Summer crops

It's been fun :)

Yummy December

(It was actually end of Nov that..) I did a cooking class at Dosa House.
Jeyanthi showed us some quick home foods that could be done as a one pot rice cooker/pressure cooker  meal. Very interesting and she did a great job for her first time ever!

DS2 Also got cooking in his music class. "Noodles from scratch" like the song.

We also went to the Danish Christmas Fair - so going next year!! Yum.x

I went for lunch at Dosa house recently and Jeyanthi let me have a go at making my own Dosa. This is hers (no-one wanted to be in the pic).

  .. and this is mine! Small but looks pretty awesome! Ask I was spreading it out on the hot plate she was saying, "Ooooh!!! Suzi! Suzi!Suzi! Oooh!". I'm thinking "What?! What am I doing wrong?!"
She was just impressed. Apparently her waitress (who's also indian and not in the pics) can't make one this good. (She may have been being kind) :)

Our first fortnightly shop for 8 families in our local fresh fruit and veg co-op. Urgh! What a flamin' effort. It reminded me of doing a health food co-op order, but much bigger and not great quality of food. Cheap, but..

 So I'm not convinced.. I'll see how I go.

DS2 and I making picallili (should have done last month - oops!). This is one of the smaller yellow zucchinis on our plant (seriously!). We're growing a few marrows to stuff with left over Christmas ham, cheese and crunchy bread crumbs.. Or maybe quinoa, ham and apple.. yum!

Lego StarWars Prep..

I accidentally invited all of the kinds from the yr1 contact list... so here's hoping most are on holidays! :)

So far we've trialed, lego crayons, biccies (such a shame that my natural home made green colouring didn't stay through the cooking - poor yoda :) and R2D2 water bottles.

Onto the light sabers and death star pinata this week. Wish me luck! (No, I'm not going to say, 'May the force be with me'.. c'mon!)

 So onto the Jedi Juice, lego cake and Jedi training exercises. It should be fun! 
... now just to figure out where to have it... let's hope it's not too windy to have it at a park.

Sick of bad seasoning?? Solution!

Just make it yourself! I know, I know, it sounds time consuming and risky.
Who has the time to do that? How do you know the recipe you follow is even going to work out for your family?

I'm sick of the taco seasonings that just taste like salt and chilli. Mission brand was the nicest but still too much salt, so I made my own. Here's an "inspired" version, not traditional to any type of food but an easy base for family dinners.

So I used it as inspiration and made up one myself. Here it is, the Mexican/Moroccan/Indian Versatile Spice Mix:(inspired, not traditional!)

Step 1: Dehydrate
6 large capsicums (Red, green or yellow doesn't matter, I like red and yellow)
9 medium tomatoes

When they're ready they'll look super dry but will be a bit bendy. Leave them to the side for a few minutes and they'll crisp up. They are OK for safe storage when they snap like a cracker. Soft will spoil.

Step 2: Coffee grinder/food processor
Grind the dehydrated veg to a fine powder

Step 3: Shop and mix
From the store, get: Powdered garlic, oregano, sea salt, dried minced onion and white pepper. Mix to the following amounts:

1 cup capsicum powder
1 cup tomato powder
25g garlic powder
25g cumin
3T oregano
1 1/2 T sea salt
1 tsp white pepper
25g of dried minced onion.
Store in airtight container

Step 4: Cook with it!
Use 2-3 tablespoons of this spice mix with 500g of either meat/cooked beans then add some extras:

For Moroccan  add cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne to taste.
For Mexican add fresh coriander stalks finely chopped, bit of parsley and cayenne to taste.
For a quick Indian dish add 2 tsp of your fav curry powder (I get mine from the local Indian grocer) with extra coriander and fresh curry leaves if you have them.

Above is my Moroccan version of the spice (with added veg stock cube) mixed with mince and cooked pasta stars then stuffed into capsicums to roast. Hubby loved it though I would have preferred beans and quinoa I think. :)

The dried veg base makes ALL the difference to taste without using salt, yeast extract and all the other junk in store bought spice mixes.

Enjoy!
x

Peanut butter cookies (secret ingredients.. sort of)

If you're out for a different sort of cookie, you want to reduce the amount of flour/grain you're eating, have a gluten free diet.. (and completely sick of gluten free tasting food!).. then THIS is the cookie for you.



It's YUMMO! I didn't have the vanilla esscence so added almond essence and maple essence. So mine tasted like an Almandine tart - can I repeat, YUMMO!

EDITED TO ADD: Since writing this I've had to go on a gluten free diet and to my horror - OATS are not gluten free! (due to the processing/growing of them with other grains). So please be sure to get gluten free oats for this recipe.

Check it out:
http://snapguide.com/guides/make-secret-ingredient-chocolate-chip-cookies/?utm_source=Snapguide+users&utm_campaign=c591d7fa46-newsletter-20130718&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b41a61f843-c591d7fa46-412488001&utm_expid=69945963-41.10jY8VZ6T0W-JifR9lgQOw.0

Raw Milk and Pickles

It's been way too long since I last had anything to blog about "dirt to dinner" wise. I've been extremely busy with Norwex which has been great. The Sydney team is growing, the Central Coast team is new and doing really well. Now it's just my own area of Sydney that I need to work on!

Hubby's been off work for 6 months now with a back injury. He's on the mend but in the meantime I've done my best to kick up business and make it work for me. It's been surprisingly easy (though a lot of work) as people seem really really ready for a change from the extreeeemely expensive, high maintenance, relatively short lived and time consuming Enjo. I'm happy to say that ex-Enjo consultants and customers are now topping up with Norwex and LOVING it!

Anyway! Mon-Wed is DS2 time. I finally felt my old self a little after making pickled onions and experiencing organic raw milk for the first time. It's illegal to sell for consumption, so it's not sold for consumption... if you know what I mean.

It was lovely to have a whole chunk of "watch me Mum!" time and peel then brine the onions.
 The wooden walkway to the door above was finally upturned about a week after this pick. We found 37, yes, THIRTY SEVEN RED BACK SPIDERS - Argh!!! Squish, squish, squish!
Below is the gnome's cave. Isn't DS2 so cute :) Even at 4 he still has those soft curves.

 A massive jar of the almost ready product. (Thanks Mum for the spices)

And below the raw milk. You can't really see in the pick the difference between the lite milk from the supermarket (right) and the raw stuff (left). There is so much cream in it! I must have had the stuff towards the end. Now how to find out a way of separating the milk and cream while it's fresh.

 

So if you're interested in organic raw milk (bathing, soap making.. or whatever) then let me know.
X

Today's funny... one of them

Honestly, I make delicious food for my kids, they refuse to eat it, 

(DS1) "I'm not hungry"
(Me) "Do you want an apple"
"Yes"
"Then you've got enough room for this, eat it"
"Nooooo!" etc etc
 

Then we get in the car and I find my eldest eating cardboard.....

Been Busy

Played with the new toy. This baby filters 2000 litres of water. Used in the Australian and US army and fits into a sunglasses case. Nice!

Looked silly in a Sari, a delightful Indian lady helped me but she admitted she isn't the best person to do it :o\

Made the world's best cookies and had a picnic in a nice spot with the boys.

Hand made some gifts.

Measured almonds, measured almonds, measured almonds... measured almonds.

Contemplated the difference in quality between the imported and Aussie Quinoa...

Imported

Aussie

 ... and grizzled about it. (click to enlarge)

Been busy

x

A Healthy Chocolate Hit.. when you really need one!

Some friends and I were chatting at book group the other night. They're also trying to find delicious and extremely healthy recipes to substitute foods in their regular diet.

(figgyandsprout.com)

This simple and delish. Similar to the fudge pops that I make (down the page) for the kids. This smoothie/shake is perfect for when you really want something chocolatey without being naughty! It's rich, thick, smooth and dark. .

Raw Chocolate Milkshake

Water and soft flesh scooped from a drinking coconut
1 tablespoon of raw cocoa/cacao (more antioxidants than green tea!)      
1 heaped tablespoon of smooth raw/local peanut butter ( I use Dick Smith as it's delish and 100% Aussie)
1 level tablespoon of raw honey (or agave/pinch of stevia)
3 cups Almond cream

Stick the scooped out coconut flesh and a small amount of coconut water in the blender and wizz up until smooth. Then add the rest of the water and other ingredients and blend until smooth and incorporated.

Almond Cream

Make ahead of time.
2 cups of raw almonds soaked for a few hours pref 5hrs/overnight. Rinse a couple of times and then Pop in the blender with 3 cups of filtered water. Blend on high/ice crusher setting until the almond mealy bits are fine.
Strain and twist through muslin and use.

Retain almond meal for use in cakes/cookies/muffins etc. You could even get some more almond milk out of the remaining meal when blended up again with 2 cups of water.

Raw Cashew Dreamcake

I finally made it...

RAW

CASHEW (and raspberry)

DREAMCAKE

Quick, easy and almost guilt free!

Yes it's raw, yes it's a HUGE amount healthier than shop bought ... anything! I still don't we could get away with eating only this for dinner. We could try though :o)

Crop-portunity Awaits

As always, there's growing time, then opportunities seem to come in a glut.
In this instance there's an opportunity for a community garden/allotment nearby. It's a nice patch! I can't wait to make my hands grubby in it - I simply don't have the time.

So! If you're nearby and want to help start up some allotments, let me know. Co-opstop@hotmail.com

I miss growing things.. lots of things.. taking them from the dirt to the kitchen and making dinner. 

Super Food Treat for Kids (and You)

I've been nagged to put this recipe up (and the following not so super food cookie) so here it is.
My kids devour these little beauties, I thoroughly enjoy them too. No photos = too tasty to last that long!

FYI your body can break down coconut oil/fat and although it's classed as saturated fat, doesn't contribute to heart disease like other fats can when they are heated. A creamy ingredient not to be avoided.

Coco Fudge Pops

 Ingredients

1 drinking coconut

1 banana

1 tablespoon raw cocoa

4 fresh dates (or 1 T raw honey)

1 generous tablespoon of smooth raw/locally made peanut butter (I use OZEnuts).. or whatever

Method:
Crack open the top of the drinking coconut. Pour the water into a tall jug, scoop out the soft flesh and add to the jug also.
Add the banana, cocoa, dates/honey to the jug and puree with a stick blender. (Or whatever blender you have).
Add the peanut butter to taste at the end. Blend until smooth.

Pour into ice pop moulds and place in freezer over night.

Velvety and rich. So nice!


Here is the non-super food 5 star rated (by others!)  

Suzi's Best Ever Cookies

After making a dozen batches of these cookies, I've realised that there are a few essential ingredients. Substitutes just don't produce the same flavours. The different ingredients that you'll see are ones I buy through my co-op (or bought years ago and stored) and are regular items in my cupboard. Cheaper in bulk and more nutritious.

Ingredients:

Very soft  unsalted butter (US 3/4 cup plus 2 T spoons, the rest of us - 200g).

1/4 cup "raw" sugar

1 cup Rapadura sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups plain flour (organic/biodyn.unbleached flour - different from white "enriched" flour at the shop)

1tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups porridge oats 

1 cup chopped eating chocolate

1/2 cup chopped unsalted peanuts

Method:

Stick your oven at 180C.

Beat the sugars and butter until light. Then add both eggs and vanilla and whip fast for a minute or so until fluffy.

Add dry ingredients (sifting soda and salt). Add to wet ingredients. Mix then add oats, choc and nuts.

No need to refrigerate (but you can if you like). Scoop dessert spoon sized balls of cookie dough onto a baking try (lined with baking paper), 2inches/5cms apart.

My oven is electric fan forced and takes 13 mins at this size and temp. If your cookies are smaller at about a 5cm in diameter blob of dough then they'll take 10mins. Just until they're a light golden brown.

Leave to cool completely. EAT.

Makes 2 dozen-ish.

Super food version has cacao nibs instead of chocolate

Doolally Sally? or Hippy Misgivings

I recently came upon this article (see below for excerpt). I was all for Sally Fallon's back to traditional simple food approach. I still want to be, but flip! So many points in the article just set my eyes rolling.

There were some things I really agreed with like MSG labelling (or lack of, including re-naming to hydrolyzed protein) and the goodness of bone broths. Also the over processing of cereals etc

I struggle with my hippy tendencies: 

• I love growing vegies as I think it's so much healthier without the pesticides, plus I enjoy the natural taste of old fashioned varieties.
• I want to buy land and grow vegie trees, start a permaculture school and weave my own jumpers.. possibly dye them with nettles (but it has to be done well and in a funky style inline with Espirit)
• I don't use fluoride toothpaste and believe that comfrey and arnica works to prevent and dispel bruises (just because I experimented with it on my own family and my Dr gave me some!).
• I like my kids to play in the trees and dirt rather than on plastic play equipment
  
  
  

   BUT.........

There's a certain kind of behaviour that sets my teeth on edge about "natural, herbal, hippy" folk and that's when they try to use facts to convince others of their views. They use a fact.. here Sally's used tests from the 1940s to back one of her claims and then has a 'feeling' at the end of another or a "nah nah nah nah naaaah, yeah, your putting toxins in because you just are." A bit harsh you say? Well that's how I feee-e-eeel about someone I respected having said so many looney, bendy, incredible things. I'm annoyed. Now I don't know what to think.

You'll see what I mean. I went straight to the rat trials as it looked interesting.  My response is below the article.

Dirty Secrets of the Food  Industry

By Sally Fallon This presentation was given at the annual conference of Consumer Health of Canada,

March, 2002.

The Rat Experiments

"Let me tell you about two studies which were not published. The first was described by Paul Stitt who wrote about an experiment conducted by a cereal company in which four sets of rats were given special diets. One group received plain whole wheat, water and synthetic vitamins and minerals. A second group received puffed wheat, water and the same nutrient solution. A third set was given only water. A fourth set was given nothing but water and chemical nutrients. The rats that received the whole wheat lived over a year on this diet. The rats that got nothing but water and vitamins lived about two months. The animals on water alone lived about a month. But the company's own laboratory study showed that the rats given the vitamins, water and all the puffed wheat they wanted died within two weeks---they died before the rats that got no food at all. It wasn't a matter of the rats dying of malnutrition. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves of the spine, all signs of insulin shock.

Results like these suggested that there was something actually very toxic in the puffed wheat itself! Proteins are very similar to certain toxins in molecular structure, and the pressure of the puffing process may produce chemical changes, which turn a nutritious grain into a poisonous substance. (incredulous. *eye roll*)

Another unpublished experiment was carried out in the 1960s. Researchers at Ann Arbor University were given 18 laboratory rats. They were divided into three groups:

one group received corn flakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the corn flakes came in and water; the control group received rat chow and water.

This experiment was actually designed as a joke, but the results were far from funny. The results were never published and similar studies have not been conducted."

_ _ _

Here's why Sally's rat trial point fell apart for me:

1. She talked about these studies not being published as if it was being kept a secret from the masses. Stuff like this is published all the time, proving links with cancer etc - people just don't care, or there isn't the right budget to put into marketing the results to make people notice enough to make a difference.
   There are so many health journals out there plus the kind like the Academy of Nutrition and dietetics etc who would have happily have published findings like that.
   
2. Since they were "done as a joke" is one HUGE bell clanging "Don't take me seriously" and clearly means that guidelines may not have been followed. The strict observation that goes into rat studies (and it's done for pretty much everything - even Stevia) is so much so, that when followed, some journal somewhere will publish it. Publishing means it's METHOD was credible. As I said before, there are a tonne of Natural/Alternative medicine journals that would have loved to publish findings as these, so not being published is another clanger that it must be taken with a large dose of salt.
   
3. The biggest clanger of all was the fact that Sally surmised from these unpublished "joke" studies that rats had died from a toxic substance within the puffed grain = "insulin shock". This condition is otherwise known as hypoglycemia. That's right folks! High insulin levels - raised due to the only food their eating to be high GI. NOTHING TOXIC in the manufacturing or protein structure, just high pressure and steam. That's it!

I had alot of respect for Sally as her theories about food were music to my 'sourdough healthy home food' sympathetic ears, but I was so blown away by the mindlessness of her rat study conclusions, that I've stopped soaking my grains while I think on it all a bit. It is really disappointing because now I'm wondering what other supposedly healthy habits I've been doing that are merely misguided opinion and not fact..

Puffed corn isn't a great snack owing to it's high GI-ness but better than lollies (and after some low GI food!)

Oh and if you have some published studies on why certain foods are better, then I'd love to see them.

Gina's Granola & Suzi's Flapjacks

Gina from Home Joys is a woman after my own heart. We've never met, but chatted a little. She's one of my favourite people in cyber world! A blog well worth keeping up with.

Her objective and realistic view of things makes me giggle. It's so easy to think, "she's so perfect" but she's very much removed from the 'look at me - you want to be me' kind of bloggers out there. She's real.

This is her recipe from the corker of a book, Nourishing Traditions. Ok so it's not her recipe, but she shared it with me so I'm naming it hers hereafter.

"If you are familiar with Nourishing Traditions, you know that "soaking" is an important facet of their diet recommendations. They suggest that all grains and seeds should be soaked in an acid medium (such as yogurt or lemon juice) before being prepared for eating. According to their research, grains are hard to digest and can actually bind up important minerals.

I always rolled my eyes and considered those who cook according to Nourishing Traditions the worse food snobs ever."

Gina's Soaked Granola (crunchy)

 I followed the recipe. The first time using raw coconut oil and yoghurt and no fruit (Steve's batch). The second time (pictured) I used whole peanuts, pepitas, chia seeds - just chucked a whole bunch of seeds in..  and dried, sweetened cranberries. I used Kefir and butter as I'd run out of coconut oil. (This is the batch you have "Treena")

 I started drying it out in the oven and then it got too close to dinner time and needed the oven. So I finished them off in the dehydrator. Worked a treat! It's better in the dehydrator, you end up with a crunchier finish.

 It filled one and a half cereal containers. The one on the right is some that I finished in the oven.. which I forgot about - thanks FB. It fed the bin.

 

My Flapjacks

You know the usual flapjack recipe? Well I couldn't help Suzi-fy it! This version is NUT-FREE for school lunches. You could also make a maple pecan version (omitting the golden syrup/honey and seeds).

1 cup quick oats
1 plain flour
2/3 dessicated coconut
1/2 cup rapadura (or you can use brown)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (for the batch above I put sunflower and pepitas with chia, linseed and sesame seeds to add extra nutritional value)

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds/pepitas
1/2 cup finely chopped dates
1/2 cup butter
3 T golden syrup/honey
1 T water
1/2 tsp bicarb

Melt butter, golden syrup and water in microwave or stove top. Then add in the bicarb and stir.
Add all dry ingredients and press down firmly into a greased lamington try.
Bake at 160C for approx 20mins until slightly golden ontop and set.

Store in airtight container - freezes well.

The best thing?? My kids LOVE it and ask for it in their lunch boxes for recess everyday. I have to fight them off!