SAM WOOD: “5 family meals Snez and I have been making in lockdown.”

With the little kids running around it’s often a case of divide and conquer with us, but I must admit, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the team-up approach too. 

Snez and I have been doing a lot of cooking during isolation -  in fact we often get the kids involved. It’s a bit of a case of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” but it’s lots of laughs and lots of fun.

Here are 5 of our favourites at the moment.

Side note: Don't reheat these five foods in the microwave. Post continues below.

Lemon & Herb Roast Chicken

Snez and I love to roast up a chicken and vegetables early in the week, especially if we’ve been a little indulgent over the weekend.

The beauty of a roast is they’re quick to prep, so Snez and I will often prepare, chuck it in the oven and then get the kids ready for bed while it cooks. Leftover chicken and vegetables make an ideal lunch too. Here's our recipe:

Ingredients

1.5 kg chicken (whole)

1 tablespoon oregano

1/2 tablespoon thyme (dried) 

2 lemon

2 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin)

2 cloves garlic minced

2 bay leaves

Ingredients for roast veg

3 potatoes chopped

2 carrots cut into chunks

12 brussel sprouts halved

1 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin)

salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients for serving

4 cups mixed salad

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.

2. In a small bowl, combine the oregano, thyme, juice from one lemon, garlic and olive oil.

3. Place chicken into a roasting dish and drizzle over the lemon and herb mixture. Massage mixture into the chicken.

4. Cut the used lemon halves in half again and stuff into the chicken cavity.

5. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges and add them to the roasting pan.

6. Add bay leaves and place the tray into the oven to roast for 45 minutes. 

7. Remove chicken from the oven and add in potatoes, carrot and brussel sprouts to the roasting pan.

8. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the veg and season everything with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

9. Place tray back into the oven to roast for another 45 minutes.

10. Remove from oven, divide between 6 plates and serve with salad leaves.

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It’s photos like this that I look back at with a big smile when seeing my Dad and I in old photo albums. Roast dinner 1 : Charlie Bear done @thewolfwindsor what a feast. #dadlife #supportyourlocal

A post shared by  Sam Wood (@samjameswood) on Apr 26, 2020 at 1:41am PDT

Sausage Rolls

Image: Supplied.

Seriously, who doesn’t love a sausage roll? And when they’re healthy and homemade, you can’t go wrong.  

Ingredients

300g beef mince

1/4 cup basil (fresh) finely chopped

2 free range eggs.

1.5 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup wholemeal (or gluten free) breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 carrot finely grated

1/2 onion (brown) finely grated

salt & pepper to taste

2 puff pastry ready rolled sheets, defrosted

1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds

Ingredients for serving

250g cherry tomatoes mixed variety, chopped

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin)

1/2 avocado

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together mince, basil, 1 egg, worcestershire, breadcrumbs, tomato paste, carrot and onion. Season to taste.

3. Refrigerate mixture.

4. Cut pastry sheets in half (about 10-12 cm wide).

5. Lightly beat the other egg.

6. Divide beef mince mixture into 4 even portions and form each quarter along one edge of the pastry.

7. Brush the open strip of pastry at opposite side of the mixture with egg and roll pastry over mixture into a long even log.

8. Brush the tops with egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds and cut into rolls.

9. Place roll seam side down on a lined oven tray with baking paper.

10. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden.

11. Mix all salad ingredients together, season and serve with sausage rolls. 

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A post shared by Sam Wood (@samjameswood) on Sep 23, 2020 at 9:42pm PDT

Chicken Schnitzel with chips & salad

Image: Supplied.

This is another winner with all three kids and when it’s homemade, it’s a lot healthier than your typical pub grub (which we also love, but everything in moderation!). The kids love coating the chicken, even if half the mixture ends up on the floor or all over their clothes.

Ingredients

400g chicken breast cut in half lengthways

2 tablespoons wholemeal (or gluten free) flour

4 tablespoons wholemeal (or gluten free) breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 lemon zest & juice. Use juice for the salad.

4 teaspoons parmesan cheese grated

4 tablespoons parsley (fresh) roughly chopped

4 free range eggs

4 tablespoons full cream milk

2 teaspoons coconut oil (extra virgin) for frying

salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients for chips

4 potatoes cut into thick chips

2 teaspoons olive oil (extra virgin)

1/4 teaspoon salt to taste

Ingredients for serving

4 cups mixed salad

16 cherry tomatoes quartered

1 1/3 cucumbers diced

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a tray with baking paper.

2. Place potato on the baking paper and toss with olive oil and salt & pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and tender.

3. Place flour on one plate. On a second plate combine breadcrumbs, garlic powder, lemon zest, parmesan, parsley and season with salt and pepper.

4. Whisk egg and milk together in a shallow bowl.

5. Coat the chicken in the flour. Dip the chicken into the egg mixture, then coat in the breadcrumb and parmesan mixture and set aside. Repeat with remaining chicken.

6. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side or until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

7. Combine rocket, tomatoes and cucumber in a large bowl. Squeeze over lemon juice. 

8. Serve salad with chips and top with schnitzel.

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A post shared by Sam Wood (@samjameswood) on Aug 22, 2020 at 5:17am PDT

Here's two more of our favourite meal ideas, if you need more inspiration.

Tacos or Taco Bowls

Often we’ll cook meals that the kids are going to eat too just to save time, use up ingredients and ensure we aren’t cooking multiple meals.

Tacos are such a hit with kids and if you want to make them a bit lighter you can do what we often do, which is have ours as a taco bowl. 

It's a great dinner option for when you want to use up stuff in the fridge as you can add in extra vegetables to your liking. 

So so messy, so so good.

Salmon Patties

As a tassie boy with a dad who owns a restaurant called ‘Fish Frenzy’ (in Hobart) I really don’t eat fish as much as I should. 

Snez and I have been trying to eat salmon once a week and we currently have salmon patties on rotation. Full disclaimer: we usually have ours as burgers because Snez loves bread. 

What are your favourite summery family meals? Let me know in the comments below.

Sam Wood is the founder of Australia's number one home fitness and nutrition program, 28 by Sam Wood, and an ambassador for Bing Lee. For more from Sam, follow him on Instagram.

Feature Image: Instagram / Supplied.