The Evolution of Our Green Smoothie

My boys loved this smoothie so much that I had to scrap out every last bit from the Vitamix jug and Liam upon seeing the spatula squealed "I lick it please Mumma!"

I have learnt a lot since I introduced smoothies into our diet.

I have learnt that ::

• it is important to consider the acid-alkaline balance of our diet.  That means, some foods such as meat and cheeses can be highly acidic for the body once digested, leading to such problems as weaker bones (yes, cheese can weaken your bones!) and that alkaline foods, such as most vegetables and some fruits and nuts can improve bone health and general well-being and longevity.  You might find this table helpful in discerning acid and alkaline foods.  Basically, eat more fruit and vegetables and less meat and dairy.

• combining fruits and vegetables in the one juice, or meal, can lead to bad digestion.  It takes different enzymes to break down fruits than it does with vegetables.  You can listen to your body on this one too.  Even though it isn't bad to let one go (flatulence, fluff or fart - I can barely write that word as it is a rude word in our house, boys!), it isn't good if they are quite stinky.  That means that your digestion isn't great and possibly caused by a wrong combination of foods last eaten.  But if you are like me and struggle to listen to your body (in my case, I think I am that toxic that it's hard to tell), it is good to do some research.  I did, and it was a little conflicting.

• after some internet searching, there is a general consensus that mixing fruits and vegetables together isn't that great for your health.  And even though many manufacturers of juicers promote combining fruits and vegetables in their recipes, this may be to make the juicer more appealing for sale rather than what is good for you.  I liked this woman's view on the topic because it sat well with me.  Doesn't mean it is conclusively correct though.  And I would like to believe this guy as it is convenient.  So it brings me back to listening to my body.

• the Eight Laws of Health make sense and I should consider abiding by them.  Not only will it benefit my health but also the example set before my sons will help them to make healthy nutritional choices.  And right now, I just want them to eat the healthy food I set before them and not pester for pizza-from-a-shop, chippies and ice-cream!  In a nutshell they are, Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunlight, Temperance, Air, Rest and Trust.

• variety and making it fun is essential to keeping my little boys interested.  We make up names for our dishes, like Pirate-Treasure-Porridge, Snakes In Red Sauce and Monster Green Smoothies (well we didn't make that one up of course!).  And this morning we discovered Banana Green Smoothie (highly imaginative we are in this house!).  I have found that my boys like a smoothie combination for a couple of weeks before we have to reinvent it.  And new ways in presenting it to them.

That brings me to today's new smoothie.  

Banana Green Smoothie

5 leaves of silverbeet, stalks removed or leafy green of choice

2 bananas 

rice milk (I measure the milk using their little drinking cups x 2)

2/3 cup quick oats

1 Tbl chia seeds

2 Tbl coconut oil

pinch of celtic salt (must be celtic or himalayan pink salt otherwise omit)

tiny dribble of maple syrup, optional

Place all ingredients in given order into your blender (most blenders will blend better if spinach is in first, soft to hard rule).

To serve, we pour it into a cereal bowl and top with a small handful of cornflakes.  Cornflakes are high in salt and really are not good for you.  My boys just love the stuff but it dawned on me that if I were to make a thick smoothie and top it with only a fraction of the cornflakes they would otherwise be having I have reduced their bad salt intake and increased their good food intake.  

Do you make smoothies?  What are your favourite combos?

Can you give me tips to get my boys eating more fruit and veg in its whole form?  Chewing is always a good thing.

Four more sleeps to you-know-when, hope you are ready.  By the way, can't go without a mention to the obvious- the world has not ended today.

Blessings,

Fi 

xxx

Beetroot Chocolate Cake :: A recipe

Hello!

I instagrammed this cake today and was asked to post the recipe.  I'm not one to keep yummy recipes to myself so I offer it up here with pleasure.

Now, if you have never had a beetroot chocolate cake, you can be forgiven for thinking EErrrrkkk.  I did, and never thought I would be baking one myself.  But as it turns out, I had a bunch of beetroot leftover in the fridge from a sad abandoned juice diet.  I really dislike feeding my bin dead vegetables (no worm farm or compost presently) and couldn't bear the idea of throwing the beets away.

A side note, I had every intention of seeing the Reboot Your Life juice diet through to the end but I don't actually have a juicer.  Mmmm, bit of a problem.  But I do have a Vitamix (high powered blender) and thought I could get away with it.  

Apple Cherry bake and Green Juice from Reboot Your Life

All was good until I made a veg juice, using the very beetroots in question and found that all the fibre in the juice too much to bear and promptly turned the juice into a pasta sauce and shelved the diet for another day.

Ok, back to the cake recipe!  I found the recipe in a Family Circle booklet "50 of the Best Cakes & Tarts".  The recipe is by Jill Dupleix.  But this is how I made it.  I had 3 beets to use but the cake takes only one large one, so the extra cooked beets were drizzled with oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and a spike of apple cider vinegar- nom nom nom.

Beetroot Chocolate Cake
serves 8
cooking time: 35 mins (fan force oven)

70g cocoa powder
180g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
250g caster sugar
250g cooked beetroot (see note at start of method)
3 large eggs
200ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Note: I had 3 beets.  I washed and trimmed them then cut them into quarters and placed them in a steamer until tender.  I then weighed out 250g of cooked beets which ended up being 4 quarters.  So perhaps one large beetroot will do the job!

Preheat over 165C fan force (original recipe is 180C conventional).
Line base of 20cm springform tin.  Mine is old pre dates non-stick so I lightly greased sides and floured.

Sift all the dry ingredients, except sugar, into a mixing bowl, then stir in the sugar til well combined.

Using a blender or food processor (I used my trusty Vitamix), blitz the beetroot.  Then add the eggs, oil and vanilla til smooth.  The colour is amazing at this point, and it gets even better.

Pour the wet bright purple ingredients into the dry, using a balloon whisk to lightly combine.  At this point, I wished a took a photo.  The wet ingredients awakened the cocoa into a deep brown and the bright purple created an awesome swirl against the chocolatey batter. But keep mixing till all is combined.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 30 mins.  Check to see if cooked.  If the testing skewer comes out wet, cover the cake with a bit of foil to stop further browning while you give it another 10 mins or so.  The original recipe says to cook for an hour but a max of 45 mins was enough for my cake.

Let the cake cool a bit before removing the sides.  We ate it hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to salve our mouths.

The question is, how did it taste?!  Well, it did taste chocolatey without being too rich and the beetroot gave it an earthy flavour, but only mildly.  In fact, I reckon if I didn't know there was beetroot was in there, I mayn't have noticed.  And it was moist, so goodly moist.

I would like to make this cake again but reduce the sugar.  Perhaps dates or maple?  I'm yet to bake with stevia but I will no doubt venture there too one day.

Have you ever baked a beetroot cake?
Or any other vegetable (besides carrot cake!)?
What do you use to cut back sugar?  Or even to replace it altogether?

xxx

Stuff and Cold lurgy remedies

What a weekend!

Boys were sick - no surprise there as they returned to kindy last week.  Sheesh.

We couldn't go to church on Saturday as they were just too snotty and that isn't the kind of love that I want them to share with our friends.

But Sunday was a glorious almost spring-like day.  We couldn't do what we originally planned due to the lurgies but we did spring clean the house and yard.  Do I sound excited by this?  Well I was excited!  I actually did the weeding that I previously said I probably wouldn't.  We threw out some rubbish for the kerbside collection which is just about gone already due to neighbourhood scroungers.  We wiped down windows, hung out washing and gave the house a good airing.  This lifted my spirits.

I made my men Tania's crumpets.  This recipe makes about a gazillion so I am still chomping on them this morning.  I am going to work on a gluten free/wheat free version so that Liam can eat them too.

My boys are currently hoeing into their usual breakfast: porridge oats, lecithin, chia, raspberries and coconut oil.

I have been doing some research and found a great site Earth Clinic.  Here people share their successful testimonies in using alternative medicines for a number of ailments.  I looked up seizures and found some really useful tips.

So I am including in Liam's diet:

Lecithin - this little granule helps keep your myelin sheath dandy.  Great for the brain
Chia - omega 3 plus! Great for brain.  My kids love them and affectionately call them 'sprinkles'
Raspberries - antioxidant and red
coconut oil - is awesome for your brain and body in general.  See this awesome site for what cold press extra virgin coconut oil can do for your health.

I'm also looking into how to include bicarb soda, potassium, magnesium and B vitamins.  Eliminating wheat has been a good thing and now to rid him of sugar.  I'm taking baby steps as this could potentially overwhelm me.  And I am slowly reforming my diet too.  I won't take Liam off his medicine - Epilim - but I have discussed scaling back his dosage with the paediatrician.  I'm praying this works as I believe in working through nature's medicine cabinet too.

As for my lurgy management, my husband's niece has two little girls and gave me her night time cough remedy last winter.  Boyoboy, it does work and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get their little ones sleeping through the night instead of coughing.

This is an external application so don't panic at the use of metho!

Dean's eyes are so bright this morning after getting a good night's rest

Night time cough remedy

1 part methylated spirits

2 parts apple cider vinegar

3 parts warm water

2 hankies

I use a soup spoon for measurement and pour all ingredients into a shallow bowl.  Fold one hankie in half diagonally and then keep folding to create a neck tie.  Dip this into the mixture and fully saturate then wring out and tie around your child's throat.  Grab the second hankie and fold into a neck tie.  Place this dry hankie over the wet one around the neck.  Kiss your baby good night and see a sunshiney, fully slept child in the morning.  

I also cut a fresh onion into quarters and place in a dish in their room on a daily basis.  Onions absorb lurgies, so throw out after they go dry, do not use to eat.

The boys have finished their breakky.  I'll plonk them in front of channel 22  while I grab a cuppa and crumpet before we start our morning craft and lesson time.  I'm in the mood for music!

Have a happy monday

xx

Feed Me Friday :: Garlic Bean Pasta

I don't often enter competitions which explains why I don't often ever win anything. 

Aaaaages ago I entered the Kleenex Mums recipe competition.  It was to win a Kitchenaid so how could I resist?!  I knew it was a shameless way of collecting recipes to bulk up their website and therefore I was not allowed to publish this recipe myself once entered, but I will link you to it because I think it is yummy and wholesome and very very budget friendly.

image via Kleenex Mums (link above) but originally mine: Brave New Me (just in case they own the photo too!)

And no.  I didn't win.  I am still not an illustrious Kitchenaid Mixer owner.  I'll keep saving!

Bon apetite!

Feed Me Friday :: Honey Cakes

This is more for Valentine's Day than Black Friday but I'm not superstitious!

Since the discovery that wheat doesn't treat Liam very nicely, I've been on the scrounge for good alternatives.

Here is a deadset awesome place to find gluten-free baking recipes.  In fact, the two different flour mixes I use came from this great blog.

Yes, I need to work on my labelling.  Not very appealing!

These are the combos I make from Shauna's list:

For cakey baking I like this version:

200g almond meal
250g brown rice flour
250g buckwheat flour
150g tapioca flour
150g potato starch

And for non-cakey type of baking or for when I want to send Liam with some homebaking to his kindy I make this nut-free combo:

250g brown rice flour
250g buckwheat flour
200g maize flour
150g tapioca flour
150g potato starch

Even though Liam has no problem with gluten, it is just easy to go gluten-free to avoid the wheat.  And yes, I could just buy the gluten-free flour from the supermarket, but I like the idea of introducing other grains into my family's diet and these wholegrain flours are delightfully light!

But I didn't come to rave about gluten/wheat-free today.  I wanted to share with you a recipe I adapted from Stephanie Alexander using the gluten free flour above.  All my fellas love these and guests usually come back for seconds.  So I had to share it with you.

2/3 cup plain flour (gf mix containing almond meal)
1 tsp baking powder
90g salted butter plus a smidge more for greasing your pan
1 Tbl honey
2 eggs
1/4 cup caster sugar (vanilla is nice or just add a dash of extract to mix)
1 Tbl dark brown sugar

Preheat oven 180C (mine is fan forced so conventional may be 195C).

Gently melt the butter and honey over low heat in a small saucepan.  Stir and set aside to cool a little.

With an electric mixer combine eggs and sugar.  Pour in the butter and honey mixture and whizz to combine.  Add sifted flour and baking powder and whizz again.  Note: if you are using normal plain flour, just use a wooden spoon at this point as you don't want to get the gluten going, it will stiffen your cake mix.  Combine until you get a lovely smooth batter.  If you have used normal flour, best to let the batter rest 15-20 mins.  I find with gluten free flour, the resting doesn't achieve much so I don't bother.

Brush your pans with melted butter (my pans are from Aldi- so so sweet!), then dust lightly with flour.

Pour your batter in til two-thirds full.

Bake for 10 mins or until you know what - be careful not to leave too long as they can dry out quickly if you make them in a small or shallow shape.  I also make these in my madeleine tin.  Allow to cool in pan for a minute before turning out on wire rack.

They keep well in the fridge or freezer.  Just reheat a little in microwave to bring its moistness back.  But thanks to my friend Nooch, I now give them a light spritz with lemon juice to revive them.  Delish.

Do you have a great baking recipe that is adapted for wheat/gluten-free?  Please share and link.  I'd be ever so grateful! xx

Feed Me Friday :: Happy Granola

It's Good Friday!  This has much significance to me, does it to you?  Instead of chocolates or hot cross buns, I thought today's Feed Me Friday deserved a little happiness in the form of goodness (counterbalance other indulgences perhaps?)

Granola is a happy thing don't you think?  Mine is particularly happy because it is loaded with Omega 3 and antioxidents.  I am happy when I am making it, eating it and sharing it.  I eat it for breakfast on top of cornflakes.  I grab handfuls when I am peckish.  My husband loves it too.  My kids are fussy and don't like to be happy obviously hahahaha!  No.  My kids just don't like the extra effort of chewing this crunchy combo.  They suck on it, extracting the milk, then spit it out.  I don't waste it on them anymore.  Although, yesterday, Dean decided he liked 'Lola' again.  Fickle.

I posted a picture of it once on facebook and got requests for the recipe.  Granola recipes are a dime a dozen so I thought that I wouldn't bother.  But then I remembered how many recipes I went to for inspiration before concocting this one . . . and you might have the same taste-buds as me.

Start with a large jar.  This one relieved itself of its last crunchy morsel only yesterday.  I made a batch only a week ago so the jar is staying seasoned from that one.  Gosh, do I make laziness sound alright or what?!

Then I grabbed my recipe notebook.  This notebook is where I frantically write down recipes I see on TV or in library books or, as in this case, when inspiration strikes.  This particular recipe is version 2, finalised only in Feb.  But I have made it numerous times and believe it is worthy of sharing.  I still have to refer to my notes as I tend to deviate if I don't and it can turn out great or turn out disastrous.

Ingredients:
85g butter
125ml real maple syrup (don't skimp here please)
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup mixed nuts (I usually have pecans, walnuts, cashews and almonds on hand but I usually stick with a mix of three different)
2/3 cup of a mix of sunflower seeds, pepitas and sesame seeds
ground cinnamon to taste (my taste is around 1/2-1 tsp!)
freshly ground nutmeg to taste (I do about ten grating strokes on the microplane)
2/3 cup mixed dried berries (I use dried cranberries, currants, raisins and goji berries)
2-3 Tbl chia seeds

Step 1 - melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat with the maple syrup and stir to combine.  Preheat a fan forced oven to 130C (probs 145C if conventional, you may have to experiment as I can't actually turn my oven fan off to figure this one out)

Step 2 - combine rolled oats, mixed nuts, mixed seeds and spices into a large bowl.

Step 3 - in another vessle, combine mixed dried berries and chia seeds.  The reason for this is that I find it better to add the berries after the rolled oats have toasted, to keep their flavour.  I also find that the chia seeds stick nicely to the dried berries aiding in their even distribution.  As seen in the picture below.

Step 4 - Combine the butter and maple syrup mixture in with the rolled oats mixture, giving it a good stir to ensure all the dry ingredients receive a lovely coating.  Then spread the mixture out evenly between two lined baking trays (I utilise my pizza pans here).  Keep the level even and low.  Place in the oven for 30 mins, then stir the oats before smoothing them out again to have another 30 mins in the oven.

Step 5 - after the hour long toasting, I tend to just leave them in the cooling oven for a few minutes, before turning out into a dish to combine with the berries.  Once cooled thoroughly, fill up your empty jar.

I must confess that this recipe does indeed fill my jar right to the top.  I took this photo last week after a few helpings.  Bit of a shame really as this week's batch turned out even better (I was a bit heavier handed on the cinnamon . . . mmmmmm)

Feed Me Friday: Broccoli & Mushroom Pasta

Easy peasy.

Saute garlic and mushrooms in olive oil.  Do the mushrooms in batches if you think you'll be crowding your pan as otherwise your mushies will be mushy.

Steam or microwave a head of broccoli florets.

Cook your favourite pasta shape.

Add drained broccoli to pan and sprinkle with stock powder and salt to taste. Squeeze some lemon to taste over the top.

Add pasta with a little of the cooking water.

Toss.  Serve.  Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts or untoasted poor-man's pine nuts (sunflower seeds).  Add more lemon juice or generously dust with parmesan (off the block I recommend as opposed to shaken from the can).

I almost insult you with writing out this delicious recipe as it is pretty obvious from the photo but what isn't obvious is its yumminess!

Feed Me Friday: Snakes in Red Sauce

Sometimes I just want to cook from a jar.  But at least I go for several jars when this mood strikes so that I feel like a little bit of culinary flair has gone into it.

You will notice that this recipe isn't anything new, it appears in almost every recipe book I own and you would perhaps make it at home too.  A word of warning, this recipe does contain hairy fish but it is so worth eating it despite their look, smell and reputation!  So here is my version.

First up, what's with the name I hear you ask?!  Spaghetti Puttanesca is apparently translated as a pasta a whore would make.  Perhaps due to the original having chilli in it (mine doesn't as I make it for the kids) or because it is a little cheap and nasty with the ingredients coming mainly from jars . . . or perhaps because it is quick and can be made and eaten between tricks . . . who knows, it just wasn't the right name for it my house.

Without asking, my 3.5 year old Liam, decided to call it "Snakes in Red Sauce".  Still sounds a little wicked . . . suits us fine!



2-3 cloves garlic (to taste really), finely chopped

fresh oregano, finely chopped (or dry or not)

2-3 large spoons of spanish olives, roughly chopped

1 Tbl capers, rinsed and finely chopped

2-3 anchovies, roughly chopped (to taste - don't worry about finely chopping as anchovies tend to melt into the sauce)

3 Tbl tomato paste

1 can tinned tomatoes

pasta of choice

Take the garlic, oregano, olives, capers and anchovies and gently saute them in olive oil.  Add the tomato paste and cook for at least 30 seconds before adding the tinned tomatoes.  Keep the heat med-low and put the lid on. 

Meanwhile, sort out your pasta according the packet instructions or your awesome cooking instinct.  Our family are die-hard fans of angel hair pasta, but one of our boys has an intolerance to wheat now so we have switched to glass noodles aka bean thread vermicilli with amazing success.

For normal pasta, save a little of the cooking water and stir it through the sauce to liven it up.

And you know what to do from here.  Mix and serve etc

I kid you not, this gets eaten every week.  Not because of the jar compulsion, but because it gets requested by the little people more often than it is supplied.

Nom nom nom

A Dish for Daisy :: Vegan Asparagus Quiche

I was drifting through my local health food shop, sans kidlets looking for savoury yeast flakes when a lovely shop assistant approached.  When I inquired for said flakes, she kindly directed me and then asked me what I was going to use it for.

"Oh, just a vegan quiche" I faux-nonchantly reply thinking that I should stay calm in a healthfood store and not be my usual unhealthly-sugar-induced-happy-explosion-gushie self -- perhaps it was a little bit of a facade.  Her eyes brightened up and delightfully told me that she is "a vegan too!".  Oops, I am not vegan and not a true vegetarian anymore.  I quickly made my confession.

Undeterred, the shop assistant went on to ask me for recipes so I directed her to my blog, apologised for the lack of vegan content but perhaps she could make her own adjustments and promised to post more vegan recipes now that she has inspired me.  Her name is Daisy and she is every bit as bright and cheery as her name evokes.  So Daisy, this is the quiche I was telling you about and yes, it did turn out nicely for my first go and yes, I will be making it again!

This recipe is taken from Simple, Tasty, Good by Signs Publishing

Vegetarian Quiche

5 sheets filo pastry
spray cooking oil
1 cup water
250g soft tofu
1 Tbl lemon juice
1 tsp basil (optional - I didn't use or miss it)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 Tbl yeast flakes
2 Tbl cornflour
1/2 cup raw cashew nuts
1/2-3/4 tsp salt
1 clove garlic
340g can asparagus spears, drained
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp oil

1. Spray a 23cm quiche dish with oil.  Lay one sheet of filo and spray with oil.  Repeat with remaining sheets of filo.  Gently press the pastry into the base of the quiche dish and allow the excess to hang over the sides.  Preheat oven 150 degrees celsius.

2. Lightly fry the onion in oil until tender.  When cooled a little, cover the pastry base with the onion and add the aspragus.

3. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth.  Pour mix pastry case.

4. Bake for 60 mins or until firm.

I served it with a crisp salad and crusty bread.

I like the onion to be mixed through, not just at the base so I put the asparagus in first, then scattered the onion

My friends know me to be a bit of a foodie so I often get asked for recipes or websites etc.  I haven't ventured very far in search of vegan websites apart from fatfree vegan, the kind life and this CHIP site. (Oh yeah, you should check out CHIP if you are worried about your heart health, diabetes, cholesterol or weight issues- totally awesome program to get on!!)

The Simple Tasty Good website has some really useful links too!  Feel free to add to this list in the comments if you can recommend more vegan friendly sites.

By the way, I was given this book last christmas by a dear dear friend.  I am not selling it or promoting it for kick-backs, but you can buy it yourself from here if you want.

Do you enjoy the odd vegan dish?  Feel free to leave a link in the comments!

x's

One of my favourites :: Happy Bickies

Did you know that if you are feeling blue it is good to dose up on your omega-3? It is also good to do things like getting fresh air and sunshine, exercise and quality sleep at night.  I can't help you with those, but I can suggest a way to get omega-3.

The recipe below comes from a book call Depression The Way Out by Dr Neal Nedley.  Both the book and this recipe are fantastic.  My boys love these biscuits so much that they have become known as Happy Bickies or Happy Day Doo Bickies (happy day doo is happy birthday, by the way, in Liamese which is only spoken fluently by my 3 year old, Liam but understood by his little brother and sometimes his mother, rarely his father!).

Walnut Maple Cookies
2.5 cup walnuts, ground in food processor
2/3 cup plain flour (use buckwheat or omit altogether - it makes slightly less bickies without flour but still works!)
1 tsp salt (I did a full teaspoon and found it too salty so I suggest 1/4 tsp)
1/3 cup flaxseed meal (I sometimes double this for extra mood-boost but be sure to add a little water to the mix)
1/3 cup carob chips (unsweetened soy is good!)
1/2 cup plus 2 tbl (US measurement is 15ml = tbl) maple syrup (155 ml - although I use half a bottle only which is 125ml and add a little water)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients in given order.
Preheat oven 180C
Using baking paper on a baking sheet, drop dough that you have formed into a ball (teaspoon size) using wet spoons then flatten with a wet fork.
Bake on middle rack of oven for 10-15 mins (soft and chewy) or 20-25 mins (crunchy - my preference).

Makes 25-30

And if you are on weight watchers, they work out to be roughly 1.5 points each!

Please have a go at making them.  They are yummy crumbled over cereal and you can adapt to make a nutritious crumble topping for your next fruit crumble.

I love them so much I just had to share.

x's

One of my favourites :: Bircher Museli

frosty raspberries atop of tangy bircher museli

Have you ever passed a recipe on that then came back to you added-to, improved or evolved?  I have a few times.  I love it when that happens.  Like this bircher museli recipe.  I gave my friends the cashew cream recipe I learnt from my church vegetarian cooking class with my side-note option for the excess pear juice to be used to soak oats for bircher museli.  And that is basically as far as I took it with my bircher museli, apart from a spoon of yoghurt and perhaps fresh banana or berries, but usually just the oats.

Julie and Fraser took it a giant step further and created the most delicious bircher museli I have ever tasted and it is completely vegan!

one quantity of cashew cream
reserved juice of the pears
Juice of 2 oranges (plus a little pulp)
approx 2.5 cups of quick oats
fresh fruit

1. Using the pear juice and orange juice, soak quick oats overnight in the fridge.
2. Add the cashew cream to the soaked oats and mix through thoroughly.
3. Add chunky-chopped fruit such as kiwi, bananas, strawberries, pineapple etc.

If this is a little rich for you, then you can reduce the orange juice to one orange and add a little water.  I also find that keeping back a few tablespoons of cashew cream is ok too (plus it means I have a small stash to drizzle over cake or fruit another time)
And voile! there you have it.  You have to try it.  Well, no, you don't have to do anything but I do reckon that this is the best bircher museli I have ever tried and my hubby thinks so too (not to mention the fact that my 3yo keeps asking for the 'cold porridge' every morning!).  Perhaps you can try adding seeds or coconut.  Go on, do it and tell me what you think.

x's

End of the week special :: Vegie Surprise Soup

As part of my new concerted effort to be a better steward of our income and to just love the planet more, I am not throwing out food anymore. 

I don't know about you, but my 'crisper bin' in the fridge could be more of a 'compost bin' at times.  I would be suckered into whatever the special was at the supermarket or I'd think, yeah, I'll make something with that eggplant and then never actually do anything with it.  Not anymore. 

I have always made shopping lists and weekly menu lists, but I can be weak and deviate off the plan.  Now, my menu plan is more concise including a list of pantry items.  Deviation is rare!

But, yes, sometimes there are vegies that need to be used up so on my weekly menu is the end of the week soup special- An Ode to the Fridge Remnants (if you will).

So, this past week's comprised of cauliflower, potato, corn, zucchini and carrot.  I found an odd tin of vegetarian abalone, some soup mix (yellow split peas, barley etc) and flavoured it up with onion, garlic and vege stock.  It was yum yum yum (even if I say so myself).  And the mung beans?  Yes, sprouted by me ...

and were even eaten by my other sprouts aka da boyz.

Do you have a yummy way of cleaning out the fridge too?

x's

One of My Favourites :: Cashew Cream

At my old church, there are a team of lovely ladies who teach gourmet vegetarian cooking.  I have learnt a few winners from them and this is one of them.

You take these ingredients . . . .

And blitz them in a blender! Too easy!!

We love cashew cream:

~ on cereal
~ on cake
~ on Grape Tapioca Pudding (cook tapioca in grape juice until opaque)
~ on fruit salad
... possibilities are endless

Here's the recipe ::

Cashew Cream

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup soy milk
1 large tin pears, drained (reserve juice for soaking oats to make a delicious bircher museli)
1 tsp vanilla essence

Place all ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth.  Keep in fridge (keeps as long as the milk would normally).  Pour it over every cakey, cereal, jelly dish you can find.

Great one for diary intolerant but not for nut intolerant!

x's
Fi

One of My Favourites :: Vegetable Mulligatawny

Liam loves to eat vegetables- if they don't look like vegetables!  Our diet is 95% vegetarian, so you can see the dilemma I have.  While Rick, Dean and I happily fix the vegetable feed bag on every night, Liam has to have 'gourmet vegies'.  I usually just give him a vegetable puree that contains legumes, poured over pasta (it's vegetable sauce Liam!) but I am always trying to get him to eat it in its more natural state . . . trying, yes, it is trying!

So the latest discovery is this delish dish for winter

I have adapted it from Delia's (who adapted it from Eliza Acton 1840 vintage!) as seen in this book.

But this is what I do:

Vegetable Mulligatawny

3 large onions, chopped
3-4 zucchini, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 large kumera (red sweet potato), diced
1 tin diced tomatoes
50g butter
seeds from 3 cardamom pods
1 tsp each of cumin seeds and coriander seeds
1 cup basmati rice, boiled
1/2 cup red lentils, cooked (I throw these in with the rice into the rice cooker)
850 mL vegetable stock
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan, then add onions.  Cook slowly over medium heat until brown and slightly caramelized.  I tend to put the onions on and then commence to chop the other vegies.

Place spices into a small frying pan and dry roast for 2-3 minutes or until the seeds jump and pop a little.  Tip them into a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder, then add to the onions.

Next, add all vegetables and tomatoes to the saucepan and cook gently, covered until soft which will be about 20-30 mins.

This next step is optional.  If you want a smooth soup (as pictured), add stock and puree vegetables using a stick blender or pour into a conventional blender.  I have served it chunky, hence I cooked the rice and lentils in one operation with the vegetables, but only half a bowl was eaten by Liam. 

Add the cooked rice and lentils to the puree and stir.

I served this dish up four times in one week, twice to impromtu guests- Julie, it was diary-free when I made it for you, just used olive oil. We think it is very yummy and as you can see, Mr Fussy himself ate it all up!

Do you have to hide your vegetables too?  What's your favourite hidden vegetable dish?

xxx

Baking Therapy :: Apple Muffins

I am so into diversional therapy right now! 

I like to report in to God's office every morning with reading the bible and prayer- to seek comfort and motivation.  That is great to feed the inner Mary but she doesn't get the housework done.  So to feed the inner Martha, who better to turn to than our modern-day Martha, Martha Stewart.  I catch her shows some mornings and find myself doing the housey chores during and for a few hours after.  As long as I stay focused, I can get almost everything done before lunch time, even cooking the dinner!!

This morning, my inner-Martha energy produced these sweet muffins.

Keeping it real with this shot!

This delightful recipe came via Catherine who found it in a Donna Hay Magazine.

Mine did not turn out as aesthetically beautiful due to the pan and patty case combo I used.  It was a cupcake pan and the cases are for a muffin pan as their bases are bigger.  The result was tipping cases and the muffin mix spilling out over one side.  Still tastes jolly good!

My only change to the recipe was that I cut the sugar down by a third and I used demerera sugar instead of raw as the sprinkle on the top.  I didn't have any raw sugar left and the demerera had a promise of toffee sweetness (according the to pack!).  The muffins were still very sweet. Oh, and I used a pink lady apple instead of a green one.

And I couldn't blog a baked goodie that wasn't in a fancy patty case or show a glass of milk without the quintessential stripy paper straw.  I'm pretty sure I bought these both from here

What is your favourite diversional therapy technique?  Do you have a combo like me?