Posts filed under ‘eating locally’
Slow Living April
slowing it down…
(a wonderful concept created by the lovely Christine over at Slow Living Essentials)
it's not pretty but it fills happy bellies
Nourish- I’m loving a simple rustic family sized quiche once a week at the moment. A couple of sheets of puff pastry, (seems I got over that packet guilt rather quickly) beaten eggs and what ever looks appealing on the day. The Monkeys quiche of choice? Fetta and some free range bacon. Mr and Chocolate and I? Whatever seasonal vegetables that look particularly quiche like from our local CSA delivered box, (but lets be honest…he’d rather the fetta and bacon one too.)
Prepare- School lunches are particularly easy when all I have to do is whack one out of the freezer. Pesto parmesan scrolls and apple cinnamon ones are the taste of choice at the moment. They are also easy for a hungry mama to grab on the run.
Reduce- I’ve been putting aside some old worn out clothing. Rips, tears, thinning fabric, too big, too small. I’m sure I can turn them into something else. Just waiting for the inspiration as to what. I’ve also been incredibly lucky with receiving a whole bunch of wonderful little girl clothing. She will clearly have a whole heap of Monkey clothing to grow into but a small amount of pink as been infused into the mixture as well.
Green- Being economical with the oven use, and utilising all the racks when cooking. Also cooking bigger batches of things, and cluster cooking. (cluster cooking…. now there’s something to pop into you days vocabulary.) The worm farm is still going strong. The little fellas seem to have worked out their own little wormy balance and it requires very little maintenance.
Grow- I’m growing mould on my bathroom ceiling… does that count? No, no I guess not. I’m also growing my children, and they are growing like weeds!
Create- Making a little hat for a three year old girls birthday. Teddy wanted to model it, as my own residing three year old refused, (at least teddy keeps still.) I’ve also been playing with using vegetables as stamps and creating cards. It’s been fun playing with what works and what doesn’t.
Enhance- There is hooking action going on lately. I still suck, but I’m willing to learn as I want to get better. Hooking plans in the park or cafe with other hook yielding friends. A recent visit to this shop, just inspired the pants off me. (Thankfully they stayed on while I was in there as I didn’t want to scare anyone away.) Crochet and knitting classes I can see being a part of down the track, unless I really nut out the whole crochet thing by myself, (which seems unlikely to happen at this stage…sigh.) I’m still getting my Foodconnect box delivered too, it makes life just a tad easier.
Discover- I plan to become one with the above crochet book… that’s the plan anyway.
every man needs a penguin sinking into his cake
Enjoy- Mr Chocolate’s birthday, being with my little people, BLT’s in the back courtyard with family and enjoying the beautiful time of year that Autumn is.
a roast tomato tart… or four
I could have eaten four of these
I didn’t… but I could have
Oh, I so could have…
*****
Pastry
200gms butter
2 cups plain flour (300gms)
110gms natural yogurt
1 tsp vinegar
In a food processor pulse flour and butter until resembles bread crumbs. Tip out into a bowl and add yogurt and vinegar. Mix through, a quick knead until a smooth consistency and then pop into the fridge for awhile. Take out and roll to the thickness you want. I did individual tarts, but it could easily be done as one big one.
Tart
A layer of sliced fresh mozzarella
A couple of strips of free range bacon
Into the oven at 200C until the pastry is golden.
Slow Living February 2012
First up, a huge thank you to all the lovely, lovely well wishes from my last post. We are still taking things nice and slow, and really enjoying this precious babymoon time. I’m still around, quietly reading your blogs and really appreciate any comments thrown my way as well.
I will be posting here and there with a few posts I have up my sleeve until I get used to our new family rhythm. For now though, here’s what was happening round these parts slow living style in Feb.
Slow Living February 2012
(an awesome concept created by the lovely Christine over at Slow Living Essentials)
NOURISH: Mr Chocolate has taken over the kitchen in the last two weeks, which I have to say has been fantastic. There has been a steady supply of chocolate chip biscuits, (now perfected) lots of tasty healthy meals for a hungry mama and a few well timed containers of deliciousness from awesome friends. Perfect.
PREPARE: I had been stocking up my freezer with ready to go meals, or little things that can be easily cooked up quickly. A few rolls of biscuit dough can make things a whole lot easier when there are school lunch boxes that still need to be filled and hungry little hands being held out. Now if only that freezer was twice as big, THEN I would be sorted.
REDUCE: Making use of my mum’s rather hefty sized stash of retro terry towelling. A new change table cover, and some little wipes sewn up. So much more interesting than standard bought ones.
GREEN: I’m still using the bicarb to wash my hair. So easy, and I really love not having to rely on shampoo to get my hair clean.
GROW: My little pots still continue to struggle on. Too wet, too dry, not enough sun… the usual cityhippyfarmgirl garden goings on. I still like having some sort of greenery to look out to though. A little rosemary to rub between my fingers, a chilli or two to pluck… a caterpillar or three to squash under my shoe. I’m also still thinking about an olive tree in a pot, or perhaps a gardenia… or a bay. It’s for our placental planting, so if anyone has any tips or has done this before with good results in a pot I would love to hear from you.
CREATE: I’ve been hooking a cowl. After putting it over Mr Chocolate’s head 53 times, (to get an idea of what on earth I’m doing) I’m still not sure about the over all look. But I am loving the colours, and the rhythm of crocheting has been really relaxing…hook, hook, hook.
ENHANCE: I was the lucky recipient of this bag full of garden goodness from my lovely midwife. Home grown… just tastes so much better.
ENJOY: New life… yep, I’m completely smitten.
capsicum sweet chilli sauce
I wanted to make this chilli sauce, but then realised I didn’t have enough vinegar, and also wanted to use up the eight long capsicums I had, (bull horn’s.) So I fiddled a bit, a little tweak, a whispered please let it work and hey presto… capsicum chilli sauce. I think I actually like this one even more than the other as it’s a little less sweet, leaves the taste of the capsicums and still gives a dish the kick I want it to.
Capsicum Chilli Sauce
8 long thin capsicums
100g small hot chillis
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
5 cloves garlic
2 tsp salt
black pepper
2 good slurps of balsamic vinegar
In a food processor, blitz the capsicum, chilli, garlic and ginger. In a pot add add the remaining ingredients, add chilli combination and bring to a rolling boil. Keep at the same temperature, stirring until sauce thickens. Poor in to sterilised glass jars/ bottles or in to a clean jar and store in the fridge.
summer salad- Frugal Friday
This is my standby summer salad at the moment. It’s finding itself teamed up with a whole heap of dishes, as you can make a big batch of it and it’s not going to go soggy when left in the fridge for a few days.
Summer salad
Chopped up raw kale leaves, (don’t worry about the stalks, too chewy)
Steamed and diced carrots
Steamed corn cut off the cob
Sliced capsicum (peppers)
Pecans
If you have any other seasonal goodies hanging around, pop them in too.
Dress with your favourite dressing.
Summer Roasted Tomatoes- Frugal Friday
Roasted Summer
some summery heirloom tomatoes chopped in half
a small roughly chopped eggplant
a few cloves of seasonal local garlic
some great local olive oil drizzled all over
pop in a few potatoes/ sweet potatoes if you feel like it
then roast at about 200C until it smells wonderful and looks how you want it.
Just before you finish the roasting add some
ripped up basil leaves
and sliced soft fresh mozzarella (not the salty waxy yellow type)
Eat with some chunks of sourdough for mopping up those juices.
Simple, seasonal, locally produced, frugal… oh and tasty.
cherry season
I wonder just how many cherries a person is supposed to eat in one sitting?
What’s the limit? Where’s that unclear line between that’s sufficient thank you very much, compared to Oh crikey, THAT is rather a lot young lady.
I don’t know, I really don’t. That line is decidedly murky at the moment. It feels likes it’s been years since I had cherries, let alone good cherries, but this year… oh la la. Summer has looked decidedly cherry shaped… and I’m rather loving that.
********
Any idea what the cherry quota should be?
*******
It’s nearing the end of our season but support your locally grown cherries.
More information on Australian cherries here.
cherry plum and almond wreath
cherry plum and almond
A baking challenge?
You bet.
How could I not. It looked delicious. The taste possibilities were endless, and it looked like just the thing to tickle The Monkeys taste buds.
Make it with local seasonal fruit, even better.
peach and blueberry
For how to make one of these wreaths, pop over to Discovering Sourdough.
I’ve written down the changes I’ve made, but it will make more sense if you check out the original recipe first.
Cherry Plum and Almond Wreath
200mls milk
3 tbls sour cream
50g butter
50g sugar
Warm ingredients gently and then cool a little and add
210mls water
Set aside.
450g starter (100%)
650g strong bakers flour
Mix together with liquid mixture and let autolyse for an hour.
2 tsp salt
Add the salt, mixing well with dough hooks.
200g strong bakers flour
Then out on to a well floured board and incorporate the extra 200g of flour. Slowly and over about 10 plus minutes.
Prove for 3 hours
Cherry Plum and Almond Mixture
6 blood plums cut up
large handful of fresh cherries, pips out
3/4 cup of sugar
Cooked up for a few minutes until soft, draining any excess juice off and stir through a large handful of blitzed almonds, (or almond meal if you already have it.)
Peach and Blueberry
fresh farmers market blueberries
This post submitted to yeastspotting.
pepperonata- Frugal Friday
The first time The Monkeys saw yellow capsicum, they raised a skeptical eyebrow or two. Even after my assurance that yes, it was still a capsicum, yellow it may be.
Capsicums are red or green mama…
Yes, but they are also yellow.
Now come on, eat it.
A tentative bite, eyebrows still cocked…
It is capsicum! They happily declared.
(Saying that, they wouldn’t touch this dish, they like their vegetables on the raw side.)
Pepperonata
A couple of good slurps of wonderful local olive oil
as much diced seasonal garlic as you fancy
and sliced capsicum
cook it through for a few minutes, and then pop a lid on and wilt it down until it becomes soft. Salt to taste and serve with some crusty bread, and perhaps a little chorizo, (the chorizo alway wins points with The Monkeys and Mr Chocolate.)
a farmers hands
Her hands gently held my wrists. Feeling for my pulses, she was working out whether I would be having a baby girl or a boy. While her touch was gentle, and the contact and meaning behind the check I found fascinating, it was her hands that struck me the most.
A farmers hands.
I’m lucky enough to be able to get the majority of my vegetables straight from the source. No middle man, no super market. Just my lady with her stall, selling what she grows. I love this.
I love that I can choose what to buy, its spray free, and the taste doesn’t even come close to anything else I could buy at a regular chain supermarket.
The tomatoes may look a little gnarly, the lettuce still has some dirt on it, and the cucumbers sometimes curl around a small child’s wrist.
Perfection.
This is what I want. This is how I want to choose to eat. Knowing my money is going back directly to the person growing it and toiling the soil to fill my dinner plate. If I’m not sure how to cook with something I’ll ask. Purple carrots not in this week? She’ll try to bring me some next week. Having that contact with someone who produces such an important part of my family’s life is invaluable.
If more people supported farmers markets such as these, I think societies would change. How could they not?
You would have contact with the person that was producing a large proportion of your food. You would be eating healthier, a higher proportion of your diet coming from vegetables, rather than pre packaged food. Money would be spent and going directly to the local producer, knocking out that chubby middle man, and not to forget that social contact. That wonderful element of connecting with someone and talking to them about what they do. This is just to list a mere few wonderful positives on shopping like this. Buying your vegetables in a supermarket what are the positives? Convenience?
Maybe convenience is overrated…
