Ideas for Kids Lunch Boxes

 

We all know how difficult it can be to come up with healthy, tasty and different ideas for school lunchboxes.

Lunch is a very important meal, particularly for school going children. So it is important that we make it as interesting and appealing as possible.

Here are some simple ideas that may help you provide a satisfying lunchbox for your school going little ones.

·         Kids get bored having the same thing, day in day out.

·         Letting the kids cut their sandwiches into shapes using cookie cutters  will soon see them have a keener interest in their lunch!

·         Something as simple as changing the type of bread you use can help to alleviate the boredom. Try wholemeal pitta breads, bagels, tortilla wraps, baps, and wholemeal baguettes.

·         Crackers and cubed pieces of cheese are a great snack, particularly if you have younger kids who may only eat a bite out of a sandwich before discarding.

·         Add in some grapes, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks and lengths of red pepper (it’s sweeter) to make a smorgasbord of flavours and textures. Hummus is a great protein packed dip if you can get them to eat it!

·         Cold pasta or rice salads are great when tossed with ham and vegetables, like cucumbers, carrots and sweetcorn. Pasta can be mixed with a little olive oil or mayonnaise for added flavour.

·         Keep sweet treats, crisps, high sugar drinks out of lunch boxes, even if your child’s school doesn’t have a healthy eating policy. These foods and drinks should not be a part of your child’s daily diet due to the high sugar & salt content.

·         Yogurts, rice cakes, unsweetened juice, water and fruit all have a part to play in lunch boxes.

Pain d'epi

I used Lorraine Pascale’s recipe and method for the kids classes.
It is certainly the quickest method, and although some puritans may find fault, the result was great and very enjoyable!

275g strong bread flour
175ml warm water (I boil it and let it cool)
1 sachet (7g) fast acting dried yeast
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and combine using a wooden spoon.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
Do not use too much flour for kneading as this will change the structure of the bread.
The kneading is important to activate the gluten in the flour.
Roll out into a sausage shape, about the length of a baking sheet.
Lightly flour a baking sheet and place the dough at an angle on it.
Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Before cooking snip the bread with a kitchen scissors at ¾ inch intervals, and turn each piece sideways on the pan. You are not cutting all the way through the dough, just about ¾ way through.
(see picture)

  
Spray the dough with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and dust lightly with flour.
Cook in a preheated oven at 200⁰C/Gas 5 for 30 minutes.
Place a tray of water in the bottom of the oven during the cooking process. This will add steam to the oven which will give the bread a lovely brown crust.

Enjoy!

Chicken liver Pate

If you want a hassle free appetizer then you can't go wrong with this pate.
I've always used Delias Pate recipe with modifications based on what I had in my pantry.
So here goes.






Serves 6

Ingredients

225g (8oz) chicken livers
225g (8oz) butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brandy (optional)
2 cloves garlic (1 works fine also)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Melt 25g (1oz) of the butter in a frying pan and add the chicken liver to it.
Fry them for approx. 5 minutes, keeping them on the move.
Remove from the pan and transfer to a food processor or blender.
Melt 150g (5oz) of butter and add this to the blender.
Deglaze the pan using the brandy and add this to the liver.
Then add the garlic, thyme and seasoning.
Blend this until you have a smooth puree.
Transfer to an appropriate container or individual ramekins.
Melt the remaining butter and pour over the pate to form a ‘lid’.
Leave to set and get cold.
Can be refrigerated for 2 days or frozen for 1 month.
Serve with toasted baguette slices and red onion jam or any sweet relish.

 Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

115g/4oz butter
60g/2oz granulated sugar
65g/2.5oz light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
175g/6oz plain flour
1 tablespoon corn flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon salt
100g/3.5 milk or dark chocolate chips

Method:

Cream the butter, sugar and light brown sugar together with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix together.
Add flour, corn flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix again until all combined.
Add chocolate chips and mix again.
Use your hands now to incorporate all chocolate chips into the mixture.
Taking tablespoon size amounts of mixture, roll it in your hands to make a ball and place on baking paper on a cookie sheet.

After making all the cookie dough balls, place the cookie sheet in the fridge for 1 hour.
After the hour, these cookie dough balls can be frozen for later use.

If cooking straight away, keep on cookie sheet with baking parchment, but ensure you have a 2inch space around each cookie so they have space to spread.
Place in pre-heated oven at 160⁰C/325⁰F/Gas Mark 3 for 15-18 minutes.
They will be golden brown when cooked, crisp on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle.
Leave to cool a little before eating.
These are perfect served still warm from the oven!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake with Fudgy Icing!

I think this recipe came from the talented Mary Berry. I know I increased the measurements of the fudge icing as there just wasn’t enough on it for me!

 

 

 

Ingredients:

225g/8oz butter, room temperature
225g/8oz castor sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
200g/7oz self-raising flour
25g/1oz cocoa powder
1 – 2 tablespoon milk

Fudge Icing

300g/10oz icing sugar
80g/3oz cocoa powder
200g/7oz castor sugar
200g/7oz unsalted butter

Method:

You will need 2 x 8” sandwich tins, greased well all over and the base lined with parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C/350⁰F/Gas Mark 4

Cream the butter with an electric mixer or wooden spoon until very smooth.
Add the sugar and beat for a minute or 2.
Use your spatula to scrape down the edges throughout the process.
Beat sugar and butter mixture again until looks paler in colour – about 3 minutes altogether.
Sift a tablespoon (ish) of the flour/cocoa in the bowl and crack one of the  eggs into the mixture, beat.
Add another egg and beat it until it is combined into the mixture.
Sift ½ the flour/cocoa mix into this and beat again.
Add the rest of the egg and beat again.
Sift in the remaining flour and cocoa, add the milk, and now FOLD the mixture, using a large spoon.
Make sure you are incorporating all the bits from the side with your spatula regularly.
The mixture should be of a dropping consistency and if it’s not you can add another little drop of milk.
Drop the mixture into the cake tins and using a scale measure the tins to ensure that the mixture is evenly split between the two.
Spread it gently to the side of the pans. So that the mixture is level in the pan.
Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 20- 25 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted comes out clean.
Once cooked, remove from oven, place on heatproof surface and leave in tins for a few minutes.
Turn them out onto a wire rack, remove the baking parchment and leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile make the fudgy icing.....

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a mixing bowl.
Melt the butter, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a pan over a medium heat.
You need the sugar crystals to disappear completely over this heat, it will take a few minutes.
Once the butter has melted and you can’t feel any sugar under the wooden spoon, turn up the heat.
As soon as large bubbles start to appear on the top of the mixture remove it from the heat.
Pour this into the icing sugar/cocoa and using your wooden spoon incorporate it together.
Beat well so the mixture becomes smooth and glossy.
Using half the mixture spread it evenly over one of the cakes, use a heated palette knife to help spread it.
Place the other cake on top of this and using the remainder of the mixture cover the top and sides of the cake.

Decorate with mini eggs, edible flowers, chocolate flake...the options are endless!

Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days...it NEVER lasts that long in our house though!!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Macaroon Bars

These layered fragrant bars are not my own creation, rather I garnered the recipe from Martha Stewart. I did change up the recipe a little, between converting and changing some measurements and adding a little oil to the chocolate to help it 'stick' to the biscuit base, but it's not necessary.
They went down a treat at my baking class at the weekend, so here, for those of you who want to be able to try something that the whole family will enjoy, is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Base:
170g (3/4cup) cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
260g (2 cups) all- purpose flour
88g (1/2 cup) castor sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Toppings:

Chocolate layer:
283g (10oz) chocolate - I use milk for this as I find dark chocolate a little bitter for childrens palettes. You can use a mix of milk & dark either.
1 tsp vegetable oil
Macaroon:

4 egg whites
100g (3/4 cup) castor sugar
64g (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
200g (7 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut. (I used dessicated coconut and it worked fine, you can sweeten dessicated coconut by adding icing sugar and water to it and leaving it to soak for approx 30 mins)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180⁰C/350⁰F/Gas Mark 4
Melt the chocolate and oil in a bain marie (a bowl over hot water) or microwave.
Make the biscuit base first by adding all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix until you have a crumb mixture. It will be dry with some lumps of butter in it. Takes about 3 minutes.
Grease a 13 x 9" sheet pan very well and add the biscuit base, pressing the mixture evenly into the pan.
Bake in oven for 15-17 minutes, until just turning golden brown.
While base is baking make macaroon topping.

Whisk egg whites & sugar until well combined.
Stir in flour and coconut and mix well.
Remove biscuit base from oven and pour melted chocolate over, covering evenly.
leave to cool slightly before adding macaroon topping and cover chocolate.
Return to oven and cook for approx. 20 mins, until coconut topping is browning at the tips.
Remove from oven and leave to cool before cutting into rectangular bars and serving.

Enjoy!

Pancakes

 

 

It seems that, depending on your location and religious leaning, tomorrow you will either be celebrating Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday. It's always been Pancake Tuesday for us and for as long as I can remember Delia Smith's pancake recipe was the staple used in our house.
I see no reason to diviate from this tried and true recipe as in all the years I have made pancakes - and certainly not just once a year! - this recipe has worked a treat for our family.
So below is the basic pancake recipe that makes approx. 12 - 14.
You can certainly go all out and do savoury and sweet pancakes and stay true to the day.
For savoury ones you can do something as simple as grated cheddar and ham. You could take it up a notch and use some of your favourite cheese, like brie with an onion chutney. The heat of the pancakes complements the cool brie beautifully.
For a sweet combination it's hard to beat the traditional butter, lemon and sugar. However, nutella and banana works great, or berries and yogurt.
Maple syrup with or without bacon works well and would traditionally be used with an american pancake (thicker than the crepe style we are creating with this recipe), but there are no rules that say you have to eat them in any way over the other.
If you are making pancakes for breakfast you could always add a pinch of cinnamon to the batter and a dash of vanilla extract.
Whatever you decide to do. Enjoy your pancakes and I'd love to hear about what toppings you and your family like to use.


Ingredients:

4oz (110g) plain flour
pinch salt
2 large eggs
7 fl oz (200ml) milk mixed with 3 fl oz (75ml) water
2oz (50g) butter

Method:

Sift flour and salt into large mixing bowl, with the sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing.
Make a well in the centre and break the eggs into it.
Whisk the eggs, incorporating all the flour from around the bowl.
Add small quantities at a time, of the milk and water mixture, whilst continuing to whisk.
When all the liquid has been added use a spatula and scrape any bits of flour from around the edge into the centre.
Whisk again until batter is smooth and any lumps are gone.
It should be the consistency of thin cream.
Melt the butter in a pan.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into the batter and whisk it in.
Set the remaining butter aside to be used when cooking the pancakes.
Place the batter into a measuring jug or similiar to make it easier to pour into the pan.
If using a 7 inch pan (18cm) - use 2 tablespoons of batter. If using an 8 inch (20cm) - use 3 tablespoons of batter.
Heat your pan to very hot before lowering it down to medium and pour in a little melted butter.
Add the batter and swish around the pan to cover the base of the pan.
Cook for approx 30 seconds until the mixture starts to change texture.
Using a palette knife you can lift the edge and check that the under side is a golden colour.
Shake the pan slightly to release the pancake and if you are feeling brave, or indeed just want to give it a go despite the outcome you can flip the pancake over.
Otherwise, use a fish slice and turn the pancake and cook again for approx 20 seconds.
You can stack the pancakes between sheets of greaseproof paper as you make them on a warmed plate - although if your house is anything like mine they won't last on a plate and have to be served as soon as they are cooked!

Enjoy
Jill