Week 5, Friday - Fruit Pie and Avocados and The End

I bought 12 avocados from the market at Vauxhall today on my way to work to make some chocolate mousse.  I also bought some puff pastry and some blueberries so that we could make a fruit and use up some more tins of fruit that we got.  There was still some salsa left from yesterday so I thought we could make some guacamole again, as the kids have always enjoyed it and we could make some tomato-y scrolls using my pizza base recipe for dipping as there were no more tortilla chips left.  So that is what we did!

It was all very exciting and I had 2 people in the kitchen who hadn't been in before, so it was good to finish off the project knowing that two more people had an experience in the kitchen.

Fruit Pie

Jus Rol Shortcrust Pastry
Tin of apricots in juice
1 punnet blueberries
Icing sugar for dusting

Roll out the shortcrust pastry.  Spoon the apricots onto the pastry and some of the juice.  Decorate with blueberries.  Put in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

The scrolls:

Guacamole:

Chocolate Avocado Mousse:

We made so much stuff in order to use up all the ingredients as much as possible.  We did clear out a lot of stuff, which was good and it all got eaten up.

I have really enjoyed these 5 weeks of summer.  I almost felt like not going on my holiday so I make stuff in the kitchen with the kids next week!  I counted the number of names of people who helped me over the course of the summer.  Once I got to 40, I stopped counting.  Most of those children helped me more than once - some 4 or 5 or 6 times - some more than that.  They really enjoyed making the food and trying new things.  Everyday I was met with choruses of  "Sarah - can I help today please!"  This project has been a real hit with everyone.  Not only did we prepare lots of healthy food, which the children will be able to take away with them in the form of a recipe book - we planted a garden full of herbs and veggies and a and there should be some rosemary seedling sprouting up in the next few weeks ready for the children to take home to their houses to take care of and use in recipes of their own.  We learnt some new things about plants and wildlife on our trip to Roots and Shoots.  I wish we could provide these experiences were available to the children all the time!

Week 5, Thursday - Cucumber Sandwiches and Cucumber, Mint and Lime Juice

Today I bought bread and we made dairy-free cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches as there were around 10 cucumbers in the fridge from the delivery on Tuesday.  We also made a pretty cool drink from using cucumber, mint and lime cordial.  We used the mint that we planted in the garden a few weeks ago.  

Cucumber, Mint and Lime Juice

2 cucumbers, diced

Lime cordial

1 cup mint leaves

Put the diced cucumber in a jug.  Fill with 1 part lime cordial to 4 parts water.  Refrigerate.

Put mint leaves in a pot and add 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of sugar.  Bring to boil, turn off the heat and pour into the cucumber jug.  Let cool and then refrigerate. 

The sandwiches were straight-forward to make:  put margarine the bread, spread some dairy-free cream cheese on.  Put slices of cucumber on each piece of bread, cover with a buttered piece of bread.  Cut into triangles.  Easy! 

We also made a really simple salsa.

Salsa

2 punnets of cherry tomatoes

5 or 6 cloves of garlic

A little balsamic vinegar

Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and put into the food processor and whizz just a little so that the tomatoes are slightly broken up.  

We had tortilla chips to dip into the salsa and we served the food outside today.  It was such a beautiful day.  It was rally hot and felt like a proper summer's day.  It all went, I even spent more time making more sandwiches for everyone as so many people asked for more.  

Week 5, Wednesday - Carrot, Coriander and Lentil Soup and Fruit Ice Lollies

We got so many carrots from FareShare London on Tuesday, I really couldn't think how to use them all up!  A different mix of children in the kitchen today, it was fun and they never cease to amaze me... the banter, the fun they have, the chit chat, the discussions, they all happen between the children.  It's great to see them getting to know each other better.  I bought a big bag of lentils on my way in as I was thinking about making a dhal, but we ended up deciding to make soup.

Carrot, Coriander and Lentil Soup

a little vegetable oil

1 onion - chopped roughly

half a bulb of garlic - chopped roughly

7 carrots - chopped roughly

2 punnets of cherry tomatoes

6 cups water

6 tablespoons of vegetable stock/3 cubes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp garlic granules

2 cups red lentils

a big handful of fresh coriander

salt to taste

Fry onions and garlic in the oil for a few minutes and then add the carrots, continuing to fry for a couple more minutes.  Add the spices and saute for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly.  

Add the water and vegetable stock to the mix and then pour in the tomatoes.  Finally add the lentils and coriander and simmer for half an hour or so. 

After 30 minutes, we whizzed it in the food processor, creating a smooth and delicious soup. 

We also got a chilli from the garden and chopped it up, so that people could add it to their soup if they wanted to.  The tomato in the photo is the first red tomato from our own garden..  We chopped into quarters and the kids in the kitchen tried it.  

We also made ice lollies which will be ready for next week.  The delivery also contained a tray of tinned fruit in juice or syrup, so we spooned them into ice lolly molds - 50 of them!  A good way to have some fruit on a hot day.  The only issue with these is the lack of space in the freezer - they will all fit - eventually, I am sure!  

Just before home time, I went out into the garden.  There were 2 boys having a look at the different plants.  I said, "Have you seen the chillies?"  "No, where?" They replied.  I showed them the chillies and the tomato plants.  They noticed a couple more red tomatoes.  They wanted to try them, so we went into the kitchen and they chopped them up and had a try - a really good effort on the part of those boys: one of them said, "I usually hate tomatoes, but this tastes nice."  

Week 5, Tuesday - Marmite Scrolls, Tomato Sauce, Salad and Frozen Pineapple

Today there were new people helping me in the kitchen.  We had such a lot of food from the FareShare London delivery, my mind was having trouble trying to think what to make! There were 4 pineapples, so we chopped them up, inserted toothpicks, put them in a baking tray which we then placed in the freezer for an easy frozen snack just before going home time.

We also got a huge box of carrots... Hmmm what could we do with so many?!  I brought in my food processor again and we used the grating attachment.  The kids had fun peeling and grating, peeling and grating.  We had a lot of grated carrot and were donated several cucumbers too, so chopped up 3 of them.  I took the tomatoes from last week out the fridge and we chopped those ones up, which have now been replaced by this week's delivery.  It all went into a bowl and the girls made an oil and vingar dressing with tahini.

Our House Dressing
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons tahini
a dash of garlic granules
salt to taste

We tossed the salad with the dressing.

This bowl was full of salad at the beginning and gone by the end!

The scrolls were fun to make too.  We rolled out the puff pastry - Jus Rol brand which is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.  The blocks of pastry are much cheaper that the already-rolled-out kind.

We covered it in dairy-free cream cheese.  I bought Tesco brand dairy-free cream cheese with herbs spread.

Then we spread Marmite all over it and my camera battery stopped working!  We rolled it up and cut it into pieces.  We put them in the oven to bake at 180 degrees Celsius for around 25 minutes.    We did this 4 times to make enough for 50 people.

We also made a dipping sauce for the scrolls using fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden.  First, we fried some red onion in a big pot.

Then we added a few cloves of garlic and stirred them for a few minutes.  We washed and roughly cut the basil and then poured in 2 tins of tomatoes and two punnets of fresh tomatoes.  We added a tablespoon of vegetable stock and salt to taste.  Then we whizzed it up in the blender and it was perfect!  We put the sauce in two bowls with spoons so the kids could help themselves if they wanted.

Some kids wanted a second scroll and there was enough salad for everyone.  One boy said after eating his scroll, "What's Marmite?  And how can I use it?  Can I see the package?" I showed him the package and told him I usually have Marmite on toast for breakfast.  So.. at least one more Marmite convert from Lollard Street Adventure Playground!

Marmite is good for you in small doses - each serving has a high amounts of daily recommended amounts of B vitamins including B12, folic acid and iron.

Week 5, Monday - Rice Crispy Treats and Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

Today we made healthy rice crispy treats and orange juice.  There is no sugar in this recipe at all, instead we used agave nectar, which is low on the glycemic index.  The nut butter adds the protein and the rice adds the fibre.  It was very simple to make:

Healthy Rice Crispy Treats
1 TBSP Coconut Oil
4 TBSP Agave nectar
180g Peanut Butter or Substitute
half a banana
a little cinnamon
2 cups Rice Crispies

Heat the coconut oil, agave nectar and nut butter (or substitute - we used a substitute for those with allergies) until it has melted.  Pour into a food processor and mix with the banana and cinnamon.

Put the rice crispies in a pan and add the mixture from the food processor.  Stir until it's all mixed together.

Grease a baking tray and spread the mixture over the tray.   Put in the fridge for at least a couple of hours to set!


We made 5 batches to make around 60 pieces.  They were delicious!  In fact one boy came into the kitchen and said, "Isn't it nice Sarah?  This is my third piece!"

We had loads (I mean at least a hundred - seriously!) of mandarins left over from last week, which were still edible so we chopped them in half and I brought in my electric juicer to turn them into juice.  The boys spent AGES here.  I think they loved the sound and the vibration of the juicer as it spun around.  They didn't so much like taking turns, but I left it up to them, and eventually they sorted it out for themselves in a way which everyone got to have a go. There was lots of shouting over the top of the noise from the machine, too.  Somehow I managed to zone it all out and concentrate on the washing up!

Week 4, Friday - Potato Salad and Coconut Banana Muffins

Today was good - it's a bit of a blur now - there were several children working with me in the kitchen and many others asking at the window if they could help.  I felt very guilty saying no! I can only really have a few in at time or it gets manic in there and we are always on a deadline to get the food out to the people!

We got cut the potatoes to size this morning and quickly got them on the boil.  We were chopping up lots of vegetables again - what has been left in the fridge since Monday - a broccoli head, 2 punnets of cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumber and some coriander leaves from the garden.

After the potatoes had boiled enough we drained them and left them to cool.  After they had cooled down, we added the vegetables and Plamil mayonnaise - egg and dairy free AND tastes amazing - and added salt to taste!  We stirred it all up and put it in the fridge for a while.

Meanwhile, we whipped up the coconut cream to a thick consistency and within 5 minutes it was all runny and thin again.  Well... what to do with that?!  I think it was because it was too hot in the kitchen.  We decided to make banana muffins using the coconut milk as we also had a surplus of them in the freezer.

Potato Salad
1 head of broccoli - cut into small florets
2 punnets of cherry tomatoes - quartered
half a cucumber - diced
3 carrots - grated
a small handful of coriander leaves - finely shredded
5 baking potatoes - cut into bite-size pieces
2 tbsp Plamil's egg free mayo
Salt to taste

Makes a lot!

Coconut Banana Muffins

4 ripe bananas - mashed
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup dairy free margarine - I used Vitalite


Coconut milk and vinegar in a cup to curdle.  Mix everything else together.  After the coconut milk and vinegar have been standing for about 10 minutes, add it to the mixture and stir in.  Put a heaped tablespoon of mixture into each muffin holder and cook in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.  Done and delicious!

We made two batches and cut them in half as there were so many people today, so that everyone could have a bit.