumi fritters were invented – mmh!

Give me some energy!

Ok, so I have a confession. I’m not really a recipe girl! There I said it. I hardly ever cook with a recipe. I love being creative in the kitchen – pictures and recipes are my inspiration rather than the hard and fast rule. So, documenting my kitchen adventures, while rewarding and fun, is also hard work and time consuming. Worth it I hope?

Now having said that, there are some recipes I come back to time and time again so that I HAVE actually written those ones down.  We were invited to a special little girl’s 3rd birthday party a few weeks back and at the last minute I volunteered I could bring some food. Maybe not as helpful as I could have been! With everything planned to perfection for a magnificant party, I took on the task of making the date balls. Healthy kid food – yep right up my alley 🙂 Both recipes got the thumbs up and now after three requests to send the recipes … Here they are!

Happy National Ice-Cream Day!

Only in the US would we be celebrating something called National Ice-Cream day and blueberry ice-cream was the order of today! We look forward to handfuls of fresh blueberries every year served with a good dose of antioxidants, together with spoonful of fresh air and a spot of the phonomonim witnessed today which was water falling from the sky (rain) that we don’t see year to year. My little chefling spotted a picture of ‘purple ice cream’ on pinterest the other day which she has been badgering me to make, so today we got to it.  Doesn’t eating ice-cream just make you feel like a kid again?!?