Tag: lunchbox

Broccoli Cheese Tater Tots

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria2 Comments

Hi all, I trialled a new recipe this past week for my daughter and I am happy to say it was a success. She loves broccoli, but you still never if she’s going to eat it if I’m not there. I tried them for afternoon tea and then again for her school lunch and she ate them no problem both times. Her dad also loved it, so I thought I better share this recipe.

I adapted this recipe from Baked Cheddar Broccoli Tots by Sabrina of Dinner then Dessert. I never intended on altering the recipe but made a few minor changes to suit my family and my style of cooking. Firstly, I blanched the vegetables instead of microwaving them. I don’t have a microwave in my kitchen. I don’t like using them at all. We do actually have one, but my partner has to go into the garage to use it on occasion. I prefer to use my stove or a small oven. I also added fresh grated carrot, red onion and Nutritional yeast. My family are more accustom to these ingredients and the Nutritional yeast gives a nice cheesy taste with extra health benefits. I also preferred to use my homemade breadcrumbs, since the panko crumbs and other breadcrumbs in general from the supermarket, are full of nasty ingredients. My homemade breadcrumbs are so quick and easy to make and they really do makes a difference the flavour of anything I add them too. They are also not so dry, so I don’t need to add spray oil to whatever I coat them in. Lastly, I had to add a little olive oil, as my batch of tots were way too crumbly. The oil made them lovely and moist and probably helped brown better when baking.

These tater tots are delicious on their own, but they also pair well with a good quality tomato sauce. They are perfect for lunchboxes, kids meal, appetiser or as party food. They also freeze well. If serving them re-warmed, I recommend placing them in the oven or air-fryer for a few minutes. This will keep them crisp, opposed to the microwave, which seems to make things soggy.

Broccoli Cheese Tater Tots

(nut free, gluten free option)

Ingredients:

2 cups of broccoli florets, don’t include hard stems

1/4 cup finely grated carrots

sea salt

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1 cup good quality store-bought or homemade bread crumbs (sourdough, garlic, lemon zest, sea salt), or use gluten free breadcrumbs if you prefer.

1/2 cup organic shredded cheddar cheese or other shredded/grated cheese

2 organic free-range eggs, lightly beaten.

1-2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper
  2. Place broccoli in a small pan with a tiny bit of water. Cook for 2 minutes, add a pinch of sea salt and add carrot and cook for 2 more minutes. The broccoli should be tender and bright green in colour.
  3. Strain the broccoli and carrot in a fine mesh strainer and press lightly to remove any excess water and allow to cool a little.
  4. Place the broccoli and carrot mixture on a chopping board and mince, so that the broccoli is in smaller pieces. Then add to a large mixing bowl.
  5. Add red onion, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, nutritional yeast and olive oil. Mix until combined
  6. Take about 1 tbsp size of the mixture into your hand and squeeze into a tater tot shaped ball and place the baking tray.
  7. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn the tater tots. Return to the oven and bake for a further 7 minutes.

*Makes about 26 tater tots

*If freezing, wrap in small batches in an airtight bag or container and defrost overnight. If you want to serve them hot, reheat in an air-fryer or small oven. Serve immediately or place in a thermos.

Lunchbox Ham, Cheese and Veggie Quiche

Published on by Vanessa GregoriaLeave a comment

Hi all, hope you had a wonderful summer holiday. Since my last post, we did our road trip in Tasmania and got through our first week of Prep. I have been so pumped up, getting up around 4-5 am. I’ve never been an early riser, but these pregnancy hormones are making me a bit of a Stepford wife. I don’t think I’ve ever been so productive in the home, but I have been getting a little burned out by the afternoon. So I’ve been a bit slow to get back to blogging and colouring. On the bright side, my fridge and freezer are loaded with healthy meal prep for everyone.

I spent most of last week preparing healthy homemade goods for my daughter and partners lunches. I’ve made chicken and veggie sausage rolls, baked chicken nuggets, spinach and feta scrolls, chicken and veggie meatballs and mini banana blueberry cupcakes. My little family really loved all of these homemade baked goods, but I didn’t think to photograph and take notes of my creations. However, I just prepare a healthy kid-friendly quiche that was also a hit with the family, so I took a few pictures before it was all gone, so I could share it with you all.

This quiche is really quick to prepare. It only took me about 10 minutes to put together before baking. It is perfect for a lunchbox, quick dinner or meal prepped breakfast. You can alter the vegetables depending on what you have on hand. I used broccoli and zucchini because they are my daughter’s favourite vegetables and they go well with eggs. However, steamed sliced potato or roasted pumpkin would also go really nicely. Ham is of course optional. I normally stay clear of deli meats, but my local organic butcher makes their leg ham. It is a good alternative treat for my ham-and-cheese loving child, as it doesn’t contain nitrate or preservatives. Since I try to keep dairy consumption low in my home I try to use alternatives that are more easy to digest. So I prefer to use natural sheep’s yogurt (Meredith Dairy), which will give the quiche a more creamy texture. As for cheese, you can go with what ever you like. I normally would go for freshly grated Pecorino Romano, which is made of sheep’s milk. But I found Barambah Organics Cheddar Cheese Shredded from the health food store, without preservatives and anti-caking. Although this quiche looks small, it is quite dense. It can cut into 4 serves or be halved again, as a protein snack. It is also unnecessary and not recommend reheating this quiche, simply because it’s not the healthy to reheat eggs. If you’re wondering why, see this article: 8 Foods You Shouldn’t Reheat (Because They Could Poison You).

Lunchbox Ham, Cheese and Veggie Quiche

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

4 slices of free range nitrate free leg ham, chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli florets

1/2 medium zucchini grated

5-6 organic free range eggs

2 tbsp organic natural sheep/cow yogurt

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup organic shredded or grated cheedar/mozzarella/pecorino cheese

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
  2. Heat olive oil in a small pan, then add the ham. Saute for a few minutes until it’s cooked through.
  3. Add broccoli and zucchini and cook for a couple more minutes, until the broccoli is bright green and tender.
  4. Evenly spread out the ham and veggies into a prepared baking dish. I used 20cm x 24cm ceramic baking tray lined with parchment paper.
  5. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and yogurt and add a pinch of sea salt.
  6. Sprinkle half the cheese on top of the ham and veggies, then spread evenly with egg mixture and lastly top with leftover cheese.
  7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.
  8. Remove from the baking tray and once cool enough, slice to serve or store.

Non-toxic Lunchbox Accessories

Published on by Vanessa GregoriaLeave a comment

When I was growing up I can’t remember anyone talking about non-toxic containers for lunches and food storage. However, we now know how dangerous plastics can be for our hormones, especially when microwaved. BPA often comes to mind, but other toxins may still be present in plastic, which are just as dangerous to our health. Luckily there are many safer options available now. You can find containers made of stainless steel, glass and safer plastic that doesn’t contain BPA, Lead, Phthalates, and PVC. Although they often cost more they do last longer and can often be recycled. I think this is a better investment in our health and the planet.

One dilemma I did come across when researching containers and also lunchboxes is that most weren’t microwave safe. I don’t use a microwave at all. I actually have a small oven instead of a microwave at home. However, my partner does use the microwave at work, as much as I tell him not to. I try to prepare meals that don’t need to be microwaved or but sometimes he just doesn’t want to eat his meal cold. We use round Pyrex glass containers or Decor glass containers with BPA-free air vent lid. When possible he doesn’t use the lid. However it is a difficult situation when using a shared microwave, so I always make sure the food isn’t touching the top.

A product that was recommended to me by a store assistant at Biome is the Charles Viacin Lilypad lids. Unfortunately, I haven’t convinced him to take one of these to work. They are made of silicone and are microwave safe and BPA Free. From what I have read on this subject BPA free, food grade Silicone (often used in bakeware) has no definitive studies proving that it is unsafe. Plastics, on the otherhand has counterless studies proving that they are very dangerous to our health and the planet. I would love to know what you think?

I guess my conclusion to this research is to continue to use and purchase these safer non-toxic lunch box alternatives, use glass for reheating, thermal for warm foods (that will be eaten within the hour) or cool food and where possible prepare foods that don’t need reheating.

If your interested in some lunchbox meals that don’t need to be reheated here are some great ideas from 101 Cookbooks , Oh She Glows and Buona Pappa (for the little ones).

In this article I have included non-toxic lunchbox accessories, that can purchased in Australia, such as:

For more lunch products  you can buy in Australia, check out my article Non-toxic Lunch Bags and Lunch Boxes.

If you have any thoughts or recommendations feel free to leave a comment!

 

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Non-toxic Lunch Bags and Lunch Boxes

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria4 Comments

These days cute and stylish lunch boxes and bags for kids and adults have become the norm. No more brown paper bags, when you can eat lunch in style. However many of these insulated lunch bags, plastic containers, and lunch boxes are full of harmful substances, such as BPA, Phthalate, Lead and PVC. Now with so many eco-friendly and non-toxic options, there’s no need to eat your lunch out of toxic vessel.

A study done by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ, La Weekly 2012) found that many vinyl lunchboxes and other back-to-school items had high levels of phthalates. They stated that children are most at risk, since “their developing brains and bodies, their metabolism and behaviors make them uniquely vulnerable to harm from toxic chemicals”. These chemicals have been linked to various problems such as ADHD, birth defects, asthma, diabetes. Other studies have also demonstrated that substances such as BPA, PVC, lead are also dangerous for our health, causing disruptions to hormones, behavioural problems and linked to cancer.

There are so many great brands making products that are eco-friendly and non-toxic. So here are some of the best ones I have found available to Australian consumers.

The products I have researched include:

I have previously written up a list of Non-Toxic Diaper Bags, Toddler and Grade School Backpacks that will complement your non-toxic lunch bags and boxes. Stay tuned for another post featuring more lunch box accessories, such as containers, water bottles and ice packs.

 

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