Junior's Pantry

What you need:

• 150g soft butter
• 100g caster sugar
• finely grated zest of one lemon
• 2 large egg yolks
• 225 plain flour
• 50g currants or raisons
• icing sugar
• decorations

What you do:

First turn your oven on to 180 degrees to heat up.

Make sure the butter is very soft and then this couldn't be easier.  Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy, add the lemon zest.

Separate the eggs (the whites will make great meringues) and add the yolks to the butter and sugar mixture.  

Add the flour and currants and stir until it starts to come together, you may need to get your hands involved to combine it all.

Take some flour and sprinkle onto a clean bench.

Put the biscuit dough (now a nice ball) onto the flour and then with a floured rolling pin roll out until about the thickness of a £1 coin - add more flour if it's getting very sticky.

Using a cutter of your choice, cut out the biscuits and place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, the biscuits don't spread too much so you can put quite a few on one sheet.

Bake for about 10 - 15 mins in the oven, they should be golden brown and can turn quite quickly so do keep an eye on them.

Let them cool on the tray for about 10 mins before putting on a wire rack.

When completely cool mix some icing sugar (about 3 tbps with a tiny amount of hot water until you get a smooth paste that will stay on the biscuit) and ice the biscuits.

Decorate with eggs, sprinkles or a little chick!

According to a study carried out by Leeds University just 1% of packed lunches in the UK meet the nutritional standards for school lunches. Why are British lunchboxes so nutritionally poor? One of the reasons is that it seems difficult to include a vegetable portion in our children’s lunchboxes that they’ll actually want to eat. Crudités are not that appealing by the time the lunchbox has been left sitting in a warm classroom for hours. There are also only so many cold vegetables our kids will enjoy before getting bored and they don’t often compare too favourably to some of the other very sweet (sugary yogurts and biscuits) tasting foods or salty (processed cheese and ham packs/portions) foods targeted at the children’s lunchbox market. After all if there are more appealing foods in the lunchbox these are more likely to get priority over crudités in the limited time they have available to scoff their lunch before running outside to play or running off to attend their lunchtime club. So here is a much more appealing ways to incorporate a vegetable portion into your children’s lunchbox

Vegetable Muffin

What you need:

• 225g wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp unrefined sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 60g unsalted butter melted
• 150ml milk
• 125g vegetables, grated or finely chopped (grated carrot and sweetcorn is one of our favourites)
• 60g cheese (grated mature cheddar or ricotta work very well)

What you do:

Mix all the dry ingredients and vegetables with the cheese in a large bowl

In a separate bowl mix the egg, milk and butter

Add the two sets of ingreidents together

The mixture should be a "dropping" consistency (like it will drop off the spoon easily

Place in muffin cases to about 2/3 full in an oven at 190 degrees C/375 degrees F or Gas mark 5 for 15 - 20 minutes

Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

What you need:

• 2ltr chicken or vegetable stock
• 250g egg or wholewheat noodles
• 300g cooked chicken or cooked prawns
• 200g broccoli, chopped
• 200g mushrooms, chopped
• 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1" fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar, if you don't have any use a teaspoon of soft brown sugar or palm sugar
• 1 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce

What you do:

Put the stock into a large pan and bring to a gentle simmer.

Add the noodles and stir round.

Add all the other ingredients, stir and simmer for 8-10 mins.

Serve and slurp!

For adults a sprinkle of chilli flakes or a drizzle of chilli oil will just finish it off nicely.

The soup will serve 6 noisy and hungry boys after a game of football in the rain, or a family of 4!

What you need:

• 90g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 different sized star cutters
• 4 tbsp icing sugar, sifted
• tree decorations!

What you do:

Mix together the butter and sugar until it is creamy and paler in colour, then add the vanilla extract and egg and beat together.

Combine the baking powder and flour together.

Add the flour to the other ingredients and stir well until they are all combined and form a dough.  This will be sticky, but that's fine, your little chefs can use plenty of flour when they roll out.

Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for around half an hour.

When it's chilled and easier to roll, cover your work surface with a sprinkle of flour and roll the dough out so it is around 1/4" thick.

Start cutting - you do really need 2 different sized star cutters so you can stack them, how many you do of each size is totally up to you!

Bake your stars at 180c/350f.  The small stars will take 6-8 mins, the larger ones 10-12 mins.

What you need:

• 225g golden granulated sugar
• 225g soft butter
• good pinch of salt
• 50ml water
• 100g salted mixed nuts

What you do:

Melt the butter, sugar, salt and water together in a saucepan, stirring all the time until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.

Once the mixture has come to the boil, turn it down to a gentle simmer.

You will need to get the toffee mixture up to the "hard crack" temperature, the easiest way to monitor this is with a sugar thermometer.  Let it simmer away for 20-30mins to get it to the correct temperature.

Whilst it is simmering, roughly chop the nuts and then spread them out onto a baking tray, lined with baking parchment.

Once the toffee has reached the "hard crack" temperature pour it over the nuts and spread it around so you have an even layer.

Leave it to cool for 15 mins or so, then peel the baking parchment off the baking tray and your nut brittle will break up into lovely big chunks.

Pop it into bags, tie up with Christmas ribbon, and then enjoy the crumbs!

What you need:

• 4 muffins
• 4 tbsp green or red pesto
• 8 green pimento stuffed olives
• Cheddar or Mozzerella Cheese cut into thin slices

What you do:

Take 4 muffins, split in half and toast the underside of each one.

Spread red or green pesto on the untoasted side of the muffin, (you could also use passata for more of a pizza taste).

Cut the olives in half then place them onto the muffin to make the eyes.

Cut some slices of cheese into thin strips & put a couple of strips above the eyes, and then place the rest diagonally over the rest of the muffin.

Grill for around 5 mins until the cheese has started to melt.

Serve to hungry witches and wizards!

It's easy to whizz up some homemade tomato soup but if you are too busy bobbing for apples then just use a tin of your favourite!

What you need:

For the Soup:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 200g fresh, ripe tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tinned tomatoes

For the decoration!:

• Cherry or grape mozzeralla balls
• Green olives stuffed with pimento
• Wholewheat spaghetti.

What you do:

For the soup:

Take your onion, carrot and garlic and cook them all gently in olive oil for around 10 minutes.

In the meantime roast the fresh tomatoes in a hot oven for 10 minutes.

When both are cooked add the tomatoes to the veg, along with the tin of tomatoes and the hot stock.

Simmer gently for 30 mins, and then whizz in a blender or food processor to make your soup.

For the "worms":

Add 60 g of whole-wheat spaghetti (healthier and a better worm colour!) to the soup for the last 10 mins of cooking time.

For the "eyeballs":

Cut a circle out of the top of each mozzarella ball and cut the olives into halves, then press your olive into your mozzarella to make your eye balls!

Pop them into the soup for a truly gross and gruesome dinner!!!

What you need:

• 3 kiwis,peeled
• Lemon squash.
• Gummy creatures - optional!

What you do:

Blitz the kiwis in a blender to a pulp.

Make up 3 small of glasses of lemon squash, and then add 2 spoonfuls of your kiwi pulp to each glass.

Give it a good stir and add a gummy worm or frog for good measure!!

A yummy healthy drink with a stomach churning name – perfect for mums and kids alike!

What you need:

• 100g white chocolate
• Strawberry laces
• Dried red fruit - cranberries/cherries.
• 6 lolly sticks.

What you do:

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water – keep an eye on it as white chocolate will turn grainy if it gets too hot.

When it has melted drizzle 6 circles onto a sheet of baking parchment.

Gently place a lolly stick into each circle.

Curl a strawberry lace ontop of each one.

Pop 2 eyes into place – I used small pieces of dried cherries, but dried cranberries or raisins would work well too.

Place in the fridge for 30 mins until hard!

What you need:

8 meaty sausages

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

50g sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1/2 butternut squash or pumpkin, chopped into 2cm chunks

500g potatoes, chopped into 2cm chunks, skins left on

1 x 400g tin of tomatoes

500ml good stock

Olive oil

pinch of salt and pepper

 

What you do:

Put your sausages into a roasting tray and cook at 200c/400f for 20 mins until lovely and brown.

In a large ovenproof casserole pot, heat your olive oil, then add the onion, carrots and sun dried tomatoes, fry gently for around 15mins.

When the veg has softened, add the squash/pumpkin and potatoes.  Cook through for another 10 mins, giving it a good stir from time to time. All your veg will take on the lovely rich colour and flavour from the sun dried tomatoes.

Add the cooked sausages to the veg, then add the tinned tomatoes, stock and seasoning.  Give it all a good stir then pop into a low oven, 160c/325f for 45mins - 1 hour.

This is a great one pot dish, as it has all your veg and potatoes within it, though a good hunk of bread to mop up the gravy is a perfect match!

Serves 4 generously, and can easily be doubled up for party numbers.

What you need:

• 400g fish - any combination works, I often use 200g of white fish and 200g of salmon or mackerel fillets
• 150ml milk
• 2 leeks or 2 courgettes, thinly sliced
• 1 400g tin of tomatoes
• 200g potatoes, thinly sliced
• 100g grated cheese

What you do:

Put the fish into an ovenproof dish, skin side down. Cover with the milk and cook in an oven at 200c/400f for 10 mins.

Drain the milk from the dish and flake the fish - you can do all of this in the same dish - much quicker and easier!

Pour the tinned tomatoes over the fish, then scatter your leeks or courgettes, (or a combination of both), on top of the tomatoes.

Put the thinly sliced potatoes over the top evenly and cover with the grated cheese.

Bake in the oven at 200c/400f for 25 mins approx, until golden brown.

Serves a family of 4, or 3 hungry children with leftovers for your lunch the following day.

What you need:

• 140g Cheerios
• 115g Plain Flour
• 25 g golden caster sugar/soft brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150g mixed dried fruit - whatever you have available,eg 50g each of mango, blueberries and cranberries
• 1 medium apple - grated, with skin left on
• 150ml semi-skimmed milk
• 1 large egg - beaten
• 3 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil

What you do:

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, dried fruit and 100g of Cheerios.

Add the grated apple, milk, egg and sunflower oil.

Mix all the ingredients together well.

Pour into a lined 23x23 brownie tin and top with the remainder of the Cheerios.

Bake in the oven at 180c/350f for 20-25 mins, until golden brown.

Cut into 16 squares - keep fresh in an air tight tin and you have a great supply of healthy treats for the week.

I have also given a variation on the idea with ham and cheese; both are great bite size snacks for lunchboxes and after school munchies!

What you need:

• 1 pack ready rolled puff pastry, chilled.
• 3 good quality sausages or 300g sausage meat
• Grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)
• Leaves from 6-7 sprigs of thyme or sage (optional)
• 3 slices ham, roughly chopped into matchstick sized pieces
• 100g cheese, roughly chopped as for the ham
• 1 egg, beaten

What you do:

Roll out the pastry, on a floured surface, by an extra inch or so on all 4 sides, then cut the pastry down the middle lengthways, so you have 2 rectangles.

If you are using the sausages, cut through the skin and squeeze the meat out.

Mix the sausage meat with the lemon zest and thyme or sage leaves.

Place the sausage meat all the way along the middle of one of the pastry rectangles.

Brush the beaten egg all the way along the edges of the 2 longest sides of the pastry.

Gently fold 1 side of the pastry over the sausagement onto the the other side and press down gently to seal it.

Slice at roughly 3" intervals along the pastry to create your individual sausage rolls, make a small snip on the top of each one and then brush with the beaten egg.

Place them onto a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper, and pop into the oven for 20-25 mins at 200c/400f, until crisp and golden brown.

For the ham and cheese option, follow the recipe above, but instead of the sausage meat, place the sticks of ham and cheese along the middle of the pastry.

This will make about 10 sausage rolls and 10 cheese and ham bites.

They also work really well sliced in half and filled with some ham, ready to throw into a lunchbox

What you need:

• 175g Self Raising Flour
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder (if you have any around, don't worry if not)
• pinch of salt
• 50g butter, cubed
• 75g cheese, grated
• 4 tbsp sweetcorn - tinned, fresh or frozen
• 2 tbsp chives, finely chopped - feel free to leave these out if "green bits" will be refused!
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 egg

What you do:

Mix together the flour, mustard powder and salt, then add the cubes of butter and rub together until it looks like breadcrumbs - or just blitz in a food processor for a couple of minutes.

To this add the cheese, sweetcorn (if you are using fresh or frozen then do pre cook), chives and mix together with a knife.

Pour in the beaten egg and again mix with the knife, then add the milk.

The dough should have come together by now and you will be able to use your hands to form a ball.

Turn this out onto a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes.

Roll out your dough until it is about 1" thick, and cut out your scones.

Put the scones onto a baking sheet, lined with greaseproof paper, brush the top of each one with a little milk and bake at 200c/400f for 12-15 mins.

You can use whatever sized cutter you have available. I tend to use a 5cm plain pastry cutter as it is a great lunchbox/snack size, though heart shaped or dinasour scones would be fantastic too!!!

However mine children always complained that my hummus wasn’t as creamy as the shop bought, so I have adapted this recipe so you don’t need the tahini paste, (not always a store cupboard supply), and use sour cream or crème fraiche instead = creamy and easy!!!

What you need:

• 1 x 400g can chick peas
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sour cream or crème fraiche
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Pinch of salt and pepper

What you do:

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz for a few minutes till creamy.

Divide between small lunchbox tins and pack up with cucumber and red pepper sticks and pitta bread fingers.

What you need:

• 115g butter – softened
• 190g soft light brown sugar
• 1sp vanilla extract
• 1 egg -beaten
• 175g plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarb of soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 100g raisins
• 50g fudge chunks (or choc chips work too)
• 2 bananas- sliced

What you do:

Cream together the butter and sugar till light and a little fluffy, either in an electric mixer or by hand. Add the vanilla essence and egg and continue to beat. In another bowl mix together the flour, bicarb of soda and baking powder, and then mix these dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients. Finally fold in the raisins, fudge chunks and sliced bananas.

This makes quite“wet” cookie dough – so don’t worry! Using a spoon, divide into balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment, golf ball sized for big cookies, walnut sized for small cookies. Space the mixture out well as they will spread.

Bake at 180c/350f – the small cookies will need about 8-10mins, the larger cookies about 12-15mins.

Remove to a wire cooling rack when they come out of the oven and are still warm, and hand out to a few small willing hands with a glass of milk!

What you need:

• 250g butter
• 2 x tbsp golden syrup
• 300g porridge oats
• 125g sugar
• 50g chocolate chips
• 50g dried cherries, chopped

What you do:

Melt the butter and golden syrup together in a small pan. Meanwhile, mix together the oats, sugar, choc chips and cherries in a large bowl. When the butter and syrup have melted, pour the mixture in to the bowl with the other ingredients and mix together well.

Pour into a greased 23x23cm brownie tin and bake at 190c/375f for 10-15 mins.

Cut into 16 squares whilst still warm and move to cooling tray when they have had time to set and cool a little.

Not so much of a recipe, just a bit of fun to finish off your Olympic picnic!

What you need:

• 20 strawberries (not too ripe)
• 20 wooden skewers
• 100g milk chocolate
• 100g dark chocolate

What you do:

Melt your chocolate in a bowl, over a pan of boiling water, (taking care that the bowl sits over the water and not in it).

Pop a strawberry on the end of each skewer, (if they are too ripe they tend to slide down the skewer)!

Once the chocolate has melted, dip each strawberry into the chocolate, and then twist the skewer round and round so the chocolate doesn’t drip and gives a lovely coating.

Put the skewers into a tall glass to allow the chocolate the set and hide them until you are ready to serve, otherwise you will turn your back and your future Olympians will have scoffed the lot in seconds!

White chocolate also works really well, just be very careful not to overheat or it will be grainy.

These are perfect to travel with if you are heading up on the train to the Olympic Park, or if you are sitting out in the garden with the TV on in the kitchen ready for the 100 metres!

What you need:

• 12 chicken drumsticks (you can use thighs if you prefer, or a mixture)
• 2 large eggs
• 75g breadcrumbs
• 40g grated parmesan
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley or sage
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

What you do:

Pre heat the oven to 350f/180c.

Whisk the eggs and place in a large shallow bowl. Mix together all the other ingredients and place in another similar sized bowl. Dip your drumsticks into the egg and then roll them around in the parmesan mix to coat thoroughly.

Put the oil into a large shallow roasting tin and heat in the oven for 5 mins. Take the tin out of the oven and pop your chicken into it, making sure you don’t lose your parmesan coating on the way! Turn the chicken to make sure it all has a good coating of the oil.

Bake in the oven for 15–20 mins, then turn the chicken and bake for another 15-20 mins.

Allow your Olympic Drummers to rest and cool for 5 mins, then wrap in foil if you are off to East London, or transport to the picnic rug if you only need to go as far as the back garden!

it went down a treat and was a perfect filler before a day of festivaling! The beauty of this recipe is that it can be easily adapted, whether you are a family of 4 camping by the sea, or a group of 14 having fun at a festival! It can all be cooked in 1 pan – a big camping plus – a large frying pan on a gas burner is perfect for up to 6, if you are cooking for a bigger crowd then a large camping paella pan works a treat.

What you need:

• Olive oil – a couple of tablespoons
• 1 onion - chopped
• 2 red chillies (optional if cooking for littlies) – chopped
• 200g of chorizo or bacon – chopped into small squares
• 6 sausages
• 4 tomatoes chopped
• 6 eggs
• 150ml milk

What you do:

Heat the oil in your pan and add the onions, cook for 5 mins, add the chillies (if using) and cook through for another 5 mins. Add the chorizo or bacon. Take the sausages and cut into small chunks using a good pair of scissors, put into the pan and stir everything well. Cook your hash for around 15 mins, stirring from time to time to prevent it sticking. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir through. Whisk together your eggs and a good couple of splashes of milk and pour your egg mixture into the pan – keep stirring now for around 5-10 mins

Dish up into camping bowls and enjoy in the fresh air!!!!

This hash will feed 6, you can easily double or triple the quantities and add beans or mushrooms if you are cooking for more.

This is my version of a Chinese take away dinner, great for the kids as not full of salt and other nasties, and half the price! It’s deliciously sticky and lots of fun to try with chopsticks (perhaps with a fork on the side)!

My family would happily have a roast every day of the week! I don’t fancy the time or the cost involved in that, so this is my mid week alternative – still a roast of sorts which keeps them happy, and quick and pretty economical which works for me too!!!

This is called handy as you can really use anything you have to hand in the fridge! It’s also a perfect way to use up left over roast chicken. Serves 6 hungry children or a family of 4 easily!

This is such an easy dish to do and so satisfying for a child to have a go at making it.

All you need:

• 225g Fresh Prawns
• 1½ tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
• 1 glove of garlic chopped
• 1 tablespoon of chopped ginger
• 225g Frozen Peas
• 2 tablespoons of water
• Packet of noodles (cook according to the packet instructions) or can use Rice instead.
• Extra’s if you have them; a few chopped Spring Onions and some Sesame Oil.

All you have to do is:

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan or wok, when it’s hot add the prawns (take care not to let the oil splash you), garlic and ginger. Stir fry for about a minute until all the prawns have turned pink.

Then add all the peas and cook for another minute – keep stirring! If you have the Spring Onions and Sesame oil add this now.

Last stage; add the water and let it bubble for 2 minutes - then you're ready to serve with your noodles or rice - Yum!

Tip - try adapting this recipe with different veggies or replacing the prawns for chicken.

Let me know how you get on!