Includes practical suggestions for kids lunchboxes that you will actually make, with costings. Plus step by step scones – the cheapest lunchbox stuffer ever. Or try the $10.00 dinner with gluten and dairy free variations.

We hope you are all managing to find your way around the new destitute gourmet website; we’re still coming to grips with it ourselves as you may have gathered!
Each week will see changes to the content as we add recipes and information and we welcome your suggestions.

I’m sending you a new recipe to try this week; it’s a one pan dish that I find really easy to make on a weeknight but is good enough to serve if we have a guest.

Easy Baked Chicken
with Orange and mustard sauce
This is a very forgiving dish, so good for beginners or people in a rush. It’s very tasty with rice, couscous or potato cakes. Use as many drumsticks as you need for the people you are serving.

Costs under $10.00

8 – 10 chicken drumsticks – (I usually allow 2 per person)
1 onion chopped
Handful of fresh thyme sprigs or 2 big pinches of dried thyme
350ml water
2 tsp chicken stock powder
Zest and juice of 2 oranges
2 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
¼ cup lite sour cream

Preheat the oven to 190°C
Sling the chicken drumsticks into a roasting pan and cook for 15 minutes- shake the pan occasionally and when the fat begins to run add the chopped onion.
Cook for 5-10 minutes until onion is soft.
While the chicken is cooking prepare the chicken stock. Place the stock powder in a heatproof jug or bowl and add 350 ml boiling water. Stir in the wholegrain mustard, Thyme, orange juice and zest and add to the pan with the chicken. Return the pan to the oven and cook for approximately 20 minutes. The chicken should be golden on the outside and the chicken juice when you prick the meat with a knife should be clear. There should be lots of orangey, chickeny liquid in the pan. If you have left the chicken a bit long and the liquid has evaporated add some hot water to the pan and swirl it around a bit, this will help make more sauce.
Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and stir in the lite sour cream. Serve the sauce over the chicken.

Variations: Orange and mustard chicken tray bake
Add 1 cup mixed veg to the pan 5 minutes before cooking is complete, cook for a few minutes then stir in 1 – 1 ½ cups couscous instead of the sour cream. Mix it into the pan juices then return the pan to the oven for 5 minutes or until couscous has absorbed all the liquid. Serve in bowls garnished with chopped parsley.

Gluten free: ensure stock powder is gluten free and serve with gluten free accompaniments such as rice or potatoes

Dairy free: Omit sour cream; cook the sauce longer so it evaporates and thickens a little more, its still lovely spooned over chicken and rice or couscous

Cook, eat & enjoy

Sophie

The daily lunch box!

We constantly hear from people struggling with the daily lunch box drill- if you feel like you are losing the plot when it comes to healthy easy inexpensive kids lunchboxes, here up some easy ways of sprucing up the school day fuel.

Lunch boxes are school fuel
A recent study showed that preschool children would declare anything wrapped in McDonalds packaging tastier than the same food in plain packaging, including raw veggies and fruit.
So it just goes to prove that presentation is everything with kids.

Sandwiches are still the cheapest and easiest food for the lunchbox – I pay around $1.87 for a loaf of house brand toast sliced whole grain bread or 10c per slice.
A basic lunch box might contain:
2 slices of bread cost - around 20c
2 teaspoons of peanut butter (house brand again), 10c
Carrot cut in sticks, 27c
2 pieces of seasonal fruit, 40c
1 hard boiled egg, 27c
1 slice of cheese 34c for 50g
50g raisins – 50c for 50g
Rice crackers or low fat crackers - 39c
Bottle of water – free

Total cost roughly $2.47

Healthy lunch box food is not expensive; making it appetising  to kids brought up with the rustle of cellophane wrapped lunch box stuffers just takes a little creativity.

Sandwiches: If the filling is a simple spread or slice of ham, luncheon or Baloney use shaped cookie cutters to make it more exciting, stamp out a star or heart or animal shape from the middle. Make “Club sandwiches” use 3 slices of bread and layer them – cheese, lettuce and marmite, Peanut butter and honey, Sausage and tomato sauce…

Pinwheel sandwiches – roll long wise and slice like sushi – wrap tightly in cling film to keep them rolled.

Vary the selection with rolls or wraps but keep the fillings simple. I often find kids don’t like sandwiches stuffed with salad but will eat a plain sandwich, then eat carrot sticks, then eat a couple of cherry tomatoes or some snow peas or sprouts… it makes the lunch seem more interesting to them if there are lots of little bits and pieces.

If you have run out of bread or cannot afford to buy some, make a batch of scones

Scones take only around 20 minutes to make from scratch. They cost less than $2.00 to make and provide 12 – 15 filling fresh scones. They will provide energy from carbohydrate, and are not high in fat like pies or biscuits. You can top them with butter, jam, marmite or cheese (leave out the sugar and add grated cheese to the mixture too if you have it.) If you have a processor then they’re even easier to make.

Pre heat the oven to 210˚C
3 cups plain flour and 3 tsp baking powder or 3 cups self raising flour
3 tbsp butter or table spread
A pinch of salt
A dessert spoon of sugar
Approximately 1 cup of milk (sour it with a squeeze of lemon juice if you have it)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl then rub in the  butter so it resembles bread crumbs. Add the liquid and mix quickly and gently to form a soft dough – do not knead as this will make the scones tough. Pat the mix together and roll out to rectangle roughly 2.5 cm thick. Slice into squares or use a cookie cutter or glass to cut out rounds.
Place on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 10 -12 minutes until well risen and slightly golden. Scones are best eaten fresh, leftovers can be frozen.

Sweet stuff: there is something of an expectation that everyday there will be something sweet – cake, a muffin, biscuits , a snack , cookie or granola bar...

From a health and nutrition perspective this sends our kids the message that these are “everyday foods” when in fact they are “Sometimes foods” suitable once or twice a week.

Instead of cakes and bickies everyday include:
A handful of dried fruits, try apricots, raisins and sultanas in a little pot

Jelly (Jello) is very cheap to make, divide one pack of jelly (500 mls) between two re-sealable plastic containers (I use Glad ware which is available in supermarkets) you can include non acidic fruit in the jelly – slices of banana, pear, berries in season or chunks of canned fruit. Place in the fridge overnight to set.

A small pot of yogurt – individual pottles may be too expensive to buy but homemade yoghurt in small containers works well – when in season include strawberries or grapes to dunk in it

A pot of stewed or canned fruit in juice, I buy canned peaches or pears on special in the supermarket and fill a lunchbox pottle with sliced peaches and a plastic spoon. The fruit is sweet and refreshing. If you have great ideas for the lunch box we'd love to hear them.

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