A happy breakfast and lunch wrapped up

Every year, when it's the children's birthdays, we allow the birthday boy or girl to choose what they want for a special breakfast, especially now that the children are at school. We've had some interesting responses which have been quite sweet, like their usual stuff, but then we ask them to pick something special and it's normally something chocolatey or has some chocolate in it somewhere. Of course!

For Monkey's birthday this Friday, he has requested toast and chocolate spread. It made me smile because Warburtons had just sent me some products to try. Along with those, they also sent through details of a survey they commissioned that found that eating bakery products for breakfast made you happier than eating cereals (and even bacon butties). Top of the list for happiness was brioche, closely followed by white toast and crumpets, and in celebration of this, they sent us chocolate chip brioche to try. I'd normally insert a picture here but honestly, it didn't last long enough. Oops. 

Something else they sent was a pack of their Squareish Wraps so we could try out one of their recipes. These are thicker than normal wraps, so you can not only roll them, but also top them or fold them. Actually, I do have to say that I don't find them as good for rolling as usual wraps because of the thickness. Also, I like the way you fold in the edge to keep the filling in - you can't do that with these so the filling just falls out of the ends. 

We did however try them out as pizza bases and made two pizzas for lunch one day. With thanks to Warburton, here is the official recipe.

Chicken & peppers or Cheese, tomato and Rocket Pizza

Serves 2

Ingredients
· 2 Warburtons Square-ish Wraps
· Tomato puree
· Cooked torn chicken
· Char grilled Aubergines, Red and Yellow peppers
· Cherry Tomatoes
· Mozzarella Cheese
· Mixed Herbs
· Rocket Leaves

Method 

1. Spread a thin layer of tomato puree on both wraps.

2. Top one with chicken and vegetables and the other with cheese, tomato and herbs.

3. Cook in a hot oven (200C/400F/Gas 6)

4. Garnish with Rocket leaves.

Now, we took a few liberties with this. We had chicken and a jar of piquillo peppers, which I sliced, but not cherry tomatoes or mozzarella. The rest are not huge fans of rocket so I didn't buy any of that. Monkey helped me "cook" and we just put everything we had on both wraps. I grated cheddar instead of using mozzarella. Monkey enjoyed sprinkling on the cheese, although he did decide at one stage just to dump a load of cheese on the baking sheet "because it was funny". 

I thought that the pizza would come out too flimsy but although they did come thin, cooking made them firmer. I cooked them in the oven for about 15 minutes - I noticed the time is not mentioned in the recipe so I just made sure the cheese was melted. It was very tasty - and quite light for a lunch; a thick pizza would have been way too stodgy for lunchtime. I always want to sleep the afternoon if I have pizza for lunch but this was nice. I am not sure that I would have liked the pizza without cheese - it just doesn't seem right to me.

And there you have it - lunch all wrapped up. (Stop groaning at the back there).

(Warburton's sent me some bakery products to try. I have not received any further compensation. I have not been told what to write. I was sent some recipes to try and include but not obliged to include them on my blog.)

Kids food - Quick Quesadillas

Wraps. My kids love them, but they haven't worked out the right way to eat them so they make the unholiest of messes, particularly as they like cheesy beans in them. When they want wraps, and I have leftover stuff to use, I offer them quesadillas because it's a cross between wraps and pizza - which they also love - and makes less mess (nothing my kids eat makes no mess).

Pretty much anything that can be chopped up and cooked in a pan can go in the filling. I add chicken, sometimes minced beef, but frequently, it's just veg and cheese. It helps get certain veg down them that they sometimes won't eat in other things. Beans are a a nice vegetarian addition to make it more substantial.

How much this feeds will depend on the size of the wrap you use. This time, I used Asda ones which are small so it fed 2 but the Discovery ones are much bigger; you need a lot more filling and I can feed 4 small children with those. Alternatively, make your own. My children are quite good with spices as long as they are not too hot. Rein back the spices as you see fit.

Here's the recipe for the specimen as featured on this post. It takes 15 minutes to do so great if you're short of time.

Quesadillas

Ingredients

2 wraps
1 tbsp oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed or chopped
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tsp mild chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Large handful of button mushrooms, sliced
1 small red pepper, deseeded and sliced into strips
1 small courgette, halved then sliced
1 tbsp tomato puree (optional)
1-2oz cheddar cheese, or to taste (I use extra mature)

Method

Start by turning your grill onto medium high.

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok. Add the onion and garlic and fry until softened. Add the spices, and stir for about a minute. Stir in the veg, allowing the oil and spices to coat everything and cook for up to 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and cook for another minute. Taste and season.

2. Place one of the wraps on a baking sheet. Spread the veg mixture evenly across the wrap and grate over two thirds of the cheese. Place the other wrap over the top, and grate over the rest of the cheese.

3. Place under the grill until the cheese is melted and slightly golden; this rarely takes more than a couple of minutes so keep an eye on it. If you have a griddle pan big enough, you can place it in a hot griddle pan for a couple of minutes per side. I don't bother as it involves turning the whole thing over but it does mean you get those pretty griddle lines on it.

4. Remove from the grill and cut into wedges.

I like to do carrot sticks, cucumber sticks and cherry tomatoes for the children to eat with it but as you can see, we only had cherry tomatoes in the day I made this! Don't make the filling too wet and work fast once you put the veg on the bottom wrap otherwise it can go soggy. Using a griddle pan would probably solve this but it's too fiddly for me - I reckon the filling would fall out turning it.

If I do add chicken and using raw meat, I slice it thinly and cook it through before the onions,  remove it and add it back in with the veg, which is the same point at which I would add cooked chicken or other meat.

Feel free to make up your own variations. Have a go and I'd love to see your efforts if you try. Happy cooking!