thursday recipe: oat 'n' nut slice

I'm not sure what it is, the rainy weather or that there are basically only two weeks until school goes back but I was in the mood to bake something muesli bar like.

Working with what I had in the pantry this is my satisfying oaty nutty creation. I had to photograph it quickly because the taste testers were hovering, I'm glad I snapped it when I did because it didn't last long.

If you live in a warm climate this is definitely best stored in the fridge so that the coconut oil stays solid otherwise the slice becomes crumbly, delicious whatever shape its in but if you want it to hold together keep it cool. It isn't a particularly sturdy slice, probably best enjoyed at home or taken on a picnic but I don't think it would survive the rough and tumble of going to school in a lunchbox.

While we're on the topic of lunchboxes if you are looking for nut free options for going back to school Sonia has just put together a great post with 20 nut free lunchbox friendly recipes. She is organised that Natural New Age Mum! (A little too organised, I don't want to think about kids going back to school yet Sonia! but thanks for getting us on track :)

Enjoy the recipe but most importantly soak up these last couple of holiday weeks with your little folk
(& teenage folk too!)

Oat 'n' nut slice

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup LSA (ground linseed, sunflower seed and almond sold in supermarkets and health food stores)
1/2 cup pepitas
1/2 cup almond meal
3 tbsp maple syrup
1.5 tsp aluminium free baking powder
150ml coconut oil melted

To make

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C
Line baking tray with baking paper (mine is approx 20cm x 25cm)
In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients
Press mixture into baking tray
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden
Would be delicious served with berries and yoghurt

**NOTE: wait until slice is completely cool before cutting or it will crumble**

thursday recipe: carrot, poppyseed and orange muffins

I'm doing everything I can at the moment to get more vegetables into Sol (my youngest who is almost five), including putting them into cakes and muffins!

I know that this isn't the ideal way to consume vegetables but these muffins do make for a delicious snack with at least some vegetable goodness.

After I baked this batch I put them in the freezer to add to River and Sol's lunchbox during the week.

River who is not usually a fan of muffins came home from school and asked "Do you have anymore of those things you made with the poppy seeds?" and Sol happily ate his for morning tea too.

Based on this success I thought I'd give carrot and zucchini cake a go. So far that has failed to win fans in the way that these muffins have. Back to the kitchen.

Aside from standing on your head and singing a song about carrots, how are you enticing reluctant veggie eaters in your house?

Carrot, poppyseed and orange muffins

Ingredients

2 cups spelt flour (I used one cup white, one cup wholemeal because that's what I had)
2 teaspoons aluminium free baking powder
1/2 cup coconut or rapadura sugar
1 tbsp poppyseeds
1 cup grated carrot
2 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup oil (almond, macadamia or if you need nut free I have used olive oil. You could use coconut oil but I haven't tried it with that)
3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
zest of one orange

To make

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl place spelt flour, baking powder, sugar and poppyseeds and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl mix whisked eggs, oil and orange juice.
Add liquids to dry ingredients along with the carrot and orange zest.
Stir to combine.
Spoon mixture into greased muffin tray and cook for 15-20 minutes or until brown and cooked through when tested with a metal skewer inserted into the centre.

what's for dinner?

Wouldn't it be nice if when your children asked, 'What's for dinner mum?' you actually knew the answer!!

Well, thanks to a recent chat with my friend Renee who is hungry for some fresh ideas of what to cook for her family I came up with this new series: a weekly recipe link list. I am happy to do the research and find recipes for you that look family and budget friendly, are straight-forward, healthy and sound delicious. Every Tuesday I will post a list of links to 5 recipes that will hopefully give you a boost in inspiration.

We'll try it for a month and see how it goes. If you like it and find it helpful I will keep it going. Let me know what you think.

1. Japanese Beef Rolls - I like the fun presentation of these, the fun factor always helps when feeding children
2.Cauliflower Crust Pizza - Even the most resistant to cauliflower could be won over with this
3.Liana's Chicken and Rice - My friend Liana shared this one pot wonderful recipe with me
4. Red lentil and sweet potato pate - a good snack recipe
5. Chewy apricot muesli bars - some lunchbox love

Happy cooking! x

thursday recipe: coconut, seed lunchbox bikkies

These energy packed little morsels came about because Pete brought home a couple of coconuts and I had to think of something to do with the flesh. I grated some up in the food processor and decided to come up with some biscuits and they turned out deliciously enough to share with you.

Pete was watching me make them and as I poured the whole cup of coconut oil in he said, "That's a lot of oil if I eat the whole batch." True. "You won't be eating the whole batch," I assured him in a you-won't-be-eating-the-whole-batch tone.

He's right though it is a lot of oil and as a result the biscuits are quite rich which is a good thing because if you eat more than one you'll instantly feel you've over done it and won't do that again. I may or may not be speaking from experience.

They are good ones to pack for school lunches and are oh so simple to make.

Coconut, seed lunchbox bikkies

1 cup gluten free self-raising flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup pepitas
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup liquid coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.

Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

If your coconut oil is solid, melt it on the stove.

Pour the coconut oil into the mixing bowl and combine with dry ingredients until well mixed.

Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Allow roughly one tablespoon of mixture per biscuit, shape into rounds and place on tray.

Bake in oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden.

Cool on wire rack. Hide them from husband and children.

thursday recipe: fried green bean, breadcrumbs and pistachio salad by Rachel Pitts

A big thankyou to hungry girl recipe writer extraordinaire Rachel Pitts for sharing one of her salad creations with us today. Some of you may remember Rachel from the wholefood mama interview she did last year where she shared another beautiful recipe for peanut and celery salad.

Green beans are in season here in Australia and this is my all time favorite green bean salad recipe, the recipe comes from volume 2 of The Hungry Girls' Cookbook series which by the way are on sale!! (I am not an affiliate just a fan). Normally $25 the girls are taking $10 off each book. For those who don't know their story, Rachel, Leah and Katherine are a trio of talented friends who got together and created three beautiful handmade cookbooks. Rachel writes the recipes, Leah takes the beautiful photos and Katherine takes care of the design and illustration and then with a team of helpers they sit around, drink tea, eat cake and hand stitch up the books. Well, I don't know for certain if there's tea and cake involved but I'm guessing there's a good chance.

Let's get into the recipe. I am not one to stick to recipes, I tend to do a lot of substituting based on what I have on hand and what needs to be eaten. I have made this recipe many times true to Rachel's original and other times I have used different herbs or nuts such as almond or pecans, I preferred the almonds over the pecans. Sorry Rachel! I'm not messing with your recipe just want people to give it a go and not be held back if you don't have pistachios in the cupboard. (that's why there is pecans in the picture above not pistachios)

As most of you know I am big on involving kids in cooking meals rather than just including them when we bake. I made this salad recently and set Sol and River up to top and tail the beans and cut them in half, kept them quiet for almost half an hour and while they weren't keen to eat a whole bowl of the finished product they were both happy to try some beans. Encouraging children to at least try a variety of vegetables is key to raising healthy eaters and if they are involved in the cooking process this is more likely to happen.

Enjoy this recipe, it is super delicious. Thanks again Hungry Girls.

Fried Green Bean, Breadcrumbs and Pistachio Salad

"This dish came about with some stuffing leftover from Christmas and a heap of beans picked from the garden. It's packed with flavour, so serve it with something simple, like a piece of plain grilled fish and some lemon wedges. The only thing you really need to prepare in advance is the breadcrumbs."

80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
Handful sage leaves
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
700g green beans, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal
1/2 cup pistachios, toasted
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 cup grated parmesan
1/3 bunch parsley, chopped
1/3 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add the oil, onion and sage.

Fry until the onion is soft and browning at the edges.

Add the garlic and beans and turn the heat to high.

Fry, stirring regularly, for around 5 minutes, until the beans are almost cooked.

Add the pistachios, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper.

Fry, stirring constantly, for a few more minutes until the breadcrumbs are crisp. Some will clump together with the parmesan. Keep scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure the mixture isn't burning, although a little bit of sticking makes for good crispy bits.

This salad is equally delicious hot or cold.

Serves 6

food + friendship: Liana's chicken and rice recipe

One of the things I love about spending time with friends in their home is cooking and sharing recipes. Meals that seem a bit everyday to them because they have cooked them so many times, are fresh to my senses. This dish from our beautiful friend Liana (pictured above with her son Maren who is proudly holding a trophy for being best player on ground in his first ever rugby game. His uncle is an international rubgy player so I think it is in the genes!) who we stayed with on our recent trip to Auckland fits that description. "Really, the recipe for my humble friday night dinner is blog worthy?" asked Liana. Yep. Because it is simple and scrumptious! Just what the mamas are looking for.

I love the memories that are tied to certain recipes. Now when I cook this recipe I will remember this trip. Pete and Liana's husband Marama are long time friends and this was the first time all of our children had met. On the first morning while the children whirled around us upstairs and down, making cubbies, dressing up, a bit of light saber action, Liana and I sat at the kitchen bench drinking tea and catching up. It has been almost seven years since we had seen each other. Liana and Marama came to visit us when River was about five months old and then in the meantime returned to Auckland and had Maren and then very soon after, like less than a year after had twin baby girls!!! Hearing the story of the twins early arrival in the world had us both welling up with tears as we looked at photos of them so incredibly tiny at 31 weeks, and now so robust.

Tea drunk, birth stories shared, tears dried it was time to round up the children and take them across the road to the park before heading to the local cafe for coffee for the mamas and fluffies for the children. (A fluffy is the New Zealand version of a baby cino :)

Dinner that night was this completely satisfying dish of tender chicken and fragrant rice served with perfectly steamed green veggies. Marama has a penchant for New Zealand Otago pinot which we were happy to enjoy with him.

Thank you Liana, Marama and family for sharing your home and your recipe. xx

Liana's Chicken & Rice Recipe

3 cups chicken stock

1.5 cups jasmine/basmati rice

6 chicken thigh fillets (organic preferably!)

4 cloves of garlic - cut in half

6 slices of ginger 

1 green chilli - chopped (optional of course if your children aren't up for chilli)

- add stock, garlic, ginger and chilli to a wide pot that has a lid (a deep frypan is ideal) and bring to boil

- add rice, stir to distribute rice evenly on bottom

- top with chicken thighs 

- turn stove to lowest heat and put a tight fitted lid on the pot

- cook 20 mins

- when cooked topped with chopped fresh spring onions and coriander 

- serve with soy sauce/tamari

apple, lemon, cinnamon and ginger quinoa porridge

This is my new favorite breakfast, so delicious. I couldn't wait to share it with you. The recipe came about because I am steering clear of oats for a while (I feel sooo sleepy right after I eat oats) but with the weather so crisp and cool here I wanted to eat porridge.

Quinoa was the answer. I looked around the kitchen for flavours to add and gathered lemon, ginger and cinnamon - all perfect winter medicine foods. Ginger and cinnamon for their warming properties, and I find anything with a lemony flavour to be so uplifting it is a great detoxifier.

Now, even though I said quinoa was the answer I have recently learned that for some quinoa is not that easy to digest. This was news to me! I was lucky enough to be invited to a cooking class at Feast Australia and it was there that Rachel van de Bosch chef and former naturopath shared with the class the dark side of quinoa. Quinoa is actually a seed not a grain that has a naturally occurring coating called saponin. Rachel explains, "It a bit of contentious issue, some saponins are good for you (help control cholesterol) and others can be mildly toxic, like thanes in quinoa.  Most suppliers would thoroughly wash them during processing, but just to be sure I always boil and strain my quinoa now rather than cooking by absorption. You will loose water soluble vitamins cooking this way but I make up for it with fresh veggies. The other option is to give it a good wash it under running water before cooking."

So while there is much to love about quinoa because of its versatility and its nutritional value containing essential amino acids, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium and iron perhaps if you have weak digestion it might be a good food to go easy on.

I enjoyed this breakfast on a rainy saturday morning while River and Sol played in their pyjamas til lunchtime and I drank a pot of good chai. All. To. Myself!

Apple, Lemon, Cinnamon and Ginger quinoa porridge

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa (I used tri-colour quinoa that I buy in the health section at my local supermarket)
1.5 cups of water
1 cinnamon quill
1/2 an apple
the zest of one small lemon
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

Wash the quinoa thoroughly.
Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil.
Simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked (you can tell because you will see an outer ring and the centre will look translucent.)

Serve with your choice of milk and if you like it sweeter add some honey. Try it first before adding sweetener because the cinnamon gives it a lovely natural sweetness. I also added a few chopped walnuts once it was cooked. There are endless other flavours you could try. Write your favorites in the comments.

Happy monday xx

mussel in

I feel lucky to have married a fisherman who regularly comes home with dinner fresh from the sea. Last night the veggie patties in the fridge were put on hold when Pete arrived home with mussels and squid. Enough to share with neighbours and friends. Pete wanted me to tell you that he had been waiting for a day like yesterday to get some mussels, "the bay was like glass, the sky was without a cloud and there wasn't a seal in sight". Apparently the mussels live in an area that is usually a playground for seals. Lucky for us they weren't around yesterday.

Robin called in on the way home from school pick up and left with some of the catch, she shared with us the way her mum cooked mussels. Measurements were not part of the recipe that Robin outlined, it was more a short list of simple ingredients brought together with a whole lot of feeling. We waved Robin goodbye and I headed out to buy the ingredient missing from our pantry - white wine.

Home again and continuing on with teaching River and Sol to cook more than cake, I called them into the kitchen to learn how to cook mussels with spaghetti. Yes it is messier and takes longer cooking with children but hey that's parenting, one endless lesson in patience. Back to the mussels. Pete had taken to the shells with a scrubbing brush so they were shining and clean ready for the boys and I to create dinner.

River chopped flat leaf parsley with scissors while Sol attempted to crush garlic before he decided that the scissors looked like more fun, so they swapped jobs while I got a pot of water on to boil for the spaghetti.

Parsley chopped and garlic crushed, Sol moved on to scissoring his way through lengths of spring onion and River tackled zesting a lemon. I chopped a brown onion figuring I would save all of us the pain of onion vapour in their eyes. Then with mise en place complete (fancy French way of saying ingredients and kitchen equipment ready to go) I sent them off to set the table while the spaghetti made its way to al dente (Italian way of saying not soggy) in the bubbling water.

Once the pasta was cooked, it was on to cooking the mussels.

Our version of Robin's mum's mussel pasta recipe

30 grams butter
6 cloves of garlic
1 onion (I used a medium brown onion. Robin's mum uses a red onion or shallotts)
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
4 stems of thyme
1.5 teaspoons lemon zest
mussels (quantity depends on the catch but let's say this is around 1kg)
1 cup white wine
1 tin tomatoes

(If you want to eat the mussels with spaghetti, cook the pasta just before beginning cooking the mussels. Drain the spaghetti in a colander and place a lid on top to keep it warm)

In a large heavy based pot with a lid, melt butter over medium heat and saute onion and garlic til onion is soft.

Add in wine, tomatoes, thyme and mussels, turn heat up to high and place lid on. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer until mussel shells open (about 6-8 minutes), discard any that don't open.

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the parsley and lemon zest.

(If you want to reduce the liquid you can remove the mussels once they open and turn the heat up to reduce the 'soup')

To serve put the spaghetti in bowls, place mussels on top and then pour the mussel soup over the top of the spaghetti.

We used a delicious Italian gluten free pasta that I hadn't tried before, it held its shape like wheat pasta a shame about the carbon footprint though coming all the way from Italy!

You can skip the pasta and just enjoy them as a mussel soup served with your favorite bread to mop up the juice.

A bonus recipe

I have another recipe here for cooking mussels from an anonymous friend :) anonymous to you but not to me. I am urging her to write a blog but she tells me she is shy. Shy is the last word that those who know and love her would use to describe her. I've had her recipe tucked away for over a year to share with you finally here it is.

My friend says, "This recipe changes every time I make it. I tend to cook by taste and smell, so don't really have specific measurements…although the garlic is about right.  The more of that the better!  Also the mussels are usually caught fresh and no idea of weight, so as many or few as you like to add to the brew really!"

1.5-2kg fresh mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

2 tins tomatoes or equivalent in brewed down freshies from the garden

1 cup or more of fish stock

½ cup water

a glug (maybe ¼ cup??!) of White wine (always chose good white wine for cooking…if you wouldn't drink it by the glass, then don't use it in cooking!!)

6 cloves garlic, finely diced

1 onion, finely diced

1-2 large bunches flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Splodge of fish sauce (optional)

Splash of olive oil

Large saucepan with a lid

To cook: 

heat olive oil in the saucepan and saute garlic and onion.  Add tomatoes, stock, water, wine, fish sauce and let it come to the boil and then drop heat to let it simmer…preferably for up to an hour.  Around 10 minutes before ready to serve, include the parsley in the brew.  Once parsley settled in, bring back to the boil and toss mussels in and put lid on!  It will take no more than 2 minutes for the mussels to be cooked, but keep checking and when the majority are open, it's time to serve.  Ladle some soup and mussels in shells into bowls and serve…preferably with crusty bread to dip :-)

Thank you friends xx

(sorry the photo is less than fantastic. I think I have to rig up some lighting specifically for taking shots at dinnertime... and as much as I love my trusty Canon point and shoot camera I have started research to upgrade, both for your benefit and mine ;)

cooking with kids:River and Sol cook fried rice

For many families cooking with kids equals baking. I've been thinking about this and about the influence it has on developing a taste for cake and biscuits over vegetables.

I announced to Sol and River one afternoon last week "You two are cooking dinner tonight". (Sol is age 3 and River age 6) "Okay" replied River casually, following up with "What are we going to cook?" "Chicken fried rice" I answered.

I have a few reasons for making a point of involving the boys in cooking on a daily basis rather than just for fun baking cakes now and then:

1. Having them contribute to the running of our home from a young age (obviously in ways appropriate for their age) is something Pete and I both believe is a great foundation for them. And for us - we do not want to be running a hotel by the time they are teenagers!

2. They learn about food preparation and cooking and my aim is that by the time they are 8 or 9 they can cook dinner once a week. (What do you think mamas with older children, is 8 or 9 realistic?)

3. I think that involving them in the planning and preparation of dinner they will be enticed to eat what they cook - including trying vegetables they would otherwise say they do not like.

Reason number 3 definitely worked with this dish. They both ate the whole bowl with excitement and pride. Munching their way through carrots and garden herbs, River said between mouthfuls "Everything tastes better when Sol and I cook it". Perfect. Just as I planned!

I kept the recipe very simple and the ingredients to a minimum. We had leftover chicken in the fridge from a roast the night before so the boys cut the chicken up. I cut carrots in half so they would sit flat and be safe for the boys to chop. They enjoyed using kitchen scissors to cut up the fresh herbs from the garden. Cracking and whisking eggs for the omelette to include was another easy task for little learning hands. Peeling and crushing garlic took some focus. I had cooked brown and white rice earlier in the day with this recipe in mind. Leftover rice from the day before makes great fried rice because it has dried out but if you don't have leftovers cook some a few hours before you need it and it will work out fine. Sol cracked and whisked the eggs. I supervised River to do the cooking of the omelette and then the whole rice dish, he was so thrilled to be able to hold the handle of the frypan and use the egg-slide to check the omelette and then take charge of the wok.

River and Sol's chicken fried rice

Ingredients

2-3 cups Cooked rice
2 carrots, cut into 2cm sticks
2 eggs whisked
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed or finely chopped
1 cup of cooked chicken, chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 cup fresh herbs (from our garden we had basil and garlic chives)

Heat some butter or oil in a wok or fry pan and cook the omelette by pouring the whisked eggs into the pan and tipping the pan from side to side so the egg covers the pan in a thin layer. Cook for about a minute and then flip over with a spatula and cook for a minute on the other side. Set aside to cool for a moment then cut into bite sized pieces.

In a wok or large fry pan heat some butter or oil of your choice toss in carrots and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Next add garlic and cook for one minute.

Add rice, chicken and omelette turn heat down to medium and cook until rice and chicken are heated through.

Dinner is ready!

Serve with tamari and if you like chopped spring onion scattered over the top.

* of course you can make this dish vegetarian by leaving out the chicken and adding in tofu or tempeh or another vegetable or tossing in a handful of nuts.

Any kids in your kitchen? What are they cooking?

rhubarb, apple and plum crumble

There is a theme emerging here. Cake last Monday, crumble today, must be the cooler autumn weather bringing on all this baking.  

I picked up a bunch of rhubarb from our local organic farm along with half a dozen beautiful plums and what else was there to do but make crumble?

Rhubarb is ridiculously easy to grow, well so I am told we haven't ever given it a go but I think I will because it is such a beautiful colour and I love to eat it plus I've just read up on the fact that it is rich in the B vitamins as well as vitamin A and K. For those who don't know already, the leaves on a rhubarb plant are poisonous so do not use them in your crumble.

A word about sweeteners: I used honey and raw sugar in this and I found the crumble topping a bit too sugary. That is because I generally don't eat sugar. I had been using powdered stevia but recently decided I really wasn't totally happy with the taste or texture it gives to cakes and biscuits so I haven't bought any for a while. I keep raw sugar in the cupboard for visitors cups of tea and coffee, that is how I came to include it in this recipe and if I were to do it again I would reduce the amount, but you can do what suits your tastebuds. I am imagining that a crumble made with maple syrup would be pretty delicious. Which sweeteners are you using at the moment? What do you sweeten your crumble with?

Recipe: rhubarb, apple and plum crumble

Ingredients

6 stems of rhubarb chopped into 1.5-2cm pieces

1 medium size granny smith apple, cored and roughly chopped (I leave the peel on)

1 or two plums such as blood plums, remove stone and roughly chop

1 tbsp honey

3/4 cup self-raising flour (I used gluten free)

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup coconut

100gm butter cubed

2-3 tbsp raw or rapadura sugar

*optional you could add some chopped walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts and some seeds to the crumble

Method

Preheat oven to 180C

Grease an oven proof dish with butter, I used a small rectangular pan you could use a round one or individual ramekins

Place fruit into baking dish 

Mix honey through the fruit and make sure the fruit is in an even layer

In a mixing bowl combine flour, oats, coconut and sugar

Rub butter into flour mixture until the butter cubes are completely rubbed in

Scatter crumble mixture evenly over the top of the fruit

Bake for 40-45 minutes until fruit is cooked and top is golden brown

Serve with custard or ice cream, or natural unsweetened yoghurt as pictured above.

Enjoy and hide the rest from your husband like I had to!

What is your favorite crumble combo? Pear and ginger is next on my ideas list.

chocolate honey spice cake

Let's start the week with cake shall we? It had been a while since we'd done any baking but when Autumn's cooler weather arrived on the weekend River and Sol were asking "Can we bake a cake?" 

I didn't have a recipe in mind, I wanted to work with ingredients that were in the cupboard and this chocolate honey spice cake is what Sol and I came up with after I googled around for some ideas. While Sol and I measured ingredients, mixed and stirred the cake River opted to watch E.T. for the first time but was quick to appear when the bowl needing licking. How I remember crying my way through the end of that movie when I was 6.

I had to hold Sol back from eating the squares of butter as I cut them up, and felt continually nervous as I used the electric beater that he would attempt to dive his little fingers into the bowl to pinch another butter square. Ah, cooking with children it is messy and slow and satisfying.

Chocolate honey spice cake 

Ingredients

125g butter, diced

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup honey

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour (I used gluten free)

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon

Chocolate 'icing'

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp hot water

1/2 cup icing sugar

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 180C

Grease and line a small rectangular or round baking dish/cake tin (or you could make cupcakes).

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs one at a time, stir in vanilla.

Beat in honey until smooth.

Fold in flour, cocoa and cinnamon.

Stir in milk until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 20-30 minutes until edges are cooked and centre just springs back when you press on it. It is better to take it out a little early than overcook and have a dry cake.

For the icing

I began this mixture wanting to avoid using the icing sugar so I mixed the honey, cocoa and water together to make a sort of sauce but the cocoa was a bit overpowering so I decided to add some icing sugar just enough to keep the sauce consistency. It is quite sweet and not something I would make all the time but once every now and again is ok in my book.

You could add garam masala to the cake if you wanted to increase the spicyness.

A friend arrived just as this was coming out of the oven, with the help of my three chocolate cake lovers and our guest there wasn't much left by the time he departed. I managed to whisk a piece away into the fridge for River's lunch box. Chocolate cake isn't a usual addition to River's school lunch but in his words "mum, we're celebrating the start of term 2".

Do you have an alternative to making icing with icing sugar? I'd love to hear. Happy back to school for those returning today. And happy holidays to those just beginning, I am envious! x

ginger chicken and quinoa salad

We're having an endless summer here in Victoria. Personally I'm quite happy if these hot days last til about oh June! Although, I'm convinced that our beach days are courtesy of climate change and global warming which is not a good thing.

I began this dish marinating the chicken and having no real idea of what I was going to do with it. My husband Pete has a theory "that whatever ingredients are in the fridge want to go in a dish together".
I have to admit, it has taken me a while to believe in Pete's theory but for the most part he is right and this salad is a good example. His theory is firmly based in not wasting a single morsel of food. In our house we love the challenge of coming up with a meal based on a few ingredients that need to eaten rather than buying more food because we don't feel like eating what's there and then seeing food go to waste. The meal is always more satisfying when I know we have made great use of what we have.

For instance there was cooked quinoa in the fridge and plenty of crisp delicious veggies, given the hot weather salad made sense. When it came time to dress the salad I was pondering whether it actually even needed a dressing Pete asked, "Is there any of the yoghurt dip left?" There were about 2 tablespoons leftover from an afternoon snack "Mix it in. It'll be great!" said Pete. He was right.

Ginger chicken and quinoa salad

250 grams organic chicken breast fillets sliced into bite size pieces. (slice long narrow pieces rather than in cubes or chunks)

For the marinade
2-3 cm piece ginger finely grated (depending on how strong you like the ginger flavor)
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp braggs (or tamari)
1 tbsp sesame oil

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pour over chicken. Put back in the fridge, for a minimum of an hour or you can prepare the day before you want to use and leave it in overnight.

Melt a knob of butter in a wok and cook chicken quickly over a high heat. Set aside to cool.

For the salad
Use whatever salad ingredients you have on hand and if you don't have quinoa, you could leave it out or substitute with rice or pasta.

12 cherry tomatoes, halved
garden herbs (I used garlic chives and basil)
1 cup sprouts (I used alfalfa and fenugreek)
1/2 red capsicum, sliced finely and chopped into 2 cm sticks
1 small carrot, julienned
1/2 small iceberg or cos lettuce finely sliced
a handful of rocket leaves
2 cups cooked quinoa

2 tbsp natural yoghurt or tzatziki

Combine all ingredients in salad bowl and toss.

We enjoyed this for a beach picnic dinner. I have to admit River and Sol aren't up to eating salads like this, I cut up veggie sticks and they eat those. While we're on the topic of children eating veggies, salad wraps have been a big hit here recently. I lay out the veggie sticks, some mashed avocado in a bowl and chicken, fish or tofu, alongside the wraps and the boys have fun making their own wrap. You could set some of the chicken aside in this recipe or marinate extra so your children can make chicken and salad wraps.

Where are you at with children eating veggies? Any favorite salad combos?

the lunchbox revolution

Only a matter of days mamas before we wake up to...empty lunchboxes. Holidays over what to fill school or work lunchboxes with? Well, I was excited to find Mona Hecke's (pictured) fabulous book 'The Lunchbox Revolution' sitting on the counter at my local health food shop last week. I bought a copy, love it and am now very happy to share it with you because I think Mona's tips and recipes will make your life easier and keep your family happy and healthy.

Mona lives on the sunny Gold Coast in Queensland where she works as a naturopath and is a mother of three beautiful teenage children, so Mona is well qualified to fill a book with fantastic, nutritious recipes for school and work lunches.

In addition to great recipes, the book includes really useful info about allergies and food intolerances plus tables detailing mineral rich foods and Mona's top 10 best and worst foods for health.

I talked to Mona about sharing a recipe here and she told me that her recipes for chocolate balls and protein balls are really popular. I made the chocolate balls for dessert last week when we had friends over for dinner and they were a hit, super chocolatey and sugar free!

Thanks Mona for sharing your recipe here and for writing your book. Here's to the Lunchbox Revolution and providing nutritious wholefood and great health for us and our families.

The Lunchbox Revolution by Mona Hecke $10.95 available at health food shops or online

If facebook is your thing you can find The Lunchbox Revolution page here, like it and receive more great tips and recipe ideas

Chocolate balls

This chocolate delight is sugar free, deliciously rich, packed with super antioxidants and will satisfy that chocolate craving. Fresh Medjool Dates provide a high source of energy, fibre, vitamins and minerals and are perfect for people on the go.

250g (or 12) Medjool Dates (pitted)

2 tablespoons Raw Cacao

1 cup Almond Meal

2 tablespoons Agave Syrup

Shredded or Dessicated Coconut for rolling

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until well combined and moist.

Roll into approximately 22 heavenly chocolate balls, tossing in coconut or raw Cacao before refrigerating.

Note: Use the raw Cacao Powder available from Health Food Stores.

salad love

We left the coast for a day and headed inland to farewell friends who are moving north with their young family to live on acreage and change the pace of their days.

At our friend's farewell bbq I enjoyed being in the kitchen (of course!) cutting watermelon for hot and hungry children and picking up a few new salad ideas.

The first salad is my friend Steph's yummy creation and the second one is her mum's. Both salads are cooling and crunchy, making the most of beautiful seasonal ingredients such as asparagus and cucumber.

It's sad when friends move away, and at the same time exciting that they are following their dream. 

And also exciting that we have a new holiday destination! 

Enjoy! xx

Asparagus and goats cheese salad

1 iceberg lettuce, washed and roughly chopped or torn

1 bunch asparagus, blanched and chopped into bite size pieces

1 avocado, diced

1 green apple, diced

1 small beetroot, grated

1 jar Meredith Dairy Marinated Goat's Cheese including the oil

Apple cider vinegar

Place lettuce in salad bowl and top with asparagus, avocado, apple and beetroot.

Using a fork, gently break up the goats cheese in the jar.

Scatter the goats cheese across the salad and pour enough oil from the jar over the salad as the dressing, include the herbs in the bottom of the jar.

Splash a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar onto the salad.

Lightly toss the salad (over tossing will result in a completely purple salad thanks to the beetroot).

Cucumber and dill salad

4-5 lebanese cucumbers

2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped (or more if you prefer)

Juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

sour cream or natural unsweetened yoghurt

Using a grater slice the cucumbers into ribbons (you can do this with a knife if your grater doesn't have a ribbon option, the slices need to be really fine though).

Place into a salad bowl and pour lemon juice over to cover and season with salt and black pepper.

Sprinkle dill over and then add enough sour cream or yoghurt to coat the cucumber.

Toss all together. So simple.

wholefood mama: Rachel Pitts

What a treat it is today to have wholefood mama Rachel Pitts gracing this post with her wholefood story and delicious recipe. Rachel has a distinctive flair for inspired recipe writing and delightful food styling and it brings me much pleasure to introduce her story to you. Without further ado from me, its over to Rachel. Enjoy! And a very big delicious thank you Rachel for being part of this and sharing your words and photos here. Muchas gracias xx

Rachel Pitts loves to feed people, none more so than her husband and two young children, Greta, 3, and Finian, 7 months. She writes The Hungry Girls’ Cookbooks – petite handmade books that are a collaboration with two friends, illustrator and designer Katherine Bird and photographer Leah Holscher. She is also a freelance cookbook editor with recent books including the SBS Food Safari series. In her spare time Rachel loves to tend a small vegetable patch, and she somewhat sporadically posts stories and recipes on the Hungry Girls’ blog. In 2013 she hopes to have a lot more spare time!! 

where does your love of food and cooking come from?

Probably with a few memorable food experiences in my childhood – the giant box of apricots that Nana and Grandad brought down to us at Christmas, and nana’s Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, all of which I absolutely adored. My family wasn’t a big cooking family, but I realised as a young teenager that I could start to make delicious things myself and so I started making cakes, and then I think vegie burgers came next ... I loved the creative side of cooking and realising you could experiment a bit.

what are your favorite dishes to cook and why?

Dishes abundant with fruit and vegetables. Some people adore seafood or meat, and I love these too, but I think what I love most is the stuff of the earth. A simple bowl of silverbeet sauteed with onions and currants, a pile of ‘Persian carrots’ on homemade sourdough toast with a dollop of yoghurt, or a cherry-smothered chocolate pavlova that went down really well this Christmas.

kitchen gadget or appliance you can't go without? 

Our wok and our big, heavy mortar and pestle ... Staying at a holiday house over Christmas and trying to crush seeds with a hammer inside glad-wrap was not quite the same. So, these are essential items, but as for irreplaceable I’d have to say the one round aluminium cake tin that was my nana’s. All my fancy springform, non-stick cake tins age badly as their coatings start flaking off, so this simple cake tin is always the best. 

what do you hope to teach your children about food and cooking?

To be open minded about all food and see the deliciousness of just about everything! We eat really varied meals at home and I think this was challenging for our 3 year old girl (and us) when she first started eating, but now she eats pretty much anything and even a touch of chilli, which I’m still fairly amazed by. She claims she just doesn’t like ‘white tangy things’, by which she means horseradish, and I figure at this point in her life that’s okay. I want my kids to become good little cooks as that’s of course how you eat well and keep healthy. 

which cookbooks and food blogs do you turn to for inspiration?

I don’t find nearly enough time for reading blogs at the moment. I feel a bit out of the loop, although I do really like Trotski & Ash ... As for cookbooks, I find all the cookbooks/travelogues by Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid very inspiring, and also love thumbing through Moro and Casa Moro by Sam and Sam Clark. Otherwise, I love digging around in old fashioned cookbooks – little hardbacks with yellowed pages and no pictures, particularly ones on different cuisines.

a memorable food moment?

The night before I headed off on a four month trip to Nepal and India with a girlfriend, my partner, who is now my husband, made me the most romantic dinner ending with chocolate mousse for dessert. It was slightly daggy served in tall glasses with strawberries, but it blew me away! I think I knew then I should marry him. I still have a big soft spot for chocolate mousse.

Rachel's recipe: Chinese peanut and celery salad

photos by Leah Holscher

I’ve been slowly growing my repertoire of Chinese salads – cool, crisp numbers that are fresh with rice vinegar and the perfect accompaniment to dumplings, spiced skewers or steamed fish. This one features boiled raw peanuts (juicy and softly crunchy like water chestnuts) along with stir-fried celery, all suspended in a delicious dressing.

1 cup raw peanuts in their skins

11/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine

1 tablespoon black or white rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

11/2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying such as peanut or sunflower

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

1/2–1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (depending on their heat)

4–5 celery stalks, wide bottoms cut in half lengthwise, sliced

Boil the peanuts in a saucepan of water for around 15 minutes, until they have softened a little.

Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, vinegar, sesame oil and sugar in a bowl. When the peanuts are cooked, drain them and toss immediately in the dressing. Set aside for 30 minutes or longer to soak up the flavours.

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat and the garlic and chilli flakes. Sizzle briefly, then add the celery and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes. Add to the bowl of peanuts and mix well. You can serve the salad immediately or leave it to cool to room temperature.

Serves 4

more in the wholefood mama series...
wholefood mama: Robin Koster-Carlyon
wholefood mama: Jay Black