With my husband chaperoning Mr. 14 at his first 4-day golf tournament in the Hunter Valley, NSW, my daughter and I had a simpler (and less noisy!) week to ourselves.

This translated to uncomplicated dinners, noticeably less housework and nightly chick flick sessions cuddled up on the lounge. And what goes perfectly with movies? Popcorn!

But not just any old popcorn. I’m talkin’ serious stuff now. And seriously, Taco Popcorn is our new favourite snack!

Versatile enough to be enjoyed with margarita’s by the pool as well as in the school lunch box, you’ll love how easy this tasty popcorn it is to make!

Making popcorn is made easy with my popcorn machine, but you can certainly make it the old fashioned way in a saucepan as I explain in the recipe below.

I highly recommend making your own taco seasoning.

It’s easy, delicious, cheap and a much better option than the store bought varieties which are full of preservatives and artificial colours.

If you make a batch of the taco seasoning and have some leftover, mix it through your guacamole dip, add it to to your tacos or to my delicious Tex-Mex Burrito Bowl.

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration take a look at my popular ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes. It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved and take the guess work out of what delicious, healthy food to pack your kids for lunch!

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Taco Popcorn

Cook Time 2 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• ½ cup popcorn kernels
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder optional
• 1 teapsoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter melted

Instructions

Taco Seasoning

• In a small bowl mix together the chilli powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and cracked black pepper.
• I pop my popcorn in the popcorn maker I mention above
• Or, over medium heat up some olive oil or coconut oil in a medium saucepan and once the saucepan is hot, add in the popcorn kernels, pop the lid on and shake the pan to evenly disperse the kernels.
• Shake the pan intermittently to prevent kernels sticking and burning until all the kernels have popped
• Pour popcorn into a large bowl and add half the taco seasoning, taste test, and add more to suit your tastebuds then pour over the melted butter and stir very well.

If you make this recipe and share on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook.

Here are a couple other easy recipe ideas you might like – Roast Pumpkin Dip and Crunchy Kale Chips.

….enter kids and it seems anything that involves dough and a rolling pin is total bliss for them!

So here we are, Quiche Lorraine with Kale, totally made from scratch by my 11 yr old daughter under my guidance and on high rotation here due to the YUM factor. And what’d ya know, it’s so easy and quick to make. Especially the pastry!

Our pastry edges clearly need some work, but that can be our next challenge.

Btw, on the occasions I just can’t be bothered making the pastry, I use Pampas Butter Pastry or Careme Pastry instead.

And if you’re clever you’ll make a double batch and pop slices into your kid’s lunchboxes  for the week and not have to think about what to make again!

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration, take a look at my recipe ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes, packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved!

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Quiche Lorraine with Kale

Servings 6

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 200 grams spelt flour
• 100 grams butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 60 grams chilled water
• 200 grams bacon or ham chopped
• 200 grams cheddar cheese grated
• 7 eggs
• 200 grams pouring cream
• 2 cups kale finely chopped
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• pinch ground nutmeg

Instructions

• Pop flour into a large bowl, add butter and rub together until resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Stir in salt, then add 2-3 tablespoons of water and mix till a firm consistency.
• Knead the dough briefly on a floured surface then pop in the fridge to chill for around 15 minutes.
• While dough is resting in the fridge, grease a 25cm flan tin and preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
• Beat eggs together then add cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and add cheese and stir through.
• Remove dough from fridge and roll out to 1cm thickness and line the pastry in the flan tin.
• Prick the base using a fork, cover with baking paper, pop on some pie weights or beans, and blind bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
• Once cooked remove from oven and remove baking paper, pie weights or beans.
• Lower oven temperature to 180 degrees C.
• Spread base of pastry with chopped bacon, then pop in the kale and pour over the egg mixture.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and firm.

Notes

This is delicious served with a big garden salad and makes a great lunchbox leftover.
For a sharper flavour so a mix of cheddar, parmesan and Romano cheeses, so good!

If you make this recipe please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life.

Other recipes you might like are Egg Muffins and Potato,Feta and Spinach Frittata.

Bren x

They know the boundaries, so they never ask for anything too outlandish, but they appreciate being asked just the same.

Now I can take it a step further as I have the pleasure of actually creating recipes with my 12yr old food-loving son. And because he understands the balance of nourishment and taste, the upside to this little collaborative approach is that the food is more likely to be eaten rather than return home! Unsurprisingly, muffins are hot on their list of regular items.

Muffins are always a delicious treat, but it’s still a good idea to mix them up for variety.

I always try to make my muffins as nutritious as possible, so in this recipe I added the sunflower seeds, carrots and apples to the staples, which include the best quality eggs, butter, flour, sugar and coconut I can find and don’t they just make the perfect healthy lunchbox snack too!

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration, take a look at my new recipe ebook which is getting rave reviews, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes. It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved! 

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

White Spelt flour
Wholemeal spelt flour
Coconut sugar
Sunflower seeds
Baking powder
Cinnamon
Salt
Desiccated coconut
Milk
Vanilla powder

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APPLE AND CARROT MUFFINS

Ingredients

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds roughly or finely ground
• 2.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 large granny smith apple peeled and grated
• 1 medium carrot grated
• 2 cups milk
• 100 grams butter melted and slightly cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees.
• Butter a 12 hole muffin tray.
• Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, desiccated coconut, cinnamon, sunflower seeds and salt in a large bowl.
• Whisk together the eggs, butter, milk and vanilla and add to the flour mixture along with the grated carrot and apple and gently mix through.
• Spoon the batter into the muffin tray until 3/4 full and bake for approx 20 mins or when skewer comes out clean.
• Enjoy and share the recipe with your friends!

Here’s a little information on the benefits of each ingredient:

Sunflower seeds

High in Vitamin E, magnesium and cancer-fighting selenium, anti-inflammatory, mineral-rich (great for bones), great for nerves and skin.

Carrots

Protect against heart disease and cancer, high in anti-oxidants and vitamins (A, K, C and calcium).

Apples

Packed full of disease fighting vitamins (C & B-complex), and a rich source of antioxidants, minerals flavanoids and dietary fibre.

Eggs

Go for pasture-raised or organic. High in Omega 3’s, Vitamin D, choline and selenium.

Butter

Full of vitamins (A, E, D & K), lauric acid, anti-oxidants anti-cancer properties.

Coconut

Contains minerals, supports brain function, increases feelings of satisfaction and fullness, healthy fat, high in fibre.

If you make this recipe please do take photos and send them to me.If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek.

Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life.

And remember, if you haven’t already, grab your copy of Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes here.

If you liked this recipe you may also like these other delicious muffin recipes – Date & Cinnamon Muffins and Savoury Cheese Muffins.

Bren x

With my ‘planning ahead’ hat on, I thought about all the ways we could get more than just a meal out of them that day. I didn’t really have to think that hard either! Because of their size, they are perfectly suited for the kids’ school lunchboxes. And because they’re ready to go, they save oodles of time in the morning helter skelter. Or, you could simply heat up some of your stash for a quick heat-it-up-dinner with a scrummy salad for the kids if you’ve made plans to be out with friends (as I did that week!).

After a long Sunday of work, chores and cooking, I was incredibly grateful when the kids eagerly jumped up to take over the cutting of the pastry rounds, scooping the meat into the pastry, glazing with the egg wash, and sprinkling with sesame seeds. I was even more relieved when they gave the finished product the double thumbs up! (I’m always a nervous wreck waiting for their ratings!)

Because the pies are so little, they are a little time consuming to make, so I highly recommend making them as a school holiday activity and getting the kids involved in helping out. There are so many benefits to getting the kids in the kitchen, and it’s such a lovely way to connect with them too. You could also just make them into the bigger sized pies for a heartier meal or I’ve been known just to pop some pastry into a dish, fill it up with the meat mixture, top it with pastry and shove it in the oven!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Oregano
Cayenne pepper
Curry powder
Tomato paste
Tamari
Salt and pepper
Spelt flour
Milk
Sesame seeds

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Mini Meat Pies

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 brown onion finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot finely chopped
• 1 small zucchini finely chopped
• 5 mushrooms finely chopped
• 400 gms beef mince
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 heaped teaspoon curry powder
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 tablespoon spelt flour
• 3 - 4 sheets butter puff pastry
• 1 egg
• splash of milk
• Sesame or poppy seeds

Instructions

• Gently cook onions in the butter in a large frying pan. Add garlic after a couple minutes and saute for a minute.
• Add the carrots and continue to cook until soft, then add zucchini and mushrooms and cook for a further couple of minutes.
• Add the beef and cook until it is well browned, then add the oregano, cayenne pepper and curry powder and saute for 1 minute.
• Stir through tomato paste, tamari, salt and pepper and then add the beef stock and simmer for a few minutes.
• Add the spelt flour, mixing well, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
• Grease 2 x 12 hole muffin tins.
• Whisk together the egg and splash of milk.
• Using a cookie cutter or empty glass jar, and while the pastry is still cold but malleable, cut out circles to fit into the muffin holes and for lids (noting I stretched out the pastry circles a little further with my hands for the bottom of the muffin holes).
• Spoon in approximately two tablespoons of mince mixture into each hole (be careful not to overfill) then top with the lid and press sides down gently to seal the pie.
• Brush the top of each pie with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.
• Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden.

Here’s my boy having fun helping out while my daughter continued cutting out rounds…then they swapped roles for the second batch.

Do you have any plans to cook with your kids these school holidays? What are you going to make? Check out the recipes on my blog for some easy and fun dishes you can create!

Enjoy!

It seems like there’s nothing in the fridge or in the pantry, and there are some hungry family members wandering aimlessly about, moaning like the zombie apocolypse has begun.

Before they reach the salt and pepper and start to season me, or before my head combusts from jibberish overload*, quick thinking is required to restore balance to the household.

* they’re not that bad, honest!

Mums understand the old adage that necessity is the mother of all invention quite well, but it always helps to have some leftovers to really get the creative juices flowing.

A couple of weeks ago I had some leftover spelt pasta in the fridge that needed eating. Combining it with a few regular fridge staples, a hearty, delicious dinner was served with super-nutritious eggs, the hero of the dish. The family was fed, I was saved from the wrath of the living dead, and we could all approach witching hour with the tiny morsel of knowledge that at least our bellies were full and satisfied 🙂

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Spelt pasta
Chicken stock
Nutmeg
Basil/Parsley

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Healthy Vegetarian Pasta Bake

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 150 gms spelt pasta shapes or gluten-free pasta, cooked al dente
• 6 pastured or organic eggs
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 cup homemade chicken stock optional boost of nutrition for the non vegetarians
• 150 grams baby spinach chopped
• 1/2 grated cheddar cheese
• 150 g feta
• 2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon butter or ghee
• 2 tablespoons fresh herbs I used basil & parsley

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius
• Grease a pie dish with butter and scatter pasta in dish
• Melt butter or ghee in frying pan and gently saute garlic on low heat for a minute
• Throw in baby spinach and lightly saute for for an extra minute. Turn heat off.
• Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl then add the cream, stock (if using), herbs, nutmeg, garlic and spinach mixture and cheese and combine well
• Pour the mixture over the pasta and crumble the feta over the top
• Bake for approx 30 minutes
• Make sure the eggs are set and the feta is slightly browned. If you need to, place dish back in oven for a further 5-10 minutes.

Notes

Serve with a big garden salad.
The leftovers are perfect when warmed up, placed in a thermos and sent to school the next day. It's always a great idea to make extra for lunchboxes and my kids loved it in theirs!

If you make this recipe and share on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek.

Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook.

Some other delicious dinner recipes you might like are Garlic Prawns and Coconut Rice and Healthy Lasagna.