silent sunday

friday so soon

Make yourself a large pot of tea and settle in to read this lengthy and interesting piece by Emily Matchar. Look past the harsh title it is well worth a read - Is Michael Pollan a sexist pig? I found it via Food Health Wealth

Those who covet food blogs with a beautiful clean aesthetic and recipes to match, prepare to be seduced: in the making by Belene. Thanks Mamacino for the tip.

Phyllis Grant is a mama after my own heart, cooking with her children involving them every step of the way not just on baking day. Fall in love with her blog named after her children Dash & Bella

I think you might also just LOVE - in praise of leftovers

Jay's back! Pop on over and say hello.

Have you entered the giveaway at Vanessa's? Jude Blereau's new book is part of the prize.

I know that some of you lovelies have contributed to Sonya's healing fund, if you haven't seen her page go here

Congrats to Sophie at Local is Lovely on her book deal.

And to finish today, a big congratulations to Emily and Dave at The Beetleshack on the arrival of their new baby girl. Oh babies how I love them. If I could email you dinner Em I would. x

Happy weekending everyone. We are heading off to New Zealand next week for a little holiday visiting friends in Auckland. Can't wait! Thanks for reading x

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 ;)

the path to healing

Today's post is inspired by beautiful and courageous mama, Sonya Koeck. Sonya is on her path to healing an aggressive form of breast cancer that she was diagnosed with five years ago and she is leaving no path untraveled in doing so.

I am writing this today to share Sonya's story but also to shine a light on the difficult decisions that people diagnosed with cancer and many other serious illnesses are confronted with.

Which healing path to take? Sonya so rightly makes the point that in Australia the approach to treatment is very much western medicine versus natural medicine, it is either/or, whereas in countries such as Germany the two are integrated. There are in Australia exceptions: doctors, specialists, natural medicine practitioners who are open to integrating both approaches but they are few and far between and seeking these people out can be an exhaustive process physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. It shouldn't be this way.

Sonya's healing path has taken her from New South Wales away from her beloved husband and young children, to Germany where she is receiving wholistic treatment unavailable in Australia. Sonya is deeply committed to her healing, doing everything within her power meditating daily, eating a purely organic diet, remaining positive and staying connected to her faith, she is responding well to treatment in Germany but is having to say no to certain treatments available there because they are costly and her funds are low. I don't believe not having enough money should be a barrier to accessing effective health care for any person. To my mind this is purely a matter of distribution of currency, meaning money moves around the world all day every day some people have a lot some people have a little and everyone spends it differently. I believe in philanthropy and I don't believe you need to have a million dollars in the bank to be a philanthropist. I believe in the power of giving, the amount is one thing but the act of giving is another.

Sonya has learnt a tremendous amount about western medicine and natural medicine on her healing journey and when she is well she would like to share that knowledge with people who find themselves in her position to help guide them where no guide book exists.

In her pro-active way, Sonya has set up a crowd-funding page so she can continue receiving treatment in Germany and return home well to her family.

You can read in detail Sonya's story on her funding page and if you are able to make a financial contribution you can do so directly on the page. Every dollar adds up. I donated $20 last night because that is what I had, when I consider I spend $30 a week on buying coffee I figure I can afford to donate more during the next month.

I have never met Sonya. I have met her beautiful family, Sonya and her family are beloved friends of people close in my life, and as a woman, a wife and mother I am deeply moved by their situation.

I share this story today because I can, because social media can be positively life changing. This post is not just to ask you to donate money, perhaps you can't right now. I also share it because cancer is an all too common diagnosis and I invite you take a moment to let go of what is not important and join me in being immensely grateful for good health when you have it.

Big blessings to the beautiful Sonya from the Wholefood Mama community, and blessings to each of you too dear readers especially those whose lives in one way or another have been affected by cancer. Thank you for reading this today. xx

To donate or share Sonya's page go here - Onya Sonya - Sonya's Future Fund

silent sunday

friday out of the bag

I received an invitation during the week from Sonia over at Natural New Age Mum, asking me if I wanted to come to her blog party today and join other natural new age mamas revealing the contents of their handbags. We can't talk about food all the time can we? Well ok we can but for today you're subjected to the contents of my handbag before we get to the links.

The photo of my beloved old bag does not do the brilliant colour justice, Pete bought it for my birthday about four years ago I think I'll ask for an update this birthday. 

The contents always surprises me, what a random mix of things:

Sunglasses that need repair

Sunglasses that I wear

A selection of toy cars, wild animals, a rubber ball and a pirate, I whip these out anytime Sol needs entertaining when we are out and about

My pratten wallet that I bought the year Pete gave me the bag

A handmade zip up purse sewn by me, handy for lip gloss, hairbands, tampons, anything small I don't want rolling around the bottom of my bag

Theatre tickets, a keepsake of my day out with River to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Fabric paints I picked up with the idea of the boys decorating t-shirts sometime

Another overdue library book reminder notice

Mobile phone (I wish they'd never been invented)

I'm so old fashioned I actually get photos printed out!!

A packet of mild curry spice from gourmet organic herbs I picked up for my aunty who I am so proud of for diligently sticking to her 3 month detox with Dr Gruba

And the only other thing that goes in there daily is my camera 

Happy handbag party natural new age mamas. Thanks for the invite Sonia!

Now on with friday's links:

For those of you who didn't quit sugar, or those of you who did and didn't feel great about it I found a site and ebook written by a couple of Aussie nutritionists called 'I Didn't Quit Sugar'. Interesting!

Living greener lives is something we all must do, click on over to The Spruiker and Tiny Green Hands and pick up a few tips. Welcome to blogging land ladies look forward to watching you grow and inspire us all to think of the earth first.

From Zara, a new reader here, comes this carrot cake recipe that calls for steamed carrots and a pinch of cloves.

Noe if you are reading, where did your beautiful blog go? ...I planned to link to it today and it seems to have disappeared. Email me if you prefer.

Have you seen Michael Pollan's latest book? Cooked

Marianne Williamson's latest book is off topic but it's on my wishlist The Law of Divine Compensation I loved this interview Marianne did with Marie Forleo.

If you are considering buying a Thermomix or have no idea what one is, the Mamabake ladies have a great post for you and while you're over there check out their latest recipes paleo gluten free chicken kiev anyone? what about easy vegan sweet potato and quinoa?

Oh and thanks to a link by Sonia there's been a an influx of likers on my facebook page. hello and welcome! And if you are on fb and haven't found The Wholefood Mama page yet, here it is.

Hooray the weekend is here again. I hope yours is delicious and that you get at least one bliss filled moment that's just for you. I'm getting a whole day without children in Melbourne at a cooking class - lucky me! More about that next week x

waste nothing: sweet potato, rice and cumin patties

Pete, my ever loving, creative, social justice campaigning husband, works with Indigenous communities around Australia recording photos and stories about culture and the environment, he has produced a number of books including the widely read Elders-Wisdom from Australia's Indigenous Leaders. Of the wisdom Pete has soaked up and treasured over the years, two words he shared with me from an Elder "waste nothing" often come into my mind in the kitchen. 

The amount of food waste that occurs in developed countries really is shameful. Pete and I both love the creative challenge of coming up with a meal that makes use of what we have on hand. And it is out of this thinking that today's recipe came together.

I had leftover basmati rice from River and Sol's cooking session. There was sweet potato, carrot and pumpkin that needed to be used and I threw in a potato just because I felt like it. Once the vegetables were boiled soft I mashed them and mixed in the cold cooked rice. In went a couple of tablespoons of finely grated parmesan, about half a cup of fresh basil leaves from garden cut into slim strips, a generous teaspoon of ground cumin and to bind it all together one whisked egg. Whatever I am cooking, making it enticing to the children at our table is always a motivating factor. I find anything crumbed or in pastry is usually met with applause. So, once I had shaped the veggie mix into small patties I coated them in gluten free rice crumbs and fried them golden in a hot pan of melted butter.

My aunty and uncle made a surprise visit and timed it well to sample some for lunch. My aunty loved them so much she went home and made a batch that night replacing the rice with quinoa.

Cumin, basil and parmesan may seem like a curious combo but it worked. There are no rules especially if you follow Pete's theory (tried & tested in our kitchen) that whatever you have on hand wants to go together in a dish. 

Do you have favorite dishes made from leftovers? Could you be wasting less food? Go on be honest :) Meal planning is a sure fire way to avoid waste. What are your tips?

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.

friday wrap

Here's my list of links from around the healthy wholefood web this week:

I recently posted about Karen Le Billon's book French Children Eat Everything. This week I came across a Q & A with Karen on Kacie's beautiful blog A Collection of Passions.

Tania over at Ivy Nest has written this really interesting and informative post about changing the food her family eats to a more traditional diet, lots of interesting comments too from her readers.

I am tempted to enrol in Heather's 30 day vegan online workshop starting soon. I'm not vegan but I love the sound of Heather's recipes and approach to eating vegan as a way of cleansing.

Here's a little story I wrote, published in The Age Epicure this week, about the kitchen garden at Montalto winery here on the Mornington Peninsula. The story includes a recipe for tomato tart with goat's cheese from Montalto's head chef Barry Davis. To visit Mornington Peninsula Wineries take a look at tours by Wine Compass.

Oh that Lucy Feagins over at The Design Files is there nothing this talented gal can't do?! Check out her colour and flavour packed recipe (& her food styling) for Rainbow Red Quinoa Salad with BBQ'd Corn.

Have you entered Meg's giveaway to win Jude Blereau's latest book 'Wholefood Baking'?

Very happy to be going to a seminar this evening hosted by Palate Earth yoga to hear Saraswathi Vasudevan speak. Saraswathi is a yoga teacher, trainer and therapist from Chennai in India, in addition to her knowledge of yoga Saraswathi has her Masters degrees in psychology and nutrition. Fascinated already.

Highlight of my weekend will be having our Byron buddy, Dave come to stay for a couple of days and enjoying endless cups of chai and delicious wholefood meals together.

Happy weekend to everyone. Thanks for reading. xx

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