Broccoli Nuggets

My picky eater son like green color so it's easy for me to trick him into eating hidden green vege.
I started experimenting with Broccoli Nuggets recipe that I found from Momables website here. I told my son that I am making him a green nuggets. So he was so excited to see the outcome of the so called 'green' nuggets.
The first time I make this nuggets, I added some shredded cooked chicken in order to hide the strong taste of the broccoli. When my son came back from school seeing those nuggets waiting for him in the kitchen, he immediately grabbed it and shoved it into his mouth. And with a big grin, he gave me a thumbs up! He even asked me to pack these nuggets for his lunchbox the next day. And occasionally he asked me to make them again. Yeay!!!
So here's the recipe that I have amended to add the cooked chicken.

I even tried the recipe as is (without the cooked chicken) the 2nd time I made  this and my son can't even tell the difference and still liking it 😊 I really glad I came across this recipe. Do give it a try.

Recipe source: Momables

INGREDIENTS:
300g broccoli (that has been chopped coarsely and blanced for a few minutes in hot water) 
150g shredded cooked chicken
3 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon chicken seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt

METHODS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Put broccoli in a food processor and processed until finely chopped.
Add the rest of the ingredients and processed until all has mixed thoroughly.
Scoops the mixture using a cookie scoop or a small ice cream scoops and place in a silicon sheets.
Press to flatten them a bit. 
Then bake until done or until its golden brown in a preheated 190 degree Celcius oven.

Eggless Milo Muffins stuffed with Choki Choki

Yesterday, as I was looking at the 5 packs of Choki Choki that we got for free (can't remember where we got this from but it's been in my pantry for a few months already) when suddenly idea came rushing in to put this chocolatey Choki Choki in muffins.

Since my sons prefer chocolate muffins, I decided to just go for the Chocolate muffins recipe from Nigella website that I normally used.

But then I realized that I ran out of cocoa powder, eggs and milk *sigh. (Looks like its time for grocery shopping)

So I quickly googled for eggless muffin recipe and I found this easy peasy recipe from food.com. The plus point is that it also does not use milk, which I didn't have at the moment. 

I have slightly modified the recipe to fit my taste and to cater for the missing ingredient (I have no cocoa powder, remember?). So from the original recipe, I substitute cocoa powder with milo and use coconut oil instead of normal oil. Also I substitute brown sugar to white sugar (reduced the amount too). And the most fun part is the Choki Choki filling that I added. Nyum..

Recipe source: Food.com

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups All purpose Flour

3/4 cups Brown Sugar

2.5 Tbsp Milo

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 cups Coconut Oil

1 tsp Vanilla essence

1 Tbsp White Vinegar

1 cup Warm Water

1/8 cup of Chocolate Chips (I only have this much left in my pantry *sigh again)

METHODS:

1) Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

2) Then add wet ingredients in and stir until well combined.

3) Add in chocolate chips into the mixture and mix gently.

4) Then pour the batter halfway in each muffin pan, add in some Choki Choki inside the batter and top up again with batter until almost full.
5) Sprinkles milo on top of the batter.

6) Bake in 180 degrees Celcius oven until done.

Cheeseburger Pasta Casserole

When I came across this recipe from here, I was really excited to try this out. What could be better than a combination of two of my kids favourite meal (Cheeseburger and macaroni) into one!

Out from the oven

This meal received a big thumbs up from my husband and my kids..yeay ;)

So do give this recipe a try. Recipe below. You can also refer to the original recipe from the link I added above.

I also bake carrots and sweet potatoes for side dish

Add chopped lettuce for the crunchy texture

I have altered the recipe a bit since I used the ingredients that I only have on hands. So since I ran out of worcestershire sauce, I substitute it with oyster sauce. I also used my homemade tomato puree combined with storebought pasta sauce. I omit onion, onion powder and garlic powder as well since I don't have that in my pantry at the moment, so I just used minced garlic.

Here are the ingredients:

225g of Macaroni
4 clove of Garlic - minced
300g of minced beef
1/2 to 1 jar homemade Tomato Sauce (depends on your taste)
1/2 jar Kimball Pasta sauce (depends on your taste)
2 Tablespoon Tomato Puree - if needed
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 or 2 Tablespoon Mustard
2 tsp brown sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese

Before going in the oven 

1) Cook macaroni as instructed in the package
2) In the meantime, heat oil in a pan and add minced garlic and minced beef. Cook until minced beef brown. While cooking this, I put carrots and sweet potatoes in the oven to bake, this will be our side dish to be eaten alongside the casserole.
3) Then add the rest of the ingredients except cheese.
4) Stir for 3 minutes until all the flavors from the ingredients incorporated.
5) Add in cooked macaroni and stir until coated.
6) Next, pour the mixture in a oven dish half, sprinkle with cheese, and another half mixture and sprinkle with more cheese on top.
7) Bake in the oven (175 degrees Celcius) for about 15 mins or until the cheese has melted.

Healthy Carrot Stick

Healthy Carrot Stick

My 'picky eater' son also love this snack. He doesn't even know there's carrot in it (*bonus point there) Recipe worth trying.

For a change, I cut the dough in fun shaped to put in my son's lunchbox

Source:
http://weelicious.com/2010/06/03/carrot-snack-sticks/

I have slightly altered the original recipe using ingredients that i have on hand.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons of cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 of tsp salt
• 1/2 cup of carrot, shredded finely
• 2 Tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tsp of brown sugar

METHODS: 

1. Combine the flour, cheese, baking powder, salt and sugar and stir to combine.
2. Add the carrots to the flour mixture, using your hand to coat the carrot pieces with flour.
3. Add the oil and knead to bring the dough together.
4. (until the flour absorbs the oil. add extra tsp of oil if the mixture seems too dry and not coming together).
5. Roll the dough into about 1/2 inch thick (I prefer to roll it a bit thinner to get the crisp texture). 
6. Cut the dough into sticks. You can even use a cookie cutter to cut it in a fun shape (as shown in my son's lunchbox above).
7. Bake on a preheated oven of 190 degrees Celsius until done.

Cheese Crackers

Cheese crackers for my kids' snack.

Recipe adapted from ig @nurpian04 or can refer to her blog http://cake-2-u.blogspot.my/
I have added about 1/4 tsp of salt and 1 tbsp brown sugar from the original recipe.

120 g all purpose flour
70 g grated cheddar cheese
60 g butter
2 tbsp ice water
1) Mix all ingredients in food processor except water. Pulse few times until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2) Add water and pulse until become dough.
3) Wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.
4) Take out dough and roll thin. Cut in any shapes you want. I used pizza cutter to cut into small squares and make the hole in the middle using chopstick end.
5) Bake in 170 degree Celsius oven until done.

Homemade Pocky

Homemade pocky stick. My boys favourite snack!

I am so trilled when I came across this recipe. My boys really love to eat pocky, so it would be great to be able to make a homemade pocky for them ;)

Recipe source: ig @nurpian04 (http://cake-2-u.blogspot.my/)

INGREDIENTS:
140 g all purpose flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1 1/2 tbsp sugar 
45 g butter
4 tbsp fresh milk

METHODS:
1) Mix flour and corn flour. Then put sugar and butter and press with hand until resembles bread crumbs.
2) Add milk and mix well until become dough.
3) Wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.
4) Take out dough and roll it thin then cut into sticks using long knife or pizza cutter or any method you prefer.
5) Bake at 170 degree celcius for 12 - 15 mins or until done.
6) Once done, let cool. Then melt chocolate in a glass and dip stick biscuits one by one. You can also sprinkle with nuts or chocolate rice, or any sprinkles of your choice.
7) Let cool until the chocolate set.

Quick n Easy Cauliflower Mac & Cheese

What would you do when you didn't thaw any meats but then your kids are already asking for lunch?
You make Cauliflower Mac & Cheese!!

Since I already pre-packaged small portion frozen pepperoni (for easy thawing), and I have make-ahead cauliflower puree ready in my refrigerator, this meal is a quick and easy lunch not only for the kids but for us - the parent too. The delicious meal is also quite so called healthy since you have hidden cauliflower in it (really a big bonus for my picky eater, that does not eat veggie).

So below is my recipe & steps on this Skinny Mac & Cheese:

1) Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a sauce pan.
2) Add pepperoni and stir for few mins then add 1 tsp of minced garlic and 1 cube chicken stock.
3) Add 2 Tbsp of flour and 3/4 cup of cauliflower puree, dash of paprika.
4) Stir until mixture become like a paste.
5) Then add 1 1/2 cup milk and 1 cup of water. Stir on medium heat until slightly thicken.
6) Add 1/2 cup or more shredded cheddar cheese and stir until thicken.
7) Next add cooked macaroni (2 1/4 cups), sprinkle dried parsley and stir until combined.
8) Pour mixture into oven proof dish, sprinkle top with shredded cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake at 200 degree Celsius until the top has browned. I used broiled setting. (Didn't get the chance to let the top of my macaroni completely browned because the kids are starving, so need to take it out of the oven after only less than 10 mins).

Homemade Frozen Foods

I have been trying to make healthy, preservatives free, homemade frozen food for my family. Been searching and testing with the recipes for months. Finally I think I got the perfect recipes for homemade frozen foods that my family like and also the most important thing is - it is kids approved.

NUGGETS & CHICKEN MEATBALLS
(recipe adapted from http://www.momables.com/lunchbox-wars-4-chicken-nuggets/)

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken cubes
1/2 cups oats
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Any seasoning based of your choice
Salt and pepper
Shredded carrot (based on own preference)


Method:
1) Mince chicken in a food processor, add the remaining ingredients and pulse few times until well blended. 
2) Divide mixture in half and shapes into balls for meatball. For the other half, shapes into any nugget's shape (can use cookie cutter if u want) and coat each nugget in 1. flour, then 2. eggs and 3. breadcrumbs.
(Made approx 50++ nuggets or 30 nuggets and 25 meatballs)
Freeze for later use.

BEEF PATTIES AND MEATBALLS:

Ingredients: 
350g beef
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Breadcrumbs (estimated about 1/8 to 1/4 cups - until you feel that the patty is easier to shape)
1 egg
Any seasoning based on your preference
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt & pepper
Grated cheddar cheese


Method:
1) Mince beef in a food processor, remove any fats before adding the rest of the ingredients and pulse for few times.
2) Shape into balls and flatten.(Made approx 10 patties weighing 70g each)
Freeze for later use.








CHICKEN PATTIES
(recipe from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-burgers-recipe.html)

Ingredients:
480g chicken cube

1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
Any seasoning of your choice
Normally I will add any spices that I have on hand - Paprika, or curry powder, cumin powder, dry mustard - be creative ;)
Salt & pepper

Method:
1) Grind chicken in a food processor.
2) Put ground chicken in a bowl, add the remaining ingredients and stir until well blended.
3) Shape into balls and flatten. 
4) Coat each patty in breadcrumbs. Freeze for later use

HOTDOGS



Ingredients:
400g ground chicken
50 grams cheddar cheese
Salt & Blackpepper
Perencah soup
2 Tbsp Tapioca flour

Method:
1) Mix all ingredients in a food processor. 
2) Shape and wrap with plastic wrap and freeze for 30mins. 
3) Then unwrap plastic and boil for 15 mins or until cooked.
Freeze for later use.


MEATLOAF
Recipe source: http://www.southernplate.com/2009/01/meatloaf-making-freezing-and-small-batch-options.html