as of late

I’ve been so busy lately. Understandably it is that time of year when things get a little crazy, but coupled with a move and some thrilling news that we will be expecting our first little bub in early May 2013, things seem to be rolling along quicker than I’d like!

Yes! We are expecting a little girl – currently 19 weeks along – and am so in love with her already. We’ve been enjoying her movements and kicks for a couple of weeks now and the feeling is just so beautiful (I know I say this now, when she’s only 250g).

She’s our little miracle. It took two years of trying, surgery, drugs and being told we’d never conceive naturally to get to this point – but here we are, a natural conception. I will do a couple of follow on posts about our story, how I healed my PCOS naturally and how ‘giving up’ can sometimes be the best thing.

So, what I have been up to lately:

Moving house.

 

Making a chicken coop – I’ve been an assistant to Joel the builder as he constructed his designed from scratch coop. Hopefully we get the chickens this weekend!

 

Growing a baby – she’s just gorgeous!

Setting up the house for Christmas – the tree has be up since the 2^nd week in November, normally it’s earlier but we were moving.

Making Christmas wrapping decorations.

Starting Christmas presents – home-grown and dehydrated lemon myrtle spice.

Amongst the above, it has been sweltering heat and I have been loving the abundance of mangos. This cooling smoothie has been just perfect snack/breakfast in this 2^nd trimester where all I crave is fruit.

Ingredients

(serves 1)

150g natural yoghurt

1 mango, flesh of

A handful of ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whiz until thick and smooth. Pour into a glass and top with homemade muesli if desired.

Enjoy.



smooth matcha shake

This is such a wonderful 'shake' that I have been enjoying at the moment. The summer days have really set in (with gusto), and as I am in the midst of packing and moving, a refreshing afternoon drink has been a bit of a lifesaver for me.

Yep, we're moving house and really looking forward to it. Currently we are living in a one bedroom loft style barn conversion and moving 200m down the road to beautiful stone cottage.The barn doesn't have any inside doors and extremely open plan living. It has been decided that with a change in circumstances, this may no longer be very practical, thus the change!

this little guy is looking forward to the new place

I'm really looking forward to the bright new kitchen, especially having a pantry! At the moment all our flours, nuts, cereals and grains are stored in a long narrow cupboard. It's a bit difficult to find anything as I have to reach back and feel around for the ingredients that I'm after. It takes quite a few goes before I actually find what I am looking for. So a pantry is very very exciting for me.

Enough of that, on to the recipe. This is just a delight. Refreshing, smooth, easy and best of all anti-oxidantly healthy.

Ingredients

(serves one)

1/4 c organic natural milk/alternative

1/4 c water

1 tsp matcha powder

1 tsp sugar (extra to taste)

a handful of ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a martini shaker/protein shaker/blender and shake/blend until smooth.

Pour into a glass 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!

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.

baked rice paper rolls

I have a love of rice paper rolls.

But, Joel has an absolute love of spring rolls.

They are both great for dipping and serving as an entrée.

Not so long ago I wanted to see what it would be like to bake a rice paper roll, to see if it would be a healthier option of the greasy spring rolls. I was so surprised with the outcome. Retaining their freshness but still having a crunchy outer shell, they made for a great alternative.

When I gave one to Joel, he did his infamous “mmm tastey” and I knew I was on a winner.

It’s fun wrapping up the spring rolls, it can take a bit of practice but it’s super easy once you get the gist of what you are doing.

Keep in mind that these baked rolls don’t have to be Asian inspired, but could be filled with anything that you wanted really. You can even make ahead and freeze them ready for a party or impromptu entertaining.

Ingredients

(makes 20)

20 rice paper roll sheets

1 tblsp seseame oil

1/4 cabbage, finely sliced

4 spring onions, finely chopped

1/2 c basil leave

2 large garlic cloves, finely sliced

olive oil spray

Heat over to 180 C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Heat oil in a wok and toss in cabbage, onions, garlic and basil frying for 3-5 mins until softened and fragrant.

Remove from heat and cool.

Place one of the rice paper sheets in some luke warm water to soften (I usually do this under the tap).

Once softened lay sheet on a plate.

Place a tablespoon amount in the middle of the sheet running the mixture vertically. Fold the bottom of the sheet towards the middle. Next fold the left-side so the crease is at the edge of the filling. Then fold the top down and roll the spring roll to the right.

Repeat method with the rice paper, until all the mixture is used up.

Place rolls on baking tray and spray ever so lightly with olive oil spray.

Bake for 20 mins.

Serve immediately.

sprouted wheat berry salad with jerusalem artichokes: raw

This past weekend there was an Organic Food and Living festival on in Sydney.

I hadn’t heard it was on until a couple of days before hand and was glad I had a free day to head down and check it out.

It took us 4.5 hours to make our way around to all the stalls, and by the end I was so inspired.

Lunch was awesome too, we had some spelt vegan pizzas.. me thinks I will be doing my own adaptation soon!

On the way out, I noticed a guy selling a heap of organic fresh produce and seeds, and was immediately drawn in by the Jerusalem Artichokes. One box for $2, SOLD!

I've been meaning to get my hands on this tasty root, however my grocer doesn't seem to stock any.

Natively known as the 'Sunroot' in America (as it is part of the Sunflower family) it is a bit of a nutritional power house. Packed with dietary fibre, anti-oxidants (such as Vitamins C, A, E) and minerals - potassium, iron, and copper. It also contains small levels of valuable B-complex group of vitamins such as folates, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and thiamin.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1 c whole organic Australian wheat, soaked for 24 hours

200g Jerusalem artichokes, shaved/finely sliced

½ c fresh basil leaves

bunch of salad greens, roughly chopped

½ lemon juice

1 tsp lemon rind

2 tsp hemp seed oil

Note: you will need to start this recipe 2-3 days before hand, to allow time for the wheat to sprout.

Drain and rinse the soaked wheat.

Place wheat in a glass jar, covered with a clean muslin/chux cloth fastened with a rubber band.

Store in a cool dry location rinsing the wheat twice a day for 2 days until the wheat starts to sprout.

Do a final rinse and place in a large bowl.

Add all other ingredients and toss well to combine.

Serve.