Friday Lunchbox #15

Today's lunchbox:

Morning Tea: Tropical fruit salad of strawberries, watermelon, mango, pineapple and baby mint leaves, pre packaged muesli bar.
Lunch: Chicken and vegetable noodle cakes with cos lettuce, cherry tomatoes and cheese cubes
Drink: Water


I just have to say that I LOVE the fruit that is around at this time of year!  YUM!  It makes being healthy so very easy.  Also, I tend to steer clear of pre packaged foods for Miss Six's lunch, (Miss Six...that  sounds so weird) due to her peanut allergy there is not a great deal that she can have anyway.  But it's nice to slip something in every now and then as I know it makes her feel that she is "just like the other kids".  I only recently discovered Food For Health's range of products and am quite happy to give Miss Six their lovely muesli bars on occasion.  The allergy information on the package does state that the product may contain traces of treenuts, but definately not peanuts - so if you are allergic to both this would not be the product for you.  But it is also gluten, wheat and dairy free (if you have issues with those) and the dried fruit contained in it is sulpher free.  And as an added bonus, they are Australian made by an Australian owned company.  I'm  happy to support that!  If you are an Aussie with allergies, you can find their range at many of your local supermarkets in the health food section.  Hooray!

And here's the recipe for the noodle cakes ( they're soooo good and don't taste like vegetables at all!)

Chicken and Vegetable Noodle Cakes

Ingredients
200g vermicelli rice noodles
3 eggs
1 medium carrot, grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 tblspn chopped parsley
3/4 cup chopped cooked chicken
1 tblespn sweet chilli sauce
Pinch of salt
Small amount of oil for frying

Method
Soak the vermicelli noodles for about 5 minutes in boiling water and drain.  Place noodles in a bowl and chop into smaller pieces.  Thoroughly mix through eggs, carrot, zucchini, shallots, parsley, chicken, salt and sauce.
Heat oil in frypan until hot and place 1/4 cup amounts of noodle mix in, flattening with spatula and turning when golden brown.

These are totally great hot or cold and make a really quick and easy dinner too.  If you are after a more adult flavour, swap the parsley for coriander, throw in an extra tablespoon or two of sweet chilli sauce and a teaspoon or so of fresh grated ginger.  You could also try using chinese barbequed pork instead of chicken.  Or go meatless if you're after a vegetarian meal.  Serve with more sweet chilli sauce for dipping and a fresh green salad and you're set!


Happy weekend, everyone!