More From The 'Hiding Vegies' Files

Sorry, this week's been all about food and picky kids. Actually, just one picky kid. The other kid is an absolute champ when it comes to food. Anyway, the food and pickiness posts continue.

Tonight I made a tuna and potato bake for dinner and was working with one hand tied behind my back from the very beginning. Hubby's gastric reflux is playing up at the moment and we have, through much trial and error, discovered that onion - both raw and cooked - is a major trigger so I took the onion off the list of ingredients. Offspring #2 has been so great with her dinner the past couple of nights that I didn't want to serve up something she was going to refuse to eat and destroy the pleasant-ness we have achieved so next I went looking for ways to hide some vegies in the dish.

First step: again following Jo MacD's tip (sorry Jo, I spelt it wrong yesterday) from the comments box I added some steamed mashed cauliflower to the mashed potato. Then onto adding something to the tuna part. I substituted some sauteed celery for the onion and added some mixed dried herbs, grated carrot and grated zucchini to the frypan to fry gently for a minute or two, then added a large tin of tuna, let it warm up a little and splashed in some cream along with some salt and pepper. Then I just popped the tuna mixture into an ovenproof dish, topped it with the mashed potatoes, add some grated cheese and bunged it into a moderate oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Whinging: 0 / Mum: Winning the fight!

She Shoots, She Scores...

and she has a big win at the dinner table! Okay, I'll stop referring to myself in the third person and come back down to Earth.

Lat night's dinner? Fish, chips from the freezer and steamed vegies. Offspring #2, aka Miss Fussy Bum, aka the pain in the butt who I fight with at dinner every single night until I want to scream and run away from my whole family, ate every single bite without a single complaint.

Tonight's dinner? Meatloaf, steamed vegies and mashed potato that I took Jo Mc's hint with and hid some steamed mashed cauliflower in. Again, she ate every single bite without complaining. Alright, one small whine about the bean on her plate but she subsided when I reminded her to have some potato with it to help it go down better.

Then I served up apple and apricot crumble (using some of the stewed apricots that were prepared and frozen back in January) with icecream. She tasted some apricot, pulled the best 'medicine face' I've seen for ages - it involved a whole body shudder which was totally entertaining - and decided she'd just eat the ice-cream and let her dad finish off the crumble.

People, are you holding your breath? Then, she turned to me, thanked me for dinner and announced that it was "alishus". Could a mother be any more proud?

There Goes Another Weekend

For a stay-at-home, nothing-special kind of weekend we seem to have fitted heaps in and once again Sunday draws to a close leaving me exhausted and looking forward to both kids being in school tomorrow so I have a chance to catch my breath.

We had a very special visitor over the weekend. Sprinkles the kindy teddy-bear came home with Offspring #2 on Friday afternoon and has been dragged along everywhere so we could write about all his exciting adventures in his special scrapbook. Here's Sprinkles and #2 playing playstation. Apparently he wasn't very good at it. But she didn't score at all so I'm not sure her opinion is all that valid.

Saturday saw bright sunshine and no rain. Yes, a good chance to catch up on some washing - exciting stuff. The we ran down the hill to visit with Hubby's grandmother, Mumma. I had a bundle of home-cooked meals in the freezer for her and, having spoken to her the day before on the phone, wanted to get them to her as soon as I could. Mumma's about as fussy at #2 when it comes to food so my general rule is that if #2 likes it, Mumma will. That said, Mumma flat out refuses to eat spag bol so she got a couple of portions of cottage pie, some vegie soup, pea and ham soup and some frozen stewed apricots. All were welcomed and more meals have been requested, a request I'll be very happy to fulfill.

This morning was Offspring #1's footy game. Three games into the season and the team is starting to work as... a team and they kicked a few goals and a few more points today. The first game they scored nothing at all so they're definitely improving. #1 took a couple of good marks, made a few great kicks and got into the thick of the action more than he has till now, all of which was lovely to watch. Then after some lunch and baskets and baskets and baskets of ironing we wandered across the road to drink some bubbly (I know, any excuse!) and eat birthday cake. Then home again, dinner, baths for the kidlets, the obligatory yelling that goes with hairwashing and now the kids are in bed, Dr Who is on tv and my lovely Hubby has made me a cuppa to go with a slice of seriously yummy banana cake I baked yesterday.

And your weekend? How was it? What did you get up to?

Easy Peasy Meatballs

The May issue of Good Taste Magazine is getting a total workout in my kitchen. I generally make a few things out of each foodie mag I buy but this issue is one of those rare ones where I flicked through and found page after page of recipes that I was hanging out to make. Recipes that I've wanted to try, or that I knew Miss Fuss Bum would like, or just something a bit different for the dinner table.

This meatball recipe is a total cheats version, tastes fab and Hubby and I loved it. Offspring #1 was unhappy because it had olives in it and didn't believe that you couldn't really taste them, while #2 gobbled hers up after I'd removed the offending huge piece of olive not even noticing the smaller pieces still happily encased in the meat. Next time I'll add some salt and pepper to the meatball mixture and we did sprinkle some parmesan over the finished dish but apart from that I wouldn't change a thing. I especially loved that we got in at 6pm and I had dinner on the table at 6.28pm and that included wrangling small people into baths/showers/pyjamas.

Greek Meatballs and Pasta

from Good Taste magazine, May Issue

400g dried penne pasta

500g lamb mince (oops, used beef mince)

120g Always Fresh Antipasto To Go Continental Mix, drained, finely chopped

1 tbs olive oil (I used the oil from the antipasto pack - thrifty and tasty!)

700ml bottle passata

1. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water following packet direction, Return to pan.

2. Meanwhile, combine mince and antipasto in a bowl. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls. Heat oil in a large deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the meatballs, shaking pan often, for 3-5 minutes or until browned.

3. Add the passata. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly.

4. Add the meatballs to the pasta and toss to combine.

Mash with a Twist

Who doesn't love mashed potatoes in the middle of winter? Warm, filling, comforting and a perfect complement to winter hotpots, casseroles and bakes. They also go well with some tasty sausages and gravy and that's where this little recipe comes in.

We decided on Bangers and Mash for dinner a few nights ago but we needed some other vegies to round out the meal. Offspring #2 is being so difficult foodwise at the moment - I'm almost at my wits end and if it is indeed a phase I'm hoping she gets over it quick smart - so I was looking to get some vegies into her into her using stealth as my weapon. Where could I hide some vegies in a way she wouldn't notice but would still eat? Flicking through the current issue of Good Taste I came across this version of Irish Colcannon and figured it was worth a try. I told her they were really special mashed potatoes with extra stuff like bacon and that she'd love them. Well, she ate them so that's a success in my books and regardless of what she may or may not have thought - we all loved it. So this will be on the menu again and we'll see if she likes it next time round.

Just so you know, I halved the recipe and it did the four of us happily but I'll put the original measurements below.

Colcannon

from Good Taste magazine, May 2010

1. Boil the potatoes

Cook 1kg potatoes, peeled, coarsely chopped in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return to pan. Add 80ml (1/3 cup) milk, 60ml (1/4 cup) pouring cream and 20g butter. Mash until smooth.

2. Cook the cabbage

Meanwhile, melt 20g butter in a saucepan. Add 3 cups finely shredded savoy cabbage and 3 chopped rindless bacon rashers. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until cabbage is tender and bacon is cooked. Add to the potato mixture. Stir in 2tbs chopped fresh chives. Season with salt and white pepper.

3. Serve the colcannon

Colcannon tastes great with pies, grilled lamb or pork chops or slow-cooked casseroles.