Saturday’s Healthy Cook Up!
Like most busy mums (is that a tautology? lol), there are some days when I dread having to come up with yet another meal at short notice. However, when I have time and space enough to relax into it, I love it. I find it a grounding, challenging , creative and a fun experience. And since it usually involves one or both of my kids (God forbid one misses out), it means ticking the bonding box.
Last Saturday I had one of those days. I was unstoppable! Which is another way of saying I was in a snowball-like frenzy. Yes, we’ll mash anything in this house, whether it’s food or grammar! Anyway, while Master 10 and his dad were doing the cricket and golf run, Miss 7 and I had the kitchen production line set to 11, churning out a variety of beauties.
While I like to create my own recipes, I adore discovering, trialling and sharing recipes by other wellness mums. As a result, we had lots of nourishing goodies to see us through the week, which dramatically reduced the drama of ‘what should I cook today?’
Here’s what I made:
Nectarine sorbet
Thermie made this delicious icy treat with only 4 ingredients – nectarines, coconut sugar, egg white and ice cubes. We had it as a special after dinner treat over a few nights. Mr 10 is desperate for a mango version so I’ll get onto that this weekend.
Choc-Mint Fudge
This one was made specifically for the lunchboxes, but has been gobbled down by guests on two occasions for afternoon tea. I love the extra boost of nutrition with the addition of pepitas. Pepitas are full of goodness like magnesium, zinc and Omega 3’s.
The recipe is by Cut Out the Crap and you can find it here
Gluten-Free Banana bread
I am mindful of reducing the wheat and gluten load when cooking for my family, and this recipe by Alexx Stuart is a total gem. It’s the second time I’ve made it, but this time I included the ginger. The whole family enjoyed it toasted for breakfast with a side of cinnamon yoghurt and frozen berries.
Mayonnaise
This is the best recipe ever! Another thermomix recipe from the awesome Quirky Cooking. I didn’t add the shallots cause I didn’t have any, and raw shallots don’t really agree with me anyway. Also, I used a mix of Avocado, Macadamia and mild Olive Oil. We dolloped it over fried barramundi one night and chicken schnitzel the next and dipped our vegetables in it both nights. Mr 10 has requested some chicken schnitzel for his lunchbox and demonstrated the (huge) size of the container to be filled with mayonnaise to dip his schnitzel strips into!
Pizza
Thermomix sure got a work out today! Next on the list was pizza dough, which Thermie conjured in a flash. I use Quirky Cooking’s spelt flour pizza dough recipe. We made the dough for pizzas to have the following night and topped them with home-made pesto, lightly fried garlic, red onion and kale, fresh mushroom and goats cheese. And there were leftovers galore for the kids lunchboxes. Yipeee!
Huevos Rancheros and Vegetarian Nachos Sauce with Kidney Beans
I was exhausted by the end of the day, but had two hungry men heading home and Miss 7 starting to bug me about dinner. Somewhat ironically, I couldn’t think of a thing to make! A deep breath and a quick search later, and Quirky Cooking saves the day again. This recipe is sure to become a family staple, it took 10 minutes to make and hit the spot after a long, but productive, day in the kitchen.
I also had some brown rice soaking to cook the next day so I could make the kids some sushi rolls for their lunch boxes.
The next day I spent lazing about the beach and swimming in the ocean – it’s all about balance, after all!
Do you ever have the urge to cook all day? What do you like to make? I’d love to hear from you.
If you are keen to learn about how you can create nutritious real food lunchboxes and how to make some of my favourite lunchbox recipes, check out my next workshop here.
