Bircher muesli
Serves:
Ingredients
- 500g natural muesli
- 2 green apples, peeled and grated
- 2 pears, peeled and grated
- 1 cup (125g) sultanas
- 1 cup (125g) raisins
- 1/2 cup (50g) flaked almonds
- 1/2 cup (50g) walnuts
- 1 cup (100g) macadamias
- 1L milk
- 300ml cream, whipped
Method
Combine all of the ingredients.
Refrigerate overnight.
Serve topped with your favourite fresh fruit.
Notes
- This is the most decadent breakfast dish.
- It has dairy, grains, nuts, dried fruit and fresh fruit.
- Muesli was introduced around 1900 by the Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital, where a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables was an essential part of therapy.
Find More
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Serving Suggestions
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Lazy lamingtons
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 bought Victoria sponge cake (in two halves)
- 1/3 cup raspberry jam
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 3 cups desiccated or shredded coconut
Method
Cut each half of the sponge cake in half horizontally. Spread jam on two of the halves and top with the remaining halves. Cut each sponge into 8 pieces.
Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add enough warm water to form a runny icing. Spread the coconut onto a large sheet of baking paper.
Dip each cake portion in the icing to coat each side. This is a very messy business, call in the kids and keep your hands nice and clean!
Roll each piece of cake in the coconut and place on a wire rack for 30 minutes to dry. Store in airtight containers.
Notes:
- If you can’t find a Victoria sponge (two circles), a slab sponge would be fine to make rectangles or squares.
- It is much easier to coat the lamingtons if the icing is quite runny. If you like a thicker icing you will have to spread the icing on with a knife, which is a bit more time consuming… and messy.
- Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.
Serving Suggestions
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Reindeer marshmallow pops
Serves:
Ingredients
- 20 lollipop sticks
- 20 marshmallows
- 2m Christmas ribbon
- 1 pkt mini-pretzels
- 200g milk chocolate, melted
- Oasis florist block
- 20 red mini M&M’s
- 40 cachous (edible silver balls)
Method
Step 1. Place pop sticks into marshmallows.
Step 2. Cut small slits to enable you to push the pretzel “antlers” in later.
Step 3. Cut ribbon and tie a 10cm length around each pop stick.
Step 4. Cut pretzels in half by using a fast downward motion with a sharp knife.
Step 5. Dip each marshmallow in the melted chocolate until evenly coated. Tap excess chocolate off the marshmallow and anchor the stick into the Oasis block.
Step 6. Push pretzel “antlers” into the marshmallow and press on a red M&M for the nose and two cachous for eyes.
Related Christmas recipes:
Serving Suggestions
Note
- You can use generic brand milk chocolate for this recipe – and dark chocolate if you prefer.
- To melt the chocolate you can use a double boiler or a microwave. Microwave for 60 seconds and then stir until the chocolate is entirely melted.
- If it is warm weather, you may like to allow the chocolate to set and then use a dab of chocolate to apply the decorations.
- This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Mini croissants
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 container mini croissants
- 100g poached/roasted chicken, sliced
- ¼ avocado, sliced
- 100g shaved ham
- 2 slices cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon nutella spread
Method
Slice eight croissants in half.
Dress each croissant with your selected toppings ranging from:
-Chicken, avocado
-Ham and cheese
-Feta cheese, cucumber and cherry tomato
-Nutella
Replace tops of croissants and serve.
Serving Suggestions
Note
- You can buy a container of 10 mini croissants at the supermarket in the bread section. I freeze them and pull them out when needed.
- When I packed Max a ham and cheese croissant and a nutella one for his lunch he thought that was incredibly cool. It took two minutes and it wasn’t his regular roll.
- These look and taste good enough for kids and adult parties, just warm slightly and put your favourite topping in.
- These croissants are a great budget buy if you’re entertaining a group of people for breakfast, brunch or lunch.
- Recipe created by Camilla Baker for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Banana-oat cookies
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- half a cup butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup mashed bananas
- 1 and a half cup quick cooking oats
- 1 and a half cups flour
- half a teaspoon salt
- half a teaspoon cinnamon
- half a teaspoon baking soda
- half a cup chopped walnuts
Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease cooking tray or line with baking paper.
Cream together butter, sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in bananas and oats.
Combine remaining dry ingredients and nuts and add to creamed mixture, blending well.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Serving Suggestions
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Easy peanut butter bars
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2 cups peanut butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- nuts (optional)
Method
Mix all ingredients together.
Press into a deep, greased baking tray.
Bake in a 180C oven for 15 minutes.
Turn oven off, and let sit in oven for 15 more minutes.
Remove from oven and cut into slices. Serve hot or cold.
Serving Suggestions
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Beef rice paper rolls
Serves:
Ingredients
- 600g rump steak
- 1/3 cup soy sauce or teriyaki sauce
- 20 sheets rice paper (gluten-free)
- 2 carrots, peeled and grated
- 100g bean thread vermicelli
- half a cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
- 1 cup satay sauce
Method
Bash steak and marinade in soy or teriyaki sauce for at least one hour or overnight.
Heat a non-stick frypan to high heat, cook steak for 3-4 minutes each side until cooked through. Transfer to a plate to cool. When cold, trim away yucky bits and thinly slice meat.
Place vermicelli in a large bowl, cover with warm or boiling water and leave to soak until softened. Drain, rinse under cold water and drain again.
Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip a sheet of rice paper into the water for about 10 seconds, just until it starts to soften (if you leave it in too long it becomes very tricky to handle), then transfer the sheet to a dinner plate. Place about six pieces of steak, a handful of vermicelli noodles, carrot and coriander in a pile on one end of the rice paper. Fold the top of the rice paper over the ingredients, then fold in each side and roll up. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Serve on a large plate with satay dipping sauce.
Notes:
- A great kid-friendly recipe, help them prepare all the ingredients and let them roll up, roll up!
- If you are a nut-free household, use a hoisin sauce or dipping sauce instead of satay sauce.
- Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.
Serving Suggestions
Note
Food pyramid
Serves:
Ingredients
Method
The food pyramid helps kids to receive all the nutrients growing children need each day from the five food groups.
These are:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Protein – this includes lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes
- Grains – this includes bread, cereals, rice, pasta and noodles
- Dairy – this includes milk, yoghurt, and cheese
You’ll need to eat a number of serves from each group depending on your age and how active you are. Growing children need the following number of serves from each group:
|
Grains
|
Vegetables
|
Fruit
|
Dairy
|
Protein
|
| Children 4-7 yrs |
3 – 4
|
4
|
2
|
3
|
1/2-1
|
| Children 8-11 yrs |
4 – 6
|
4 – 5
|
1 – 2
|
3
|
1 – 11/2
|
| Adolescents 12-18 yrs |
4 – 7
|
5 – 9
|
3 – 4
|
3 – 5
|
1 – 2
|
Sample serves from the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.
How big is one serve?
Fruit:
- 1 medium piece – such as an apple, banana or pear
- 2 small pieces – such as a kiwi fruit, passionfruit, plum
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of sultanas, raisins or currants
- 4 pieces of dried fruit – such as apricots, pears or figs
- 1 cup of tinned fruit
Vegetables:
- 1 potato
- 1/2 cup (75g) of cooked vegetables
- 1 cup of salad vegetables
- 1/2 cup (75g) of cooked legumes – dried beans, peas or lentils
Protein:
- 65-100g cooked meat or chicken
- 80-100g of fish fillets
- 2 small eggs
- 1/2 cup of cooked dried or tinned beans – such as lentils or red kidney beans
- 1/3 cup of nuts – such as almonds, cashews or peanuts
- 1/4 cup of seeds – such as sunflower or sesame
Grains:
- 2 slices of bread
- 1 medium bread roll
- 1 cup of cooked pasta, noodles or rice
- 1 1/3 cup breakfast cereal
- 1/2 cup muesli
Dairy:
- 1 cup of milk
- 200g of yoghurt
- 40g of cheese
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
While there are plenty of foods that don’t fall clearly into one of these categories – chips, chocolate – it’s best to keep these ‘extras’ to minimum as they are usually high in empty calories, salt, sugars and fats.
Find more:
Common Sense Advice. Share your experiences, tips and advice on the Kidspot Message Board.
This article was written by Ella Walsh for Kidspot. Sources include Nestle and Better Health Channel.
Serving Suggestions
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Free form apple pie
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2 sheets frozen sweet shortcrust pastry
- 3 small red apples (Pink Ladies are my favourite)
- 4 tablespoons almond meal
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon caster sugar
- Thick cream or icecream, to serve
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Remove pastry sheets from freezer and lay on a bench to defrost.
Quarter and core apples, then thinly slice each quarter.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons almond meal on each pastry sheet, leaving a 5cm border.
Pile on apples, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Fold up edges of pastry, doesn’t matter if it looks messy, that’s the whole idea.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until pastry is crisp, apples are tender and there is a fantastic aroma drifting through the house!
Serve hot with cream or icecream.
Notes:
- Make sure you get sweet shortcrust pastry, I have made this pie with unsweetened pastry, but it’s just not quite right.
- You could always make your own pastry, if time permits.
- Leftovers can be kept covered in the fridge and reheated the next night at about 150°C.
- Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.
Serving Suggestions
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Gluten-free peanut butter cookies
Serves:
Ingredients
- 375g jar crunchy peanut butter
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup milk choc bits
Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC and line trays with baking paper.
Place peanut butter, sugar and egg into a mixing bowl.
Stir with wooden spoon until mixture is no longer sticky. Stir in nuts and choc bits.
Roll mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, into balls.
Place on baking trays, allowing room for spreading. Flatten slightly with fingertips.
Bake for 12-15 mins or until light golden. Cool on trays for 5 mins. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Serving Suggestions
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Rice cooker quinoa porridge
Serves:
2
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup (250ml) water
- 1 cup (250ml) milk (rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk are all fine to use)
- 1 medium apple, diced
- 1/4 cup almonds, chopped
- honey or maple syrup to drizzle
Method
Step 1. Rinse quinoa well in a sieve under cold running water.
Step 2. Add to the rice cooker along with the oats, water and milk. Place lid on rice cooker and set the rice cooker to cook.
Step 3. When cooked, remove lid and stir (you may need a little extra milk if it seems dry).
Step 4. Serve into bowls and top with apples, almonds and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.
Serving Suggestions
Note
- You can choose the type of milk you prefer or just use the same quantity of water if you want to go dairy-free.
- We used apple but you could try frozen or fresh berries, bananas, mango or even dried fruit.
- You can add a little natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup, or some brown sugar if you have a sweet tooth.
- You can find more tips on our How to cook quinoa article.
- I always like to cook some extra quinoa so I can make this Quinoa tabouleh. It makes a great replacement for the burghul.
- Quinoa goes perfectly well with salad vegetables, especially in this Crunchy quinoa salad.
- In winter you could also cook this delicious Hearty beef and quinoa stew. It is filling and healthy.
- Kids will love these Pork and quinoa balls with sweet chilli sauce. They are the perfect finger food for little ones.
- You can try this Quinoa and apple porridge that is cooked conventionally instead of using the rice cooker.
- You also use quinoa to make this Quinoa fried rice. Just cook and use it exactly the same way you would long grain rice.
- This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder.
Chicken quinoa pilaf
Serves:
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, sliced finely
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp garam marsala
- 3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
- 400g skinless chicken breast, sliced finely
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 70g spinach leaves, finely sliced
- 1/4 cup (70mls) light coconut milk
- coriander to garnish
Method
Place quinoa in a strainer and rinse well. Set aside
Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan and add onion, garlic and mustard seeds with a pinch of salt.
Cook on low heat for 8 minutes or until onion is soft and translucent.
Add garam marsala, quinoa and stock. Stir to combine, turn up the heat a little and bring to a simmer.
Add chicken breast and stir through. Reduce the heat to low, cover and gently simmer pilaf for 15 minutes before adding peas and spinach leaves.
Continue to cook until liquid has been absorbed and quinoa is soft and fluffy. Add coconut milk and heat through.
Serve with a sprinkling of coriander.
Find related quinoa recipes
Serving Suggestions
Note
- Quinoa is high in protein and iron and is just so good for you. But sometimes it can be bitter and rinsing helps to remove any bitterness.
- I use chicken breasts to keep the fat and kilojoules down, but if you prefer chicken thighs feel free to use them.
- This will feed 4 for dinner with 1-2 lunches left over.
- This recipe was created by Jay Rogers for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder. You can follow Jay at The Moodie Foodie and on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
Chorizo pasta
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 large chorizo sausages (about 360g)
- 1 jar of red pesto sauce
- 1 punnet grape tomatoes
- 500g spiral or penne pasta
- 1 large handful of basil
- Parmesan cheese to serve
Method
Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add pasta and cook according to packet directions until al dente.
Heat oil in a frypan, cook onion until soft.
Add sliced chorizo sausage and cook for five minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in pesto sauce and halved tomatoes, simmer for 10 minutes.
Drain pasta, return to pot, add pasta sauce and stir through.
Serve in bowls sprinkled with torn basil leaves.
Notes:
- Chorizo sausage is quite spicy, substitute with bacon or prosciutto depending on your children’s palates.
- Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.
Serving Suggestions
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Easy vegetarian laksa
Serves:
Ingredients
- 400g pumpkin, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- half a teaspoon salt
- 200g rice stick noodles
- 1/3 cup laksa paste
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 400ml tin coconut milk
- half a packet sesame flavoured tofu nuggets, or tofu puffs
- 1 cup green beans, tails removed and chopped in half
- juice of 1 lime
Method
Preheat oven to 200C. Toss pumpkin with vegetable oil and salt. Place on a baking sheet and into the hot oven, and roast for about 15 minutes or until golden.
Place noodles into a pot of water and bring to a boil, cooking for 5 minutes until nearly tender. Drain and set aside.
In the same large pot, whisk together the laksa paste, sugar, stock, and coconut milk and bring a simmer for at least 2 minutes.
Add roasted pumpkin, tofu, beans, lime juice, and noodles. Cook for another 4-5 minutes until noodles are soft and serve immediately.
Notes:
- You should be able to find tofu nuggets in most large grocery stores within New Zealand. If not, you can find tofu puffs (which I prefer but didnt have time to find) at Asian grocers, though these are probably not as healthy. Your last tofu option would be to chop up some firm or silken tofu and add at the last second – yum!You can add any vegetables you like to this delicious Asian soup – broccoli, cauliflower florets, carrot, potato_ whatever you feel like. If you add potato, make sure its cooked as the pumpkin is in this recipe.
- If you are not vegetarian, consider adding 2 tablespoons of fish sauce in at the end of cooking.
- This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealands best recipe finder.
Serving Suggestions
Note
Chicken and basil stir fry
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 (about 600g) skinless chicken breast fillets, thinly sliced
- 1 red capsicum, cut into thin strips
- 10 button mushrooms, sliced
- 200g baby spinach leaves
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
- 150mL evaporated light milk
- 3 tablespoons good-quality basil pesto
- basil leaves, to garnish
- 1½ tablespoons basil pesto, extra
Method
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick frypan or wok, stirfry chicken until golden and cooked through – best done in two batches.
Transfer to a plate.
Add the remaining oil to pan and stirfry capsicum and mushrooms for 1-2 minutes.
Add the baby spinach and tomatoes and cook until the spinach starts to wilt. Stir in evaporated milk and pesto and heat through.
Serve on steamed rice, garnished with basil leaves and about 1 teaspoon of extra basil pesto per serve.
Notes:
- Many thanks to Steph (my foodie mother-in-law) for this lovely recipe.
- For fussy children that don’t do green bits or red bits, take the chicken out of the stirfry and serve with the rice. You may have to scrape off offending vegetable matter with a knife. The chicken will have a hint of the beautiful flavour and maybe (fingers crossed) next time they will try a bit more.
- Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.
Serving Suggestions
Note
Lolly birthday cake
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 chocolate birthday cake
- 1 Kit Kat share pack (185g)
- 1 Cherry share pack (216g)
- 1 Crunchie share pack (216g)
- 1 Time Out share pack (192g)
- 1 Twirl share pack (180g)
- 1 Flake share pack (168g)
- 1 bag of Chupa Chups ( 25 pack)
- 1 pkt Mentos Mini Rainbow bag (120g)
Method
Step1. Bake the chocolate birthday cake.
Step 2. Give it a thick coat of chocolate buttercream icing.
Step 3. Cover it in your favourite chocolates. Decorate the top with Mentos and push Chupa Chups into the top.
Find more cake recipes:
Serving Suggestions
Note
- If you need to plan ahead with this cake you can bake the two layers of cake and freeze them wrapped in cling film until the day you need them. They will only take an hour or two to defrost.
- The thick coating of icing should be enough to hold all these delicious chocolates on the outside but if you need to transport this cake or are decorating it for the next day you will need to tie a big ribbon around the centre of the cake to hold all of the chocolates on.
- If you don’t like these particular chocolates you can use a combination of just your favourites.
- This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Apple and cinnamon frittata
Serves:
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup raw caster sugar plus 2 tbsp extra
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp finely grated orange rind
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 granny smith apple, cored and finely sliced
- 2 tbsp flaked almonds
Method
Whisk eggs together then add the sugar, flour, milk, cinnamon and orange rind.
Melt the butter in an ovenproof saucepan on medium heat. Add the apples and cook for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Pre-heat the oven grill and pour over the batter and cook for about 5 minutes.
Place the saucepan under the grill, sprinkle over the almonds and a little extra sugar.
Once the top is golden remove and serve almost immediately with some nice natural yoghurt and maybe a drizzle of maple syrup.
Serving Suggestions
Note
- You need to watch the frittata under the grill as it can burn easily at this point.
- Even though one apple doesn’t seem enough it is fine for this recipe.
- This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Easy peanut brittle
Serves:
Ingredients
- 375g unsalted peanuts
- 4 cups (880g) caster sugar
- 2 cups (500ml) water
- 150g butter, chilled and cubed
Method
Step 1.Line 2 slice trays (28 x 18cm) with baking paper. Spread half of the peanuts in each tray and set aside.
Step 2. Place the castor sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and whisk together until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and continue to boil for 25 minutes until the sugar mixture is a light golden brown.
Step 3. Use a wet pastry brush to brush down the sides of the pan and then remove from heat and quickly whisk in butter.
Step 4. Pour half of the mixture into each tray and rotate so all of the peanuts are covered. Leave to set. Break into shards and serve.
Find more delicious sweet recipes:
Serving Suggestions
Note
- I like to give the baking paper a spray with canola oil so it doesn’t stick at all.
- If you have macadamia nuts they can be used as a luxurious substitution for the peanuts.
- This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Wholesome breakfast smoothie
The kids will love this wholesome breakfast smoothie – especially those who aren’t keen on a big brekkie. This liquid meal is packed to brim with nutritious ingredients and will keep them full and satisfied until recess.
Serves:
Makes 1 tall smoothie
Ingredients
- 4 dried apricots
- 2 dried dates, seeds removed
- 1 tsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp oats
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (250ml) almond milk
- 1 small banana
Method
Put apricots, dates and chia seeds into a bowl and cover in boiling water. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or until apricots and dates look plump.
Pulse oats in a blender, then add drained dried fruit and seed mixture.
Add vanilla, milk and banana to the blender and blend really well into a smoothie.
Serve in fun, colourful cups with party straws.
Serving Suggestions
Note
- If you’re making this smoothie for a fussy toddler you could use half almond milk and half full cream dairy milk to give it a creamier taste.
- If the chia seeds make the smoothie too bulky, just add some extra milk or water.
- Sometimes you need a little bit of extra help to entice the kids so you could add a little Milo
Grilled Coconut Salmon
Serves:
Ingredients
- 4 salmon cutlets
- 1 tspn sea salt
- 1 tspn freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 tspn turmeric
- Light-flavoured oil, such as grapeseed
- Fresh cucumber and tomato salad
- 250g cherry tomatoes, diced
- 2 lebanese cucumber, diced
- 1 spanish onion, thinly sliced
- Small handful fresh mint leaves
- 2 tspn extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbspn lime juice
- 1 tspn sugar
- Sea salt, to taste
Method
Season fish with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, stir together the coconut milk and turmeric. Brush the coconut milk onto the fish, reserving the remaining milk.
Preheat a barbecue or char grill pan on high and brush lightly with oil.
Add the salmon and cook for 2 minutes each side (for medium) or until cooked to your liking, brushing a little more coconut milk onto the freshly grilled surfaces.
Assemble salad and dress.
Serving Suggestions
Note
Ham and pesto crepes
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 x packet ready made frozen crepes or you can make your own
- 1 cup (around 190g) good quality pesto
- 10 slices ham
- 1/2 cup (40g) parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 1 tsp canola oil
Method
Spread the crepes with pesto, place a slice of ham on each and sprinkle with the cheese. Fold in half.
Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat and lightly pan-fry the filled/folded crepes for a minute or so on each side until golden. The idea is to just heat through the fillings.
Serving Suggestions
Note
- You don’t really need to heat the crepes up, it just makes them that little bit more yummy!
- Spread crepes with honey-sweetened ricotta and stuff with fresh berries.
- Spread with creme cheese and fill with shredded barbecue chicken, grated carrot and some butter lettuce.
- Or go with the classic and spread with Nutella and top with thinly sliced banana or poached peaches or other fruit before folding.
- This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder:
Homemade almond milk
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 cup (170g) raw almonds + water to cover
- 4 cups (1L) water
Method
Cover almonds with water to soak. Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate at least overnight (but preferably a day or even two). Drain and rinse the almonds.
Add the almonds to a blender along with the 4 cups of water. Use the chop setting first and then the whisk or milkshake setting to finish off. Blend really well.
Put a fine mesh sieve or piece of muslin over a large bowl and pour over the nut milk, squeeze or press with the back of a spoon until as much of the milk as possible is strained through.
Transfer the milk to a clean glass jar and store in the fridge for up to three days.
Find related homemade recipes
Serving Suggestions
Note
- After the almonds are soaked, you’ll notice the water is quite clogged up and discoloured with almond skin; and that the almonds are swollen up and really plump looking. This means their enzymes have now been activated.
- Store the rest in the fridge to use as you would ordinary milk. This recipe yields about three cups, probably more if you use a nut milk bag or piece of muslin.
- Sweeten the milk with maple syrup, dates, honey or brown rice syrup. Flavour with vanilla or spices if you like. I keep mine plain as I don’t drink it straight, I mostly use it in smoothies, pancake batters, baking and porridge.
- You can use the almond meal in cakes, smoothies and other recipes so don't throw it away.
- This recipe was created by Katie Rainbird of Katie180. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter.
Orange meringue
Serves:
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 90g roasted hazelnuts, finely chopped
- 1 cup Dark CHOC BITS
- 2 oranges
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 300ml cream
- 100g Cooking Chocolate
- 3/4 cup extra cream
Method
MERINGUE
Beat egg whites until peaks form, add sugar gradually, beat until thick and glossy and sugar has dissolved.
Beat in vinegar and vanilla, fold in hazelnuts and Dark Choc Bits.
Grease two oven trays, dust with cornflour.
Make a 20cm circle on each tray, spreading meringue mixture evenly into each circle.
Bake in 180°C oven 35 – 40 minutes until crisp. Remove from oven, cool.
CREAM
Peel oranges thinly, place orange peel in pan, cover with water. Bring to boil, drain.
Chop orange peel thinly and return to pan with orange juice, bring to boil, simmer until liquid has nearly absorbed, remove from heat.
Combine cream with cooled melted Cooking Chocolate, beat until thick.
Fold orange mixture through half of the chocolate cream.
Sandwich meringue layers together with chocolate orange cream.
If desired, spread remaining cream around sides of torte and spread top of torte with extra whipped cream.
Serving Suggestions
Note
Nutella pizza
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 quantity of pizza dough, see Notes below
- 5 tbsp of Nutella
- 1 punnet of strawberries
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tbsp butter or olive oil
Method
Pre-heat oven to 220°C.
Brush a pizza tray with olive oil.
Make one quantity of pizza dough. Roll out to fit a tray and prick surface all over with a fork.
Brush with olive oil or butter and bake for approx. 10 mins or until golden.
While warm spread with Nutella generously and top with fresh strawberries.
Sprinkle sifted icing sugar of the top and slice while warm.
Notes
- The base doesnt need sweetening because the Nutella is very sweet and you can roll the dough to whatever thickness you prefer.
- Find our pizza dough recipe here.
- Make sure you hide a piece for yourself because this disappears FAST!
- This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Serving Suggestions
Note
One bowl blueberry and coconut muffins
Serves:
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- 1 tbs demerara sugar (for dusting)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced), and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases. Place the flour, sugar, oats, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla in a small jug, and add to the bowl of dry ingredients.
Stir together until the mixture is almost combined, then add the blueberries and coconut and stir again, just until they are distributed – do not over-mix.
Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cases, and sprinkle with Demerara sugar, if desired.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly. Remove from the tin and let cool on a wire rack.
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Serving Suggestions
Note
- These keep well for about 2 days, but wrapped well and individually they'll keep in the freezer for up to a month.
- Swap up to half the flour in this recipe for wholemeal flour, if desired.
- Replace the blueberries with frozen raspberries, chunks of raw pear, or any dried fruit of your choice to change up the flavours.
