Switcheroo style!

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I have just started the Meadow Lea Switcheroo Challenge, and so far, it is working very nicely. I'm feeding my family Meadow Lea instead of butter, and they haven't even noticed! I was super keen to fool my family (stop it) because I would like them (and me) to be healthier.



All jokes aside, it's actually really important to me that my children eat well. We do this in a variety of ways;

• Having a strict 'Try it' policy. We don't force them to eat anything they don't like, but they do have to try it. This has resulted in Teenage Daughter's life long love of olives, oysters and smoked salmon. The Gentleman is a fairly adventurous eater, and monkey boy is......getting there.
• Be a good example. I talk here about alcohol all the time but in truth my kids never see me drink more than the occasional glass of wine, and they never see their Dad drink beer - this is just a choice that we've made. They do see us sit down to a healthy breakfast lunch and dinner every day. I set a great example by only eating chocolate after they have gone to bed, and that way I don't have to share.
• We grow a lot of fruit and vegetables, and everyone loves to eat stuff from the garden. Even their friends like to grab a bean or blue berry mid Nerf war!
• Similarly, with Mr BC embracing recreational fishing, everyone is keen to eat super fresh fish for dinner. They are also keen to eat anything else he catches, like crabs or even stingray. (Refer to the Try It policy)
• Where possible, I try to accommodate special requests. Sometimes one of them will see something on TV or in a food magazine and ask me to make it. I figure if they are that keen, I should encourage their interest!
• Mix it up at dinner time - Sometimes we might eat in the outdoor area, sometimes we take a BBQ or picnic down to the beach, sometimes (not always) in front of the TV. When we do sit at the table, sometimes dinner is plated up and sometimes everything is on platters for you to help yourself. I try to put something new on the table a few times per week. It keeps it interesting.
• Allow some junk. Just a bit. If I ran around as much as they do, I would want some nutritiously dense food as well! Also, if they where never allowed any junk food, they might go crazy with it - and that would be counter productive.

Monkey boy steels himself for the Try It Policy. Now he is a converted crab lover!

My first impressions of Meadow Lea where pretty good! There is a big variety, so if you want Original, you can have 65% reduced fat, or Light, which is 85% less fat than butter. There is also salt reduced. It is excellent for cooking. If you are like me you will not have waited for your butter to become room temperature before making scones, and as Meadow Lea is softer than butter, this makes the whole process a lot easier. Most importantly - it tastes very rich and creamy. No one has noticed me pulling the butter rug out from under them, not on toast, sandwiches, scones, on crackers or even when I sauteed a pan full of mushrooms using Meadow Lea! The best switch so far though, has been this Vegetable Butter Curry..

Sharing a table with poppadoms, pilaf rice, a quick cucumber salad, and bbq'd whole snapper.

Vegetable Butter Curry

1. Saute a chopped onion in some butter Meadow Lea.
2. When soft, add in chopped kumera, carrots, and potato.
3. Stir in some turmeric, crushed garlic and ginger. Be heavy handed, it's ok.
4. Stir in a tin of crushed tomatoes, and simmer until the veggies are cooked.
5. Stir in a tin of coconut milk.
6. Stir in some green veggies like silver beet and snow peas, and then mix in a large tablespoon of butter Meadow Lea.
7. Put the lid on and turn off the heat, let it sit until the greens have just wilted and the butter Meadow Lea has melted.
8. Eat with your favourite curry accompaniments!

This even fooled my kiwi born, butter loving mother in law!  It's probably not a traditional recipe, I have made it up myself through trial and error. There are never any leftovers though!


Giveaway

I have a $50 Westfield XS Voucher to give away!

To enter, please leave a comment telling me what your children take to school in their lunchbox.

The winner will be drawn on 11th November.

Open to Australian residents only, and please make sure your email address is included in your comment, either in the body of the comment or set as your blogger default address.


xx

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