Monday 30 September 2013

Family dinners: baked white fish with lemony crust


It's always a bit of a challenge to come up with weekday meals that will go down well both with the kids and us. Up until recently, I still had to prepare a "baby" meal for Pingu, but since he is now almost 15 months and shows interest in attacking anything edible, I decided I will only cook dinner once for the whole family to eat.

This recipe is a variation from my mum's and a few other recipes I gathered from magazines or found online. It's super easy, requires minimum hassle, it's ready in 30', and, most of all, the kids LOVE it.

Plus, it features fish as the main ingredient. What's not to like? I've been doing for a long time and it never lets me down. Tried and tested at its best.

Ingredients (for 2 adults and 2 kids, including second helpings)

  • 1 pack of white fish fillets (I use 1 tray -about 700 gr) of the packed pangasius from Colruyt, but you can use any type of white fish)
  • 1 cup of bread crumbs (chapelure in French/ paneermeel in Dutch)
  • 1 table spoon dried parsley (persil in French/ peterselie in Dutch)
  • juice of half a lemon
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Start by pre-heating your oven at 180 C. While the oven gets to the right temperature, pour a little bit of olive oil on a baking tray, just to coat the surface. Cut the fish fillets in two, so that the pieces are more manageable, place the fist on the tray and season to your taste.



In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, parsley, olive oil and the lemon juice, until you get a "wet sand" consistency. With a spoon, put this crumb mix over the fish fillets until the fish is completely covered. Just make sure the layer is not too thick, just enough to cover the fish. Then drizzle a bit of olive oil over the whole thing.



Once the oven is at the right temperature, pop the baking tray inside and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs look golden.

Voila, done. No fuss fish. You can serve it with some steamed broccoli, or any other green you fancy. Enjoy!

Saturday 21 September 2013

Lice attack!

Well, I think it was a question of time, and the time came for lice to attack.

Along with the rentrée came the notes from school saying that there were lice found in kids in the class of Bibu. It's quite common and every few weeks we get these notes, but it has never meant much for us, other than spraying Bibu's hair with a "lice-repelent".

That was up to now. Last weekend I asked Mr M to check my hair, as it was feeling a bit itchy. Lo and behold, he found a lice in my hair! Despair! Being long haired (for Belgian standards, at least) and I suspect, having the blood type that attracts all kinds of insect bites, I knew I was an easy target and that probably the lice came from my oldest son.

Sure enough, both kids had them. It was a question of getting the anti-lice lotion working ASAP and combing through (lots of fun). Since I am always on the look for more natural, less chemical laden stuff, I came accross this anti-lice lotion (sold in pharmacies and in places like de IU)


It's an oliy lotion, made of plants extracts, which supposedly blocks the lice airways so they can't breathe anymore and die (nice) You have to put enough lotion on the hair so that it's all oily, give it a good massage and then leave it on for 10 minutes. Then rinse it a bit, slather on your normal shampoo, wash as usual and spend extra time rinsing it, as otherwise the hair will still look oily afterwards. Towel-dry the hair and then spend some time combing with the special little comb provided to extract any surviving little beasts.

It's recommended that you do a second application a few days later, just to be sure. We used it on both kids and so far they seem lice-free. It's supposedly only for kids older than 3 years old, but I used it also on Pingu and it was all OK. I would still recommend you check with your doctor or pharmacist first, as it's an essential oils-based product and it can provoke allergy.

So, this was our first foray into the land of Belgian lice (haha). I know it's extremely common when you have school-age kids, but still, not nice AT ALL. I think I would still do a preventive treatment maybe once every two weeks or so while the lice season lasts.

Sunday 1 September 2013

Sunday in Antwerp: Zoo and Anwterp Streetkicks

Today we decided to make good use of our zoo membership cards (also valid for Planckendael), so we jumped in the car and drove to Antwerp.

We have been a number of times to the Anterpen Zoo, but it is always a great day out. We parked just behind the Antwerp Central Station, whose main hall is a beautiful sight and; as it is just opposite the main zoo entrance, it's more than worth the detour.


The entrance to the zoo is currently 22.5 EUR for adults and 17.5 EUR for children over 3 years old (always best to check the zoo website for updated prices) My husband gets a reduction via his work for the yearly pass, so that is what we have. We just need to show our passes at the entrance and swish...... it's done. The pass also offers interesting discounts at the zoo shops, which is definitely a plus.


Although the famous Kai-Mook, the elephant born in 2009, has moved to the bigger Planckendael zoo near Mechelen,  the zoo in Antwerp still has lots to offer. The huge new lion enclosure is particularly well done and I could also notice some renovations in the tiger area.


Regarding facilities for the little ones, there are two baby-changing stations near the main entrance, one of which even has a microwave oven, which is a great detail. The zoo has three restaurant areas: the "Flamingo" (a self-service restaurant, close to the main entrance and the best in terms of variety) then the "Stokstaartje" (only hamburgers and other fast food nasties, not my favourite) and the "Paon Royal", which is a real restaurant and perhaps the least attractive if you're visiting with small children. Besides this, there are plenty of snacks little places and drinks vending machines along the way.

The size of the zoo is also very manageable, which is particularly handy when you have small kids who get tired easily. So, after a couple of hours, we decided to continue our day in Antwerp with a visit to the "Antwerp Streetkicks" festival, which was taking place in the Spoor Noord Park, a good 15' walk from the zoo.






The festival had an impressive array of skateboarders, free-style bikers, slak-liners and all sorts of other 'urban extreme sports' lovers. It's not something we are too familiar with (and probably too old for, anyway, sniff) but it was a different crowd and it was certainly a hit with the kids. For baby Pingu, it was probably a bit too noisy, but even he managed to sleep through for a bit.

So, a great last day before the start of a  new school year. Have a great week everyone!