This Lunchtime Hax from Jax Hamilton and Best Foods is fun, healthy and yum! Low on carbs and high on flavour, rice paper rolls are a light and tasty modern take on a sandwich that can be made in the weekend, frozen, then popped into lunchboxes when you need them.
Social media star and creative foodie genius Jax Hamilton has teamed up with Best Foods, makers of New Zealand’s favourite mayonnaise, on a mission to make school lunches a fun (and easy) experience for both parents and children, by sharing the ultimate time saving hacks (or Hax!) and delicious recipes.
Make several rolls and store in the freezer for up to two weeks.
In a wok, heat the oil until very hot. Add the prawns and chopped garlic. Stir-fry for 2 minutes until the prawns are almost cooked. Add the snow peas and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes. Pour over the stir-fry sauce and toss until hot and well-coated.
Season with black pepper and serve with boiled rice.
Notes
Sometimes the prawns used in this recipe are sold as prawn “cutlets”.
Make sure that you don’t overcook these prawns so they still have some crunch.
Blanch the snow peas by trimming off the ends, removing the string, and standing them in boiling water for 5 minutes.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot.
Katie from Busy Happy Kids knows how challenging it can be to come up with snack ideas for the kids. Not only do we need some nutritious goodies to pack into the lunch boxes, but often the after school munchies have the kids reaching for a snack too.
Easy snacks for kids
In order to help you avoid the pitfalls of processed and often unhealthy snacks, Katie has created a handy list of some superb snack ideas that the kids will love. If you would like to order a fridge magnet of the list, pop on over to her Facebook page, Busy Happy Kids NZ and drop her a message – they’re just $5 incl P&P!
To help you out we’ve even included some Kidspot recipes below for those that require a little bit of preparation. Happy snacking!
The trick to a great sandwich roll up is choosing fresh, tasty bread that the kids like – otherwise they will never even consider trying the filling. Get the recipe for turkey pest roll-ups
Mini frittatas
These little frittatas are made with bacon and peas but you can substitute these for other cooked deli meats or veggies. Try diced capsicum. leftover roast pumpkin or kumara, or grated zucchini. Get the recipe for Mini bacon and pea frittatas
Boost balls
Boost or protein balls come in many different forms. This recipe uses dates, peanut butter, raw cacao powder and almonds. Get the recipe for chocolate nut balls
From Katie at Busy Happy Kids: I started Busy Happy Kids to share activities and ideas on how parents can encourage their children to be active and get outdoors. I was a Physical Education and Health teacher prior to having children and really love encouraging other families to be active. I progressed into sharing recipes and shopping lists/menus to teach parents how to shop on a small budget.
Visit the Busy Happy Kids website for more food ideas, recipe and fun activities to do with the kids.
1 teaspoon Tajin chile and lime seasoning (available online)
1 teaspoon flaky or coarse sea salt
For the avocados
3 avocados, sliced in half and pit removed
olive oil
2 limes, juiced
coarse sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Assemble the salad
2 packages Taylor Farms Kale Chopped Salad Kit (omit the crouton packet if gluten free)
1 cup baby heirloom or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 batch citrus pickled onions
1 batch chile lime walnuts
⅓ cup – ½ cup coconut bacon
6 grilled avocado halves
1 lemon, sliced into wedges
Directions
Prep the citrus pickled onions
Place the sliced onions in a shallow bowl, pour the lime over the onions and sprinkle with sea salt. Stir well then let marinate for at least 20 minutes then drain the liquid.
Roast the walnuts
Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the walnuts onto the prepared baking sheet and toss with olive oil, Tajin and sea salt. Roast in the oven 5-8 minutes stirring once.
Grill the avocados
Lightly oil a grill pan and place it over medium heat.
Brush the avocado halves lightly with olive oil and drizzle with the lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Place the avocados flesh side down on the preheated grill and cook for 5 minutes, or until they have nice dark grill marks. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Assemble the salad
Arrange the Taylor Farms Kale Chopped Salad greens on a large platter. Sprinkle the cheese packets, tomato halves, pickled onions, chile lime walnuts and coconut bacon over the top.
Nestle the avocado halves into the salad and place the lemon wedges around the outside of the platter.
Serve immediately with the lemon vinaigrette from the salad kit.
2 x 200gram sushi grade ahi tuna steaks (3/4 of an inch thick)
2 Tbsp. coriander seeds
1 Tbsp. crushed black peppercorns
½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
Rub coriander seeds, crushed black peppercorns and sea salt and press into tuna loin.
Sear each side quickly on high heat in avocado oil so that the spices brown but the meat only cooks about 1/4 inch into the loin. Let cool for 2 minutes then slice thin.
Toss ingredients and dressing from the Taylor Farms Asian Chopped Salad Kit and plate.
Cut the tenderloin into 16 evenly sized pieces about 2 inches in size. In a medium sized bowl, marinate pork in ¾ cup of the the hoisin sauce turning to coat the meat. Once the meat is coated on all sides, skewer 4 pieces of the pork onto 2 skewers so that the pork lies flat. Once all skewers are assembled heat your grill to high.
Grill the meat for 3 minutes on each side until cooked through and slightly charred. Use the last ¼ cup of hoisin sauce as a marinade while the meat is cooking.
While the pork is being grilled, divide all contents of the Taylor Farms Asian Chopped Salad kit evenly onto 4 dinner plates. Top each plate with peppers, a pork skewer, sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle pork with the remaining ⅓ packet of dressing.
Try this gorgeous chicken and coriander rissoles served with a sweet, spicy mango salad. So fresh and easy, you’ll be asked to make this again and again.
Rissoles:
500gm lean chicken mince
¼ cup chopped coriander
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp freshly ground ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 egg
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (you can use normal breadcrumbs but these have a lovely texture and flavour)
Dot’s Canola Oil Cooking spray
Salad:
4 cups butter lettuce
¼ cup coriander leaves
1 large mango, peeled/deseeded and cut into cubes
2 tbsp cashews, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp vegetable oil (peanut or canola)
Recipe:
Mix rissole ingredients together, and then make 8 balls and flatten slightly. Cover and pop in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
Heat large frying pan to medium-high, spray lightly with Dot’s Canola Oil Cooking spray.
Remove the rissoles from fridge and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through. If you don’t have a pan large enough, cook in batches in a smaller pan. Allow to rest for a couple of minutes.
Make the salad by combining lettuce, coriander and mango together.
Mix sweet chilli sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame and vegetable oils together in a jar and pour over salad.
Top with cashews and serve with rissoles.
Notes:
We recommend Dot’s Canola Oil Cooking Spray as it has no artificial flavours, added salt, colours or animal fats.
If you or someone in your family doesn’t like coriander, you can leave it out or replace it with a little fresh lemon zest.
You can find Panko breadcrumbs in the Asian food aisle of your supermarket.
These rissoles are also fantastic with pork mince or even fish pulsed in the food processor.
These homemade doner kebabs have the same delicious lamb that you get from your Middle Eastern takeaway. Make it at home to share with your whole family.
Step 1. Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan-forced). Place the lamb, herbs and spices all into a food processor and mix until just combined. Alternatively, you can knead it together with your hands, but you will need to do it for 5 minutes so it is well combined.
Step 2. Lay out two large pieces of foil and place half of the lamb mixture on each. Wrap into a tight loaf (about 20cm long) and tuck in ends. Place into a baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes.
Step 3. When done, leave to stand for 10 minutes while you prepare salads and sauces.
Step 4. Just before you serve, remove doner kebab meat from the foil packs and slice thinly. Serve slices in flat bread with salads and sauces.
Notes
Serving Suggestions
Note
We made this into two loaves so it didn’t take too long to cook. But you can make one large loaf and increase the cooking time by 10-15 minutes.
You can also make this dish in the slow cooker. Just place the wrapped meat into the base of your slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
You can halve the portions in this recipe to serve 4.
There is quite a lot of salt in this dish so if you are serving it to babies I would reduce the salt by half.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot.
Heat oven to 200°C. Trim excess fat from lamb and wrap some aluminium foil around the bones to prevent burning. Coat (or spray) lamb with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking dish and cook for 20 minutes for medium, or to your liking.
Combine the yoghurt, garlic, mint, dukkah and salt in a small bowl.
Serve 3-4 lamb racks per person with dukkah yoghurt and a green salad. Garnish lamb with extra dukkah.
Notes:
I like this recipe because if required you can serve the kids’ lamb plain and the adults’ with the yoghurt. Choose a dukkah without chilli so that if the kids are partial to spicy, but not hot, they will love the creamy yoghurt.
For the kids, I usually serve a single cutlet as Lollypop Lamb. If your kids don’t fancy actually touching the meat/bone, cut up into small pieces. So tender and tasty.
3 teaspoons mirin seasoning (available in the international section of supermarkets)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium brown onion, sliced
1 cup capsicum, chopped
2 cups Chinese broccoli (regular broccoli will be fine it just needs to be cooked a little longer)
Serve with:
Boiled rice
Method
In a small bowl combine the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil and brown sugar, stir to combine then put to one side.
Heat wok on high heat until very hot.
In two batches, add onions and beef strips to the wok together with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to combine then sear in wok until meat is brown.
Once all the meat is browned, reheat wok until very hot and add vegetables, saute with lid on until wilted, tossing occasionally.
Add meat and onions followed by the sauce mixture. Stir to combine, pop the lid back on and simmer for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat, tossing to combine.
Remove from heat and serve with boiled rice.
Notes
There is something about greens and ginger that make me feel good inside.
This is a fast and tasty recipe you can whip up on a cool evening. Its even better if you follow it up with the Lemon delicious pudding!
Recipe created by Camilla Baker for Kidspot, New Zealands best recipe finder.
Heat oil in a wok, add half the chicken. Stir fry until brown on all sides, then transfer to a plate. Cook the remaining chicken and transfer to the plate.
Stir-fry the onion for about 2 minutes until translucent, then add chicken, snowpeas and hoisin sauce. Stir until snow peas are bright green.
Serve with steamed rice and garnished with cashews.
Notes:
Chicken is relatively expensive, I bought tenderloins on special, but you could use thigh fillets for a cheaper option.
Add some carrots or capsicum to increase the vegetable content.
A combination of soy sauce, hoisin and sweet chilli sauce is also tasty.
Make these homemade cheeseburgers for a fun family dinner that everyone will love! Adapt the fillings to your family’s tastes and maybe serve with some fries for your own homemade takeaway.
Ingredients
1 kg mince
half a cup cornflake crumbs
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons pesto
2 eggs
1 carrot, finely grated
10 slices cheese
100g mixed lettuce leaves
10 hamburger buns
Method
Place mince, cornflake crumbs, tomato paste, pesto, eggs and carrot in a bowl and mix well to combine.
If the mixture is a bit dry and not holding together, add a bit of cold water.
Divide mixture into 10 heaps and squish into hamburger shapes.
Now dont laugh, but I actually weigh out 120g mixture (60g for kids) and use this groovy 1970s hamburger press mum gave me hey presto, perfectly round, flat hamburgers the same size! But thats me.
Heat a non-stick frypan to a medium-high heat and cook your messy/neat burgers for about 5 minutes each side or until cooked through.
Turn heat down a bit if necessary to avoid the classic burnt burger.
You might need to do this in two batches.
Slice buns in half, top with lettuce, then cheese, then burger and your sauce of choice.
Notes:
Replace the cornflake crumbs with breadcrumbs if you prefer the crumbs keep moisture in the hamburgers.
Add a finely chopped onion if your family can cope with that!
Use a large scone cutter to cut smaller rounds from hamburger buns.
I make very, very flat hamburgers for my I dont do chewing child.
Added bonus is that they look like burgers from our dear friends at the golden arches.
Salad is almost blasphemy as far as my children are concerned, so I often sneak in a very finely grated zucchini as well as the carrot and then I am happy for them to win and have no lettuce.
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a wok, add half the chicken.
Stir fry until brown on all sides, then transfer to a plate.
Cook the remaining chicken and transfer to the plate.
Wipe out the wok with some paper towel and add the remaining teaspoon of oil.
Stir-fry the onion for about 2 minutes until translucent, then add peas and almonds.
Keep stirring so the almonds don’t burn, then add chicken and hoisin sauce and heat through.
Serve with steamed rice.
Notes:
I sneak extra veggies into this stir fry—whatever you can get away with! I usually add zucchini or capsicum sticks. Add just before the sugar snap peas.
My kids are currently fascinated with chopsticks and are trying things they would not normally eat so they can use them.Mostly.
And then there is nothing wrong with eating chicken schnitzel with chopsticks.
Bring chicken stock and 1 cup (250ml) water to the boil in a large saucepan. Submerge chicken, bring back to the boil, then turn off heat, cover tightly with a lid and leave for 10 minutes until cooked through.
To make dressing, combine oils, vinegar and seasoning and set aside.
Heat a small frypan over medium heat, add pumpkin seeds and toast for a couple of minutes, being careful not to burn. Set aside.
In a large bowl, gently toss spinach, avocado, alfalfa and most of the seeds. Dress lightly with the vinegar-oil mixture.
Remove chicken from stock and slice. Serve alongside salad. Garnish with extra seeds.
Poached chicken is delicious in sandwiches. Make extra for tomorrow's lunch.
Reserve the chicken stock and use it in soups or risottos.
Recipe by Greer Worsley, a working mum whose desire to make and bake things has grown in inverse proportion to the amount of spare time she has since her three gorgeous girls came along. Her blog is typically red.
Marinade chicken in teriyaki sauce, lemon juice and honey for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Spread chicken over tray in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
Combine carrot and coriander leaves.
Serve chicken spare ribs with rice, carrot and coriander salad and extra teriyaki sauce.
Notes:
I bought chicken ‘spare ribs’ from the local chicken shop. I am not sure if the term is anatomically correct, but let’s just go with it, shall we!
Fantastic for kids who are just starting to eat meat on a bone – there is only one small bone to negotiate.
Make this recipe gluten-free using tamari sauce instead of the teriyaki.
Trim fat from steak and slice into thin strips about 10cm long. Combine sauces in a large casserole dish and marinade steak for at least one hour or overnight.
Thread one end of a steak strip onto a metal skewer (if using wooden skewers, soak in cold water for 30 minutes before using), fold back and thread onto the skewer, continuing until the whole strip is threaded on. Thread 3-4 strips on each skewer. Dont they look great!
Preheat grill (or barbecue) to high heat and cook skewers on each side until well browned and cooked to your liking.
Warm peanut sauce in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave.
Serve skewers drizzled with peanut sauce.
Notes:
Marinade the meat overnight, thread onto skewers during the day and then keep in fridge until you are ready to cook.
If you can’t find lean lamb mince, buy some lean leg steaks and pulse in the food processor until minced (or you could just use regular lamb mince). You could also use lean beef mince instead.
Rosemary is such a perfect partner to lamb that it’s nice to add one teaspoon of chopped fresh or dried rosemary to the kofta mix.
Make veggies fun and spooky this Halloween with this creepy veggie skeleton dip platter idea. It could also be a fun after school snack that may entice the kids to eat some veggies.
Serves:
Ingredients
2 celery stalks, sliced into sticks
1 large carrot, sliced into sticks
5 mushrooms, sliced
1 red or green capsicum, thinly sliced
1/4 head of broccoli, blanched and broken into smaller florets
1 cucumber, sliced into rounds
2 capers
1 cornichon
Method:
Step 1. Make or buy some hummus or tzatziki and put it in a small bowl (this will be the skeleton’s head).
Step 2. Prepare a large platter, big enough to create your skeleton.
Step 3. Create the skeleton’s spine first using rounds of cucumber.
Step 4. Add the slices of capsicum as ribs.
Step 5. Two large sticks of celery will be the shoulders, followed by two medium carrot sticks for each arm.åÊ A mushroom can be each hand.
Step 6. Arrange the rest of the mushroom slices to be the pelvis bone.
Step 7. Use celery and carrot sticks to create legs and feet.
Step 8. Position the bowl of dip as the head and add florets of broccoli for hair, two capers as eyes and a cornichon as the mouth.
Note
Thanks to our friends at Kidspot Australia for creating the instructional video.
2 chicken breasts, cut through the middle and flattened
1 pack of LeaderBrand Pure’n Ezy beetroot, sliced
1 pack of LeaderBrand Broccoslaw
1 LeaderBrand iceberg lettuce
1 Tbsp of oil
4 slices of cheese
1 tomato sliced
4 pieces of sliced gherkin
Mayonnaise or sauce if desired
Method
Cut the burger buns in half.
Brush chicken with oil and cook until the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink.
Mix together LeaderBrand Broccoslaw with Lemonnaise dressing from the packet.
Stack base of burger bun with iceberg lettuce, Broccoslaw, cooked chicken, cheese, tomato, gherkin and LeaderBrand beetroot. Top with mayonnaise or sauce if desired.
A delicious twist on regular hummus, this spicy pumpkin version goes well with warm pita bread wedges as an appetiser.
Ingredients
2 cups cooked butternut pumpkin pulp (see Notes below)
¼ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cumin, plus extra for sprinkling
olive oil, to drizzle
pita bread, to serve
Method
Mix all of the ingredients except the olive oil and pita bread in a bowl.
Drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with some extra ground cumin. Wrap the pita bread in foil and warm in the oven.
Notes:
You can buy tahini in the health food section of the supermarket.
To roast butternut pumpkin for this recipe: split a whole butternut pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and cook it in the oven at 180°C (160°C) for 45 minutes. There is no need to peel it. You can just scoop out the pulp when you remove it from the oven. If you have some leftover it is great for soup or filling for pasta.
Butternut pumpkin is best used for this recipe because of its sweetness. You can use other varieties, but you may need to add a teaspoon of honey.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
1 cucumber, halved, seeds removed, cut into 5cm strips 1 cup shredded lettuce
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves, chopped
½ cup Hoisin sauce
Method
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 a few pieces of chicken, carrot, cucumber, lettuce and herbs 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 Hoisin dipping sauce. Serving Suggestions
Note
A great kid-friendly recipe, if you have small non-knife-wielding kids, prepare all the ingredients for them and let them roll up, roll up!
We two adults managed to polish off all 10 between us, so maybe double the recipe if you have a hungry horde to feed.
You could bulk these up with some thin rice noodles (stick) and vary the filling with prawns, cooked beef or bean sprouts.
Hoisin sauce is quite a strong flavour, substitute with a bought Rice Paper roll dipping sauce or sweet chilli sauce if you prefer.
¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels), sunflower or sesame seeds
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Grease and line a slice tray (mine is 31 cm x 22cm) with baking paper.
Combine honey, sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until butter melts and sugar dissolves.
Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly.
Remove from heat.
Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour over the hot syrup and stir to combine.
Spoon into prepared pan and press firmly to make sure the mixture will stick together.
I wet my fingers with a bit of cold water and press the top to get a smooth finish.
Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
Cool and then refrigerate until well chilled and cut into 24 slices (about 2cm x 6cm).
Notes:
To make these muesli bars gluten free, use 2 cups of crushed cornflakes and 2 cups of rice bubbles.
The mixture has a total of 1½ cups of dried fruit – use whatever combination you or your kids prefer.
I have to put some obvious choc-chips on the top so my son will tolerate the sultanas.
And let’s not mention the sunflower seeds.
You could use half honey, half smooth peanut butter in the ‘syrup’ or add nuts to the mixture, but as most schools are nut-free now I have omitted these from the basic mix.
Spread tortilla evenly with cream cheese. Top with ham, and avocado.
Roll up tortilla tightly and then slice on an angle.
Notes:
This is a great afterschool snack or perfect for school lunch boxes. Just be sure
to place them in a container snugly so they don’t move around.
I always think multigrain or wholemeal products are better. While I’m not a nutritionist, but I know that white flours and sugars are not good for energy levels and children definitely need their energy at school.
The light cream cheese from Philadelphia brand is really yummy. Normally I’m not a fan of reduced-fat products but this one is really good.
This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder
Cook ¾ of the packet of rice noodles in a large pot of boiling water according to the packet’s instructions. Drain and set aside.
Bring a wok to a medium to high heat, and add sesame oil. Fry the garlic and ginger for 20 seconds then add eggs. Keep the eggs constantly moving around in the wok until cooked.
Raise heat to high, and add the rice noodles and the wine or stock, stir through and cook for about 2 minutes.
Add broccoli, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and shredded chicken. Stir through the noodles until evenly coated. Serve immediately.
Notes:
*Use Gluten Free Soy Sauce.
This dish is really quick and delicious, with soft flavours that are suitable for kids.
The noodles will break down into little pieces which are easy to eat.
You can also do this dish with fresh hokkien noodles which are delicious as well. You can find these in the refrigerated section of your supermarket.
I love roasting my own chickens so I know what goes into them, but if you are short on time, try and find a good BBQ free-range chicken.
This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot,New Zealand’s best recipe finder.
Combine finely chopped chicken with mayonnaise and herbs. Season well with salt and pepper.
Place a nori sheet shiny side down on a bamboo sushi rolling mat. Spread half of the chicken in a thin layer along half of the nori.
Place vegetables evenly on top of the chicken.
Roll sushi, using the bamboo mat to press firmly. Brush edge of nori with water and continue rolling so that the edges seals shut. Slice sushi and place in lunch box.
Kewpie is a Japanese mayonnaise that comes in a squeezie bottle. It is available in the Japanese ingredients section of most supermarkets. You can substitute regular mayonnaise if you prefer.
Use whatever vegetables you or your kids prefer in the filling. Capsicum, herbs such as mint or coriander, or lettuce would be perfect.
If you haven’t rolled sushi before, it takes a little while to get the hang of it. There are usually instructions on the back of the nori sheet packet. You can also find some great video tutorials online.
This recipe was created by Greer Worsley for Kidspot.
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