three boys kitchen

fish fish the family dish…

managing to get out in the boat during lockdown? for most people probably not, but fish is great for you so if you can manage to get hold of some from the supermarket here’s a great easy meal that the family will love. since we don’t often get to eat fish and chips anymore it’s my go to put together, for a batch. this weekend Riley asked me to make fish finger, so i thought id share how this works in our house, cause it’s a total winner.

fish and chips, home made styles…

8 x snapper fillets approx
3 x eggs
fogdog gluten free breadcrumbs
potatoes
oil
salt and pepper
garlic
mayo
lemon
1 x gerkin

firstly, don’t forget to double check your ingredients to make sure what you are fitting into your allergies

peel (i know totally tedious, so don’t peel if you don’t want) and cut your potatoes. i’m not going to tall you what shape cause i’m sure you can figure that out, and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter.

if you are short on time, pop them in the microwave, covered, with a couple of teaspoons of water for about ten minutes, this precooks them and makes the roasting part quicker

toss over some oil and salt and pepper and some crushed fresh garlic if you want, then pop them in a lined pan and put them in a preheated oven, or BBQ at 200c for an hour if not precooked, or 1/2 and hour if precooked. poke them with a knife and if the insides are soft they are done, make sure to gave them a bit of a toss every now and then though too.

while the spuds are cooking get the fish and give it a bit of a wash with some cold water. cut them up into chunks. or leave them whole, whatever works for your family.

pop the eggs into a bowl and beat, and the breadcrumbs into another bowl. im sure you know this deal, dip into the egg, then the breadcrumbs and coat. i don;t add flour, or extra layers, cause i don’t think it’s necessary but feel free if you want to.

heat up some oil in a pan then pop your fish in. it’s ok to have the pan quite hot because fish cooks quickly. so you want to brown the outside quite quickly while not cooking the fish too long. gluten free breadcrumbs tend to be quite blonde so watch your timing.

once all the fish is cooked and the potatoes are cooked you are good to go. I didn’t have any tartare sauce so i made a quick version. some mayo, a chopped up gherkin, a squeeze of lemon and you are good to go.

the kids devoured it and Dustin asked for more the next night, total winner!!

stay safe friends, this is a strange time, but we will get there!!

rice bowl…

so lockdown is happening here in new zealand. three boys, a puppy, a restless hubby and me in a caravan is real fun times!! i hope you guys are being safe out there and looking after eachother.

with this random time i feel like it’s quite important to eat food which is healthy, cause i know you want to eat that cake i made last week, well i do too, so i totally understand.

but i felt i should share a couple of recipes with you that you can put together easily without too much expense or fuss. surprisingly this is something my kids like to eat yep they really do. i think it maybe the bowls lol

don’t forget to check the package ingredients for your specific allergies.

rice bowl….

quinoa and rice mix
broccoli or broccolini
one red and one yellow capsicum
seeds or nuts
2 cans of smoked tuna

this one is a super simple put together, cook the rice as per your prefered instructions, either the microwave version or the full cook version, whatever you can get your hands on.

boil some water and pop in the broccoli when it’s rolling. don’t cook it for long, maybe five minutes, we want a little bit of strength in them still.

slice up the capsicum and pop in a hot fry pan to fry it up.

once you have cooked everything put some rice in the bowls, top with your tuna, cooked veggies and nuts. then serve

ok so it’s simple and delicious, but don’t feel restricted by the ingredients i have used here. some other options, put a cob of corn in the boiling water or on the BBQ and shave the kernels off, use left over roasted chicken instead of tuna, or cut up rump steak with some sweet soy drizzled over, use brown rice, normal rice, or whatever grain you might prefer. use courgettes, red onions, fried shallots, spring onions, really the sky or your pantry is the limit. use what you have, what you like, as long as its fresh and delicious.

stay safe out there friends, if we all work together and stay at home we can beat this thing!!

growing boys and afternoon snacks…

keeping up with the stomachs of three growing boys is a nightmare at times, doing it when two of them have allergies can do you head in.

so I thought id do a quick extra post about nuggets, yip good old chicken nuggets. i mentioned them when i talked about Dustins birthday party but i think these a worth a proper run down.

keeping kids out of the hangry zone in my house often requires protein and substantialness. Bayley in particular can eat everything in his lunchbox and still come home starving. so when i found these Inghams Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets, you could nearly see me jump for joy in the supermarket isle (not sponsored by the way, actual jumping involved)

i just bung them in a lined pan and put them in the top rack in my BBQ and they are done in about 20 minutes, then they just need to hold off for a second so they don’t burn their hands.

i serve mine with some satay sauce, but you can go with whatever takes your fancy, and they kids are done until dinner time.

cake…..

what more is there to say? cake is delicious, cake is the best! good cake is also really hard to come by when you are gluten and dairy free, boo!!

this recipe i have adapted from one that was in a countdown mailer a few years ago. it’s chocolaty, moist, and so delicious. i make this one as our special occasion cake, and made it for Dustin’s birthday, but in the excitement didn’t get very good photos. so i have made it again just for you, well actually for me to eat…

i have found that Edmonds Gluten free flour is the best, and can substitute into most recipes. they have both plain and self raising, so something for everything.

fantastic chocolate cake…

Please remember when dealing with allergies to double check the ingredients.

250g Oliviani Spread
200g Whittakers 50% or more dark chocolate
1 cup sugar
1/4c cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups Edmonds Gluten Free Self raising flour
2 Eggs
Splash of vanilla extract

pop the spread, chocolate, sugar, cocoa and water into a big pot and heat on a low temperature.

when it’s all melted add the flour, then the eggs and vanilla and give it a good mix. use a whisk if you want but a wooden spoon works too.

line a 20cm tin and pour the mix in then stick it in the oven on 180c. now i am terrible with timing and i just started thinking how long it takes, and i really have no idea. so how do i tell if it is cooked? firstly you can smell a cake when it is almost there. this cake will be wobbly until it is cooked, so open the oven, use a mitt and pull the tray out, if the mixture wobbles pop it back in. when it has stopped wobbling use a knife in the centre and it should come out almost clean. you don’t want to overcook this cake as it will be dry. so as long as the knife is clean you are good to go.

pull out the cake and leave it in the tin to cool.

to ice this version i used oliviani spread, icing sugar and cocoa to make some butter cream icing and after applying it i put some cherry and vanilla compote on the top. delicious!!

chocolate mousse, or dino poop…

this recipe is a great one for everybody, you can make it dairy, gluten, nut, egg what ever free you need, and it’s using a little known mostly thrown out product that is kind of a rock star.

I froze these after Dustin’s birthday party, they keep really well!!

we all love chocolate mousse right? but when the allergy police come knocking you end up missing out on some of these things that are totally delicious but full of all the goodness an animal can make. so when I was introduced to this magical product my world was changed forever. ok not really but you get my drift.

chick pea juice. yip it’s random, yip it sounds gross, yip it even looks gross, but if you take the chickpeas out of the can and put the juice into a bowl or machine and whisk that gross looking juice, and whisk, and whisk some more, it fluffs up just like egg whites, just exactly like egg whites. yip i said it twice. so it goes from kind of gross to amazing fluffy stiff peaks that can be used just like egg whites. i haven’t tried it in every application but mousse is definitely a winner.

so here it goes…

chickpea chocolate mousse…

one can of chick peas
one 250g whittakers 50% or more chocolate (see my disclaimer)
almond – or whatever type of non dairy milk you prefer

pop about 1/4 of a cup of your milk into a microwave safe bowl and add your chocolate, all broken up. zap in the microwave for a couple of minutes then stir, if there are hard lumps pop it back in, if not then just stir some more. this now needs to be left to cool. but not so cool it’s hard. it takes a while so just hang in there.

drain the juice from the chick peas into the whisking bowl and pop the chick peas aside. i just put them in a container in the fridge then roasted them with a whole lot of spices to add to a salad.

whisk the juice, it takes a bit longer than egg whites so be prepared, and about at that time when you think i don’t know what im talking about it will start to happen, and whisk they will.

once the juice is whisked and the chocolate is pretty much cold, take a scoop of your juice and mix it into your chocolate, go to town and get it all mixed in there because the air in it will make the next bit easier.

next carefully fold in the rest of your whipped juice. take your time and do it slowly, you don’t want to beat out all that air. once it’s done pop it into some containers. i used bamboo boats from the warehouse, then put them in the fridge to cool. you can eat it right away if you want but cold is better.

now when I made this lot I was in a bit of a rush and didn’t wait for the chocolate to cool properly, nor did i fold in the first bit then add the second bit, so mine looked like aerated chocolate milk. to fix it i just put the mix back in my whisking bowl and started whisking again. it took ages but it thickened and moussed, and tasted delicious. so this stuff can totally be saved!!

I topped my mousse with some munched up cookies and popped a dinosaur on them and the kids called them dinosaur poop, delicious!!

a little birthday magic

Dustin turned four a few weeks ago. of course this threw up some major hurdles, especially considering we have recently discovered both strawberry’s and tomatoes are also a trigger for his allergy. so cut out dairy, gluten, strawberries and tomatoes out of the birthday boys diet and what have you got left? the thinking cap definitely had to come out!! in the panic of the actual day I didn’t get all the photos i would usually so I’ll make the cake again soon so I can give you that yummy recipe, but for now I’ll give you a couple of ideas that we came up with that made his dinosaur themed party easy.

jelly is always a birthday winner in our house. but because we are all packed up while our shed is being built i had a bit of a panic about not being able to find the baby food jars i usually put my jelly in. never fear the warehouse had these cute little jars in the section with their other preserving jars. I got five jars of jelly out of one jelly packet. then just pop the lid back on if they don’t get eaten and they will last in the fridge. team them with some wooden spoons, also from the warehouse and our naturals and green colour scheme took off.

next we added in a platter of fresh fruit with marshmallows on it. in season fruit is awesome and inexpensive, rock melon, watermelon and pineapple made the cut. then i just added some marshmallows in between on the platter – man i wish i had taken photos.

I did another platter, this one had on it some pavillion slices. they do a great raspberry slice, and a mint slice that the kids love, both gluten and dairy free. then from couplands I also got some of their GF DF bites and biscuits to complete the platter. easy, done.

Dustin loves savouries so back to couplands for some more pavillion. they do a savoury box with pies, and sausage rolls. then I found at countdown they had gluten free nuggets, made by inghams. I think they have pepper in them, but they are a total family favorite, we couldn’t keep up with demand and they were the first to go. with these we served plum sauce, satay sauce and BBQ sauce all of which seam to get by Dustin’s allergies.

the cake of course was gluten free and dairy free, but I’ll go into that another time, when I get a chance to make another.

another thing Dustin loves that I added to the table was rocky road. this recipe is so super versatile you can really make it however you want, add whatever you want, more or less of whatever you want, there are no rules here, im not even worried if you prefer your chocolate to rocky ratio to be higher or lower. but ill give you my latest, and i say latest because it will probably change again next time i make it.

right now you’ve managed to scroll past the chocolaty goodness lets talk ingredients.

chocolate disclaimer – Whittikers 50% and above have “may contain dairy” on the label so they are my go to for chocolate. for those of you who aren’t aware “may contain” usually means it is processed on machines, or in the same building as something that has dairy in it. so the manufacturers can’t guarantee it is dairy free. a whole heap of products have the “may contain” label and as my kids don’t have severe allergies i risk it. it is totally at your discretion what works for you. find another chocolate if you are uncomfortable with the risk. so…

rocky road…

2 250g whittakers 50% dark chocolate
kea Cookies Lemon coconut cookies (from new world)
fruit puffs (countdown brand)
dinosaur lollies (the natural confectionery company they contain wheat products – the countdown brand has jubes with no wheat)

so this is totally easy. while it’s still in the packaging break up your chocolate, then put it into a microwave save bowl. put it on for 1 minute at a time until the chocolate is melted a little, give it a good stir, if there are still hard lumps in it, pop it back in the microwave, if there are a couple of soft ones just leave it for a minute and it might melt on it’s own.

next prepare your rockyness, i left the fruit puffs whole, but cut the dinos in half. the cookies i just broke a little when i added them.

chuck everything into the chocolate, then give it a little stir.

line a slice tin with baking paper, my ones about 20cm by 10cm. pop the chocolate mix in the tin, and spread it out as best you can. give it a little shake, and a little bang, then pop it in the fridge.

a couple of hours later you can get it out and slice it. try to put in in a container in the fridge, if it will make it that far!!

what else can you put in? marshmallows, nuts of all kinds, other lollies, cookies, dried fruit, hmmm that’s all i can think of, but as long as it’s dry and goes with chocolate, and you like to eat it, chuck it in!!

and then there was the chocolate mousse….. watch out for next weeks post.

chicken and cranberry sausage rolls

over christmas i was missing a few of our favorite treats. chicken and cranberry is one of my it flavors around christmas time, and sausage rolls are always the kids favorite no matter the time of the year. so to get to christmas and find a recipe that was for chicken and cranberry sausage rolls and not be able to make them got me going a little.

got me going on a hunt that is. i knew there were gluten and dairy free savories out there, so I wondered if the pastry was also available. and sure enough Pavillion brand does gluten free dairy free pastry. (not sponsored)

the reason i mention this particular brand is that they are the ones that do the savories, so i kind of thought they would be the winner. the pastry comes in a 400g block from countdown, and is $5.99 when you order online. in this recipe I used two blocks, because we love sausage rolls. but I also made quite big rolls, as you can see by the picture so you could probably get two lots out of one block. I see they have sheets coming too so will be interested to see how they work.

just remember, my kids have intolerance’s not allergies, so make sure you check your ingredients first

chicken and cranberry sausage rolls

7-8 rashers of streaky bacon
small onion
oil
500grms chicken mince
gluten free breadcrumbs
1 egg
cranberries
salt and pepper
your favorite chicken herbs
1 packet of gluten free dairy free pastry
cornflour

method super annoying i know, but get a frying pan out and heat it up. cut up your onion and bacon into little bits, the onion as small as you can and the bacon small too.

use a little oil in the pan and fry the onion and the bacon on a low heat, use a low heat and take a little time so they don’t burn.

while that’s happening put your chicken in a bowl, add in the cranberries, salt and pepper and an egg give it a bit of a mix, and see how it comes together. if it doesn’t stay together when you smoosh it then add a small amount of breadcrumbs, but you don’t want it super dry either, try again, and add more if necessary.

add your salt and pepper as you like it and your cooked onion and bacon. if you like particular herbs then add them too, parsley is good, taragon is great with chicken, or even a bit of italian herbs if you prefer.

now the tricky part. use a little corn flour on the bench and roll out your pastry. i rolled mine to about 40cm by about 15cm and that made big rolls, so if you want small rolls, cut it in half first. make a mountain range of chicken mixture along the centre of the pastry and try to get it all the way to the ends and evenish in the middle. pick up one long edge of pastry and pull it over the chicken, then with a little water wet the other long edge. roll the pastry and chicken over so the wet edge is at the bottom of the roll.

cut into the size you want and pop on a tray covered in baking paper. pop in a preheated oven at 180c and cook for about 15-20 minutes depending on the size. it’s a good idea with chicken to open one up and check if they are cooked, just in case.

we served them with cranberry sauce and a bit of a salad.

Tip – as we are living in a caravan and it’s hot!!! i cooked mine in the BBQ. i have a little shelf above my plates where i put the tray with the hood down. the temperature was around 200c

so the verdict? they loved them!! the pastry is buttery, not supper puffy, but i’d like to try them in the oven and see how they go. but would definately buy the pastry again to make more sausage rolls, or other pastry related stuff.

if you make them send me a pick so i can see how they go in your oven.

three boys kitchen

there’s something about a kitchen right? it’s a place of comfort, of stories, of meeting. A place where we touch base and decompress, and also somewhere to make yourself well and healthy. So when Dustin turned two and we realised that there was something up with what he was eating and that we had to start changing what we put into his little body, it came as a bit of a shock. I mean yeah I’m a woman so have constantly been trying to either curb, add to or eliminate from my diet my adult whole life, but to find a food group was actually harming my little boy was a bit of a shock.

dairy was the major for him, and was the first thing we took away. Dairy in his system makes him itchy, and by that I mean he scratches the shit out of his skin until it’s bleeding and raw. We have had a few accidental ingestion incidents over the years and it can take up to five weeks for the dairy to process through his system and the skin to begin to heal.

when Riley began to show signs of tummy upsets, my first thought was dairy. the kids were getting the milk in schools program at their school, so i asked him to stop drinking it, simple fix, and it seamed to help. then in the middle of last year he started to complain again of tummy upsets, so we got rid of all the dairy. it helped a little but carried on to some extent. he made the decision himself to eliminate gluten, since we had taken Dustin off it as well. it’s that moment when a week later he says, “i haven’t had a sore tummy since I stopped the gluten Mum” that you go, well shit, maybe I should have stopped it ages ago.

this has not been an easy process at all, but the more recipes we try the more ingredients we find, the easier it get knowing what will work and what won’t.

the recipes we make have to be easy. we live in a caravan at the moment while waiting for our build so they either have to be stove top, very small gas oven or BBQ. they have to be quick. i have two businesses to run, we have after school activities, i’m on the preschool board. they have to be affordable. we are not made of money, and while there are brands we prefer we need to be careful of our budget too.

but mostly they need to pass the three boys test, filling and delicious. the constant i’m hungry that floats around our house grates on my nerves, but i hope if they are getting a filling meal we can stop that for five or six minutes!!

join us on our journey, or don’t lol hopefully you will find something here you like, if you have suggestions send them through we would love to give them a go!!