Foodie Mama: Keeping Kids Busy in the Kitchen on August Holidays

From easy snack recipes to delish breakfast toasties, Foodie Mama Ghillie James lets you know how to keep kiddos occupied in the kitchen this August!

It’s still summer holidays for many of us, so this month’s foodie notes are focused on entertaining the kids and making life easy when friends come over! From snack hacks to cookie-making fun, hopefully there’s something to help the holidays stay happy and engaging!

Foodie Mama’s favourite Sunday cheats

Sundays are about family entertaining with ease in our house and I have come across a few winners recently which I’d love to share.

To begin:

We’ve become rather addicted to The Fishwives’ creamy ash-coated goat cheese! Either serve with fresh pears and walnuts to accompany your barbecue, or for a simple crostini to serve with drinks just spread it onto toast points and top with some Kris Lloyd fig and star anise jam (also from the FW) and some parma ham.

TOP TIP: for a crostini cheat which you can make ahead I simply slice the part baked frozen baguettes that you can buy from Cold Storage, brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then bake in the oven at 200c for 7-10 minutes. They keep in an airtight tin for a few days.

To pop on the Barbie:

My latest find is the fabulous one stop shop The Meat Club, who deliver to your door and even offer an autopilot option for regular orders. Their meat is exceptional and a few of their steaks thrown on the barbecue are the easiest way to feed the masses for a relaxed lunch.

Sassy Mamas can get a FREE 500g Rib Eye with any order on Auto Pilot. Just use promo code SASSYMAMA at checkout!

And for dessert:

Awfully Chocolate is the most decadent chocolate cake and brownie supplier in Singapore (in my humble opinion!) and THEY DELIVER! Delivery to my house is around $10 which seems super cheap considering you can carry on drinking rose in the sunshine and miraculously heaven will arrive on your doorstep. And if it’s a birthday they will even stick some candles on it, too! 

Easy Recipe: Breakfast Challenge

Holiday toasties are such a fun way to get the kids involved in the kitchen and can be adapted to suit all tastes. All you need is a muffin tin and an oven – so it saves on washing up, too!

Cut 5-inch circles out of thin slices of white bread and brush with melted butter on both sides. Press into a muffin tin holes and bake at 200c for 10-12 minutes or until lightly toasted. Crack in an egg, add a tsp of cream (optional) and top with whatever you like – ham, cooked sliced sausage, crispy bacon bits, roasted peppers, cooked spinach, chopped tomatoes or anything else you fancy. Add a little salt and pepper and then top with some grated cheddar. Bake in the oven at 180c for about 18-20 minutes or until the egg is set but still runny.

Japanese Green Tea: The Wonder Drink

Singapore loves Green tea and I now know why! From Matcha cakes to refreshing cups offered after dinner, Green tea is everywhere and for good reason. But if you are after a cup of the green stuff then opt for Japanese over Chinese for even more health benefits.

Dr David Servan-Schreiber, author of Anti Cancer: A New Way of Life raves about the benefits of drinking green tea. He explains that not only is it a powerful antioxidant and detoxifier (activating enzymes in the liver that eliminate toxins from the body), it’s also rich in polyphenols, including catechins and particularly one called EGCG, which reduce the growth of the new vessels needed for tumour growth and metastasises in cancer patients and in the lab, it enhances the effects of radiotherapy on cancer cells, too.

Japanese Green tea (Sencha, Gyokuro, Matcha etc.) contains higher levels of EGCG than Chinese Green tea. How to benefit? Steep 2g of green tea for 10 minutes in a teapot and drink within an hour. A few cups a day really could change your life.

Pass the cookie jar please! This month I’m cooking from…

Williams Sonoma have brought out a great children’s and adults cookbook called Favorite Cookies, published by Weldon Owen. From Cowboy Cookies to Homemade Oreos to the prettiest Sugar Cookies, which you can cut into shapes, all ages will find a biscuit to bake with ease.