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

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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

Growing up in a Middle-Eastern family, one of those dishes was a popular cultural dish, mums delicious and comforting spinach, lentil and lemon soup.

Mum still cooks it for me. Well, to be honest it’s my kids she’s really cooking for these days. Every second week she’ll come around and stock my fridge full of foods to last up to three days, the selection based on the specific requests of my kids. Some of her popular dishes are za’taar, homemade pies, spanokopita and her cannelloni. It’s really special to see that they also love her lentil soup as much as I do.

It’s unassuming in in it’s simplicity, but manages to pack a truly delicious punch, and makes a perfect mid-week meal the whole family will enjoy and leftovers can be packed to take to work or school for lunch.

I’m often asked how to keep the food hot until lunchtime.

Well, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Boil the kettle and then pour the water into the thermoses, be sure to pop the lids on
2. Heat up the food
3. Pour out the hot water  add the warmed up food into the container,  then pop the lid on immediately.

Here are my fave insulated jars which have lasted me years:

Lunchbots Insulated Stainless Steel Container 470ml 16oz
In these containers I pack soups, pastas, any hot meals and also cold salads.

Kleen Kanteen TKCanister with insulated lid 8oz 237ml
I like this smaller size option to keep things cool like yoghurt, granola and fruit, overnight oats or to keep things warm like the chicken nuggets or smaller serves of things like soup, stew, pasta.

If you’re looking for more lunch inspiration, take a look at my new recipe 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!

There’s even a delicious recipe for Kale and Cannelleni Bean Minestrone which my kids love taking to school in their insulated container.

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 or coconut oil
Lentils
Salt and pepper

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Spinach, Lentil and Lemon Soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 5

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• Splash of olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 2 cups red lentils
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock I throw in a couple of my frozen chicken stock ice-cubes too
• 1 bunch English spinach leaves washed and chopped
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Heat oil in a large saucepan or stockpot over medium heat
• Add the onion and gently fry for up to 5 minutes
• Add the lentils and water/stock and bring to the boil
• Reduce heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until lentils are tender and starting to fall apart, adding in spinach in the last 5 minutes of cooking
• Stir in the lemon juice just before serving and season with salt and pepper
• Ladle into bowls and serve with toasted buttery, garlicy sourdough and extra lemon juice to taste

Notes

You can blitz the soup until smooth if texture is an issue for little kids

If you want it a la gluten free, then simply replace the spelt flour with more buckwheat flour or rice flour.

The following recipe makes about 12 large pancakes or 20 smaller ones. It is enough for breakfast, and to pop into kids lunchboxes with a spread of raw honey and/or for savoury lunch pancakes.You can cook up the whole batch or save the wet ingredients in the fridge to cook up later.

If you’re looking for some lunch inspiration, take a look at my recipe 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!

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:

Buckwheat Flour
Spelt flour
Coconut or Rapadura Sugar
Baking Powder
Coconut Oil

Print

Spelt and Buckwheat Pancakes

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 3 tbsp coconut or rapadura sugar optional
• 2 tsp aluminium-free baking powder
• 2 eggs beaten (I prefer pastured, free-range or organic eggs)
• 2 cups milk
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• Coconut oil or butter for cooking

Instructions

• Mix the flour, sugar and baking powder
• Add the eggs, milk and melted butter, stirring the mixture until smooth
• Preheat a frying pan and grease with coconut oil or butter
• Ladle in the batter and cook for a minute or two each side until golden brown

Notes

Topping tips:
Canadian maple syrup, banana & cinnamon
Mango, dessicated coconut and yoghurt
Berry coulis or fresh berries & cream
Avocado and goats cheese (roll it up and chomp)
Avocado, bacon and sprouts ( roll it up and chomp)

Lunchbox tips:
Apple puree, raw honey & cinnamon
Chicken and avocado
Ricotta and spinach

5 quick health benefits:

1) Butter – great source of Vitamin E, A and K, and is a source of quick energy
2) Eggs – great source of protein and vitamin B-12 required for normal brain function.
3) Buckwheat flour – a gluten free alternative to white flour. It is higher in essential vitamins and minerals, and high in fibre and protein.
4) Coconut sugar – is a wonderful alternative to white processed sugar. It has a low GI and is full of vitamins, minerals and amino acids (but it is still sugar, so use sparingly).
5) Almond Milk – great for those who are lactose intolerant. It is high in vitamins and contains protein and good fats.

If you make these pancakes 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.

You may also like my Banana and Cinnamon Pancakes too!

Enjoy!

Bren x