We all know that a full day of school can be exhausting, especially at the sytart of the year when we're all still on a high from the summer months.
Energy levels can be less than ideal when the kids come home - and you still have homework to tackle!
It's important to set them up with some healthy and delicious snacks that will keep them alert, beating the afterschool slump.
Check out these goodies:
Rainbow Wraps
Celebrate a special occasion with a delicious colourful picnic the whole family can enjoy. The yummy recipes in this rainbow picnic are all free from artificial colours – no junk, just the glorious natural colours of healthy fruits and vegetables.
What you'll need:
For the wrap
- 100g buckwheat flour
- 1 organic egg
- 300ml organic milk (or milk alternative - rice/oat/nut milk)
- 3 tbsp water
- A little olive or coconut oil for frying
For the rainbow filling
- A couple of spoonfuls of cream cheese or hummus
- 1/2 cooked beetroot
- 1/4 red pepper
- 1 small carrot
- 1/4yellow pepper
- 5 cm chunk cucumber
What you'll do:
To make the wrap, simply whisk all ingredients (except the oil) together until very smooth. Ideally use an electric whisk if you have one.
Allow batter to stand for about half an hour.
Heat a little olive oil or coconut oil in a 6 inch, non-stick frying pan. Ladle a scoop of batter into the pan – just enough to cover the pan surface, so the wrap is just less than 5mm thick. Tip the pan so the batter covers the surface, and allow to cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes.
Use a fish slice to carefully see if it is cooked on the bottom. Once it’s cooked on one side, slide the fish slice under the wrap and flip it over. Cook the other side for a couple more minutes until golden. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
Allow the wraps to cool on a wire rack, or if you prefer them warm they can be kept warm in a low oven.
Prepare the vegetables by cutting them into thin matchsticks. The carrot and beetroot could also be grated if preferred.
Spread a layer of cream cheese or hummus over the whole wrap
Place the vegetables on top of the wrap in strips arranged by colour. Fold up the top and bottom of the wrap, then tightly roll, spreading a little extra cheese on the last bit of wrap to help ‘glue’ it in place if needed.
Slice in half at an angle so that you can see the range of rainbow colours then pack in an airtight box for your picnic.
Frittata Bites
When packing a picnic for little ones, finger foods are a must! Young children are much more likely to eat plenty if they can pick up bite sized bits and pieces and it’s a great way to get them trying a variety of tastes and textures.
What you'll need:
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 small red onion
- 1 red pepper
- 6 large eggs
- Large handful fresh spinach
- 100g soft goats cheese
What you'll do:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas mark 4/350°F). Lightly brush a 12 hole muffin tin with oil.
Finely chop the red onion and deseed and finely chop the red pepper. Warm the olive oil in a frying pan then gently cook the onion and pepper for a couple of minutes until starting to soften. Take off the heat and leave to cool.
Finely chop the spinach. Break the eggs into a large bowl and whisk until frothy. Add the onion, pepper and spinach to the eggs and crumble in the goats cheese. Stir until combined.
Spoon the mixture into the oiled muffin tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until puffed up and golden.
Rainbow Dips
Celebrate a special occasion with a delicious colourful picnic the whole family can enjoy. The yummy recipes in this rainbow picnic are all free from artificial colours – no junk, just the glorious natural colours of healthy fruits and vegetables.
What you'll need:
For the carrot hummus
- 250g carrots
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 200g of chickpeas
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tbsp orange juice
For the beetroot hummus
- 200g cooked beetroot
- 200g of chickpeas
- 1 small garlic clove (optional)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
For the pea and mint dip
- 300g frozen peas
- 2 sprigs fresh mint
- 100g thick Greek yogurt (or dairy free alternative)
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
What you'll need:
Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas mark 4/400°F). Scrub the carrots under running water. Top and tail them then cut into short sticks, leaving the skins on.
Place the carrots in a roasting tray with the garlic clove (still in its papery skin) and the olive oil. Shake the tin to completely coat the carrots and garlic.
Pop in the oven to roast for 20-25 minutes until the carrots are golden and cooked through. Once the carrots are ready, take out of the oven and leave to cool.
Drain the tin of chickpeas and tip half of them into a blender (reserve the other half for the beetroot hummus). Squeeze the clove of garlic out of its skin and into the blender with the chickpeas. Add the roasted carrots, ground cumin and orange juice. Blend all of the ingredients together until you have a hummus consistency.
Tip into a bowl, cover and store in the fridge then clean the blender ready to make the next dip.
Roughly chop the beetroot and tip into the blender with the remaining chickpeas, peeled garlic clove, cumin, olive oil and lemon juice.
Blend all of the ingredients together until you have a hummus consistency. Tip into a bowl, cover and store in the fridge then clean the blender ready to make the last dip.
Pour the frozen peas into a saucepan with the mint sprigs. Cover with boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes until tender.
Tip into a colander to drain, then cool down under a tap of cold running water. Drain well, then remove the mint sprigs.
Strip the mint leaves from the stems and add to the blender with the peas, yogurt and lemon juice. Blend all of the ingredients together until smooth. Tip into a bowl, cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Rainbow Fruit Kebabs
Celebrate a special occasion with a delicious colourful picnic the whole family can enjoy. The yummy recipes in this rainbow picnic are all free from artificial colours – no junk, just the glorious natural colours of healthy fruits and vegetables.
What you'll need:
- 5 or 6 strawberries
- 1 clementine
- Handful pineapple pieces
- 1 kiwi fruit
- handful blueberries
What you'll do:
Prepare the fruit; wash, hull and halve the strawberries, peel the clementine and break into segments, cut the pineapple into bite-sized pieces, peel the kiwi fruit and cut into bite sized pieces, wash and halve the blueberries.
Thread the fruit onto plastic or bamboo skewers. You can make them all the same in rainbow order or let your little one design their own.
Arrange the fruit kebabs on a plate, platter or air-tight container. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Rainbow Muffins
Celebrate a special occasion with a delicious colourful picnic the whole family can enjoy. The yummy recipes in this rainbow picnic are all free from artificial colours – no junk, just the glorious natural colours of healthy fruits and vegetables.
What you'll need:
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1 small carrot
- 2 spring onions
- 1/2 red pepper
- 2 tbps sweetcorn
- 100g mature cheddar
- 175ml milk (or dairy free alternative)
- 1 large egg
- 50ml olive oil
What you'll do:
Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas mark 6/400°F). Lightly brush 10 moulds of a 12 hole muffin tin with oil.
Measure and sift the flour into a large mixing bowl.
Prepare the vegetables – grate the carrot, finely chop the spring onion, de-seed and finely chop the red pepper. Add all of the vegetables to the flour. Grate the cheddar cheese, add it to the bowl and mix well to combine.
In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, egg and olive oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Divide the mixture between the 10 oiled muffin tin moulds.
Bake for about 20 minutes until cooked through and golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack then pack in an air-tight box for your picnic.
For more delicious recipes head over to Organix.
