chia and goji toasted muesli

It's a bit of a rainy drizzly day today, so I decided that after the house work, some time in the kitchen was called for.

I wanted to make something that would jazz up my breakfasts a bit, as these days I've just fallen into the pattern of fruit and yogurt to start my day. Toasted muesli is exactly the addition that I'm in need of.

Packed with omega-3's in the chia, antioxidants in the goji and wholegrain's in the oats - this will do my growing baby bump a whole lot of good. Not to mention tastes amazing!

Ingredients

1/4 c organic honey

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 c rolled oats

1/4 c chia seeds

1/2 c goji berries

Method

Melt honey and coconut oil in a small saucepan on the stove.

Once melted, remove from stove and stir in all other ingredients.

Spread on to a parchment lined tray and bake for 20 minutes at 100 C, door slightly ajar.

Keep your eye on it, tossing every 5 minutes or so.

Remove from oven and cool completely before crumbling the mixture.

Store in an airtight container up to a week or two.

sandwich cake - smörgåstårta

So, mostly it is a ghost town on this site - I can explain! 

It's not that I don't want to be posting, it's just that I've been flat out with work and the impending birth of our daughter. Somehow that doesn't seem like a good enough excuse, but it's all I got.

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to have a baby shower with friends and family. It was a fantastic day and I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of those wonderful people. I worry that I'll never be able to show how much I appreciate every ones gifts, love and support.

Anyways, for the shower I finally tackled something that I've been wanting to make for such a long time - Smörgåstårta! Basically it is a Scandinavian savoury cake that often pops up at celebrations.

Honestly I couldn't believe how easy it was to put together and the best bit by far was the alternate decorating. Usually with cakes you use sweets or icing to decorate but for this, you have to keep it savoury which means you get to be creative.

You can fill it with whatever you want, like deli meats, tuna, egg, smoked salmon, etc - but I've kept it vegetarian.

iced teas

the spread

Smörgåstårta

Ingredients

1loaf of wholemeal spelt bread (homemade or otherwise)

1 lemon, juiced mixed with 2 tbsp water

500g natural organic yogurt, drained for 2 hours or so

1 cucumber, finely sliced

1/2 c sun dried tomatoes

400g cream cheese (reduced fat is okay)

green leaves, herbs, edible flowers, other veggies - for decorating

Method

Cut the crusts off the loaf, then slice length ways into 3.

Arrange one of the slices on your presentation dish.

Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the slice with 1/4 of the lemon juice mixture.

Arrange 1/2 the cucumber slices on top, then spread over 1/2 the yogurt. Top the yogurt with the remaining slices of cucumber.

Next, stack other slice of bread, brushing the under layer and top with another 1/4 (each side) of the lemon juice.

Place the sun dried tomatoes and remaining yogurt in a food processor and blend for about 20-30 seconds.

Spread over the slice of bread and top with the remaining slice of bread (brushing the underside with the remaining lemon juice).

Cover and place in refrigerator overnight (with a weight on top, a plate works fine) to allow flavours to infuse.

About an hour or so before serving, decorate the cake. 

Spread the cream cheese over the loaf and decorate it to your hearts content.

I've used marigolds, parsley, chervil, mint leaves and lettuce leaves. Also, the day before I peeled a fresh beetroot and carrot, rolled them to look like a rose, securing the bottom with a toothpick.

orange almond cake

Finally on the mend and back at work with only a lingering cough. Being sick is just the worst, and I was definitely very miserable.

Feeling better means I'm back in the kitchen but still feeling like something pretty simple and basic, I whipped up this orange almond cake. I can't take any credit for the recipe as I picked it up in a cookbook somewhere, the name and place evades me.

I found this cake to be just so moist and flavoursome, holding its form perfectly even with no flour. I shared with my family who was also surprised at the moistness of the cake.

I didn't have almond meal, but had plenty of almonds on hand, so I processed 200 g in the food processor until fine.

Ingredients

(serves 8-10)

2 oranges

1 1/2 c almond meal (or 200g almonds ground)

6 eggs, lightly whisked

1 tsp bi-carb soda

1/2 c raw sugar

Heat oven to 160 C and line a spring form cake dish with baking paper

Place oranges in a pot and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 45 minutes, drain and cool.

Place in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Fold in almond meal, eggs, sugar and bi-carb gently.

Pour mixture into the tin and place in oven to bake for 45-50 minutes (until firm).

Remove from oven and cool.

Serve and enjoy.

pick-me-up breakfast smoothie

My goodness we had some hot days here last week. It was so nice not being wrapped up in layers upon layers of clothing.

The only downside was that with the sudden heat came that feeling of utter lethargy. The unwillingness to move around too much in fear of melting.

So, on days like those, I like to whip up a smoothie to cool me down. In this one I included malt extract, deemed as natures pick-me-up as it is full of important B vitamins, essential for energy.

Ingredients

(makes 1 - large)

1 banana, roughly chopped

4 ice cubes

1/4 water

2 silverbeet leaves, roughly chopped

1 tblsp malt extract

1 tsp mixed spice

2 tsp chia seeds

4 strawberries, green left on

1/2 c yoghurt (or alternative)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whiz until smooth (30 seconds or so).

carrot cake muffins

Hooray, the days are reaching summer proportions. It felt like the coldest winter ever, but we seem to be on the other side of it now and I'm looking forward to spending time at the beach.

Anyway, to celebrate the dramatic weather change, I decided to do some baking. I know, crazy.. why would you turn the oven on in 30C+ weather? Because I wanted some carrot cake, that's why.

I whipped these up, left them to cool then took a plate to my parents place to share. Because what better way to celebrate (and test) than to share. 

Mum said that the muffin was delicious. She even closed her eyes as she ate saying 'you better make sure you put in your blog that your mum loved these'. Done!

Dad said there's a real 'wang' to the icing before the coconut kicks in and that he loved the cake.

I told Joel what Dad said, and he started saying it. Great, now the word wang was being thrown around in reference to my muffins. Nice. Still, it didn't spoil the beauty of them!

Ingredients

(makes 12)

Cake

3 carrots, grated

1 c plain wholemeal flour

1 tsp bi-carb soda

1/4 c raisins

1/4 c walnuts, slightly crushed

1 tsp mixed spice

2 eggs, lightly whisked

1/4 c water

2 tblsp sugar

1/4 c coconut oil

'Icing'

2 tblsp creamed coconut, warmed

2 tsp water

1/2 lime, grated rind and juice

1 tsp agave syrup

Heat oven to 160C and line a muffin tray.

Combine all ingredients for the cake in a large bowl and mix until well combined.

Spoon a tablespoon size amount into each muffin hole in the tray.

Place in oven for 20-30 minutes until cake springs back to the touch.

Remove and cool entirely.

Assembly

Combine all ingredients for the icing in a small bowl until well combined.

Using a butter knife, spread the mixture over the cooled muffins.

Enjoy!

vegetable quiche

This is just a quick and easy recipe (bar the cooking time), that you can whip together in no time and leave in the oven to cook away.

I've used a variety of vegetables in this because it's so important to keep your diet varied with the vegetables and grains that you use. Each have a unique makeup of vitamins and minerals, so it really is vital that you vary what you eat so that you can get all the beneficial nutrition. If there is a vegie that you haven't heard of before, maybe consider trying it, if you're not sure ask around to see how others add it into their diet.

This recipe made enough to feed a family, but, with just the two of us at home we had a few leftovers. Making meals that are a little bigger is great for a quick lunch the next day or a meal stored in the freezer. This recipe is certainly no exception as it made the perfect healthy lunch for the next day, both cold and warmed up.

Ingredients

(makes 8-10 slices)

4 zucchinis, grated

2 potatoes, grated

3 carrots, grated

2 brown onions, grated

4 eggs, whisked

100g goats cheese, crumbled

¼ c nutritional yeast flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 150 C and grease a medium baking dish with olive oil.

Combine all ingredients well and press into dish.

Bake in oven for 1-1 ½ hours.

Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes and serve.

garden breakfast juice

The weather is certainly getting warmer here and with it comes the desire for lighter and refreshing meals.

This also means that it is time to bust out the juicer and make it a permanent home on my bench top.

Before Joel ducked out to the markets to pick up groceries, I raided the refrigerator for what remnants of fruit and vegetables we had left to make a super breakfast juice. Talk about quick and easy breakfast! It’s just the clean-up that can be a bit of a fuss.. but it’s worth it.

I fed all the components through the juicer and poured it into a tall glass. Then went outside to sit in my garden to check on my summer seedlings and watch the little red-browed finches build a nest in the ficus tree next to our table and chairs.

Ingredients

(makes 400 mL)

2 carrots

3 oranges, skinned

1 grapefruit, skinned

1 inch piece of ginger

¼ bunch celery

1 medium beetroot

Wash all ingredient thorough and feed through the juicer.

Enjoy!

red lentil burgers

Is life just busier? I feel the days are going faster than ever and any spare time that I have gets filled up pretty quickly. I don't mind though, I love fitting as much into life as possible that's just living, right?!

After a busy weekend and a full day at work I came home, chopped the fire wood, started the fire, then got started on these beauties.

Luckily there were heaps more burgers than I anticipated which means I can stock the freezer for a quick lunch option on work days. Sometimes with all the rushing, it's good to have a healthy back-up meal that you can defrost for a quick satisfying lunch or dinner and this is surely one.

Ingredients

(makes 20)

1 1/2 c split red lentils, soaked for 6-8 hours

1 c walnuts

2 carrots, grated

1 brown onion, grated

1 c besan flour

1 tsp bi-carb soda

1 tblsp savoury yeast flakes

2 eggs, lightly whisked

olive oil, for greasing

salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 180 C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper then lightly grease with oil.

Bring lentils to boil in a heavy based saucepan.

Cook for 15-20 minutes until soft, then drain and set aside to cool.

Add walnuts to a food processor/blender and pulse until crumbled.

Mix walnuts, carrots and onion in a medium sized bowl.

Next add in the lentils and remainder of ingredients, mixing until well combined.

Using wet hands, scoop small handful sizes of the mixture then roll into a ball.

Place on tray and push down lightly to flatten out.

Repeat until all the mixture has been used.

Place tray in oven for 25 minutes, then flip the burgers and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Serve!

herbed chickpea salad

Absolutely love chickpeas and it has been too long between friends.

Like, seriously, way too long. I even expressed to Joel how excited I was to be having chickpeas for dinner. He sarcastically responded by saying, ‘that’s great honey’.

As you may have read in the last post, we did a whole lot of gardening on the weekend and I had to harvest all my herbs. I don’t really like using up all my crops as I feel safer with still some sitting there. It’s like, but what if I want some fresh mint later in the week? What will I do then! I even get a little precious and won’t use as much as I like, just so there is always something filling the pots. It makes me feel wealthy in a very green way.

Anyways, with the massive influx of herbs in my kitchen, I have been throwing them into everything. Handfuls of mint in some mineral water, chives in my cabbage wraps for lunch, parsley on EVERYTHING.

Chickpeas are so tasty and make an awesome protein packed ‘throw together’ salad-like meal. And best of all, they are inexpensive. Joel and I lived off legumes when we travelled Europe. They were the most filling, affordable meal addition for us vegetarians/pescatarians, on a very tight budget. 30 Euro cents (40c in Aus) would get you a 500g jar of pre-prepared beans, peas, lentils etc and would easily stretch 2 meals each.

You can get super creative with chickpea salads. I’ve just thrown in whatever I felt like when digging through the refrigerator, but any fresh vegetables will work.

Ingredients

(makes 4 serves)

1 ½ c dried chickpeas, soaked for 6-8 hours (or 2 drained and rinsed tins)

1 spanish red onion, finely diced

1 cucumber, diced

½ c of complimentary fresh herbs (mint, chives, parsley etc)

½ lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

If you are using dried chickpeas, place them in a pot of water and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Drain and set aside to cool.

Add all ingredients in a medium bowl and toss well to combine.

Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes - 1 hour for flavours to infuse.

Serve and enjoy.

raw kale chips

Productive weekends are the best, and that is exactly what this last one was for us.

We spent the weekend spring cleaning, tidying and sorting. I'm on top of the housework after vacuuming and dusting, washing and hanging, folding and ironing - it feels great. On top of all that we were able to spend heaps of time outside as the weather was stunningly perfect. Lots of walks, sun soaking and getting on top of some much needed garden work. The spring/summer garden is finally planted, and I'm really looking forward to impending crops - impatient much!?

I love that feeling of fulfilment and satisfaction from a wholesome weekend. And what's more, we have been fuelling our bodies with these delicious raw kale chips.

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale, wash and roughly torn

1 tsp paprika

1 tblsp olive oil

pinch or two of salt

Toss all ingredients in a medium bowl.

Arrange on dehydrator trays and turn on to 40 C.

Dehydrate for 12 hours or overnight.

Store in an airtight container for as long as they last. 

citric vitamin water

A trip to the dentist has left me feeling completely sorry for myself and a little tender. I don't have much to share other than it's nice to have polished teeth again.

Luckily a little pre-thought had me make up a jug of this vitamin water. Mainly because I knew I wouldn't be racing home to eat nuts or crackers, but would want something cool and soothing.

The flavours, vitamins and minerals have leached out of the fruit into the water, creating a beautiful refreshing drink with barely any calories.

So after a long day today, I have just sat down to enjoy a tall glass full of this simply tasty vitamin water and share it with you. It would make the most refreshing summer evening drink, something to keep in mind as these spring days get warmer.

Ingredients

(makes 2+L)

1 large grapefruit, sliced into 1/2 cm rounds

1 medium orange, sliced into 1/2 cm rounds

2 inch knob of ginger, finely sliced

water

Add fruit and ginger to a large jug (2 or more litres) and cover with water.

Sit in refrigerator for 4-6 hours to allow flavours to infuse.

Pour over ice or just as is.

Tip: you can top up the water as you go, will last for 2-3 days.