Vietnamese Chicken Rolls

Not only are these something that my children enjoy helping to make and are a great way to give your children salad and raw carrot. Chicken Vietnamese rolls were also a favourite at work when the boss would every month order them in. The only difference was that the shop bought ones had fresh chili.

Cooking Time: 0 mins

Serves: 2 children

Steps

1. Cut the crusty rolls in half and spread the mayonnaise on one side of each roll
2. Fill each roll with the chicken, carrot and lettuce
3. I cook the chicken the night before by steaming it, or just before making the rolls if you want a warm lunch
4. Drizzle with sauce and coriander
5. Serve with some soy sauce drizzled on the chicken

Easy Mini Quiches

Kids at parties love grazing bit size food. These mini quiches as the name suggests are easy to do, plus you can freeze them for up to four months. They are also a popular standby.

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Serves: 12 children (1 mini quiche each)

Steps

1. Chill a muffin tray
2. Put the flour and diced butter and a pinch of salt into a food processor and whiz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs in texture.
3. Add the egg yolk and if needed some water, and then process until it forms pastry.
4. Roll out the pasty on a floured surface to a thickness of 2.5mm.
5. Cut out pastry circles to line your chilled muffin tray and chill for 1 hour.
6. Pre heat the oven to 180oc / gas mark 4
7. Heat 15g of butter and cook the leek for five minutes.
8. Add the courgette and saute until golden brown.
9. Spoon mixture into chilled pastry cases and sprinkle with cheese.
10. Chop the rosemary leaves.
11. Whisk the milk, eggs, and herbs.
12. Pour over the filling.
13. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the filling is golden brown and puffy.
14. Allow to cool before serving or freezing.

Tuna and Couscous Salad

School lunches can become monotonous. Couscous is quick to cook and my kids love it as it is a change from sandwiches.

You can add almost any cooked vegetables you might have left over from the previous night in the fridge. Just chop them up small.

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Serves: 2-4 children

Steps

1. Place the couscous in a pan and pour over the boiling stock. Cover and leave for at least 10-15 minutes until the couscous has absorbed all the liquid. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Cover again.
2. While the couscous is cooking, cut up the feta cheese and tomatoes.
3. Mix the feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumber and tuna into the cooked couscous, add the torn basil.
4. Serve warm or cold

Chicken and Pasta Salad

Served warm or cold, this salad uses wholemeal pasta to provide more fibre, vitamins and minerals.

A good source of carbohydrates and protein. Suitable for diary and nut free diets.

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Serves: 2 children

Steps

1. Cook the pasta in lightly salted boiling water for about 10 minutes until just tender, drain and cool
2. Pre heat a grill to medium high.
3. At the same time. Take a large bowl and add the diced chicken and olive oil. Toss the chicken until coated.
4. Place the chicken on the grilling tray.
5. With the remaining oil in the bowl add the French dressing and add the tomato, yellow pepper, onion. Toss the vegetables until covered and add to the chicken on the grilling tray.
6. Grill the chicken adn vegetables for 10 minutes, spooning over the juices.
7. Check the chicken is cooked. To check if cooked pierce the chicken with a knife or skewer and the juices should be clear not pink.
8. Combine the pasta with the chicken and vegetables together in a bowl, drizzle with pan juices and add the basil leaves.
9. Serve warm or wait until cool and serve cold.

Cheap mans Mackerel pate

Kids love dips. Here are some our our family’s favourites.

Wraps

On a recent camping trip we did a communal lunch for 19 kids. Their favourite was chicken wraps and we had them coming back for more.