My First Bento!

Miss Pantry loves to feed herself. So I am always on the lookout for finger foods that are healthy and appealing to toddlers.

On a recent trip to Singapore, I bought a small and very cute lunchbox for me Miss Pantry. I wanted something to hold food that can be eaten cold/at room temperature while we are out and about. This lunchbox is just the right portion size. The picture above is my first attempt at bento, and includes all the food groups a growing child like Miss P needs. Though none of the food groups that her Mummy loves - like Cake, Chocolate and Candy.

And I have finally found another use for all those cookie cutters I just had to buy, they work just as well as veggie cutters! Stay tuned for more bento making!

Apple and Sultana Mini Muffins

It's Spring! It's Spring! It's finally here! Yippee! And a beautiful 24 degrees celsius it is too in Sydney.

To celebrate the arrival of Spring, and to celebrate my inner domestic goddess, I've slaved for hours in the kitchen to bake you some Apple and Sultana mini muffins.

Oh alright. I fibbed. You caught me out. The truth is, I had one lonely unloved apple that I wanted to use up, and a surplus of sultanas left over from the sultana and cornflake cookies baked last week.

But the muffins look lovely, don't they?

Recipe adapted from Taste.com.au
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour, sifted
• ⅔ cup (150g) caster sugar
• 1 cups (250ml) buttermilk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ⅓ cups (80ml) vegetable oil
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 finely chopped pink lady apple, skin on
• ½ cup (85g) sultanas

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place flour and sugar in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, oil and cinnamon. Stir through apple and sultanas.
3. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 12-hole, 1/2 cup muffin pan, taking care not to overfill.
4. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm or cold.

Notes:

• I used a mini muffin pan, halved the recipe and got 12 mini muffins.
• I used mini cupcake liners, thus avoiding the need to grease the muffin pan. Less washing up!
• I sprinkled rolled oats over the top of muffin mixture prior to baking for some crunch and bite.

Happy baking!