Week Three - Day Three: Crispy Pesto Chicken

This has a beautiful light batter, a favourite with the kiddies!

Crispy Pesto Chicken (EP, GF)

Prep time - 15 minutes
Cooking time - 15 minutes

2 large sweet potato
1/2 c milk (preferably soy)
2 T Parsley Pesto (click!!), or store brought basil pesto
2 T wholemeal flour
1/3 c water
extra virgin olive oil
600g chicken thigh fillets, sliced into 2cm (I used just 200g chicken and 75g tofu)
1 head of broccoli
2 c frozen peas
sea salt
black pepper
lemon juice (optional)

Peel and dice the sweet potato, steam for 10 minutes and mash with part of the milk season with salt and pepper. Add more milk to make it creamier. Set aside. In a flattish bowl mix the pesto, flour and water together. Dip the chicken into the bowl to coat. Heat 1 T of oil in a pan and cook the chicken in batches until golden and cooked through. Using a steamer steam the peas and broccoli for 3 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Optional - squeeze lemon juice onto your greens, nice!

~ ~ ~ ---***TOMORROW***--- ~ ~ ~

New Potato and Leek Soup!

Week One - Day Two: Marinated Chicken Legs with Crispy Roast Potatoes

Well worth the wait, this dish is a balanced meal that is bursting with flavour. Check this meal regularly and baste often is the trick to making this dish impressive! Serve with a salad for a great balance of flavours.


If you have no idea what's going on click here for the first post!
(includes the Marinade and the dinner shopping list for the week!)


Marinated Chicken Legs with Crispy Roast Potatoes

Prep time - 15 minutes
Cooking time - 1 1/2 hours


8-10 chicken legs (drumsticks)
tofu*
Honey Soy Marinade (click!!)
10 new potatoes
extra virgin olive oil
rosemary
iodised rock salt (do not grind)

Half an hour before cooking dinner preheat oven to 200*c. Remove the skin from the chicken leg - widest side down pulling backwards. I leave my skin on (naughty! indulge a little. . ) but it is easy to remove if you wish!
Now if you didn't take my advice to pre-marinate you need to do so now. Place in the refrigerator for one hour (overnight is best). It should just cover the chicken. Scrub your potatoes, cut into half or wedges. Smaller will reduce cooking time.
Place in a bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil and toss. Line your baking tray with baking paper to cut down the mess and also prevent sticking. Place in the tray sprinkle on some rock salt and rosemary.
Once marinated (or if you have done so already, great!) place your chicken in a baking tray that fits the chicken in nicely. Too much room will make your marinade spread and burn, and we don't want that do we?! So pour over the left over marinade and baste the top side. (Don't use the remainder in the jar! . . but if you like to keep things saucy go on, use it up (I did say indulge a little didn't I?), you'll just need to make extra for our stir fry - Day 4!)
Great news! If you took my advice and pre-marinated you only should need to wait an hour for your chicken and potatoes to turn into goodness! If not it's okay your potatoes should have gone in before you started to prepare your chicken - yes. .  I'm a little bit all over the show but I assumed you'd follow suit! ;)
Remember to regularly baste your chicken and turn your potatoes for even cooking. While this is all cooking feel free to start a salad of your choice! I made a spinach and strawberry bomb salad.


Chicken is cooked when it's no longer pink inside and there should be no blood near the bone of the chicken. Cook for longer if necessary. Same goes with the potatoes! If you like them crunchier follow your heart and leave them in. .  just don't forget!


* - Because of my darling man I also marinated some of his tofu overnight so that he didn't miss out and still had protein! Cook with the potatoes. I didn't pour any extra marinade over otherwise I would have had messy potatoes! It absorbed a lot overnight. I did however make a few scores on the sides of the tofu  to help with the marinading process.

~ ~ ~ ---***TOMORROW***--- ~ ~ ~

Sunshine Soup with Dipping Sticks!

Week One - Day One: Pink Fish on Sticks

FOLLOW ME!
Although I'm not exactly talking about my blog or twitter...
(although feel free to do so!)

I mean follow me on this journey.
I CHALLENGE YOU TO!


I am taking on the "Healthy Family, Happy Family" Karen Fischer 4 week menu advice! It comes with recipes and even the shopping list - BRILLIANT! You can start this at any stage. Make 'Day One' the day after your supermarket shopping so you start the HFHF challenge with a full cupboard! If you start after me you can read how it went and what I'd change to make it easier etc etc! This is supposed to make your money go further, eat healthier and give you a variety of foods/ideas to try!

LET'S GO!!


This brilliant lady, Karen (BHSc, Dip. Nut.) has worked out your WHOLE weeks worth of meals. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack! All provided with a recipe, not just the idea. All recipes are for 4 people, but you could always halve (like I could be) or double (or one and a half it) to get the right amount for the size of your family! I just freeze the leftovers so I will have back up meals for sad and busy days where you just don't want to cook anything! So just for posting sake I'm doing dinners.

I reccommend this book just cause it has al this juicy nutritional information with lunchbox ideas, how to get your children to eat healthy "marketing magic", kitchen essentials such as what you should always have in your pantry and fridge to whip up easy dinners - ingredients that are useful and/or long lasting!
(by the way I'm 'promoting' this on my own terms and discovery of this book!!!!)


Click here to get this weeks shopping list!


Pink Fish on Sticks (GF, EP, V&Vn)

Prep time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 10 minutes (20 if using chicken)
*Brain foods and vitamin D for strong bones!!*

12-16 bamboo sticks (soak for 20 minutes so they don't burn in the oven!)
2 Boneless salmon fillets (I used chicken and tofu for my partner-150g)
Honey Soy Marinade (click!!)
1 1/2c basmati or brown rice
--Fruit and veges--
- 1 small red capsicum
- 1 small zucchini/courgette (I used less and will save some for the spagbol!)
- 1c chopped pineapple (or a can of pineapple chunks if cheaper option)
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, I just used your usual size, 3, cut as you would an orange
- 8-10 button mushrooms (saved some for the spagbol!)
Anything goes really!

Preheat the oven to 200*c. Remove skin from the fish (or chicken)  and cut into 1.5cm cubes. Place fish (or chicken/tofu) on a plate and using less than one-third of the marinade, coat the fish (chicken/tofu) and leave to marinate in the fridge for 15-30 minutes (at least 1 hour for chicken).
Meanwhile in a medium pot boil the rice for 10 minutes, if brown rice, for 25. Drain and set aside once cooked. Prepare fruit and vegetables ready to skewer. Leave a large space at one end of the skewer, to use as a handle, and thread on the fish (chicken/tofu) alternating with the fruit and veges right to the end. Baste your skewers in the left over marinade on the plate. Cook for 10 minutes (or 20 if chicken) and serve on a bed of rice.

I'm not a fish fiend so the chicken was just amazing! Worked just as well although required extra marinading and cooking time. My partner LOVED these. We choose to eat all the kebabs between the two of us (no leftovers to freeze) and just did not cook the rice. I also used red onion and might try apple next time!

Timesaving tip!
Make double the rice and freeze for another time you need it :) Save the remainder of the marinade in a jar, refrigerated. This will be used for 2 other recipes this week, great!! To get ahead marinade your chicken legs now. .

~ ~ ~ ---***TOMORROW***--- ~ ~ ~

Marinated Chicken Legs with Crispy Roast Potatoes!