Healthy Bites : Zesty Lemon and Oat Slice

The more we cut processed ingredients out of our diet the better (and slimmer) we are feeling.

We've always eaten pretty well really, nearly everything is homemade so additives and other nasties are very low, and we eat loads of fruit and vegies fresh from the garden.  Now we are trying to eat more whole foods (un-refined) and organic where we can afford it.  Slowing swapping things white flour for wholemeal, fruit juice, dates and honey for refined sugar and eating vegetarian most nights of the week.  Our waist lines, energy levels and health are starting to be a lot better off for it.

This recipe was inspired by my love of citrus slice.  I tried a slice from a café a few months ago.  I enjoyed it enough but felt really gross afterwards, too much sugar and fat.  This version is clean and pretty healthy.  Refined sugar is replaced with naturally sweet dates, honey and fruit juice.  Flour is replaced with oats and ground almonds.  This is still a treat food - our first option for snacks is fruit and vege (mostly...) but when we feel like a treat these will really hit the spot.

Zesty Lemon and Oat Slice Recipe

Base
1C Dates
¾C Coconut
Juice of an Orange
½C Water
1½C Organic Rolled Oats
½C Raw Almonds

Put dates, coconut, juice and water in a small pot.  Heat gently for about 10 minutes until the dates mash easily with a fork.  Set a aside to cool.  Meanwhile, whizz oats and almonds to a crumble (not super fine).  When dates are cooled add to oat mix and whizz on medium until combined well (1 to 2 minutes), adding a little more water if needed to help it bind.  Line a brownie tin with baking paper.  Press oat mixture firmly into tin.  Spread over then press down topping and leave to set in the fridge

Topping
1/3C Coconut Oil (I have organic, cold pressed, unrefined)
¼C Firm Honey (use agave or maple syrup for vegan)
Zest of 1 Lemon
Juice of 2 Lemons

Gently warm coconut oil and honey till just soft - like room temperature butter.  Beat all ingredients together till well combined.

Perfected : No-Knead Vogels Style Bread

I was very excited a few months ago to be given a no-knead homemade 'Vogels' style bread recipe.  If you don't know what Vogels bread is, it is moist, slightly dense, grainy bread.  It makes wonderful sandwich bread but is best toasted with a slathering of peanut butter, honey or butter and marmite.

After several attempts with my new recipe I was always disappointed, the bread would rise well but half way though baking would sink in the middle and then was impossible to prise from the tin.  My best guess was that the mix was always too wet.

I have made quite a few modifications since first trying to make this bread, and twice I have started with a completely new recipe.  Now finally I have got it right - so here it is.

No-Knead Vogels Style Bread Recipe
Makes 2 Loaves

500ml Boiling Water
1T Honey or Brown Sugar
500ml Cold Water
20g Active Yeast (4 teaspoons)
3¼ Cups / 400g Wholemeal Flour
3¼ Cups / 400g High Grade Bread Flour
2t Salt
½ to 1½ Cups Mixed Grains (We like golden linseed, sesame and sunflower)
¾ Cup Rolled or Quick Cooks Oats

Turn oven on to 50°C Bake (you don't want the fan on for this stage if you can help it - so the tops of your loaves don't dry out).  Line 2 loaf tins with baking paper, or grease generously with cooking oil.

Mix the hot water and honey/sugar to dissolve.  Add in cold water then yeast, stir well and allow to activate for 10 minutes.  Add in flour, salt, grains, seeds and oats and mix well.  The mixture will look like thick porridge.
Divide mixture between your 2 loaf tins (sprinkle with some seeds/oats if you like) and put into the oven on middle rack.  Leave to rise for 25-35 minutes until the dough reaches the top of the loaf tin (even better if it looks like it's just about to over flow).  Turn oven up to 200°C and switch to Fan Bake if you've got it.  Bake for 45 minutes.
Leave in the tins for 15 minutes after cooking then turn out onto cooling rack (you may need to gently ease sides from tin).  Cool completely before slicing - it's kind of like a cake - it will stick to your knife and make a big mess if cut too early.

Digging for Treasure

My 2 baby bears and I took advantage of the nice weather this weekend and went potato hunting in the garden.  They were amazed how with a turn of the garden fork potatoes would magically appear from underground.  There was fierce competition to gather them up.

I planted 12 each of Rua and Summer Delight potatoes in early August.  The tops were slowly starting to look brown so I figured it was time to harvest.  It is nice having fresh potatoes from the garden but I will do a little more research into varieties next year.   I was hoping these would be firm and waxy, but both are quite fluffy.  The Summer Delight are the better of the 2, slightly yellow flesh and nice earthy flavour.  The Rua is white and quite bland, I'll need to be a little more creative when cooking these.

Spicy Thai Pork Salad Recipe

Tonight dinner was meant to be my favourite way to use pork mince - Chinese Potsticker Pork Dumplings - a recipe which I promise to blog next time I make them.  However, when little boys have had a big day of walks, day care, playing at the park and having friends come and play, time for making dumplings was not a luxury I had this evening.  Mouths needed filling - and fast!

With a fridge full of lettuce, a garden packed with goodies and some prime home-kill pork mince I set about making a tasty dinner in less than half an hour.  Wraps and some kind of Mexican pork concoction came to mind but I always love Asian flavours with my pork, so this Thai inspired dish was created.  This was devoured with bowls scrapped clean and cost about $6 to make - a winner!

Spicy Thai Pork Salad Recipe
Serves 4

1T Oil (I use Rice Bran)
2-3 Cloves Garlic, Crushed/Grated
1cm Ginger, Grated
½t Chilli Flakes (or to taste)
2t Sesame Oil
1t Chinese 5 Spice Powder
500g Pork Mince
1 Tomato, Diced
½C Water
1T Fish Sauce
3 Spring Onions, Sliced
½ Large Iceberg Lettuce, washed and roughly chopped
1 Large Carrot, Grated
Steamed Rice and Coriander to Serve

Put rice on to cook (I used 1½ cups)
Heat oil in a large fry pan over medium heat.  When hot add garlic, ginger and chilli flakes and cook till fragrant and beginning to brown.  Add in sesame oil and 5 spice powder and cook for 30 seconds longer till very fragrant.  Add in mince and turn heat up to medium-high.  Sauté till mince is browned.  Add in tomato, water and fish sauce and bring down to a simmer for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, till sauce has reduce by half.  Add in most of the spring onion, keeping a little to garnish.  Stir and cook for another minute or so.
Pile lettuce, carrot and pork on top of steamed rice with a sprinkle of spring onion and coriander to finish then watch it disappear.

Poor old blog

Oh dear...

My poor old blog has been a bit neglected lately.  Life hasn't been the same since my youngest stopped having day time sleeps.  I used to use that time to blog a little and do a few of those fiddly jobs you just can't do with a toddler at your feet.

Life if good though, I happily toil in the garden while my boys play in the garden and continually muck aboutin the kitchen.  I'm currently having a smoothie each morning with a wheat grass shot and growing sprouts -  and feeling fantastic.  My boys are playing together a lot better (we've had a lot of push-and-shove the past few months), the other day they spent 4 solid hours together playing 'batman' after watching the 1966 movie.  Amazing how my sofa cushions can be turned into a bat copter, then bat boat, then bat car or bat bike!

I am still slowly transforming our old office into a scullery, learning how to plaster and paint as I go.  I'm looking forward to making this house feel more like home.  After moving 19 times in my nearly 32 years I seem to have made it a habit.  But I think it's time to put roots down - for a good few years at least (there I go again).  Painting this house to make it our own will help me feel more settled I'm sure.

Planning and the Unplanable: Paper Pots

As winter was coming to an end I could see my garden beginning to green, blossoms opening and the days slowly getting longer.  I had things all planned out - the first week of spring was going to be a flurry of seed sowing, weeding, mulching and turning of soil with my homemade compost.  None of it happened of coarse.  My first set back was strep throat, my youngest got it then I came down with it myself.  It's the sickest I've been since I got the flu when I was 15.  Then there was a trip to see my family which was meant to be a well deserved break after all my gardening, but, after a week of strep it was bliss.  Then there was a week of the kids vomiting followed closely by another cold virus that passed from the kids to both Mamma and Pappa Bear.  Not the start to spring I had planned.

One thing I did manage to sneak in here and there was stripping back our old office that will soon become my scullery.  I'm so excited.  I love bright colours and being a space I can play around with I'm thinking turquoise.

All stripped ready for a sugar soap scrub to get rid of any
wallpaper paste then a plaster, sand and prime.

Turquoise, red and white - with custom coloured mason jars.  Bright and friendly.

Now that things are back to normal I used my Sunday morning to make loads of paper pots and get a good amount of seeds sown for the season ahead.  I love these paper pots, they're easy to make, save my seedlings from the shock of transplant, and best of all, they are FREE!  Here's how I make them.

You need:
Newspaper
Scissors
Toilet Roll
Wooden Spoon
Seedraising Mix
Seeds

Step 1: Cut newspaper into about 12-15cm wide strips, horizontally.
The local paper and the Herald cut into 3 strips perfectly.

The papers are still folded in half in the picture below.

Step 2: Roll one strip around a toilet roll

with about half of the paper on the roll and half off

 

Step 3:  Twist the end like a candy wrapper

Step 4:  Push twisted end into the tube

Step 5: On a flat surface push base flat with the handle of a wooden spoon.

Step 6: Slide off the tube and repeat, repeat, repeat...

Step 7: Fill with soil and seeds then water and wait for the magic to begin

When your seedlings are ready to go into the garden you can pop the entire paper pot in the ground and the plants won't suffer from moving like they do when evicted from other types of plastic pots.  I planted just a few seeds of lots of varieties today, corn, watermelon, gherkins, cucumber, basil, beans, broccoli, celery to name a few.  So we'll have a good selection and not too much of anything over summer.

One more thing, there is one thing I paid for, I brought a huge pack of large ice block sticks some time ago to make labels.  You could use them whole but if you're cheap like me you'll want to cut them in half before labelling and pushing down the side of your pots.  Happy gardening!

Simple and Delicious : Steamed Tofu with Ginger and Soy Dressing

I recently visited family in Auckland and while I was there got a few packs of fresh tofu - one thing I really miss living rural.  Pappa Bear and I used to enjoy our weekend strolls though the Asian supermarkets in Northcote, all the seaweed, mushrooms, spices and sauces an adventurous cook could ask for.  And snacks of steamed rice with banana leaves and weird but tasty fillings.

I wanted to enjoy the simple taste and beautiful  texture of our tofu last night so I steamed it and served it with a really simple sauce.  The Binito flakes finished the dish nicely, you could add a splash of fish sauce if you don't have any.  Thinly sliced spring onion would be perfect sprinkled over the top, but since mine are only babies I used broccoli flowers from the garden.

Steamed Tofu with Ginger and Soy Dressing
Serves 4

2 Blocks of Tofu (1 large pack of about 500g standard or plain - not silken, this is too soft)

2T Vegetabe Oil
1T Grated Ginger, Heaped
4 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
2T Soy Sauce
2T Sugar
3T Water
Steamed Rice, Bonito Flakes, Spring Onion (or broccoli flowers) and Veges to Serve

Steam tofu blocks for 10 minutes if steaming them whole, or 5 minutes if you cut into serving sizes.

In a small pan gently heat the oil to medium heat with ginger and garlic.  When garlic begins to brown add remaining ingredients and adjust salt(soy sauce) and sweet to taste.

Serve tofu over steamed rice and vegetable with sauce drizzled over the top.  Scatter over bonito flakes and spring onions to finish.