Wednesday, February 2, 2011

A brand new beginning - hi ho, off to kinder we go ....baking Egg-/Nut-free all the way (Oat Crunch Biscuits, Lemon Chia Biscuits, and Apple/Banana Muffins)


This week is little Owen's first at kinder. We had orientation last week, but this morning, packed up with his bento lunchbox in hand, hat & sunscreen to guard against the 39 degree (that's 102 for you up north) heatwave and a lump in my throat.  The kinder seems just lovely - the staff are friendly and respectful in their interactions with the children and families, the space is light-filled and set-up with wonderful natural play areas.  And there is a sandpit bigger than our backyard - that's the winner for Owen.  His eyes haven't stopped sparkling as he proudly will tell anyone who listens about his kinder.

So the past week has been working towards today - not that it's a super big deal, but I'll admit the organised gene rears up from time to time...
Sheltering from the heat I re-purposed Daddy's torn messenger bag to become Owen's for kinder ...
Pic to be inserted once charge the stuffing camera battery.


I found the cot sheets that we never got to use with our co-sleeping kiddos.  Just the thing for use on a nap mat.
I labeled lunchboxes & food containers that have been slowly collected over the past year - we are plastic-free thanks to some good online stores out there (Biome & AshnJuls particulalry).






I labeled clothes. 

 
And then somehow found myself ironing his sleep sheet.I kid you not. And then I freaked out. I've become our mother (well no, that's not true she had a mountain of ironing that never got done til outsourcing long after I'd left home). Maybe channeling my MIL whom I'm reliably informed ironed underwear. Whereas our iron is currently exclusively used for interfacing & pressing seams, only if & when I'm being thorough. Andy & I bonded over the shared understanding of ironing just the collar & sleeves if wearing a vest or collar only if wearing a jumper that wouldn't be removed. 

There has also been some serious baking (yes, in the heat, and yes in our tiny grill oven which does not fit a biscuit tray).  
Most of the efforts are egg and nut free (kinder policy) and the result of some serious web surfing of allergen-free and vegan cooking sites.  Which there are some kick-arse ones around (more later)
Ingredients and helping hands at the ready

The first out of the oven (Oat Crunch Biscuits) sung Anzac to me, however they are softer than my usual chewy Anzac biscuit forays, and there is none of that satisfying fizz when you add the bicarb to the butter/syrup mix. That said they taste  pretty amazing and were lucky to last the 5 days from cooking to lunchbox, even hidden on the top shelf. Andy reckons they are better without the chocolate (??? I know - WTF?!)

Channelling Kingston - Oat Crunch Biscuits: originally from Melanger to mix
180 g butter (or if you want dairy-free, then substitute with oil spread/marg)
60g rolled oats
90 g golden syrup
120g Demerara sugar (though I substituted brown sugar)
1 tsp bicarb soda
150g plain flour
60g dessicated coconut
150 g chocolate to melt (we used a sad wilted Santa “bunny” egg with some Lindt nubs left from last Easter– both were nut free, but could go dark dairy-free chocolate if that way inclined)
  1. Cream butter, sugar and golden syrup in mixer (or by hand) until pale and fluffy
  2. Add dry ingredients and combine (I did this by hand)
  3. Drop teaspoon (and I mean teaspoon - keep them small) mixture onto lined tray.
  4. Bake in pre-heated oven, 160C degrees for 12-15 minutes, until golden (they tend to keep cooking, and are too bendy to move off the tray immediately, so adjust cooking time accordingly).
  5. Remove to cooling rack using spatula (I actually used the Barbie-Mate to prevent dark brown bottoms).  
  6. Once cooled, sandwich two biscuits together using the melted chocolate.
I can't make the picture work - I'm giving up tonight and will return tomorrow. I bastardized the recipe this time, adding extra oat-bran, chia seeds and more oats ...


The second cab of the rank was cracking open a pack of Chia Seeds - brand new addition to my kitchen, and this recipe from a lovely blogger, with just about the best name going ... Darling Lemon Thyme ... go have a browse for the recipe for her delicious Lemon Chia Biscuits (which having both nuts and eggs are destined for my mouth only ... mwahahahaha). I did manage to take a couple of happy snaps of them and will warn you to err on the side of caution with heat, as the bottoms got burnt (admittedly in a toaster oven, sitting atop an upside down roasting pan) and they are quite firm by the end anyway.
Lemon Chia Biscuit
Egg-free, Nut-free Banana & Apple Muffins
And finally, this recipe, again I must attribute origins, and then admit to not following the recipe very closely - I made this second batch with half measures (resulting in perfect 6+1 large muffins into silicon trays, sans paper, thus meeting the waste-free lunch principle.  I substituted half wholemeal flour, used less sugar (about 100g or so), kept the same quantity of bananas, but halved the apples.  
This was the only dish to escape chia seed additions today.  Though we did decorate with dried fruit faces (which then burnt to buggery, but live and learn heh?)

280g self-raising flour
125g caster sugar
½ tspn salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups milk
2 large ripe mashed bananas
2 apples, peeled, cored and grated (though apple puree would probably be fine too)
1 tbsp orange rind zest
1 tsp vanilla essence

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Grease muffin tin, or line with muffin paper cups
  2. Stir together flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon
  3. Separately combine milk, banana, apples, orange rind and vanilla extract
  4. Mix lightly and spoon mixture into tin
  5. Bake 25-30 minutes or until light golden brown and cooked through when skewer test
Apple & Banana Muffin

And that is more than enough baking for anyone.  I think the next week's lunch-fillers will be these, using chia seed gel, rather than traditional egg-replacer

Aside from that, we have been staying indoors because of the heat.  A visit here and there for swims.  A first movie in err 7 months for Andy and I (True Grit) leaving Augustus for the first time at home with grandparents for 2 hours.  
And of course we've loved learning to skype my dear sister, who has made her nephew's day by taking her laptop into subzero outdoors to show off the snow.  And even writing his name in it ...He has a few times this week answered the phone, and mistaken friends for you, and told them (you) that we are saving our money to visit (he gave me a 50 cent piece the other day for the trip, rather than stashing it in his moneybox!)

The disaster zone after cooking

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