Category: Recipes
Family Picnic Food
We love to have picnics regularly throughout the year. There’s something magical about eating outdoors enjoying good food with family and friends, differing vistas and fresh air.
We eat picnics in the garden, at the beach, in the forest, in the park and on our balcony in the city of London. When it’s too cold to be sitting outside to eat we have been known to get a rug out and have a picnic on the floor of our apartment, with the company of our cats Louis and Mia who will nibble at any leftover cheese.
My favourite foods for simple baby and toddler family friendly picnics are:
- Boiled eggs
- Cheese sandwiches
- Tomatoes
- Avocado
- Crackers
- Potato salad
- Mixed bean salad
- Pasta salad
- Bananas
- Fruit Salad with strawberries, nectarines, blueberries, peaches, oranges
Don’t forget a large picnic rug, some picnicware and baby sun cream.
Our most recent family picnic was in the Kaitoke Regional Park. I’m linking this post up to the What I Wore Wednesday link for this week.
Sunglasses – Ted Baker
Striped T-Shirt – Dickins and Jones from House of Fraser
Green Vest – Dansk
3/4 Trousers – Board Angels
Here’s my last What I Wore Wednesday post.
Grilled Fish with Lemon
One of the great pleasures of summer is cooking and eating outside. Celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage each have their own take on summer recipes and eating al fresco.
My favourite way to enjoy summer fare is to eat fresh, organic and home grown food when possible. Nothing tastes better than fruit or veg plucked straight from the garden. Today we enjoyed grilled fish cooked in the garden with organic home grown sugar snap peas and runner beans, freshly picked lemons, organic brown rice and avocado.
It’s so simple to put these ingredients together to create a healthy, quick and nutritious meal for the family to enjoy at lunch or dinner time.
Do you grow your own potatoes? These would taste delicious with the fish as an alternative to brown rice. And if you’re cutting back on the carbs a green salad would be a perfect accompaniment for the grilled fish with lemon.
What’s your favourite summer recipe?
Pumpkin, Leek & Sprouting Broccoli Quiche
This recipe is for a vegetarian no pastry quiche with ricotta and sweet roasted pumpkin. It’s colourful, tasty and a great way for the family to get 2 of their 5 a day.
It’s packed full of healthy goodness and is versatile for families as it can be eaten at anytime of the day, hot or cold. I use organic vegetables as these taste better and are grown without chemicals.
As an alternative to sprouting broccoli, this quiche can be made with baby spinach.
Pumpkin, Leek & Sprouting Broccoli No Pastry Quiche
Serves 4
Preparation Time 10 minutes
Cooking Time 45 minutes
Ingredients
700g butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
Olive oil
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
100g sprouting broccoli (or baby spinach leaves)
4 eggs
2 egg whites
60ml (1/4 cup) skim milk
80g (1/3 cup) fresh low-fat ricotta
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
Mixed salad leaves, to serve
Preparation
Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C for fan ovens).
Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Place the pumpkin on the lined tray and spray with olive oil. Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until golden.
Chop the sprouting broccoli into 2 cm pieces. Place in a pan with water and boil for 2 minutes. Drain.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan with a little olive oil over medium heat. Add the leek and cook for 5 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until soft. Add the sprouting broccoli and stir for 1 minute (or if adding baby spinach, stir for 3 minutes or until the spinach wilts).
Line a 26cm x 16cm (base measurement) baking dish with non-stick baking paper. Spread the pumpkin and leek mixture evenly over the base of the pan.
Whisk the eggs, egg whites and milk in a jug. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the pumpkin and leek. Sprinkle the ricotta evenly over the vegetables.
Bake for 25 minutes or until puffed and golden. Sprinkle with basil.
Enjoy the quiche on its own or serve with mixed salad leaves.
