During the school holidays we take a planned approach to what activities we do. You can read the process we go through which involves the kids here, but in short we plan for a mix of:
- Down time – kids need to relax and amuse themselves
- Activities outside of the house
- Activities at home
A couple of years ago one of the kids suggested we have a theme day as an at home activity. It was a great success and we have had a number of them since that time. Our most recent theme day was a Harry Potter day. We:
- Read Harry Potter books
- Listened to Harry Potter audio books
- Played Harry Potter Scene it
- Watched Harry Potter movies (only the ones rated PG so all the kids could watch them)
- Ate Harry Potter style food
Over the next couple of weeks, I will share some of the yummy Harry Potter food we made. Today’s recipe was an absolute hit with the kids. They are easy to make and look very cute.
You could add different herbs and spices to your pumpkin mixture to suit your taste.
I went for a simple fold to make the pastie. Again, you could make the pastie any shape you liked.
The pasties need some room when baking so spread them out on the tray to cook.
Super delicious Harry Potter pumpkin pasties!
- 1kg butternut pumpkin (you need 800 grams of peeled and chopped pumpkin)
- 4 sheets of puff pastry
- 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp chives
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Peel and chop pumpkin into small pieces.
- Finely chop onion.
- Steam pumpkin until soft.
- While the pumpkin is cooking lay out pastry sheets to defrost.
- Add oil to a frying pan and cook onion a medium heat until soft.
- Once pumpkin is soft, place it into a large bowl and mash it. I just used a simple potato masher for this.
- To the mashed pumpkin add the onion, chives, soy sauce, chilli sauce and salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Cut the pastry sheets into quarters.
- LIne baking trays with baking paper and place pastry quarters on the tray/
- Place a large spoonful into the middle of the pastry quarter and fold quarters into the centre of the mixture.
- Twist the ends into a little knot. Complete the rest of the pastry quarters leaving room on the tray for spreading.
- Lightly beat an egg and brush each pastie lightly with egg.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden in colour.
- Cool on a rack for a couple of minutes before serving.
Our Family Menu Plan For This Week
Day | Week Commencing 28th September |
|
|---|---|---|
| Sat |  | Sausage and veg |
| Sun |  | Slow cooker roast beef |
| Mon |  | Souvlaki |
| Tue |  | Fried rice |
| Wed |  | Zucchini Bolognese |
| Thu | Left overs | |
| Fri |  | Scrambled eggs and tomatoes |
| Shopping List | Weekly menu plan shopping list 130928 | |
If you are looking for further recipe inspiration, check out my complete list of Family Friendly Recipes. You might like to also check out Planning With Kids Menu Planning App.
The kid friendly menu planning app allows you to:
- Create weekly menu plans quickly, choosing as many meals per day as you would like to plan for.
- Generate the shopping list for all the meals selected.
- Modify the shopping list to check off items you already have at home.
- Email the shopping list to yourself and/or others.
The most popular recipes from the blog have been included and more will be added on a weekly basis. The app will notify you when new recipes have been added, so you will be able to deliver plenty of variety in your family’s menu plans. Each recipe lists the ingredients required, easy to follow instructions and a photo from the blog.
Have you tried a theme day, including food?