Nutritious, child-friendly and ready to go!

Like any mum who is concerned about what her children put into their mouths, I am always on the lookout for wholesome child-friendly meal ideas that will keep not just my girls happy, but will also satisfy my desire to nourish their growing bodies with wholesome goodness :) 

Very often, quick and convenient is a necessity, so I have a few favourite recipes which I cook up and freeze, on hand and ready for those evenings when we are busy running the girls to after-school activities or working late.

The recipe below is one of our staples which I have made since Miss 8 was a toddler. I have recently converted it for the Thermomix. Other child-friendly recipes I like to make and pop in the freezer are my chicken & vegetable sausage rolls, tomato & vegetable pasta sauce (which I sometimes use to make a quick spaghetti bolognaise with lean beef rump minced in the Thermomix), as well as crumbed fresh fish or organic chicken nuggets. 

Spinach, fetta & rice fingers

ingredients

250g organic frozen spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
115g (1/2 cup) organic brown basmati rice
3 large eggs
200g fetta cheese, broken into chunks
freshly ground black pepper to taste

method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C and grease an oven proof rectangular dish 25 x 20 cm.
2. Rinse rice thoroughly and cook in your rice cooker, steam oven or place inside the steamer basket in the Thermomix and cook for 35-40 minutes on Varoma temperature at speed 4. You can pre-cook the rice at anytime it is convenient and store ready to go in the fridge. 
3. Add eggs to the TM bowl and whisk for 10 seconds on speed 4.
4. Add the defrosted, drained frozen spinach, fetta and freshly ground pepper to the TM bowl. Mix on speed 4 for 10-15 seconds or until well combined.
5. Add pre-cooked brown basmati rice and mix on reverse speed 2 for 10 seconds.
6. Pour mixture into prepared dish and spread evenly using the spatula. 
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden on top. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
8. Slice into fingers to serve while still warm or at room temperature and dip into Thermomix tomato ketchup (pictured above). Serve as a side to crumbed fish or chicken with your children's favourite vegetable/s. Great with baked beans too! My girls particularly enjoy this recipe with Red Alphabet Soup.

variation

You could also add other vegetables to this slice such as finely chopped capsicum and grated carrot. Drain the vegetables first on absorbent paper. 

no thermomix?
Lightly whisk the eggs with a fork and add to a large bowl with the pre-cooked rice and drained spinach. Crumble the fetta cheese over the other ingredients and mix well using a wooden spoon. 

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