A couple of weeks ago, I ran a contest to win a copy of the Passion 4 Juice recipe book. Here are the eight winners and their winning juice and smoothie combinations…
Sylvia from Happiness is Homemade: (for summer) 10 frozen strawberries, 2-3 sliced bananas and 1 can of 7up; (for winter) 5 dates, 1 banana, 100 ml of almond milk, 1 tsp of hot chocolate powder
Janie from The Hedge Combers: who likes green smoothies and her “oddest one to date” used fresh stinging nettles in lieu of spinach
Choclette from The Chocolate Log Blog: who a suggests her ingredients for a banana, avocado and chocolate pudding would also be a great combination for a smoothie
Bintu from Recipes from a Pantry: who is rather partial to a spinach and peach smoothie
Rachma Bush: who likes like a beetroot, apple and fennel juice
Emma from Adventures of a London Kiwi: whose favourite smoothie combination is spirulina and banana – she says “it’s a kiwi favourite and much nicer than it sounds!”
Dannii from Hungry Healthy Happy: who loves anything anything with spinach in it – “it gives me a proper boost in the morning,” she says
Nazima from Franglais Kitchen: for winter she likes a Chai spiced smoothie – she made one with almond milk, banana, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla and ginger, and if you’re feeling indulgent a bit of vanilla ice cream!
Thank you to everyone who took part in the competition. Winners – please email me or direct message me on Twitter with your addresses, and a Passion 4 Juice recipe book will be winging its way to you very soon. Enjoy!
Now how’s that for a tempting array of food and drink? Would you believe each and every one of these is packed full of hidden goodies to tempt your children (and any other fussy eaters) to get some healthy stuff inside them?
If you are looking for cunning ways to sneak some extra fruit, vegetables, fibre, nuts or pulses into your family, then I’m sure you’ll find a tasty trick or two among this month’s fabulous Family Foodies round-up. So let’s get started…
As well as turkey, these sliders (aka mini burgers) from Heidi at Mamacook feature hidden vegetables in the form of grated courgette, along with fresh herbs and sweet chilli sauce – a great way to introduce a little mild spice to your little ones. I’m sure my children could put quite a few of these cute little burgers away. As indeed could I.
I love the idea of Caroline from Caroline Makes sneaking vegetables into her own food! That’s exactly what she’s done with this tasty broccoli, courgette and Stilton soup. “I am a pretty fussy eater,” she writes, “and don’t like a lot of veg, so had an idea of sneaking some hidden veg… into my own food! My theory was that if I couldn’t see it, and hopefully couldn’t taste it, I wouldn’t mind eating it.” I definitely wouldn’t mind eating a big bowl of this – and I’m sure I’d be back for seconds.
Heidi from Mamacook is back with a beautiful broccoli frittata, which she says is ideal for babies, toddlers and indeed the whole family. And even though this is a pretty thrifty dish, Heidi’s tip to make it even thriftier is to make sure you cook the broccoli stalk as well as the florets, as it all tastes the same. Sound advice.
Heidi is a dab hand at this hidden goodies lark. Here’s her third entry; spinach and potato bites, and don’t though look so good? They’re a great way to use up leftover mashed potato and an ideal finger food for toddlers. Heidi’s son ate six of them in one sitting, even before he touched his fish fingers, which really is saying something.
There’s sneaky carrot in this healthy take on the chicken burger, a second entry from Caroline Makes, which originates from a Slimming World recipe. They are a great way to make chicken breasts go a little bit further, and Caroline promises you really can’t taste the carrot!
Carrot is another hidden ingredient in these wonderful rice balls from My Tasty Adventures, together with peas, cheese, chicken, herbs and spices, and of course leftover rice. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, they are reminiscent of a falafel and I know my children would absolutely adore them.
Pasta sauces are an easy way to disguise a whole host of vegetables and my roast vegetable sauce contains carrots, tomatoes, butternut squash, red onion, celery and courgettes. It’s incredibly easy to make and I’ve been cooking it for my two girls since they were toddlers and they still love it now.
Martin from Spurs Cook brings us another pasta and vegetable dish with his warming cannelloni. There are all kinds of ingredients in this one from mushrooms, leeks, courgettes and carrots to chilli, fennel and anchovies and while it apparently involves quite a bit of preparation, Martin assures us it is well worth the effort. I bet – it sounds absolutely gorgeous.
Just like pasta sauces, soups are another brilliant way to introduce vegetables and other goodies to your children. Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes offers this gorgeously wholesome parsnip, carrot and lentil soup, which as well as being a great tea for little ones is perfect for anyone on the 5:2 diet as it contains just 175 calories a portion.
Ness from JibberJabberUK brings us this delicious carrot and coriander soup, which happens to be the first soup she’s made in her slow cooker since her university days, when she managed to stink out her student flat with a particularly garlicky soup while she was out at her Saturday job. Personally, I’d never complain about the smell of garlic, but it definitely sounds like this soup was much more of a success.
My roast cauliflower cheese soup is very simple to make and the ingredients list isn’t long, yet it tastes rich and luxurious all the same. It’s the ideal way to encourage people who normally steer clear of cauliflower to give it a go, and I’m convinced they’ll be persuaded to change their minds.
Jerusalem artichoke soup has to be one of my all-time favourites and I really like the addition of rosemary in this version from Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen, along with the adornment of delicate Jerusalem artichoke crisps. I must admit I haven’t tried artichokes yet on my two girls, but I am very sure they would be tempted by this lovely soup.
Tina from The Spicy Pear says these delightful fritters were born out of necessity when she needed to use up some carrots and courgettes. They have become a regular feature in her house ever since, and I can certainly see why. They look like a restaurant-style hor d’oeuvre, rather than a meal of leftovers, and I bet they would get gobbled up by my clan within seconds.
Nor would these irresistible chicken cutlets from Sylvia at Happiness is Homemade look out-of-place in a smart restaurant. Sylvia says they were a staple dish of her childhood. Her mother would cook them while she was at school, as a clever way to sneak in some veggies of which she wasn’t the biggest fan at the time.
This stromboli, which Michelle from Utterly Scrummy helpfully explains is a Swiss roll type savoury filled bread thing, looks simply gorgeous. You can imagine how those roasted vegetables and spicy chorizo wrapped up in warm bread are going to come together in fabulously cheesy, oozy mouthfuls of utter scrumminess.
Breadsticks are one of my daughters’ favourite snacks and we get through a fair few of them in our house, so it would probably be a good idea to have a go at making our own. This recipe from Laura at How to Cook Good Food looks perfect, bringing together the sweet and salty flavours of dates and green olive, which I know my girls would really go for.
Fish cakes are another staple food in our house but I’m slightly embarrassed to admit they normally come out of a packet. This tasty recipe from Heidi at Mamacook shows just how easy it is to make your own fish cakes, particularly when you use ready-to-eat smoked mackerel, plus it gives you the opportunity to sneak in a few extra goodies: Heidi’s fish cakes feature butternut squash along with the mashed potato. I’ll be trying these on my girls very soon.
These yummy sausageless rolls from Helen in The Crazy Kitchen look so tempting, you’d never know they were packed full of all kinds of goodies – such as cauliflower, which Helen’s son Jack hates, yet he happily tucked into a plate of these. This recipe will make 24 mini sausageless rolls, plus you’ll have enough filling left over to make a few veggie burgers too.
My fellow host of the Family Foodies challenge, Louisa from Eat Your Veg brings this fabulous chicken stew to our table, featuring lovely pearl barley and a whole host of wholesome vegetables. Louisa has been making this stew for her “two monsters” since they were weaning and they always devoured it. Serve me a big bowl of this stew, and I’d devour it too.
Ness from JibberJabberUK is back with another treat from her slow cooker, this time a turkey supreme, made from turkey thighs lurking at the back of her freezer and an assortment of vegetables that needed using up in the fridge. This included celery, which in her house only Ness actually likes. Her whole family enjoyed the turkey supreme, and not one noticed the celery. Nice work, Ness!
These mini calzones from My Tasty Adventures don’t just look good; they also taste good and you can feel good about eating them. They are a great snack for little ones, which you can pack to eat on the go and I’m sure they’d go down very well in your kid’s lunch box. These tasty morsels are filled with asparagus, mushrooms and mozzarella, while the beautiful pastry features turmeric powder and chia seeds.
This vibrant chicken curry from Dip’s Diner gets its brilliant green colour from spinach puree and lots of coriander and is packed full of a wonderful assortment of fragrant spices. You just know this curry is going to taste divine, as well as being so good for you.
Ness from JibberJabberUK is back again with an ingenious cheat’s version of a shepherd’s pie in the form of this tasty, one-pot lamb and potato bake. It also features lots of vegetables, finely chopped up so they are barely noticeable. Plus Ness leaves the skins on the potatoes for even more hidden goodness.
My children go mad for a tasty, meaty pie and this beef pie from Kate (aka the Gluten Free Alchemist) looks like their dream dinner. Kate has a regular battle getting her daughter to eat vegetables and so she has become a bit of a dab hand at disguising them, as in this delicious pie, which is one of her daughter’s favourite meals. As well as the “evil carrot” as her daughter dubs them, Kate’s pie also contains a goodly quantity of parsley, onion, garlic, sweetcorn and tomato.
Jillian from Feed My Family offers us another beefy dish featuring all kinds of hidden vegetables in her beef ragu, perfect served up with either rice or pasta. She uses this ragu to smuggle vegetables into her husband as well as her children!
We’re moving onto sweet treats next and first up is my fig and honey smoothie, which my girls loved even though neither of them would ever normally go near a dried fig. They reckoned it tasted like a chocolate smoothie and were desperate for seconds. A definite result in my book.
In my eyes, chocolate and beetroot is an incredible combination , and don’t these lovely cupcakes from Selma of Selma’s Table look just so tempting? She recently managed to feed this to a friend’s husband who normally can’t even look at beetroot. And yes, he enjoyed them – you really can’t taste the beetroot. Instead they give the cake a marvellous moistness and a beautiful reddish hue.
Louisa from Eat Your Veg has sneaked a fair few goodies into this cheeky little cookies, with wholemeal flour, dark brown sugar, dried apricots, plain chocolate, hazelnuts, desiccated coconut and oats all on the ingredients list. What’s more, the dough keeps well in the fridge for a few days or can be frozen for a later, almost instant, sweet treat.
Kate from Veggie Desserts has also brought a batch of virtuous cookies to our Hidden Goodies party. Her gorgeously green cookies feature oats, raisins, chocolate and, rather unusually, avocado. They are super easy to make, can be whipped up in next to no time and make an ideal portable snack for children and grown ups alike.
More hidden avocado is on the menu from my Hidden Goodies partner in crime, Louisa at Eat Your Veg. Her chocolate avocado mousse looks so good, what child (or adult) could resist? Taking just five minutes, yes FIVE minutes, to make, they must surely be the speediest pud ever, not to mention most nutritious.
Rounding off our inspired menu of hidden goody delights, Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog brings us this glorious Jerusalem artichoke cake. Choclette says you’d never know there were artichokes in the cake, but they successfully added to the overall nuttiness and moistness. It is similar to a carrot cake – but even nicer.
So if you are looking for new ways of getting your family to eat more of their five-a-day, a good place to start would be to work your way through this little lot. I’m sure you’ll agree, we received some fantastic entries to Family Foodies this month. But of course this is a challenge and, as ever, there can only be one winner. The unenviable task of judging falls to Trish Tucker-May from Passion for Juice, so without further ado I’ll hand over to Trish to announce the winner.
And the winner is…
Trish with sons Roary and Jackpot and husband Joe
Trish says, “I loved the fantastic pictures and have pinned many of these recipes to try in the future. I particularly liked the simplicity of all of Mamacook’s recipes. I loved the Polish translation from Happiness is Homemade’s recipe for the Chicken Cutlets with Veggies. Chocolate Avocado Mousse is close to my heart, as it is one I love to make myself. It is so easy, decadent and healthy. The Parsnip, Carrot and Lentil Soup by Tinned Tomatoes stood out as well, as I liked the amount of veg plus the nutritional information for the 5:2 diet was helpful and easy to follow.
“The Beef Pie with Hidden Carrot from Gluten Free Alchemist looks amazing and I will be making this over the weekend. Beautiful pictures and the pie looked delightful covered in stars. Eat Your Veg’s recipe for Apricot, Coconut and Plain Chocolate Cookies looks amazing and I thought the layout was very easy to follow with clear prep times and lovely pictures.
“So as you can see, it has been a very difficult decision but I had to narrow it down to one recipe that I thought was unusual. I would never have thought of putting avocado into biscuits and cooking it with oats. So my choice for the winner is Veggie Desserts’ Avocado, Oat Cookies with Raisins and Chocolate. The photos look brilliant and I like the idea of green biscuits. They look very simple and intriguing. This is definitely a recipe I will be trying with my family. One of my boys hates avocado but if it is alongside raisins and chocolate it is a sure crowd pleaser.
“Congratulations to Veggie Deserts and to all the entrants. I am so inspired by so many clever cooks, writers and photographers. Thanks for letting me take part.”
Thanks to Trish for judging and providing this month’s prize. And well done again to Kate from Veggie Desserts on a very well deserved win. Your prize of a Passion 4 Juice recipe book will be in the post to you very soon.
Love is in the air with February’s Family Foodies challenge over at Eat Your Veg. This month we’re looking for your favourite recipes to cook for your family to show them just how much you love them! Can’t wait to see what you all come up with…
A delicious smoothie packed full of goodness – plus your chance to win one of eight Passion 4 Juice recipe books
If one of your New Year resolutions was to take a healthier approach to food, then starting the day with a delicious juice or smoothie is surely one of the easiest way to pack in a whole heap of goodies. For the last couple of weeks, this is what I’ve been doing and I feel fantastic. I’m gradually working my way through the Passion 4 Juice recipe book, created by my good friend Trish Tucker-May, which features some brilliant recipes for juices and smoothies made from both fruit and vegetables.
Together with her husband Joe and two young sons, Trish spends half the year in the UK taking their mobile juice bar from one festival to another, and then the other half of the year she does the same but back in her homeland of Australia. Now doesn’t that sound like an amazing way to live? Before she headed off to warmer climes down under, she gave me some of her fabulous recipe books to give away to readers of Bangers & Mash. I’ll tell you how you can get hold of a copy at the end of the post, but first over to Trish to tell you a bit more about why she loves juicing…
“I feel really lucky as we leave the UK and head Down Under for the summer of festival fun. Spending six months in the UK and six months in Australia, keeping people healthy at festivals, is an unusual but rewarding way to live my passion. But it seems right to me as I get to go home and see family and friends. Also escaping the UK winter has its benefits!
“I have been juicing and making smoothies for 30 years now and I love introducing people to new taste sensations. Here are some other great reasons to make juices and smoothies every day:
Best way to fulfil daily recommended fruits and vegetables
Rapid intake and assimilation of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, enzymes and antioxidants in the body
Very cleansing/detoxifying – assists in the removal of toxins
Weight loss
Very alkalizing – diseases thrive in acidic conditions
Clears the mind and balances moods and blood sugars
Improves your complexion
Increased energy
Improves your hair, skin and nails
Improves your overall health.
“Why not kick-start each day with a taste sensation that will revitalise, inspire and rejuvenate you? With our on-the-move lifestyles and chaotic schedules, it is difficult to find the time to prepare and consume a meal that has sufficient energy and nutrients to sustain a balanced and healthy way of life. Quick and wholesome refreshments, rich in vital nutrients, are in high demand. This is the kind of daily boost we need.
“If it’s a tangy wake-up call, a smooth pacifier or a zesty jump-start you’re after, your personalised fresh pressed juice will do the trick.
“In the Passion 4 Juice book, I have collected some of our bestselling recipes, plus some of my favourite juices and smoothies from around the world. This handy little book is in a wipe clean format, so it doesn’t matter if it gets splashed with juice. Keep it next to your juicer or blender and have a bit of fun trying some of my favourites.”
As I mentioned, I’m enjoying working my way through the Passion 4 Juice book. My favourite juice concoctions so far have been The Morning After featuring ginger, carrots and pineapple and Buzz Juice with apples, celery and beetroot.
And the whole family loved this gorgeous smoothie recipe from Trish called The Cheeky Monkey, made with almond milk, banana, raw cacao, dates and spices. We served ours cold over ice, but Trish recommends this served warm as a lovely winter warmer. We also left out the chilli from the children’s helping.
The Cheeky Monkey Smoothie
1 banana
1 cup of freshly made almond milk
a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon and chilli – the stronger for me the better
1 heaped tbsp raw cacao
1 tbsp peanut butter
3 dates
Blend all the ingredients in a liquidiser, and then warm in a pan on the stove top – don’t overheat but give it just a bit of warmth so it stays raw and delicious. This should warm you up on the coldest of winter days.
Win the Passion 4 Juice recipe book
All you have to do to win one of eight Passion 4 Juice recipe books is leave me a comment below, providing your ideas for new smoothie or fresh juice combinations. Trish will select her eight favourites to receive a prize.
The closing date for entries is Sunday 2 February 2014 and please note that books can only be shipped to UK addresses.
Bangers & Mash 