Wallaby Childcare – Recipes
 

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Corn and Cheese Muffins

Banana Bread

Summer Icy Poles

Mini Veggie and Cheese Muffins

Chicken and Hokkien Noodles

Vegetarian Lasagna

Sang Choy Bow

Damper

Edible Finger Paint

Play dough

Homemade bath bombs

Corn and Cheese Pikelets

Ingredients

Method

• Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl.
• Combine the eggs, milk, cheese, corn and herbs in a medium bowl.
  
• Pour corn mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until well combined, stir in butter and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
  
• Heat a large fry-pan over medium heat, spray with olive oil spray and pour in about 2 tablespoons of batter for each pikelet.
  
• Cook for 2-3 minutes or until bubbles appear, flip over and cook for another 2 minutes.
  
• Serve warm with butter and your favourites sides – like crispy bacon and slow-roasted tomatoes.
  

Notes

• These pikelets are perfect for a Sunday brunch, a quick meal or finger food (topped with smoked salmon).
• Use leftovers in lunchboxes.
• Serve with crispy bacon, mushrooms sautéed in butter, slow roasted tomatoes, avocado slices or smoked salmon.

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Banana Bread
 

Ingredients

115 gm butter, softened
115 gm brown sugar
2 eggs
3 medium ripe bananas
200 gm vanilla yoghurt
250 gm wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. 
• Grease and line an 11 cm x 21 cm loaf tin with baking paper.
• Using an electric beater, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• In a separate bowl, mash the bananas and stir in the yoghurt. Fold through egg mixture. Fold flour and mixed spice into mixture.
• Spoon into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
• Remove from oven. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Tip: keep your bread in an airtight container, and it should stay fresh for 3-4 days.

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Summer Icy Poles

Ingredients:

• Strawberries
• Kiwi Fruit
• Blueberries
• Peach
• Pineapple
• Raspberries
• Mango
• 100% white grape juice

Method

• Thinly slice all your different fruits.
• Fill a set of icy pole moulds halfway with the 100% white grape juice.
• Top up your icy pole moulds with the fruit
  (be careful not to let them overflow).
• Pop into freezer for about 6 hours or until frozen.
• Enjoy!!

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Mini veggie and cheese muffins

Ingredients

• ½ cup grated or finely chopped veggies
  (e.g. carrot, zucchini, mushrooms)
• ½ cup grated cheese
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 egg
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tsp powdered chicken stock (optional)
  

Method

• Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.
• Grease a mini muffin tray. 
• Using a spoon, mix all the ingredients. 
• The mixture should be similar to cake batter. 
• If it's too dry, add a little more milk, if it's too runny, add more flour. 
• Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Chicken and Hokkien Noodles

Ingredients

• 500 gm chicken breast fillets cut into small pieces(iron source)
• 1 large onions, diced
• 2 carrots, sliced in rings
• 2 sticks of celery sliced
• 1 green capsicum chopped
• 1 red capsicum chopped
• 2 tablespoons Hossien Sauce
• 3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• ½ teaspoon minced garlic
• Oil for frying
• 2 x 440 gm Hokkien noodles
  

Method

• Place chicken in oven with hossien sauce
• Heat oil in a wok. Fry onion, when almost cooked add other vegetables and stir fry.
• Place noodles in a bowl of boiling water for 1-2 minutes. 
• Drain
• Toss with chicken and vegetables. Serve.

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Vegetarian Lasagne

Ingredients:

• 375 gm lasagne sheets
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 large zucchini
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 small green capsicum, chopped
• 1 small red capsicum chopped
• 3 - 4 wedges pumpkin thinly sliced
• 400 gm can diced tomatoes
• 1 can napolitana sauce

Cheese sauce

• 50 gm butter or margarine
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 700 ml milk
• Grated Tasty cheese

Method

Tomato sauce:

• Sauté onions and garlic in a little oil until brown
• Add in the carrots, zucchini, and pumpkin and cook a further 15 - 20 mins.
• Add tomatoes and napolitana sauce. Simmer for 15 mins.

Cheese sauce:

• Melt 1 tablespoon (50 gm) butter or margarine in a pot.
• Add plain flour to form a roux.
• Add milk and to the roux to make a sauce. Heat until thickens.
• Set aside.
  
• Lay lasagne sheet, vegetable sauce and cheese sauce layer by layer in casserole dish.
• Top with cheese sauce and grated cheese and bake in oven until lasagne sheets are cooked through.

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Sang Choy Bow

Ingredients:

• 500 gm minced lamb
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 2  chopped sticks of celery 
• 2 chopped carrots
• 1 chopped red capsicum
• 1 chopped zucchini
• 1 tablespoon salt-reduced soy sauce
• Splash of teriyaki sauce
• Splash of oyster sauce
• 2 packets Singapore noodles
• Whole washed and dried lettuce leaves

Method

• Fry onion and meat. 
• Add celery, capsicum, carrot and zucchini along with the soy, teriyaki and oyster sauces.
• Place in saucepan and simmer until meat and vegetables are just cooked.
• Cook the noodles as per instructions on packet and add to meat and vegetables.
• Fill lettuce leaves with mixture (see picture).
• Serve immediately.

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Damper

Damper is often made on camping trips but this easy damper recipe for kids can be whipped up in your own kitchen with a minimum of fuss and maximum good fun. Simply sift flour and salt into a bowl, rub in butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs then make a well to add milk and water.

Ingredients

• 3 cups self-raising flour
• ½ tsp salt, optional
• 3 tbsp butter
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup water

Method

• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• Sift flour and salt into a bowl, rub in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
• Make a well in the centre, add the combined milk and water, mix lightly with a knife until dough leaves sides of bowl.
• Gently knead on a lightly floured surface and then shape into a round, put on a greased oven tray. Pat into a round 15-16cm diameter.
• With sharp knife, cut two slits across dough like a cross, approximately 1 cm deep.
• Brush top of dough with milk. Sift a little extra flour over dough.
• Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Reduce heat to 170°C. and bake another 20 minutes.

Serving Suggestion

Best eaten with butter and honey the day it is made.

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Edible Finger Paint

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• ½ cup of cornflour
• 3 cups cold water
• Food colouring

Method

• Stir sugar and cornflour together.
• While stirring, slowly add water and heat over medium heat until mixture thickens.
• It will thicken further when it cools.
• Divide into four containers and add food colouring.
• Dip in.

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Playdough

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup cooking salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon of cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• Food colouring

Method

• Mix the flour, water, salt and cream of tartar in a saucepan over medium heat until thick.
• Allow the mixture to cool and then add the oil and knead well over a floured cutting board or similar.
• Divide this blob evenly into as many colours as you'd like to make.
• Add food colouring to each ball until it is just the colour your child is looking for.

That's it! Allow the children to let their imaginations take them away.

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Homemade bath bombs

Handmade gifts are so much nicer than bought ones, in the same way as your kids' handwritten cards (the ones that are full of adorable spelling mistakes) beat Hallmark cards. Make your own bath bombs as gifts for friends with this too-easy recipe.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups bicarbonate of soda
• ½ cup citric acid powder (use fine grade, available from chemists or pool supply shops)
• Potpourri or herbal teabags such as chamomile, lemon, rosehip or peppermint
• An essential oil such as peppermint, lavender or geranium
• Sweet almond oil (from chemists)
• Food colouring
  

You'll also need

• Sieve
  
• Rubber gloves
• Moulds from craft shops

Step 1

• To make the base mix: sieve the bicarb soda and citric acid powder into a large dry mixing bowl. This will make enough for four bath bombs.
  

Step 2

• To make one bath bomb, transfer 1/2 cup of the base mix into a medium bowl and stir in the contents of a herbal teabag or other dry ingredient such as potpourri. Set aside.
  

Step 3

• In a small bowl, combine 6 drops of essential oil of your choice, 1/2 teaspoon of sweet almond oil and 8 to 12 drops of food colouring - or until your desired colour is reached.
• Pour this mixture into the bowl containing the 1/2 cup of base mix and stir quickly with a teaspoon so things don't start fizzing!

Step 4

• Wearing rubber gloves, continue to combine the ingredients with your fingertips until it starts to clump together when compressed in your hand. It's essential you do this with your fingertips, not a spoon, so the liquid is distributed evenly. The mix is now ready to go into a mould.
  

Step 5

• Wipe a little sweet almond oil inside the mould.
• Fill the mould with the mixture, packing it in firmly.
• Make the other bath bombs with the remaining mixture, working with ½ cup at a time.
• Leave the bath bombs in their moulds to set for at least 24 hours (36 hours is even better).
• After they have set, turn each mould over and bang it firmly once on a flat surface, then gently ease out the bath bombs
  

Tips

• According to aromatherapy, different essential oils have different effects - lavender brings a sense of calm and comfort; peppermint re-energises the body and clears the mind; and geranium uplifts both mind and spirit.
• To make sure your bath bombs are easy to remove, stick to simple moulds such as ball, heart and star shapes.
• To give your bombs a pretty, textured look, sprinkle extra herbal tea or potpourri into the moulds before you press in the mix.
• Wrap individual bath bombs in clear cellophane and tie with a pretty ribbon to give as gifts. Craft supply shops also sell various vessels such as wooden boxes that you can place the bath bombs in cushioned with raffia. You can also buy decorative noodle boxes from $2 shops that make a cute gift wrapping idea.
• Remember, hot water activates the fizz in the bombs - cold water doesn't work.

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