Wednesday, Week 2 - Berry Muffins and Fruit Kebabs

Today was great.  Every day is great.  I love making food with the kids.  I love their enthusiasm and I love that although most of the food we make might be "new" to them... they give it a go and at least try it,  maybe with a little bit of a carry on -  but that is their play and that is okay!   Most of the time, they actually like it, too! Good on them, for trying new things.

Today we made blueberry and raspberry muffins and fruit kebabs.  We got so much fruit from the delivery yesterday by FareShare London - Watermelons, madarins,  grapes, nectarines.  So we used a lot of it making the fruit kebabs.  The only extra thing I bought for the kebabs were strawberries.  The boys who helped me were just amazing!  They liked making their own patterns with the fruit and seeing how many different ways the fruit would stay on the stick.

Fruit Kebabs

Mandarins
Watermelon
Grapes
Strawberries

Wash them and chop the watermelon into bite size pieces.  We put whole mandarins on and just cut the green tops off the strawberries and obviously just threaded the grapes on whole as well.  They were so colourful.  I think that colour can be a major draw card in getting the kids to try the food.

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While a couple of the boys were making the fruit kebabs, the others made the muffins and then they swapped.  

Blueberry or Raspberry Muffins

200g flour

180g brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

200ml soy milk

1 tablespoon vinegar

60ml oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lemon extract

half carton of frozen blueberries, raspberries or other berries you might have in the freezer.  

We made four batches so all the boys got to have a go.  Each batch made about 12 muffins.  We cooked them at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes although I did start checking to see if they were done around the 20 minute mark.  The thing about making these right, is to mix the dry ingredients together first, then add the wet ingredients, stirring a minimal amount.  You don't need to stir this a lot because it doesn't contain eggs and stirring too much will affect the way they cook in the oven.  These should have flat tops when they come out and cool down.  

Eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables each day is to be aimed for so that you get all the associated benefits, such as lowered risk of cardiovascular disease, lowered risk of cancer,  decreased risk of high blood pressure.  Red, blue and purple fruits provide lycopene, which helps decrease your cancer risk. 

Blueberries are one of nature's superfoods.  They are low in calories, rich in vitamin K, vitamin C, fibre, manganese, and flavanoids, most notably anthocyanins, which enhance the health promoting qualities of food.  Some doctors say that if you make any changes to diet, make sure it is to add blueberries to them.