Super Snacks for Kids…Superfood Goji Balls

It’s the holidays and I don’t know about you but my kids are eating me out of house and home!  

Eating habits have relaxed once again and food that is designed to be a treat…biscuits, corn chips, bloody EASTER EGGS…are being demanded on an hourly basis.  It feels like I am trapped in a food preparation nightmare when really I should be curled up on the couch reading my book with a cup of tea (well, that’s what I would like to be doing!).  And so, in an attempt to banish the sugary biscuits and endless popping of packets, we have been doing a little experimentation..and it seems we have a winner…

Master L helping himself to the granola...

Superfood Goji Balls are a great little snack for kids and mums too…they are sweet, chewy, filling and moreish.  They are full of super food goodness like oats, maca, cacao and goji berries but without wheat, dairy, egg, nuts or refined sugars.  They don’t need to be baked so it is a great snack for the kids to make…that should entertain them for a whole half an hour!

Chocolate-y wholesome goodness...

* Just a warning…if you go and buy all the ingredients for these little delights in one go, you may need to re-mortgage your house…I have been stocking up on things like cacao and maca over a couple of weeks.  A little goes a long way, so once you have them in your stores, you will find lots of different uses for them and the investment will be totally worthwhile.

The original recipe can be found on The Wellness Warrior but here is how I made them to suit what I had on hand…

Makes 10

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

4 fresh dates, pitted and chopped

1 tsp maca powder

2 tsp cacao powder

1/4 cup maple syrup

1-2 tablespoons of water if needed

1/2 cup goji berries

Pretty and delicious...

1.  Place 1 cup of oats, dates, maca, cacao and maple syrup in the food processor and whiz.  If the mixture doesn’t quite come together, add the water too and whiz again.

2.  Transfer mixture to a bowl and add the rest of the oats and the goji berries.  Mix well with your hands.

3.  Use about a teaspoon of mixture to roll in to firm balls.  Dampening your hands first helps.

4.  Ready to eat and enjoy…delicious, chocolate-y, tastefull, wholesome and healthy…kids – knock yourselves out!!

If you like these, you might also like our no-bake muesli slice and our healthy oat, banana biscuits…

Happy Holiday Eating!

mamacino x

Kristin’s Fried Chicken

It hasn’t been a great day.  It began with a big lack of sleep (three kids…no explanation needed) and a very early morning.  I spent two hours making sushi only to be informed that no one was going to eat seaweed, whether it was a super food or not.  I waited four hours for the bread maker to turn out a very sad looking, undercooked, wholemeal loaf which could have sunk a ship (preferably the one my husband has been on for the last six weeks) and in the moment of the day…I returned from disposing of a rather revolting dirty nappy to witness my fifteen month old son falling, slow motion, from a chair to the hard concrete floor via his head.

When it came to dinner time, I knew I couldn’t risk another rejection.  Feeling fragile and teary, I was past caring if the kids ate or not but I couldn’t cope with another load of dishes if it was all for nothing.  And so, I went for the no fail, all time favorite, win win KFC.

Okay, okay, it’s not what you’re thinking…KFC in our house is Kristin’s Fried Chicken.  It’s hardly a recipe, more of an idea but I thought I’d share it in case you too are having a similar kind of day.  The kids all love it, it’s very versatile and there are usually leftovers for the school lunches the next day (if you refrain from eating it all straight from the pan!).

Kristin’s Fried Chicken

Delicious...Easy Home Style KFC

What you need:

Easily feeds four.

About 500 grams free range chicken breast

2 cups Gluten Free Cornflakes (or normal ones) whizzed up in the food processor to make course crumbs

1 egg, beaten (you have to take your frustrations out on someone!)

Rice Bran Oil for shallow frying

What to do:

Cut your chicken fillets into long strips.  Dip your strips in the egg and then into a shallow bowl of the cornflake crumbs, topping up the crumbs as you need to.  Once you have crumbed all the chicken strips, heat about 2 tbsp of rice bran oil in a large fry pan.  Shallow fry the chicken strips until golden and just cooked through – try not to over cook them.  Place them on some paper towel to drain off any extra oil and voila!

What else?

• Serve them as finger food with a tomato or yogurt style dipping sauce
• Put them in a wrap or a flat bread with some lettuce, grated carrot, tomato and mayonnaise
• Make a burger, KFC style with a yummy multi-grain roll, lettuce, cheese and your favorite sauce
• Eat them cold for lunch… a great addition to the school snack box

Chicken, broccoli and sweet potato...super foods for super kids!

We had ours with veggies which I am pleased to report everyone ate without argument…I think kids can sense when their mum is on the edge!  Now that everyone is in bed, things seem a whole lot better…I am looking forward to starting the week in a sunny mood and with a spring in my step…if I could only find a lemon for my gin and tonic…

Happy Eating!

mamacino x