Spiced Orange Almond Biscuits

We are still primarily eating no sugar and enjoying the changes it has made to feelings of satiety after each healthy meal we consume as well as being free from the cravings of sugar so often felt in the past.  I enjoy the way I eat so much now that I rarely desire to eat cakes or biscuits, or sweets of any type.  The children of course continue to request lollies as we near birthdays and ice creams as the weather warms, but their consumption of sweets is greatly reduced.   I do slip, just now I ate a Cadbury Rose which my neighbour delivered to us as a thankyou gift for collecting their mail while they travelled. 

However we largely don't eat store-bought treats in our home.  When we do want something different the following biscuit recipe is one I've devised which still has the children coming back for more....and more....and more.  It's delicious and I hope you enjoy this.

With the sugar out of the equation I find that the flavours of the spices and orange zest, and almonds as well, are much more pronounced.  It's interesting how our palate changes along with the foods we consume.  

Spiced Orange Almond Biscuits

Cream 200g butter with ½ cup glucose being careful not to beat too long with the glucose as it goes hard.
Add 1 egg and the zest of one orange.
Beat in ½-¾ cup spelt flour.
Add 1-2 tsps ginger and cinnamon and 1 tsp cocoa.
Continue beating in almond meal to make a stiff dough - perhaps up to a cup, or more.

Roll into little balls, push a small crater with your finger, and place onto trays to bake in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes. (edited by Ess ;))

Pere al Vino Rosso

It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption. ~Edward Bunyard

This recipe has to be the most simple dessert I have made in a very long time.

Baked pears with a red wine sauce served with vanilla yoghurt.

My little pear of dessert lovers were keen to help make this last night so I had them washing the pears, and apples as well, and arranging them in a baking dish.

We then baked them dry for about 30 minutes before adding about ½-¾ cup red wine, some peeled lemon rind and honey. We love drizzling the warm fruit with honey and watching the lines meld together to form a glaze for the fruit. We baked them again for 30 mins or so before consuming them with a dollop of vanilla yoghurt. We use the new Jalna a2 yoghurt as we have been advised by our health practitioner that it is a healthy practice for everyone to consume some a2 protein each day as it assists in digestive wellbeing.

All credit must go to Antonio Carluccio as seen on Poh's Kitchen recently. We have adapted the recipe he offered as we prefer to consume honey rather than sugar in this household.

Chocolate Carrot Muffins

These muffins were simply made with those things I had in the frig needing to be used up. I read a couple of recipes to inspire me but largely I just used what I had available. Albeit, they turned out deliciously. So much so that I simply have to try to write down some sort of recipe so we can try them again. I have no idea, however, of the quantity of much that I used, so if you are feeling a bit free-spirited this is a great recipe for you.

Chocolate Carrot Muffins

Wet Ingredients

Fill a 2 cup measure to just full with the following:

1 beaten egg

¼ cup honey

natural organic yoghurt

sour cream

oil (I used rice bran oil)

Sift Dry Ingredients

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour (or flour of your choice)

1 tsp bicarb soda

½ tsp cream of tartar

nutmeg

cinnamon

ginger

allspice

2tsp - 2 tabs cocoa (depending on the quality of the cocoa you use)

Add 1-2 grated carrots to the dry mix along with some currants and a few choc chips.

Mix all together till just combined, spoon into muffin tin.

Bake in a moderate oven 180°C for 15-20mins or until done to your liking.

The addition of the moist carrot always works wonders for a cake/muffin in my opinion. It is also a great way for my two little treasures to eat an orange vegetable, something they always refuse and seem to detect everywhere...except in these muffins. Both of them knew they were there, so obviously the chocolate worked its magic and totally obliterated all thoughts of carrots.

You know the secret? I am absolutely convinced that you simply need to add sour cream to a cake to make it absolutely stand out and shine. It gives so much moisture and a rich dense flavour yet still leaving the cake light and delicate. I don't always have it to hand, but when I do, I'll be sure to be adding it to my choc carrot muffins.

Enjoy!

The Alcoholic Kangaroo

All is not butter that comes from the cow. ~Proverb

Over the weekend I finally had the opportunity to cook a recipe of my sister-in-law's which I have long intended to try.

She devised a recipe for The Alcoholic Cow - Beef and Guinness Pie. I made a few alterations of my own and we dined on The Alcoholic Kangaroo.

Now if kangaroos are not roaming your fields as they are bounding through our local paddocks you might like to try @machroi's version. However if you are local to Australia, just insert some diced kangaroo steak which is much leaner. I also used Kangaroo Mettwurst rather than bacon as I simply had no dead pig in my frig.

Rather than creating a pie we ate the roo as a stew and served it with rice. It has served us beautifully for two meals now and is very much enjoyed all round. It is quite sweet so if you'd like to try something other than a spicy roo curry or a savoury roo and root casserole, go for The Alcoholic Kangaroo, it comes highly recommended.

And so it would seem that a Roo and Guinness Stew also came from a cow, in an obscure sort of manner.

Giraffe Bikkies in a Jar - A Gift

When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste. ~Laiko Bahrs

Inspired by some pretty pink cookies we decided it would make a nice gift for our cousins to give them some giraffe cookies.

Of course after carefully layering the ingredients to make sure they fit neatly in the jar...

we had to try baking them... just to make sure the recipe worked well. You know!

Of course, it worked beautifully. The orange flavoured M&M's gave a delicious flavour to these cookies which Ess has dubbed Giraffe Cookies.

They made a lovely gift with the recipients exclaiming, "Wow, what a great idea!" They fit my bill of what constitutes a great gift - they encourage creativity and productivity in children, it is not plastic or licensed or made on the production line. It is unique and hopefully a memorable gift for our cousins.

I am sure I'll be using this idea again for gifts throughout the year. Just need to find enough jars exactly the right size.

Simple Spelt Pizza

Do you make your own pizza?

Perhaps the thought of kneading together all that flour, letting the yeast become active and rolling it out etc. etc. lead you more often towards buying pizza. Or just buying the pizza base to assemble your own ingredients upon.

Could I tempt you to simplify by mixing flour, some rising agent and water, then pressing into a tin or tray?

Yes?

All right then.

Follow me...

Sift together 1½ cups wholemeal spelt flour with 1 teaspoon cream of tartar and ½ teaspoon bicarb soda. Add ½ cup of water to the bowl and combine. When the dough comes together (it doesn't 'knead' to be worked a lot. In fact it would prefer you to treat it somewhat delicately), press it into a tray. The rectangle one I use measures 24x30cm.

Now top it with your favourite ingredients. I used:

Caramelised capsicum because it was a Christmas gift sitting in the pantry, begging to be used when I found no tomato paste.

Kangaroo Mettwurst - thankfully quite low in fat

Ham from my Christmas leg.

Delicious Kalamata olives from our favourite estate - Verdale.

Portobello Mushrooms

Capsicum

Italian Mozzarella

My own cherry tomatos, picked just few minutes before being pizzified.

Just keep in mind a thin, crusty pizza with minimal toppings. It won't cook beautifully if you crowd the base with too much food.

Bake in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes.

I top the cooked pizza with fresh basil picked from my garden.

My littluns don't eat everything I place on the pizza yet they never complain. In fact, they often request this meal, especially during the summer months. This suits me very well as it goes down beautifully with a fresh green salad.

This recipe has been a long time arriving here, but if you have tried to photograph pizza then you will realise why;) I am still not 100% happy with my pizza shots showing slightly shrivelled baked olives covered in melted cheese. Don't let that put you off, it tastes delicious and is a very simple meal. Considering photography of this pizza, I don't think I've done too badly - just needed that bottle of wine. It's not often seen at my lunch table with two little girls!

Now tell me, how are you going to adorn your pizza?

Carrot, Banana and Honey Muffins

A film is just like a muffin. You make it. You put it on the table. One person might say "Oh, I don't like it." Another might say it is the best muffin ever made. One might say it's an awful muffin. It's hard for me to say. It's for me to make the muffin." ~ Denzel Washington

Carrot, Banana and Honey Muffins

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Makes 12

2 cups of Spelt flour with ½ tsp bicarb and 1 tsp cream of tartar (or 2 cups self-raising flour)

½ tsp bicarb soda (yes pop some more in)

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1-2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

¾ cup light olive oil

¼ cup honey

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 large banana, mashed

1 small carrot, peeled and grated

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Line a 12-hole standard muffin tine with muffin cases. Sift flour, bicarb and nutmeg into a bowl. Add sugar if desired, stir to combine.

2. Put the oil, honey and eggs in a medium jug and whisk with a fork to combine. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Add the banana and carrot, pour in the olive oil mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Spoon batter into each muffin case, no more than two-thirds full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until well risen, golden and firm to touch. Put on a wire rack to cool, dust with icing sugar before serving for a professional touch.

Adapted from a recipe seen in Better Homes and Gardens magazine years ago

Welcoming Winter with Sunshine and Salad

There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and autumn people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.  ~Ruth Stout

Today we are welcoming winter with a burst of sunshine!  Despite the fact I am an absolute cold frog, I do love winter.  The quietness, the closing of the house to keep out the chill,  the snuggling up with one's family.  I love quiet stretches where I savour belonging to myself and to my family.  The brisk chilliness, the nestling cosiness, the fun of rugging up in blankets I'm knitting.  There are some things I miss such as seeing and touching my children's sweet, soft skin, eating and playing outdoors, hanging the washing on my outdoor clothesline :)  

There is also the food we consume. I love the wintry curries, casseroles, slow-cooked for hours, nourishing tired bodies at the end of the day with warm saucy yumminess.  Delicious soups containing vegetables and pulses both warming and nutritious.  Yet I miss salads, raw veges.  Strange really as all the greens grow so well during winter in the cool clime in which I dwell.

So I farewelled Autumn and today welcomed winter with a delicious salad which I must share with you. You see so much of it came from my garden and when I finally get around to deciding where to plant more, much more of this will come from my garden as well.  The Emerald City Salad contains lettuce, capsicum, rocket, parsley and chives from my garden.  I added to that english spinach, fennel, baby cabbage from the market.  Next time I'd like it to contain swiss chard and kale from my garden. Well, maybe down the track.  I had never thought of adding rice to my lemon~EVOO~garlic salad dressing to let it absorb the flavour and I wondered whether it might become gluggy but it didn't, it was fabulous.   As wild rice is ludicrously expensive here in my opinion at $40/kg, I combined wild rice with brown rice.  This salad is so nutritious and tasty, so healthy and inviting.  A fitting way to use the burgeoning greens outside my door.  Yesterday I served it with our BBQ steak, today it was a delicious lunch with my tuna, tomato and cheese on organic sourdough wholemeal spelt toast.

So snuggle up, eat well and savour belonging to yourself during these months of winter.  To my friends in the north, enjoy all that the warmth of summer brings you.

A Curry from Scratch

Chemicals, n:  Noxious substances from which modern foods are made.  ~Author Unknown

The desire NOT to eat chemicals is one of the main reasons I cook everything we eat from scratch.  Yet for a long time I was unable to find a recipe for a curry which didn't contain some curry paste, spice mix or blend which was not standard in my pantry.  Now, thanks to inspiration from a recipe of Karen Martini's my search is over.  Originally I cooked this as per Karen's recipe as it is simply so delicious.  However as eggplants increased in price I decided to try the vegetables I had on hand.  As the lamb I purchased contained more fat and gristle than our lovely lean kangaroo meat which I have spoken about previously, I now use kangaroo meat almost invariably.  Of course it may not be readily available in your part of the world so use your meat of choice or try no meat at all and add some chick peas, I usually add these also.

A Curry from Scratch

2½ teaspoons chickpea flour (besan)

600ml water

300ml plain yoghurt

2 heaped teaspoons (tsp) cumin seeds

2 heaped tsp fennel seeds

2 heaped tsp fenugreek seeds

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

2 onions, sliced, lengthways

5 garlic cloves, sliced

3 long red chillies, sliced on the angle

a thumb of fresh ginger, finely sliced

1 heaped tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground turmeric

1½ tsp chilli powder (or to taste)

2 tsp salt flakes

1kg kangaroo, beef, lamb or other meat

vegetables ie 3 potatoes, 1 sweet potato, 1 wedge of pumpkin, 3 carrots (anything you desire)

1 cup diced canned tomatoes

20 curry leaves, optional

chick peas to add bulk, optional

Tomato and Lime Chutney

4 large tomatoes, diced

juice of 2 limes

½ tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tablespoon brown sugar

3 tsp salt flakes

½ tsp celery seeds

1 large red onion finely diced

4cm piece fresh ginger, finely diced

2 tablespoons nigella seeds

1.  Put flour and water in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add yoghurt and whisk until smooth. Set aside. 

2. Heat a large pot and toss in seeds and cook for 1½ minutes or until fragrant.  Add onion, garlic, chilli and ginger with a splash of oil and cook until translucent.  Stir in spices and salt and cook for a minute or until fragrant. Add meat, then vegetables, stir for 2 minutes, reduce heat to low and cook covered, for 10 minutes. 

3. Add tomato and yoghurt mixture and bring to a simmer. Add curry leaves, then reduce heat to low and cook, half-covered, for 55 minutes or until meat is tender.  I am sure this would cook easily in a pressure cooker.  I use my Nutrimax pots for this.  They cook quickly and seal in all the good juices of the meat and veg.

To make the chutney: 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and leave to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Serve curry with chutney and basmati rice.

The chutney really adds to the delicious flavours of the curry with its fresh pungent flavour yet I do not always have the necessary ingredients (ie tomatoes). I have made it with tinned tomatoes which is OK.  Sometimes I simply don't have the time to prepare it and noone complains.

Another great addition would be Julie's Breadmaker Naan.  I will certainly try this with my current batch of curry sitting in the frig to feed us for the next few meals.  This curry definitely improves with age so make it a day, or a few, ahead.

One final word.  This recipe is an absolute hit with my young girls.  Ess likes to eat the meat and rice but not the veges therein, so I cook the corn and greens for her especially.  Little Eee, now a very fussy toddler eater, has not eaten tea for weeks I swear, but devotedly devoured three or four bowls full of carrot last night (thinking it was pumpkin no matter how hard I tried to tell her how yummy the carrot was).  Prior to those "bowls-full" she had downed some kangaroo meat before I had even sat down to eat myself.  Now that is impressive.

Now over to you, let me know of your successes, or otherwise. 

Healthy Little Mud Cakes - Healthy? Debatable?

We already know that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables results in an increase of antioxidants in our blood. We believe chocolate consumption may have the same effect. We forget that chocolate is derived from cocoa beans-the fruit of the cacao tree-a fruit that is a rich source of these potentially beneficial substances. - Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University

As rain is not falling we have very little opportunity here to make mud pies outside in those luscious splashy puddles which form from a lovely downpour of the wet stuff.  Little Eee gets to splash around outside in the puddles I make when watering our plants.  Interestingly this morning she called it rain.  She loved it so much when we caught a brief glimpse on the weekend and I am sure she longs for more.  I promise, my dear girls, it will be mud pies on the menu next for your outdoor fun.  Next we see rain that is, that could be days or weeks or...?

Another cause for some consternation in our home recently is that my oven element has blown, for the second time in less than twelve months.  I am very glad we are not owners of this home at the moment!  It is taking over a week to have the part ordered and replaced so all my cooking is done on the stove top or under the grill.  I find that fine for meals but my poor dears - all three of them - are longing for some of my nourishing treats we bake regularly.  On the weekend, my Generous Gentleman, whipped up another delicious batch of pikelets, doubling the batch so they have lasted during the week.  He has taken to separating the eggs, putting the yolk into the batter, then whipping up the egg whites to fold through later.  Mmm, how very light and fluffy they are these days.  Someone taught him well, someone else has the patience to do it every time he makes them.

I, however, found another recipe to satisfy our desires.  I have adapted Karen Martini's Little Mud Cakes to my own version:

Healthy Little Mud Cakes

150g pitted prunes

100ml water

150g dark chocolate

80g tahini

2 tablespoons almond spread

2 tablespoons dark cocoa, sifted

50g digestive biscuits

 (I used my husband's Nice and Morning Coffee biscuits)

150-200g cereal such as rice, corn and  kamut puffs

Line an oven tray with baking paper or a silicon mat.

Put prunes and water in a small pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft.

Melt chocolate in a bowl over water.   (I melted mine over the cooking prunes).

Remove from heat and stir in the prune mixture, tahini, almond spread and cocoa.

Stir the cereal and crushed biscuits into the chocolate mixture allowing it to take as much cereal as it can while you are still able to bind the mix into small balls.

Roll into small balls with your children.

Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Counts the seconds, or minutes if you're lucky, 

until your family starts asking you whether they are ready yet?

I am using this lovely little tea party setting now to enjoy my healthy;) snack of lemon myrtle tea, a banana and of course - a healthy little mud cake.

Yet the question remains in my mind.  Are these truly healthy? Are they nourishing? Are they good for you?  Perhaps I should try leaving out the biscuits, which I raided from my Generous Gentleman's stash.  Yet the quantity of them is small.  Then there is all that chocolate and cocoa.  In my defence, the dark chocolate is fairtrade and is at least 70% cocoa.  My Organic Times dutch-process cocoa powder is described thus: "Our quality organic cocoa is proudly grown and harvested in The Dominican Republic under the Rapunzel Hand-in-Hand Fair Trade program".  The website raves about health.

What do you think?  Do let me know.  In your opinion, in your wisdom, are these little mud cakes to be considered healthy and nutritious or do they still fall into that decadent sweet treat category, to be consumed on occasion only?   Oh, and don't let this last quote, and it's source, sway you at all will you ;) .

Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world's perfect food. - Michael Levine, nutrition researcher

Finally, thankyou to my precious Ess for collecting the delightful little red gum blossoms on our walk to school this morning.  She purposefully counted out enough for each one in our family and another for her best friend at school.  I am simply sure the fairies came home in them with me this morning to help make this healthy snack so much more pretty for me.  Can you see one in there, resting now, contentedly?

Pork and Apple Bolognese

Politicians say they're beefing up our economy.  Most don't know beef from pork.  ~Harold Lowman

Image found here

I'd make a great politician this week I think.  Two evenings ago, as I began preparations for tea, which was to be Spaghetti Bolognese for the girls, I removed the meat from my frig and thankfully realised sooner rather than later that I had thawed minced pork rather than minced beef which I usually use for this classic dish.  I know some people do cook bolognese with a combination of pork and veal so I decided I'd just use my cooking nouse and prepare a bolognese sauce with my pork.  Honestly I didn't have the wherewithall to change my plans and cook my usual Sang Choi Bau with pork mince.  So we ended up with a most delicious Pork and Apple Bolognese which I hope you and your family will enjoy as well.  It improves with age.  My Generous Gentleman didn't stop "mmm...ing" during tea last night.  We enjoy this with Basmati rice but you could use ordinary or spelt spaghetti.  Ess enjoyed some little shell shaped wheat free pasta along with her rice.  Little Eee... mmm... let's just say she is being extraordinarily fussy at this stage of the game.  To be expected of an 18 month old, sadly.

Image found here

Pork and Apple Bolognese

Brown 500g pork mince, remove from pan.

Saute onion and bacon in some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, later adding garlic, until golden.

Add 1-2 teaspoons tomato paste.  Cook off.

Add 1 grated carrot, 1 grated zucchini and 1 grated apple.

Return the mince and add 1 can of tomatoes with the little bit of water used to rinse the tin.  Cook, breaking down the mince and tomatoes as needed.

Add dried oregano (which you have hanging in your pantry after pruning your oregano this summer).

Add a good glug of tamari or your own choice of soy sauce.

Simmer for 30 mins to an hour, without letting it stick to the pan, adding some water or stock if necessary.  Some say to simmer gently for up to 3 hours to form a delicious ragu.   But eat it when you and the sauce are ready in my opinion.

Add some fresh mint and parsley.

Serve with rice or noodles and greens.

Olive Oil, Honey and Nutmeg Biscuits

To a bee, honey is work
To us, it is leisure, luxury, pleasure.
If only the eating thereof
would fill us with the spirit of hard work.
~Corri Alius

I have finally perfected our new healthy biscuit recipe - Olive Oil, Honey and Nutmeg Biscuits.  These biscuits have very minimal sugar in them and no butter at all.  They are also made with wholemeal spelt flour but you could substitute your flour of choice.  They are reminiscent of the Arnott's Honey Jumble biscuits I consumed ravenously as a child - a little chewy and oh so delicious.  I was very lucky to eat the last half of one with my cup of tea this morning after little Eee begged for that last longed for biscuit remaining in the jar.  Yes, we shared it.

¼ cup castor sugar

¼ cup olive oil

small ¼ cup honey

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1¾ cups wholemeal spelt flour

¼ teaspoon bicarb soda

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

1-2 teaspoons nutmeg to taste 

(I like my nutmeg and put in 2 teaspoons to compliment the strong flavour of our honey)

½ cup raisins or sultanas

Preheat your oven to 180℃/375℉.  Line two oven trays with baking paper or your silicon biscuit baking mat.  Put sugar, oil, honey, egg and vanilla into a bowl of your electric mixmaster and beat for 2 minutes.

Sift the flour, soda, cream of tartar and nutmeg and add to the thickened wet mix.  Mix together until well combined.  Stir through the raisins.

Dollop in spoonfuls onto your tray to bake.  Decorate the top with tiny slivers of Fair Trade dark chocolate scraped with a knife to sit delicately on top of each biscuit.  We have tried decorating with raisins also but found that the time in the oven baked them a little too hard - they are yummiest when inside.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.  Rest on a tray for 5 minutes until cool.  You can then transfer them to a wire rack and see how long they last sitting around in your kitchen :).

Enjoy these little morsels of yumminess which are all good for you.  Really they are!  They are the perfect snack for a little toddler whose delicate mouth delights in the softness of a chewy bikky.

If you haven't yet entered a comment for my little giveaway.  Now is your last chance as we will draw the winner over the weekend.  So look out for an announcement on Monday.

Tweet and Toot announce my 100th post and a little giveaway to celebrate

One photo out of focus is a mistake, ten photo out of focus are an experimentation, one hundred photo out of focus are a style.  ~Author Unknown

Tweet and Toot, inspired by Jikke and Lila, are here to announce that Cee has finally written 100 posts.  It has taken a while but I think I have finally got some blogging mojo this year.  I'm not sure whether I'm at the 'experimentation' or 'style' stage with my photos but at least now I'm in the running for 'style' with posting :)

Little Tweet has found a home on Ess' school bag and she proudly carries him to school each day.  She did not appreciate me removing him in the morning so I could take a photo for this post during daylight hours. 

Little Toot has not yet found a home. So to celebrate 100 posts and to express my gratitude to family, friends and new blogging mates, as well as to give my desire to increase my generosity a boost, we are having a little giveaway.  We hope that soon Little Toot will find a home at your place.  Or maybe you have an appreciative little family member who'd enjoy him.

The two of them will hate to be parted but that's OK.  Toot's new owner will be most caring I am certain.  I have met some lovely lovely people in the blogosphere.

As an addition, I will also giveaway a recipe of mine.  Yes I know you can see them here and copy and paste and print or whatever but I want you to have something real and tangible of me and my place.  In this case, my handwriting.   So I will contact you and we'll negotiate a recipe you'd like to have which I'll handwrite for you and post off with Little Toot.  My handwriting is quite stylish I think and a little more sophisticated than my five year old daughter's.

I value handwriting very highly and am sorry that we don't use it as much these days.  There are so many things we can do with our handwriting to add a special touch.   I remember a tea party held by a friend of mine (who'll read this) who had written the names of all that she had baked and displayed the tags beautifully on the table with her wares.  I remember feeling lost when the handwritten labels on my father's client's files were all replaced with typed ones (unbeknown to him). I would find files by the sight of the handwriting rather than reading the label.  That soon changed.   These days you can also have your own handwriting made into a font to use on the computer.  That's a bit construed I think but at least it reinforces the value of handwriting.  Maybe one day there will be a font named Pea Cee.  I just need to get a scanner to complete that task on my list.

And my recipe book!  I have a few, but my fondest one I started when I was just 10 years old.  Wrapped in Mr Men contact ;), it contains recipes I've written over the years.  It also has recipes that were written by my Mum, my Dad, my Aunty and my best friend from school.  My sister-in-law recently wrote in one for her Tagine.  I remember each one by the individual's handwriting.  Seeing the handwriting reminds me of that person, the times we shared together, enjoying a delicious meal together.  Do you  have a similar recipe book?  Or is your recipe collection like my newer books - display folders showing printouts from the computer and pullouts from magazines?  Each has its own merit, yet there is something extra special about a handwritten collection built up over the years, do you agree?

So to be eligible for this little giveaway, I urge you to leave a comment (about anything at all). I know I have a lot of readers there who are not commenting so now is your chance.  I'd love to meet you and get to know you and I really am very lovely... at least I don't bite - usually!

In a short while, when enough of you have commented, I will randomly choose someone to win and advise you who that is, in another post soon.

Baked Peaches with a Crumble Topping

If two or three persons should come with a high spiritual aim and with great powers, the world would fall into their hands like a ripe peach.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tis the season for peaches.  We were very fortunate this week to receive some peaches from Grandad's neighbour.  Who can turn down fresh fruit from someone's tree in their own backyard and their wonderful generosity to give it to us?  We are privileged.

There were some bumps and bruises on them however and the flavour was perhaps just a little tame, so I have created a very healthy delicious dessert.

Baked Peaches with a Crumble Topping

Halve and de-seed your peaches and place them in an ovenproof dish.

Make a crumble by combining the following ingredients:  

1 tablespoon of shredded coconut per peach half

1 tablespoon honey (maybe more if you are doing a load of peaches)

1 teaspoon rosewater

some crumbled cereal (I use low gluten Kornies (à la cornflakes))

Place the crumble mix on each peach half.

Bake in a preheated 200degC oven for 10-15 minutes until golden.

These are absolutely lovely with a dessert wine such as Bleasdale late picked Verdelho if you feel like indulging just a wee bit.

Simplicity is bliss...enjoy!

Zucchini and Sultana Muffins

Vegetables are a must on a diet.  I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.  ~Jim Davis

Crunchy, golden brown top and a soft, fluffy and moist centre.  These healthy little Zucchini and Sultana Muffins are delicious and have gone down beautifully in our house.  I can't get a word out of my Generous Gentleman as he munches and "mmm, mmm, mmms" his way through them.  Little Eee absolutely loves them and I am really grateful I have these to fall back on when she decides that tea is not to her liking.  There is nothing in them that you should feel guilty about eating - no butter, sugar or refined white flour.  There is a lot of zucchini in them (2 cups) making them a very nutritious snack for everyone.  Don't be fooled, you can't even taste the zucchini.  The vegetable just serves to provide moisture.  It is the spices which add a delicious fragrance and flavour.

Upon seeing Julie's recipe for Carrot and Sultana Muffins, I set about varying it as I knew that zucchinis would work well in this situation. I have baked both Zucchini Bread and an absolutely, delectable Zucchini Cake before which is oft-requested (I must do that again soon).

So here is a recipe I have created as part of my goal, being a member of Our Creative Community, to collect and create a list of healthy recipes.

Zucchini and Sultana Muffins

1 egg

½ cup olive oil

½ cup honey

½ teaspoon  vanilla extract

1 cup sultanas

2 cups zucchini, grated (about 2 zucchini)

1½ cups wholemeal spelt flour

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon ground ginger

1. Combine wet ingredients and beat for 1 minute.

2. Stir in sultanas and zucchini, then fold thru the flour etc.  This will form quite a wet mixture. 

3. Pour into a 12 hole muffin tin.  Bake in a moderate oven 180degC for 20-25 minutes.

4. Cool briefly in a pan then turn onto a rack to cool.

You may like to try using wholemeal wheat flour instead of spelt for your family.  Just be aware that you may need to increase the moisture somewhat - try adding another egg, or increasing the quantity of oil slightly.  You could also try using only 1 cup of wholewheat flour.

If it suits your family ½ cup chopped nuts would be a nice addition.

Another thing I want to draw your attention to is the fact that this recipe contains honey rather than sugar.  Some of you may find this quite sweet enough while others of you who are used to a lot of sugar in your diet may find the recipe a little lacking.  It takes some time to get used to not having much sugar in your diet but is well worth the effort.  I suggest you read here about Replacing Refined White Sugar.

All the best with your baking this week and I hope you enjoy your healthy snacks.  These are just so simple and quick to whip up.  Little Eee and I made them yesterday together in about ½ an hour.

Creative Children in the Kitchen

When baking, follow directions.  When cooking, go by your own taste.  ~Laiko Bahrs

I like to think of myself as a creative, experimental cook: inspired by recipes but not bound by them.  I am pretty slap-dash and rustic when baking meals and like to quickly whip together something sweet to treat my family every now and then.  I am always on the lookout for new things to try, both sweet and savoury.   Whether I am baking or cooking I really do go by my own nouse (somewhat disproving the above quote).  Having food sensitivities in my family has certainly encouraged this as I am constantly substituting ingredients in a recipe.  As my family requires to be fed (very regularly!!) and I am not willing to buy takeaway, eat pre-prepared, packaged or processed food etc., cooking is certainly one of my greatest creative outlets at the moment.

It is my intention to raise a creative family.  We make things together, bake, make music, draw together, build lego and find solutions to various fixit problems around the house and garden.

My Vintage Mixmaster, handed down to me from Mum.

I am delighted when my five year old Ess hears the mixmaster going and says, "What are you cooking Mum?" as she runs into the kitchen and climbs up onto the bench to join me.  She has told me on more than one occasion that she wants to be a chef.  So we break eggs and measure ingredients in our measuring cup, scales and spoons together.  We mix together (although she prefers that I do more of that) and lick the beaters together (I prefer that she does most of that).  How often however, have I asked her just what she wants to bake, from scratch, asked her what the ingredients might be.  Hmmm!  Not often enough and now I am inspired to do so more.

Ess's best friend came to school with a biscuit for her teacher.  It was made from her own recipe and she wanted to share.  She had sat down with her Nanna and wrote down ingredients together:

sugar

flour

chocolate

apricots

sultanas

oil or butter 

(the latter was added after a little prompting from her Mam)

She and her Mam then set to creaming together 2oz sugar and 4oz butter.  Her Mam decided to add 4oz toffuti (soy cream cheese).  Handfuls of chocolate, sultanas and apricots were added (about 2oz each).  Then 4 oz flour was mixed in.  They were set to bake in a 180degC oven for 15 minutes.  All reports are that they are delicious.   You should have seen the teacher's face as she tucked in after her day's work.  She appreciated the chocolate - who wouldn't!

Photo courtesy Ess' best friend and her Mam

As I am part of Our Creative Community who have committed to creating and being accountable, and am committed to raising my family to be creative people, I will add this style of baking to my list of things to do with my girls alongside reading together, playing with playdough and singing songs with our own made-up words.  Ess is enjoying writing also so I think I'll ask her to write her own list of ingredients and we'll see what we can come up with.

In the meantime, on with my own personal goal of collecting and creating healthy recipes which are low in gluten, sugar and dairy.  You can see the beginnings of a list in my side bar.  This week I am working on some biscuits and some muffins.  We'll see which is perfected first!

If you have any kitchen creations that were ideas of your own children's, I'd love to hear about them.  Please share them here.  And let us know what you think of the bikkies.