What have we been eating?

The Hungry Twins have had a tough week and a half.  They have battled new molars (how many new teeth can you get at one time??), gastro (from childcare) as well as (in the case of Skye) a raging case of severe nappy rash.  All this has meant that I haven’t quite had the energy to blog but the Hungry Twins are back on track now!

Although a bit grizzly from a bout of mild gastro, this didn’t really dim the Hungry Twins’ appetites – they still managed to put away a surprising amount of food.  Here’s what they have been eating….

Crispy chicken, pumpkin mash and zucchini

Chilli basil chicken and rice

Bangers and mash (with zucchini)

Cauliflower and bacon pasta

Custard powder chicken stir fry

More bangers with potato wedges, broccoli and mushrooms

Meatball pasta and zucchini fritters

Cauliflower cheese mac

Skye says more more more!!!

Perhaps I can eat this faster than Skye?

 

 

Not bad for too hungry girls!  One thing has happened in this time – the Hungry Twins have decided broccoli is passé and zucchini is IN!  Might have to grow some in a polytunnel to keep up with demand….

Semi-leftovers

A bit of chicken tarragon mince was leftover from last night’s dinner.  What to do (and still keep it interesting)?  The Hungry Twins have become pretty discerning lately – plating up the same food as yesterday just doesn’t quite cut it anymore!  Thankfully, there was just enough mince left to make some meatballs, cooked in the oven together with a tomato sauce.

Chicken meatballs – even better second time around

The pasta was immediately gobbled down by Skye, but Grace decided she would rather start with veg – zucchini to be exact!  After eating most of this, Grace then was happy to move onto the pasta and the chicken meatballs.  Skye was unperturbed by her sister’s antics and happily ate everything.

Now I’ll eat pasta…..

But meatballs are even better!

Yum to everything!!

The rule of leftovers didn’t seem to apply to the cauliflower cheese, however.  It was eaten with as much gusto as yesterday!  Dessert was another of the apple and oat muffins cooked last night.  I can classify those as a distinct success!!

 

Super chicken

Dinner always tastes better in good company. It certainly seemed the case tonight!  Granny is visiting from Sydney for the week and the Hungry Twins were very excited.  This all translated into huge appetites….

Marrakesh chicken, broccolini and mashed potato

The chicken (marinated in marrakesh spices, bought from Saskia Beer at the Barossa Farmers’ Market) was devoured in about a micro-second.  We had to tear pieces from our chicken to share with the Hungry Twins!  The broccolini wasn’t much of a hit (thankfully, Monty the golden retriever eats cooked broccoli!) but the mash was enthusiastically eaten from a spoon.

Where’s the chicken?

Do I have broccoli stuck in my teeth?

After all this food, you would think that they wouldn’t need anymore.  But no, plastic cheese (three slices between them), pears and grapes were required before they were satisfied!

http://www.barossafarmersmarket.com/home/

http://saskiabeer.com

 

Sausages, pizza and cheese

A dinner was a bit of everything tonight.  Sausages (from Barossa Heritage Pork, bought today at the Barossa Farmers’ Markets), stir-fry veg, homemade pizzas and plastic cheese!

Pizza with ham and olives

Sausages are always a hit (two nights in a row!) with the Hungry Twins, so no complaints there. Except that perhaps we could have given them another one (they had one each), but then we wouldn’t have had any dinner ourselves!

Anymore sausages? Or did my sister eat them all…..

The stir-fry veg was given a luke-warm reception, but some of it did get eaten.  Pizza was the hero of course.  Particularly given that it had olives, an all-time favourite of the Hungry Twins!

Can I have some more pizza?

They were still a bit hungry after all of this (hard to believe, I know), so we tossed them some plastic cheese.  Good move!  Not only do they love to eat it, but they also find it quite entertaining to break it into little pieces before eating.  Food AND fun all in one!

Plastic cheese is GOOD

A few grapes each and there you go – dinner done again!

http://www.barossafarmersmarket.com/home/

http://barossaheritagepork.com.au

 

 

Dinner from a box

Tasty chilli basil chicken tonight.  Easy to make – it comes out of a box (the flavours do anyway!).  Just add chicken and vegetables.

Chilli basil chicken

It’s one of those meals that require little thought – just chop up the chicken and veg, add the various sauces and there you go!  I use Marion’s Kitchen meal-in-a-box.  The flavours are great and even though it has a little bit of heat, the Hungry Twins love it.

Chicken from the bowl to my mouth…. (mostly)

A bit of plastic cheese and the last of the pears and two happy customers!  A bit of cleaning up to do – somehow the Hungry Twins manage to get sauce up to their elbows (even though they used their bowls for most of the meal!!).

http://marionskitchen.com.au/food-range/marions-kitchen-thai-basil-chilli-stir-fry/

 

 

Meat and three veg (and a bit of cheese)

Quite a lot of cheese, really.  Tonight for dinner the Hungry Twins had steak (marinated in worcestershire and light soy), leftover homemade baked beans and some broccoli and cauliflower cheese.

Steak and three veg

The steak was eaten with such enthusiasm that I was hard-pressed to keep up with the demand for sliced pieces (until the Hungry Twins have molars, chopped up steak is still the go).  The broccoli and cauliflower cheese was also a hit.  I made this using a River Cottage recipe that uses hot English mustard.  It has lots of tasty cheese and the addition of the mustard definitely adds to the flavour!

Tastes good!

Hmm, anymore cauliflower left?

The beans, leftover from the other night, were also happily eaten from a spoon (all the better for quicker eating!).  The Hungry Twins had a brief interlude of three slices of plastic cheese before a nice, fat and juicy Duchess pear for dessert.  Happiness all round.

 

Lucky for lamb

The Hungry Twins seem on the improve today.  Lunch was hoisin chicken stir-fry, which was received enthusiastically.  Grace devoured the chicken (couldn’t get enough), whereas Skye thought the broccoli was pretty good.  Although, to be fair, Skye also seems to be suffering from sore gums (teeth, again!).

Hoisin chicken lunch

For dinner, we had delicious local lamb that we had bought this morning on a morning stroll through Tanunda with the dog (and the Hungry Twins, of course).  Some Italian rat and mashed potato rounded out the meal…..

Tasty lamb for dinner

The Hungry Twins thought the mashed potato was pretty good (second helpings required) and the lamb was eaten by both Grace and Skye.  Guess those sore gums are feeling not too bad now!

Keep it coming!

I love my lamb!

The Italian rat was refused by both (all the more for us), but we were saved by the lamb bones.

That’s the ticket…..

Why eat rat when you can have lamb?

A bit of plastic cheese and some tinned peaches and that was it.  The Hungry Twins ate more tonight for dinner than they have for the previous two dinners combined!  Hopefully they are on the mend…..

Broccoli, peas and pumpkin

The Hungry Twins have been feeling a bit delicate these last couple of days.  A cold has left them with a lack of appetite, this is a new experience.  Last night’s dinner was broccoli pasta, which was easy to make and went down well (although the volume was a lot less than usual).

A family favourite

Well, this I will eat!

And it’s even good for me…..

Leftovers from dinner were re-worked for lunch today – you can’t beat broccoli and pasta!

For dinner tonight I thought I’d try a new dish – risotto with pumpkin and peas.

And now for something different…..

It was met with mixed results.  Skye really liked the peas, but refused the pumpkin completely and only deigned to eat a couple of mouthfuls of risotto.  Grace devoured the pumpkin but tossed the peas overboard (usually she loves these!).  Thank goodness for dogs….

Peas not pumpkin, please!

Hmmm, no peas for me!

And thank goodness for fish fingers and cheese!  A couple sticks of each and a bowl of yoghurt (just like when they were tiny) and that was dinner.  A bit hard to believe that the Hungry Twins can eat so little…..  Hopefully they will be back to their usual ravenous selves soon!  Although, I can’t say that the dogs are complaining – all the more for them.

 

 

 

Cheese and chicken

One way to start dinner – or at least one way to keep the Hungry Twins occupied while their dinner cools enough to eat!  Cheese is the magic solution.  A few sticks of cheese and then onto dinner of custard powder chicken (this is a yummy stir-fry with chicken tossed in custard powder and 5-spice).

An oldie but a goodie!

The chicken disappeared, followed by corn, broccoli and some zucchini.  Part way through the meal, the Hungry Twins rediscovered raspberries, but not of the fruit kind!

Better than strawberries!

Still working on understanding how to use bowls, the Hungry Twins at times wore their bowls as hats!  This had a bit of a detrimental affect on their hair…..

This is what chicken does to your hair…..

Better than any bought hair product!

A new fashion statement, perhaps?

The magic of chicken (with tarragon)

Another busy day today.  A morning spent in child care, which the Hungry Twins love, but it makes them tired, so time to break out the big guns.  Tarragon chicken meatballs and stir-fry veg for dinner did the job.  The chicken comes pre-flavoured with tarragon (another Saskia Beer innovation) and it smells and tastes great!  In fact, the kitchen still smells of it…. (not that that is a bad thing).

Easy peasy chicken dinner

Needless to say, chicken meatballs are always a favourite of the Hungry Twins.  They ate what was on the plate and then a few more!  The veg went down well too (just cooked in a little homemade chicken stock and light soy).  Even the carrots were gobbled down.  I think that child care makes them hungry! Not that they don’t get fed there as well…..

Did someone say chicken tarragon meatballs?

And where’s the rest of them????

Honey crumpets and grapes for dessert – not bad!

http://saskiabeer.com