While they’ve been cooking in the kitchen with me since they were wee little things, they were yet responsible for cooking an entire meal from start to finish (as well as doing the dishes) until now.

They were both excited to get stuck in and they immediately knew what they wanted to cook for week one.

My son studied food technology at high school this year, and really loved a recipe for Burek they created. Sadly, I lost the recipe, so my son set out to recreate it, with a little helping hand from me. They worked out perfectly, so tasty and crispy,  so we’ve decided to share his recipe. My daughter made us a delicious Mushroom Soup and Focaccia, both Thermomix recipes.

During school term kids really do have enough on their plate (see what I did there) and I am concerned that the balance is never quite right – there just never seems enough time for it all – earthing outside, running around, eating their greens, studying, memorising, doing assignments… &nbspWhile my kids still do lots of cooking during term, making a whole meal from scratch just hasn’t made the cut.

But we’ve got to shift the thinking, because cooking from scratch is as important as reading or swimming or doing maths – everyone should grow up with this skill. It’s a matter of health and culture. And this means it is our duty as parents to introduce culinary literacy to our kids from a young age and provide more an more opportunities for them to learn the skills.

For us the school holidays offers more space for these opportunities, and kids cooking dinners means parents get more time off! Here’s my son on Facebook Live strutting his stuff in his kitchen and making the Cheese and Spinach Triangles.  It’s worth a look if you’re not sure how to cut and fold the pastry.

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:

Olive oil
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
Milk
Sesame seeds

Print

Cheese and Spinach Triangles

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Author Orlando Janschek (with a bit of help from mum!)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 350 grams spinach chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 350 grams feta cheese
• 200 grams ricotta cheese
• sea salt and cracked black pepper
• 2 sheets of pastry we used Careme butter puff pastry because it's made from real butter and not margarine. It's expensive, but I'm having more and more trouble finding Pampas Butter Pastry which was more affordable
• 1 egg with a splash of milk lightly beaten to be used as egg wash on the pastry
• sesame seeds and poppy seeds for sprinkling

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in large frying pan over medium heat
• Saute onion for a few minutes then add garlic and spinach and saute for another few minutes until spinach is soft, then add parsley and stir together. Allow to cool.
• In a medium bowl stir together the feta and ricotta cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Stir through the cooled spinach mixture.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
• Pop some baking paper over two baking trays
• Cut pastry in half, then each half into quarters, so you end up with 8 triangles per sheet of pastry.
• Pop a couple of heaped tablespoons of the cheese and spinach mixture along one of the shorter sides of the triangle, and fold over.
• Secure pastry together and seal the edges using the back of a fork ( Best to watch the Facebook Live video to see best way to fill, fold and secure).
• Brush some egg wash over each triangle and sprinkle over the sesame and poppyseeds.
• Place triangles on baking tray and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown
• Serve with a big side of salad.
• Enjoy!

Notes

These are delicious hot or cold, and make a perfect lunchbox addtion.

I love seeing you create my recipes, so please send me your photos.  And if you share on social please tag me on instagram @brendajanschek or facebook at Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle.

Bren x

….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!

Print

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