Feed The Kids – Moroccan Style Beef and my food philosophy…

Are you getting a little tired of bolognaise?  It’s a wonderful family meal…simple, tasty and good for you but week after week, it can get a bit, well, boring.  Try this delicious Moroccan style beef.  It’s hearty, healthy and a winner with the kids.

Moroccan Style Beef

I have to admit, I have lost my mojo when it comes to food lately.  It’s my priority to feed my family the best food I can and in trying to achieve that, I have become confused, overwhelmed and ultimately, a little disinterested.  It seems we are being bombarded with dietary advice and encouraged to give up many of our usual staples.

Gluten free, dairy free, grain free, sugar free, vegetarian, vegan, raw….my goodness!  What’s left to eat?  It seems to me there is a lot of hype around what we should consider healthy and it’s putting a lot of pressure on mums like me.  We  spend a small fortune at the health food shop, produce a meal no one eats, make the mess of forty men and we’re still hungry.  The final straw was an article popping up in my news feed on facebook titled Would we be healthier if we ate like Apes…or something along those lines. Seriously?  Okay…deep breath…it’s time to get real here.

Sometimes dietary restrictions are necessary because of allergies and intolerances or maybe  our values and beliefs and I’m very supportive of this but surely education and support is more productive than making people feel like failures because of their food choices.  The reality is, kids need food and plenty of it.  Most of us agree that a diet rich in plant foods is ideal but does that mean we have to go vegan all the time?  If you are and you do, I take my hat off to you but for me, and my family, a more gentle approach is required.

I’m not going to put a label on the way we eat.  We eat dairy foods, but always organic and not too much.  We try to avoid wheat but love a good slice of sour dough.  We juice, we drink green smoothies, we eat meat once or twice a week.  I have a few vegan recipes up my sleeve and try to get some raw veggies in every day.  We try our best to have a healthy, organic, whole foods diet but if someone hands my child a biscuit I don’t reach across the table and swat it out of their hands.

And so, taking the pressure off myself when it comes to the way we eat was such a relief…I gave myself a good talking to on the way to the supermarket.  I wanted to make something simple, that the kids would love, that was good for them and that wouldn’t dirty every pan in the kitchen…this is what we ended up with…and it was a winner!

Moroccan Style Beef

Serves 4-6

Delicious and versatile…

What you need:

Olive oil

500g lean (organic if you can) beef mince

1 onion, diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 grated zucchini

1/2 medium sweet potato, grated

1 carrot, grated

2 cups of chopped silverbeet, spinach or whatever leafy greens you prefer

1 can of crushed tomatoes

1 cup of passata (if you have some)

1-2 tsps Moroccan Spice Mix (check ingredients for nasties first)

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Fresh herbs (parsley, coriander, mint – whatever you like) to garnish

What to do:

Add a little olive oil to a large frying pan.  Brown your mince.  I like to drain it in the colander once it’s brown.

Wipe out the pan with some paper towel and add a little fresh oil.  First add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat.  Add your veggies and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add your mince, seasonings, tomatoes, passata and 1 can of water to the veggies.  Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for a good hour, or until the water has evaporated and the sauce is rich and thick.

Transfer to a Moroccan looking dish and garnish with fresh herbs.

What else can I do with it?

Heaps!  You might even want to make a double batch of this and use it in different ways throughout the week….

• Serve on top of brown rice, quinoa, cous cous or pasta (we have been having the quinoa pasta lately which we love).
• Dollop on top of a baked potato with some grated cheese and a spoonful of natural yoghurt.
• Spread on a spelt flat bread or wrap with crunchy cos lettuce, grated carrot and avocado for a delicious alternative to a taco.
• Grab some organic puff pastry and make tasty Moroccan beef sausage rolls or mini  pies.

I can promise you this was so simple to make, didn’t make a lot of mess and all three of my kids loved it (thank goodness because I made a lot!).  Make it with love and you can’t go wrong.

What is your food philosophy?  Do you feel pressure to eat or feed your children a certain way?  How do you remain consistent when it comes to healthy eating?

Happy eating!

mamacino x

Super Food For Super Kids And A Simple Sweet Potato Soup

Getting your kids to eat healthy food can be a battle as we all know only too well.  I think the trick is to keep it simple and to find ways of making it appealing.  I’m not really one for hiding cauliflower puree in the chocolate brownies, I like my kids to know, straight up, that healthy food tastes great, will  help them grow up strong and healthy and make them feel good inside and out.  

Blueberry Super Smoothie

It’s school holidays here and the weather has been miserable.  Cold, raining and not much fun for kids. The computer has become a bit of a novelty and the girls have become very tech savvy. It’s amazing how fast they can turn a One Direction film clip on you tube into an educational game when they sense my approach…so today I got them working for me.  They were allowed to use the Internet but they had to conduct some research.  I needed to find out what the top ten super foods for kids were.  Here’s what we came up with…

Wholegrain Bread - for energy

 Blueberries - full of antioxidants, super heroes that fight nasty wastes

Natural Yoghurt - With protein and calcium and acidophilus for healthy digestion

Sweet Potato - Heaps of vitamins and minerals

Natural Nut Butter - Good fats, fibre and protein

Legumes – Beans, Chickpeas and Lentils - Protein, fibre and iron

Broccoli - Disease fighting nutrients and Vitamin C

Omega 3 Eggs - Protein and essential fats for healthy skin, brain development and a happy mood

Avocado - Good fats for healthy growth and development

Organic Chicken - Go organic to eliminate harmful additives

Of course there were many more like fish, oats, tomatoes, cinnamon, raw honey and to Lucia’s delight, cocoa.

We were pretty happy with our list because we include all of these super foods in our diet in one way or another (except for yoghurt for the dairy sensitive Frankie and Leo).

So, then we got to thinking…could we eat all of those super foods in one day?  You bet!  Here is the menu the girls came up with (with just a little help from me)…It’s simple and very do-able!

Breakfast

Blueberry Smoothie with blueberries, banana, yoghurt, oat milk, ground flax seeds and raw honey.

For Dairy free – just substitute the yoghurt with 1/4 of an avocado.

Morning Snack

Hummus made from chick peas with chopped carrot, snow peas and maybe some rice crackers

Home made hummus

Lunch

Soft boiled egg with avocado on whole grain toast

Or – if you are packing your lunch, how about an egg, avocado and lettuce sandwich on wholegrain bread.

Afternoon Snack

Nut butter spread on sliced apple, or…

Choc Nut Balls  made with nuts, nut butter and cocoa

Afternoon pick-me-up

Dinner

Organic chicken on a stick served with sweet potato mash and broccoli

Or, if you are vegetarian, how about making a bean and veggie hot pot.

Kristin’s Fried Chicken with Sweet potato, potato and pumpkin mash and broccoli

We were pretty chuffed with our menu and look forward to trying it out.  Tonight, however, with the rain and the cold, the pantry was looking a little bare.  We came up with this very, very simple sweet potato soup that turned out to be a winner.  Here’s the recipe…

Really Simple Sweet Potato Soup

This made enough for me and the three kids so if you would like extra for lunch the next day or for the freezer, you might like to make a double batch.

Super Simple Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

1 medium sweet potato

1 medium potato

1 medium carrot

1 medium zucchini, grated – optional

a good shake of cumin

a shake of coriander

500mls good quality vegetable stock

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil (or olive oil)

1/2 cup of red lentils, washed – optional

What to do:

Chop everything roughly.  Add your coconut oil to a medium sized pot and warm.  Add your onions and garlic and cook until they are translucent, about five minutes.

Add your veggies and stir well.  Shake in your cumin and coriander and cook for about five minutes, adding a little water to the pot if the veggies start to catch.

Add your lentils if using them and the stock and bring soup to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft or until all the toys are collected from around the house and returned to their rightful place.

Turn off the heat and using a hand held stick mixer, blend the soup in the pot.  Alternatively, you can do this in a blender or the food processor but let the soup cool a little first.  Season with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt, coconut cream or sour cream and some chopped coriander if you like.  We had ours with hummus on toast.  It was delicious!

Here are some more super food meal ideas you might like to try…

Broccoli Carbonara

Spelt flat breads with grilled chicken and salad

Home made baked beans

What are your favourite super foods?  Feel free to share your ideas for getting kids to eat healthy food…let’s spread the love!

Happy Eating,

mamacino x

The Daisy Award…For Bravery

Today, I was nominated for a very special award.  The founder of this new award is Kate.  Kate is a mother, a physician, a writer and creator of the beautiful blog Subtle Kate.  If there is going to be an award for bravery, Kate is the right person to preside over it.

I would like to start a new award. It’s called the Daisy Award.  Daisy’s are very sweet flowers, but they are stealth with hardiness. They’ll come up anywhere and beat the frost.  This award is for the brave.

I am particularly proud of this award for the reason I received it…

Mamacino, who feeds her kids great healthy food.  Against the grain of fast food, that’s brave.

You know, it’s not easy to feed your children healthy food.  Some days it can feel a bit like fighting a loosing battle.  Kid’s don’t naturally gravitate towards spinach and carrots, or maybe they do, but by the time they reach the age of three or four, they have already been exposed to so many unhealthy options, it can be difficult to sway their tastes back to all things green.

What we’re up against…

Time: Buying, preparing, cooking and serving healthy food takes time and some careful planning.  We all, whether we are parents or not, have days where we are too busy to feed ourselves let alone our little ones well.  This is where the convenience foods start sneaking in…a take-away here, a quick drive through there…it doesn’t lead to a happy place, not for anyone.

Well meaning friends and relatives: I’m sure we have all experienced the ‘kindness’ of friends or relatives who insist on ‘spoiling’ our children with lollies, soft drinks, biscuits and ice-creams…and if we protest, we are being difficult.  We are the fun police.  I know I have backed down and let it go on more occasions than I am comfortable with.

Advertising:  It’s everywhere.  Bright colours, fun toys, play grounds and ‘healthy’ unhealthy options.  We see it on television, hear it on the radio and find it plastered around our sporting venues.  Fast Food…If I let my children eat from these places, which I very occasionally do to prevent developing an irresistible allure towards the taboo later,  all I am left with is hungry, hyped up kids heading for an inevitable melt down right on bed time.

So, what can we do…

Realistically, we can only do our best.  Try to plan and shop for healthy ingredients, make a list of our kids favourite snacks and have them on hand at all times, have an emergency meal.  Grow some veggies in the garden and get the kids involved, be a good role model…set the example, eat dinner together and let your kids see you munching on the salad greens and gobbling up the veggies.  Make sure it tastes good!  This is so important!  Choose fresh ingredients and take time to learn how to prepare them well.  Remember those mushy, overcooked brussel sprouts we all had to endure? Yuck!  As for the well meaning friends and relatives…I’m sorry, I’ve got nothing.

Find rewards for children that aren’t food based…books, stickers, time spent together doing fun stuff…heaps better than a chocolate bar or a pink doughnut.  Make food together, get everyone involved and listen to what your kids like and don’t like.  Make a big fuss when they eat something and enjoy it and ignore it when they don’t and try again another time.  Get excited about food…talk about it, experience it, taste it, celebrate it.  Food is what family is all about!

What I can do:

I promise to keep trying to come up with healthy, family friendly, simple recipes and trying them out on my kids before I pass them on to you!  This is something I’m really passionate about and really love to share with you all.  Please feel free to leave me a message, visit me on facebook or send me an email if you have any requests, questions or comments and I will do my best to help you out.  In the meantime…here are a few of our favourites you might like to try…

Happy Nachos

Spelt Flat breads with chicken and rainbow salad

KFC – Kristin’s Fried Chicken

Ultra healthy banana oat biscuits

Nutty Chocolate Balls

Do you have a particular food challenge we can help with?  Feel free to leave a comment and we’ll do our best to support you…

Happy Eating!

mamacino x

Feed the Kids – Fast Pasta…Broccoli Carbonara

Jamie Oliver is one of my heroes.  I love what he has done to educate us about how important it is to feed our kids healthy, wholesome, real food.  I quite like his wife, Jools, too.  I think if I was rich and famous and lived in London, we’d probably hang out….If you haven’t seen this clip of Jamie Oliver speaking on TED Talks it is well worth the time..it’s truly inspirational and you can see it here.

I wholeheartedly agree that we need to educate our children about food.  Where it comes from, what it tastes like, how to cook it…and I’m talking about real food.  I think about food…a lot.  I read about it, I dream about it and I talk about it…constantly.

What I want my kids to know about food is not that it’s ‘light’ or ‘fat free’ or even gluten free, paleo or vegan…I just want them to know what real food is… food that is,  to use Jude Blereau’s definition, “ made with real and true ingredients, rather than chemicals that mimic them“.

I think the best way to teach them is by getting in the kitchen and cooking!  Growing food, preparing it, eating it and making it fun is the way to get kids into eating nourishing, wholesome foods…and it doesn’t have to be hard at all…

Broccoli Carbonara

Serves 4

This easy pasta dish is a great alternative to a not-so-healthy take-away or packaged freezer food which we all think about succumbing to on those busy nights when cooking seems a challenge too difficult to step up to.  It is wholesome, healthy and quick to prepare…my kids love it!  I think yours will too.

Wholesome and delicious

This recipe for Broccoli Carbonara is originally from Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Companion.  I must admit, I cook it a little differently each time I make it.  It has a little cream, it has a little cheese but embrace it!  Use the best ingredients you can, organic if possible.  My kids all love this easy pasta dish and it takes less than 30 minutes to get it on the table.  So much better than a greasy take-away.  Trust me, it’s a winner!

What you need:

250 grams of wholemeal pasta (higher in fibre, satisfying and tastes great)

1 large head of broccoli, cut into bite sized florets, stalk peeled and sliced into thin rounds (broccoli is a powerhouse of nutrients – packed with Vitamin C, it’s great for immunity – especially in the winter)

3 organic or free range egg yolks ( protein and omega 3s)

2 tbsp pouring cream (umm…tastes good...in moderation!)

2 tbsp grated  real parmesan cheese (very low in lactose and so easier to digest…also tastes great!)

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

What to do:

Put your big pasta pot on to boil with plenty of water in it.  Once it’s boiling, add your pasta (if using wholemeal, it takes a little longer to cook).  When the pasta has about two minutes to go, tip in your broccoli.

While the pasta is cooking, put egg yolks, parmesan and cream in a bowl and give it a good whisk.

When pasta and broccoli are cooked, drain in a colander reserving 1 cup of pasta water.  Then tip the pasta and broccoli straight back into the hot pot and then add the egg and cream mixture and stir well adding a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen it up if necessary.

Serve it hot hot hot and eat straight away.  Top with a little extra parmesan if you fancy.

Variations:

Add any extras you like…chilli, chopped, lightly fried pancetta, garlic, lemon zest…

Make it low-fodmap by using lactose free cream and your favourite gluten free pasta

For a dairy free alternative try hot pasta with broccoli, olive oil, toasted flaked almonds and lemon zest…mine and Frankie’s favourite and the best Sunday night dinner ever!

Do you have a quick and easy favourite dish that your kids love and that saves you on those crazy, busy not-much-time-to-cook nights?  We’d LOVE to hear about it…please leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

Happy eating,

mamacino x

Good Food Friday…Spelt Flat Breads with Grilled Chicken and Rainbow Salad

How do you get your children to eat healthy food?  I am forever singing the praises of iron-rich spinach and sight-improving carrots but what really gets my kids eating everything on their plate is letting them do the ‘cooking’ themselves…that and the fact that I don’t let them snack after 3pm so by the time dinner is ready they are starving helps a lot too!

Encouraging children to eat the healthy and wonderful food you prepare can be an exhausting exercise.  It takes time and success comes slowly to most of us, but I have found with perseverance and a few helpful strategies…the range of foods my kids eat has widened considerably.

Leo with the 'de-constructed' version...unfortunately the carrot ended up on the floor!

Helpful Hints to get kids eating healthy food…

1. Make a rainbow on your plate

We all eat with our eyes so make kids food look enticing.  Make your plate a rainbow!  A friend and I often make a platter with lots of different healthy things like carrots, celery, hummus, strawberries, cheese, grilled chicken and just let the kids help themselves.

2.  It’s all about choice

It’s great if you can give your kids some freedom to choose what they are going to eat…this might not be achievable all the time but if you are making something like the flat breads in this post, you can let them choose their own toppings – though, I will say to my girls…you need to pick at least three things, not including tomato sauce!

3.  Positive Encouragement (ok, bribery…)

We don’t have dessert in our house every night but there is no way you are getting it if you don’t do a good job with your dinner first!

4.  Just keep trying

It can take up to twenty tries before kids will like a new food so persist!  Encourage them to at least try new things, even if they really don’t like them…having said that, if there is a food my kids really, really don’t like (like tuna…) I don’t force them to have it, food should be fun.

Tips five and six are for not for the feint hearted…read on if you are in to tough love…

5.  No snacks after 3pm

My kids eat dinner at 5.30pm so I rarely let them snack after about 3pm.  This came about after my Master L, at 16 months, got all fussy and wouldn’t eat his dinner…when I realised he’d had a biscuit, some strawberries and a banana since lunch time, it wasn’t hard to figure out why.

6.  That’s it, there is nothing else

I don’t force my kids to eat everything on their plate but I do expect them to appreciate the effort I have put in to making their meal and have a good attempt at eating it (we can all dream…) I will often be heard to say…well, you don’t have to eat it but there will be nothing else…why would you eat your veggies if you knew an ice-cream sundae was just around the corner?

So it might sound tough, it might sound like a lot of effort but setting your kids up with healthy eating habits should definitely be up there in our top 5- most- important- jobs as mothers.

I’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions about how you get your kids eating well…feel free to leave a comment…but first…here is this weeks Good Food Friday recipe…

Kid Friendly Spelt Flat Breads with Grilled Chicken and a Rainbow of Salad

Low fodmap, wheat free (not gluten free) dairy free and optional vegetarian

Serves 4

Flat Breads

2 cups spelt flour (you can use regular plain flour)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Up to 150mls tepid water

Put the flour in the food processor and turn it on…while you are whizzing, slowly pour the oil and water in, stopping when the dough forms a ball (you may not need all the water).  Remove the dough, give it a quick knead and then pace in a bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rest for thirty minutes.

Spelt Flat Bread Dough resting...

Heat up a medium sized fry pan.  Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and roll out into a circular shape on a lightly floured board (if using spelt flour, the dough can be a bit sticky so use a little more spelt flour for dusting).

In the dry pan, cook your flat breads one at a time, about 1-2 minutes on each side.  They will bubble up a bit in the pan and develop golden patches on them.  Load them up with your favorite toppings and dig in!

Rainbow Salad …your choice of toppings…

You can really put anything you like on your flat breads…we had grilled chicken with a little olive oil and lemon but you could easily do a vegetable skewer with your favorite veggies like zucchini, capsicum, mushrooms…the list is endless!

Help Yourself!

I also LOVE this simple carrot salad…

2 grated carrots topped with 2 shakes of cinamon, 4 shakes of cumin, 4 chopped fresh mint leaves, a drizzle of olive oil, a splash of lemon juice…DELICIOUS!

You could also try this simple salsa and guacamole, this pesto or this hummus.

Colorful, delicious and healthy...

Whatever you choose, put it all on the table and let the kids go for it.  My kids think these flat breads are great…I really hope yours do too!

Happy, healthy eating!

mamacino x

Big Fat Fail

Do your children sometimes stand in the way of you being a really fantastic Mother?  Mine do!

My seven-year-old daughter had her first day back at school today.  I’ve been preparing for it mentally for about a week.  You see, when we go into holiday mode, we go deep.  There has been very little proper meal preparation (except for the recipes you see photographed on this blog!) child regulated bed times and the routine is… there is no routine.  But once school is in full swing, especially when I’m in Single Mother Mode, this ship is tight.  It takes some practice, and some getting used to.

Last night as I was lying in bed with holiday-induced-insomnia (if I sleep later than 7am, I can’t get to sleep that night before midnight at the earliest) I was reflecting on what a great holiday we have had but that we were ready for  for a fresh start.  This year, we would be healthier, calmer, more organised…I started to make a mental list, Kate Reddy style.  I do this every night.  The list usually consists of all the things I haven’t done well enough and how I can make sure I do a better job the next day.  The top two items on last nights list (and there were many) were…

1.  Healthy food…cooked from scratch using wholefood ingredients.

2.  No television during the week (while the children are up, I’m not a saint!)

And guess what? Big Fat Fail on both counts today.  First of all, Master L woke up just as I was getting in the shower and at 15 months, he can not be trusted to be alone unless he is strapped down so in the high chair he went and on went Blinky Bill.  I didn’t even remember my new rules until I had a head full of shampoo!  “Well”, I calmed myself, “it’s the first day….”  All went along nicely though after that.  We snacked on porridge, fruit and chicken sandwiches.  I admit, I was starting to feel a little smug, like, I had it in the bag.  Big mistake!  I was over confident in the menu planning and prepared a dinner (actually enough to feed several families) of organic chicken and vegetable stir fry with rice noodles and honey and soy sauce.  Impressive, right? Wrong!  They all hated it.  The girls refused to eat it and I had to load Giggle and Hoot on to the laptop so I could shovel some into Master L while he was transfixed by the owl!  I even went back on my “there will be nothing else!” threat and made them all a vegemite sandwich.  Well, you can’t go to bed hungry, can you?

This is not actually me but you get the idea...

And so there you have it…the holidays have been fun but I fear I have developed a serious dependency on television as a babysitter and convenience food as a rule rather than an exception.  But not to worry, I’m not beating myself up or anything…I’ll just make a new list and be a better mum tomorrow…but first I’m off to make some toast…Notting Hill is about to start!

mamacino x