#1 Peanut Noodles (mix 1/4 cup peanut butter with 1 Tbs. brown sugar, 3 Tbs. soy sauce, 1 crushed clove of garlic, some fresh ginger–add sambal (chili-garlic paste) if your kids like it spicy) add hot noodles (any shape), stir to coat. This is good, hot cold, lukewarm, leftover and upside down (my daughter likes to throw her head back and dangle the noodles into her mouth).

#2 Tofu Mush - Yucky name, delicious dish, invented by my then 4, now 7-year old. In 9×9 pan melt 1/4 butter, 1/4 honey 1 Tbs. mustard, 2 tsp curry power. Break up a big blog of extra-firm tofu into melted goo, stir until coated, bake in 400 degree oven uncovered until carmelized and yummy, serve with rice and veggies. We have served this for picky company and had to go buy more tofu to make it again the next day.

My 5 and almost 4yo both love our Friday night TV dinner - served on a big platter so they can help themselves with fingers - lots of cos lettuce torn up, cherry tomatoes, avacado, olives, fetta cheese, tuna chunks in oil, green beans sliced, anchovies if you like them, pickled green pepppercorns, fresh herbs; sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and dig in

You can add anything you like to it, lavosh crisps are crunchy, sourdough is good for mopping up the dressing etc.

They like choosing what to put in, helping prepare the food (some picked from the garden) and they *love* being able to choose what they want from the platter as part of our family group. As they have grown older I’ve noticed that they are more aware of what the other people in the group are eating and are conscious of sharing (one of them might say “here mum, I’ll leave this olive/tomato for you” even though I know they love that particular thing…) - which is an awareness they have developed themselves. We talk about the foods, especially if there are new ones added, and they enjoy being part of the exploration.

A steadfast quick and easy fav at our place is a deviated fried rice.

I put a small amount of oil or ghee in a frypan (large) and fry the raw rice until it becomes opaque, then I add at least 2l of stock, some curry powder and let it simmer until the liquid is absorbed - don’t stir or the rice will go gluggy.

Once the stock is absorbed I add tamari, fried egg, onions, any vegetables you want and sometimes chicken or ham.

Another quick recipe for kids is to cut up organic chicken thighs or breasts into small pieces. Dip into egg and milk mix then dip into rice crumbs (like bread crumbs) that have dried herbs added. Then shallow fry and serve with dipping sauce of your choice.

-one onion finely chopped, sautee in hot oil until browned with some salt, pepper,sweet paprika, garlic and chilli to taste (if Littletree is eating we leave off on the spicy stuff). If I’m feeling bothered I’ll add ground coriander and fresh herbs.
-Throw in one can of chopped tomato (I use the organic ones)
-and a can of drained Red Kidney beans or Three Bean Mix, or both if you want a bigger serving (Again, organic at our home)
-cook for a couple of minutes.

DONE!

-Serve over corn chips and grate cheese on top. (We tend to get the Woolworths’ Home Brand corn chips - they’re so cheap and have only 3 ingredients; corn, oil, salt. Though the oil is palm, which isnt so good… Though we do often get the organic chips too)

It takes literally five minutes to make, and Littletree loves having the chips. Beans are full of protein, you can add whatever vegges you feel like, or black olives or feta cheese… you can add mince if feeling carniverous - just brown it with the onions.

And the beans are a great meal base or side, even without the chips, sometimes we serve it over mashed potato.

YUM!

We like having pretzels or crackers to dip in creamy goat cheese, hummus or other dips. Dipping is popular with the younger crowd.:)

My kids adore tofu. We drain it really well, usually letting it sit on a towel for a while to really suck all the extra moisture out (buy the extra firm block too) then marinade it in some “Dale’s Seasoning” or whatever marinade you choose. You can also skip the marinade and just fry it on a pan with some Spike seasoning. Major yum. If you marinade, just follow up with the pan frying until it’s golden brown. A bit of sea salt and olive oil in the pan make it perfect.:)

Once it cools a bit, you can put it on the above mentioned monkey platter for a snack.

We keep raw nuts around, corn chips for melting cheese on (great with sour cream and salsa of course) and small fruits.

One of my friends brought some really great wraps over the other day…you just wrap up yummy fillings inside a flour tortilla. Slice and serve.

HUMMUS (couldn’t be easier to make. It makes a huge amount–I sometimes halve it.)

2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed
2 T tahini
2 T olive oil
1/4 c lemon juice
1/4 c water
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t ground cumin
cayenne pepper, to taste
1 t sea salt

Mix all ingredients in food processor until smooth, adding a little more water if needed. Cover and chill. Serve with pita bread or raw veggies.

GUACAMOLE (My daughter’s have been hooked on this–so nutritious. They like it with tortilla chips. I like it on top of a romaine salad.)

1 avocado
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
juice of 1/2 lime
sea salt and pepper to taste

Mash together ingredients.

We aren’t Vegetarians but try to eat a couple of meatless meals a week for health and budgetary reasons.

1 16oz can of diced stewed tomatoes.
1 Can of tomato paste
1 Pinch of Salt
2 Garlic Cloves
2/3 cup sherry or red wine
1 pinch sugar (only if you are cooking stainless steel or with a stainless steel spoon, it gets rid of the metallic flavor left by the acid in the tomatoes reacting to the metal)
Olive Oil

[Tomato based foods always taste better cooked in something nonreactive like enamel or cast iron, and stirred with a wooden spoon]
-Heat oil until water sizzles on it. On Medium)
-Add garlic cook for one minute.
-Add diced tomatoes cook five or so minutes.
-Add tomato paste, really mix it in.
-Add wine salt and sugar cook lower temp to low.
-Cook for at least twenty minutes, this can simmer all day if you want the longer the tastier, just occasionally add a cup of water to loosen it up.

To make it really good cook the pasta a little underdone and add it to the sauce for a few minutes in the end.
If you make this with rice pasta make sure to eat it that day, rice pasta does not make for good leftovers.