Fermentation - Sauerkraut!

For the last few months I've been really excited by the process of making fermented foods, and how I can introduce what I've been working on into our diets.

For those of you not yet in the know, fermented foods such as kefir milk, sauerkraut, and kombucha tea have a whole gang of great bacteria in them which aid digestion and offer a huge range of other health benefits to boot.

In the past the guts in our family have been in a sorry state. We have three with gluten intolerance, one with a wheat/egg allergy, two with lactose intolerance, and one who has behaviour issues after eating some foods. We've all had numerous doses of antibiotics, and unfortunately the first two years of our wee boy's life were spent dosing him up with various different things in order to keep him functioning.

I'm convinced that we could all benefit from sorting out the bacteria in our guts. There are loads of different (some quite extreme) diets out there addressing the link between the gut and psychological/physiological symptoms but with our already restricted diet I'm not prepared to dive into anything like that without some proper testing first. What we are doing, is having a go at making and eating some fermented probiotic rich foods.

Today I thought I'd write a few words about sauerkraut.

What is it?
Sauerkraut is basically fermented cabbage. It has a pickled, slightly sour taste that goes great with cold meats, sausage, corned beef and cheeses. If you like pickled onions or gherkins you're going to love sauerkraut!

How do you make it?
It's made by grating cabbage finely, rubbing salt into it, then letting it sit under a weight until it bubbles and ferments.

How does cabbage turn into sauerkraut?
The magic happens by a process called lacto-fermentation. The cabbage has a natural amount of beneficial bacteria on its surface and when you submerge it in brine (salty water) the bacteria converts the natural sugars in the cabbage into lactic acid, which naturally preserves the vegetable content.

How long does it take?
You need a minimum of three days to make one jar, longer for a big crock of it.

Why should I eat it?
Sauerkraut contains many of the same probiotics as a bowl full of yoghurt, but without the dairy - which is great for the lactose intolerant amongst us. It's great for your tummy and it's really yummy too!

Can't I just buy it?
Sure! There are some great brands of sauerkraut on the market. I like Eden Organic Sauerkraut because it uses organic cabbage and only contains cabbage, salt and water - just like it should. It has a yummy tangy taste that's not too strong. It's also $7 a jar from my local co-op - which is why I'm interested in making my own.

With home made sauerkraut you can control the flavour by testing pieces and taking bottling it when it suits your taste buds. You can add spices to it, use red cabbage... there are lots and lots of options when you do it yourself.

What do I need to be aware of?

As with all fermented food,  you need to be aware of hygiene. Keep your work surface, hands and jars super clean. 

When your sauerkraut is fermenting you may see some bubbles or white foam come to the top - that's normal. It may even bubble over - so it's important to use a big jar and put a plate underneath to catch any spills.

If you get any mould on the top it may be because you've put your jar in a place that's too hot. You can scrape the top layer off and keep going - the lactic acid is a powerful preservative. If anything looks very dodgy, smells bad, or if there is any fur growing in it use your best judgement. It may be best to start again.

For more info on recipes and the process of making sauerkraut check out:

Wild Fermentation
The Kitchn

Liver Detox - Day 6

So we're on day 6! I didn't get time to write an update for days 4 and 5 but here are some of the meals we've been eating:

Breakfast: non wheat bread and nut butter; blueberry smoothies; porridge; super muesli
Morning tea: avocado; nuts; fruit;juice
Lunch: soups; non wheat bread with avocado and trout; salads with chickpeas and beans
Afternoon tea: juices/smoothies; nuts; fruit
Dinner: red peppers stuffed with brown rice, mushrooms, and eggplant; warm quinoa salad with roasted vegetables

We both still have some joint pain although it's definitely easing. I've been doing some research on it and apparently it's a common symptom of cutting out wheat/dairy/sugar and all processed foods. The theory is that the body has a "to do" list of things to heal and when you have toxins and digestive issues your body will work on them first because they're the most urgent. That means all of the other things will get bumped further down the list. Now that we're eating really well our bodies are going to work on all of the little niggly injuries and issues that have been sitting for a while. The pain is nerve stimulation and the tightness and stiffness is a release of toxins. I guess that explains the odd places that I've been hurting - my right thumb (old RSI injury), my bad hip, and lower back. Mr J has been hurting in all of his sore spots too!

To help with the pain I've been doing some gentle yoga and last night I had an Epsom Salts bath which really helped.

I've been sleeping so deeply which has been amazing. As a lifelong insomniac I don't think I have ever slept this well. I'm waking up refreshed and ready to get up and get going. I no longer feel tired in the afternoons and evenings and I haven't had a headache since the beginning of the detox.

Something I read said that we should continue until it's been 2 days since our last negative symptom. I'm happy to do that, I'm really loving the variety and taste of the food so I'm happy to keep it up!

Liver Detox - Day 3

Well, what can I say except ouch. Both Mr J and I are really, really sore. It's the weirdest thing - we eat well normally so I don't understand how this detox could cause such strong symptoms. Our backs are aching, when we move we have sharp pains deep in our bones. According to Dr Google this is normal and is a positive sign - but sheesh. It hurts.

Today we had cinnamon and fruit porridge (oats for me, quinoa flakes for Mr J). For lunch we had rye/GF toast with an eggplant and borlotti bean dip and some leftover sweet potato and coconut soup. Dinner was a wild rice mix with an olive and greens tapenade mixed through and some charred brussel sprouts, mushroom and eggplant on top. Dessert was stewed apple and blueberries with a "crumble" made from toasted quinoa flakes, flaked almonds and coconut. On the side we had homemade coconut and raspberry ice cream (it's just coconut solids and raspberries so no sugar).

Food was yummy, but I'm finding that I am craving salt. I'm more of a salt girl that a sugar girl so that's not too surprising. Headaches have gone now and I'm sleeping well. If these joint pains went away I'd be feeling fantastic.

I'm really used to rooibos tea now and I'm not sure if I'll go back to regular - I'm sleeping so much better without the caffeine.

Liver Detox - Day 2

Today went well food-wise but I'm sore all over. I don't know why or how, but my bones hurt. The worst by far is my bad hip/pelvis which is aching so badly I'm shuffling along like a 90 year old woman. Not cool. Hopefully tomorrow things will calm down.

Today we had vegan wheat-free french toast using ground flaxseed and water to make an egg-like gel. Mixed with almond milk and cinnamon it made a really nice french toast batter. We had peaches, cherries and blueberries on top with some seed mix. Lunch was steamed fish with roasted sweet potato and fennel, and some mixed super greens. Afternoon tea was pumpernickel bread with avocado and a vitamin drink (GF bread for Mr J). Dinner was a coconut, sweet potato and carrot soup with pumpernickel on the side. 

The food has been great so far. Having a cooked meal for lunch was a nice change. Apart from the soreness I'm feeling really good - I'm waking up early feeling ready to get up (trust me, this doesn't usually happen) and my insomnia seems to have taken a hike. 

Liver Detox - Day 1

Day 1 today! Mr J is less than enthused. By 8am he was missing his morning coffee and it went downhill from there.

I, however, am feeling mighty fine. I still have my headache (4 days now!) but otherwise I feel really good.  Hopefully my other half picks up tomorrow.

This is what we ate today:

Breakfast: Superfood museli with berries, grated apple, seed mix and coconut

Morning Tea: Banana and handful of raw nuts

Lunch: Sesame salad with artichoke, chickpea, celery and kale and a bowl of lentil and carrot soup

Afternoon Tea: Blueberry smoothie, handful of olives then a rooibos tea

Dinner: Wild rice, fennel and mushroom pilaf

Drinks: Lots of water, a vitamin liver detox drink, and some rooibos tea

The seed mix is a blend of ground up seeds and we're putting them on almost everything during the detox. It's about 50% ground flaxseed/linseed to 50% blend of other seeds. I used chia, black sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Once you blend them keep them in a non-plastic container tightly sealed in the fridge. I've been sprinkling it on the kid's peanut butter toast and they're enjoying it too.

How was it?

The museli was nicer than I thought. I hate breakfast and wasn't looking forward to eating a huge bowl of warm museli but it was actually quite good. To make it you put 40g of raw rolled oats in a bowl with 1 Tbsp seed mix (as above), 1 Tbsp dessicated coconut, 1 Tbsp blueberries and 1/2 grated apple. Then you cover it with boiling water and leave it for a few minutes so the oats soften and puff up.

Lunch was pretty good too. I got a bit sick of the salad so I also had some leftover carrot and lentil soup with some seed mix on top.

I skipped the olives for afternoon tea (couldn't see them going with a smoothie!) but Mr J had them.

Dinner was delicious!

Exercise

Once the kids are in bed we're going to do a couple of short detox focused yoga practices on myyogaonline.com. We also spent a few hours walking around an outlet mall today - that counts right?

Liver Detox

Tomorrow my hubby and I are starting a 9 day liver detox program. You guys know how I love a challenge - remember Vegan Week??

I thought I'd share our progress with you over the next 9 days. We're following the recipes in this book:

I chose it for no other reason than I saw it in the library and it the program features real food, you know, not just smoothies and juices and the like. 

Why are we doing it?

I have some liver issues and I know my liver function isn't great at the moment because my symptoms are quite bad. I've been having 3 - 4 day headaches, waking up feeling very tired, and I've felt generally "toxic" for a while. I can't process highly fatty foods usually (which is part of my liver problem) but lately I've had trouble with anything even remotely fatty. Alcohol is also a write off - even one glass of wine.  My husband is doing it because I'd like the company on this little journey and he's a good sport.

What will we be eating?

We can eat wholefoods, fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and seeds, smoothies and decaffeinated drinks. No coffee, caffeinated tea, red meat, poultry, wheat or dairy. We are mostly GF in this house for Ben who is coeliac and my husband who is gluten intolerant (and probably undiagnosed coeliac himself). I don't eat dairy, so I think the eating plan will be OK. The cost was the same as my normal shop and I bought extra meal ingredients for the kids who won't be doing the detox. We'll also be taking liver supplements and probiotics (I take these anyway).

What do we want to get out of it?

I'd like to feel more energised and I'm interested to see if eliminating toxins has an effect on my headaches and joint pain. I'm also keen to break my chocolate cravings! I think my 3 coffees a day husband is really going to struggle tomorrow and Saturday but will hopefully feel better by early next week.

What preparation is involved?

I worked out my shopping list and ordered my groceries online this week to make sure I got it all. I love online shopping - I've felt happy all day knowing my food is going to appear on my doorstep this afternoon without me stepping foot into a supermarket. I wrote out a detailed menu plan including meals for the kids. The key to following the recipes is having everything at hand, otherwise I think it will be easy to make something else or buy food instead. I stopped drinking tea two days ago in preparation and have had the most monster headaches which I think is a sign of addiction to the caffeine in it. I've been drinking a lot of water and red bush or rooibos tea instead.

What about exercise?

Along with the eating plan we'll be following a detox program from  My Yoga Online . You need to be a member to do the programs but there's lots of free info on there as well. The program has detox recipes and tips and yoga practice videos to do at home specifically for detox. 

So that's the deal, I'll keep you updated with how it goes!

Crop & Swap

Today was our local Crop & Swap meet. I took along organic unsweetened yoghurt, eucalyptus laundry gel, four kombucha cultures, some cheesy bread rolls, and some chai tea mix and I came home with:

GF date cake
Savoury quinoa bites
Anzac biscuits
Rocky road
Sweet tomato and eggplant chutney
Blood plum jam
Apple sauce
Rose hip jelly
Nectarine chutney
Mint jelly
Pumpkin
Sorrel
Rosemary
Lemongrass
Tomatoes
Spinach
Eggplant
Bay leaves
Muesli
Coffee
Body scrub
Strawberry plant
Food grade bucket (for sauerkraut etc.)

.... and not a cent exchanged hands. Pretty good huh?

The Crop & Swap is the perfect way to shop if you're in the middle of a No Shopping Challenge like we are. I'm starting to think that bartering and swapping would be fantastic any time, not just in the middle of a frugal challenge. How great would it be if people could get rid of their excess produce and gain something back all without spending anything?

I'm off to enjoy an Anzac biscuit. Have a great Saturday!

Kombucha, Gardening and Santa's Workshop

I've had a busy last few weeks as I'm sure most of you have had. I've had lots of sewing to do for our home made gifts, all of the usual Christmas and end of year stuff for the kids, and on top of that our laptop died suddenly.

This morning I was bottling up last week's kombucha and it prompted me to post a quick update here to tell you how we're getting on with it.  We've been making kombucha since the end of September and since then we've gone from drinking 1L per week to 4L per week.. and we're still running out! The kids absolutely love it, which is a surprising bonus. I've had a play with flavoured teas and we've settled on a favourite - cranberry and pomegranate (1 cranberry and pom tea bag and 1 black tea bag per 1L of water). You can read all about my entry into the world of fermented kombucha tea including my recipe here.

As for the health benefits.. well, we haven't had any 'die off' or negative side effects at all. I do limit the kids to one glass per day but they've been known to sneak more. Jemima in particular is mad for it.  Both kids have been pretty healthy lately but I think the real test will be next winter when the bugs start lurking. One thing I have noted is that both kids have been exposed to a rampant tummy bug repeatedly over the last month through friends and school/preschool and neither of them has caught it.

These bottles will go into the cupboard for a week to further ferment and fizz up a bit and then they'll be ready to drink. I was only leaving them for three or four days but we found that by leaving them longer the kombucha mellowed a bit and the taste was fresher.

As for the taste.. if you're unfamiliar with kombucha you may be wondering what it's like. The bottles above taste like an iced tea mixed with berry, a bit fizzy and really clean and refreshing. It's yum honest!

And the bonus of making lots of bottles of kombucha is that you end up with lots of SCOBY's. When you make a batch a new yeast pancake forms on the top which you can separate when it's big enough and use to make a new batch of tea. Since we're away for Xmas I've put my SCOBY's in a jar covered with kombucha tea, they'll sit dormant in the fridge until I come home.

 So how's the balcony garden doing?

Thai pink egg tomatoes almost ready!

Zucchini and capsicum (looking a bit hot).

Legend tomato - just starting to form fruit.

Two heirloom Diggers tomatoes.

Cucumbers which are growing along the wire nicely. 

And lastly.. Christmas. I had a goal this year of making Christmas as simple, ethical, and home made as possible. Now that my shopping and making is done - how did I do?

My first challenge was to make gift bags rather than buy wrapping paper. I've done pretty well. All but three or four presents from us to the kids and each other are in bags. I ran out of time at the end so we have a present or two for the kids in paper. Next year I'll make a couple more and we should be sorted. Jemima and Ben made their own using stencils and stamps and I sewed them up.

As far as gifts go, most of them were hand made by me. It's a cheap way of doing things but it does take planning and a lot of time. I made Jemima some clothes and a beach bag out of a vintage towel, and I made Ben an explorers satchel and a quilt for his bed. My nephews are all receiving home made presents too. For the bought presents I used the Oxfam shop for one person and I bought lots of books. The kids have one toy each under the tree that isn't particularly eco friendly or educational but it was what they'd asked for.. and it is Christmas after all! So while I wasn't 100% on track with my goal, I was definitely more mindful when buying things and I think it helped to distance myself from the mad consumerism and craziness out there at this time of year.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas season, I hope it's a special time with your family full of fun and good things.

x Becs

And then we went foraging

Down by the Nepean River lie a row of tall mulberry trees.  Each summer we picnic underneath their canopy of blousy lime green leaves taking refuge from the sun. Lying on your back looking up it's possible to see a few of the last mulberries hidden from the birds and more recently, the foragers. I always seem to leave my mulberry picking too late. But not this year.

At the Crop & Swap on Saturday there was talk of ladders, climbing trees, making jams, and rocky road, and it all had to do with mulberry season. This morning we took Ben down to the river with a bucket and we foraged for berries. It was so fun. Ben quickly became our scout - running from tree to tree calling out "Over here guys! I found a goodie!" before taking a rest in the shade with some leaves and a pile of sticks.

J went up the tree and when he couldn't reach the outer branches I did something I haven't attempted in many, many years. I climbed onto his shoulders and balanced there picking berries while trying not to shriek like a little girl.

As it turns out, fruit picking is really hot hard work. Our 500g of berries took about an hour to collect and was made into just one large jar of jam. For a brief moment it seemed like a lot of effort for not a lot of food - but then I remembered Ben's little face as he wove in and out of the branches and how silly and young I felt wobbling about on top of my husband's strong shoulders.

It was a bit of fun. And a good way to spend one of these precious last home days with our Ben before he starts school next year. And it's got me thinking - what other fruit trees are out there waiting for an unlikely gang of foragers to discover them?

Balcony veggie patch update

We've added to our balcony garden after a trip to the school festival where we found lots of cheap seedlings. We added another row of rain guttering and at the moment it's free for new lettuce seedlings (apart from some basil). The zucchini is growing really well in it's storage bucket thanks to worm wee provided courtesy of the worm farm.

This is what we have happening at the moment- the weather is heating up so I expect some good growth in the next month or so. Hopefully we'll be making a salad from here soon!

The Grapefruit Wars

When we moved into this house a few months back I did what I always do when checking out a new place. I took a tour of the garden. I always hope that I'll find something useful - abandoned vegetable gardens would be great - established fruit trees would be awesome. On this occasion I spotted a large healthy citrus tree from a distance and as I approached I was delighted to discover that it was covered with plump green balls. An orange tree! My kids love oranges. Orange juice! Orange cake! Orange ice blocks for the summer!

I waited patiently through autumn for my oranges to turn orange, keeping a careful eye on the leaves of the tree for any infestations or viruses. There was no need to worry, this tree has been here a while and she's a healthy old girl.

Then one day I was chatting to the landlord about the property and she said "You know, down there by the grapefruit tree". Ummmm... the what now? The grapefruit tree? Out of all the fruit trees one can inherit the grapefruit tree is surely the booby prize.

Nobody can eat a tree load of grapefruit, except perhaps my sister and I when we're 6 months pregnant. My kids are good eaters but they won't touch a grapefruit. My husband hates them. And as it turns out, so do most people. I couldn't give them away. Every time I presented a friend with a bag of grapefruit I got the thanks, but no thanks.

Now one thing I really hate is waste, and food waste is the worst. Every day I'd see bright yellow globes dropping from the tree onto the grass where even the cockatoos wouldn't touch them. It was playing on my conscience a bit, seeing perfectly good fruit rotting away like that.

So this week I declared war on the grapefruit tree. I decided to make as much marmalade as I could stand to make, and then I followed that up with grapefruit jelly.

Marmalade is the easiest jam in terms of setting, but it sure is a pain to prepare. All of the cutting and slicing the peel. My peel is always too chunky because I can't ever be bothered to cut it finely enough. Nevertheless, the other morning I went down to the tree and collected the best looking fruit. I added some organic oranges to the lot and gave it all a good wash. Then I cut, and diced, and deseeded, and cut some more. For two hours. Then the marmalade was made in the usual way - cooking the fruit before adding the sugar and cooking until the setting point is reached. At the end of the afternoon I had 7 nice jars of marmalade, some for us and some to swap at our community crop & swap meet (that's if anyone will want my chunky jam).

Today I tackled the rest of the grapefruit on the tree. I decided to make jelly, partly because I wanted something different but mostly because it's so much easier. I washed and chopped the fruit including the peel and pips and boiled that for about 20 minutes with some water. Once it was all pulpy and soft I strained it through an old cotton pillowcase over a bowl.

You can use a jelly bag for this, but I don't have one and this works just as well. It looks a little odd...

If you try this, don't squeeze the bag (it'll make your jelly cloudy).  Once I had the juice I measured it back into the pot, added sugar and boiled it until the setting point was reached (scraping off the scum/froth as it cooked). Ta - da! This is easily enough for our family for a year, with a few jars left over to swap for some fruit and vegetables. So if you find yourself with a heavily laden grapefruit tree don't despair - there's always marmalade :)

Down on the farm

Shopping day today and since it's school holidays I thought I'd mix it up a little. 20 minutes from us is the Hawkesbury region - close in terms of distance but very different in terms of landscape. Where we have dense forest and rocky slopes they have wide open pastureland and a winding river. It's just about perfect for growing food.

One of the farms down there has a farm shop where you can buy fresh produce and eggs from their free range chooks. We woke up to a sunny day and not much to do so I thought we'd take a little drive to buy our food from the farm.

Apart from seeing our food grow and visiting the chooks the best thing about the farm shop is the price. I spent $47 and I bought:

2 lettuces
A bag of tomatoes
A bag of carrots
A huge bag of Dutch Cream potatoes
3 avocados
Celery
A bunch of beet root
3 ears of corn
A bag of mushrooms
A big bag of apples
Bananas
A bag of walnuts
2 broccoli
1 cauliflower
A dozen eggs courtesy of the girls
2 lemons
3 cucumbers

And probably more that I've forgotten!

I reckon that's pretty good value. We stopped in to get some meat on the way home and a couple of bags of things from Coles and that was the shopping done.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day :-)

Fermenting - Kombucha

Have you heard of Kombucha? I hadn't until recently. I was browsing around the Internet looking for recipes for fermented foods and I came across this strange sounding tea.

Kombucha is made from sweet tea that is then fermented by using a SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast). The SCOBY eats the sugar in the tea creating a tangy and fizzy drink that's, well, yum. Before I tried my first bottle of Kombucha I had read a bit about it, and I wasn't expecting it to taste so good. The best description I can give is a crisp apple cider with the taste of stone fruits.

So what exactly is a SCOBY? It's a weird looking pancake like jellish thing that floats in your jar of tea. It's odd. In Kombucha circles (yes, there are some) the SCOBY is called the mother and when a white layer forms on the mother, it's called the baby. I told my husband that and he gave me a look that said, let's just call it a SCOBY- Ok?

You can buy a SCOBY and some starter tea from health stores and from eBay. I bought mine for just under $13 including postage from eBay and it arrived in great condition with lots of instructions to get me started.

So why drink it? Apart from the taste, Kombucha has incredible health benefits. The tea has lots of goodies in it like probiotics, it contains lactic and gluconic acid, and a range of B vitamins. Lactic acid helps with digestion and gluconic acid can help with yeast infections and liver detox. Kombucha lovers report benefits in aiding acid reflux, constipation, and weight loss.

How do you make it? My recipe is very simple.
Take 1L of water and bring it to the boil, remove from the heat and add 2 black tea bags.
Brew for 15 minutes (longer if you like it stronger), and add 1/4C of white cane sugar.
Stir to dissolve the sugar, remove the tea bags, and wait until it's cooled down to luke warm.
Add 100ml of starter tea (that comes with your SCOBY when you buy, and then you save 100ml of each batch to use next time).
Poor into a clean big glass jar (make sure it's big enough to hold all the liquid) and slide in the SCOBY. Cover with a breathable cloth like a hanky or a cheesecloth and attach a rubber band around the rim. Place in a cool dark place for 7 days to ferment.
After 7 days pour off a bit of the liquid and taste it, if it's still sweet then leave it another day and try again - it should be pleasantly tangy and fresh but not like vinegar.
Bottle it into clean bottles and leave for 3 days to carbonate. Plastic is good because you can tell when it's carbonated - the bottles are hard.
Place into the fridge and consume within a month.

* there are lots of ways to flavour your Kombucha, I haven't tried any yet but I'll let you know when I do!

Is it safe? Now as with any food product, especially fermented food, you do need to be careful with hygiene. I always wash my hands and sterilise my glass jars in boiling water before I start. I also did my research before I started both online and by reading through the detailed instructions my eBay seller provided. If you have a go at googling Kombucha you'll no doubt find a few scary websites talking about Kombucha and people getting sick etc. There are also people all over the world who have been making Kombucha tea for generations, and in much dirtier conditions than our kitchens. I take an educated and common sense approach when fermenting foods.

I don't think there is any good reason why we can't make and enjoy these products at home (and I'm a bit cynical about the blogs who say never to make your own Kombucha and then magically have a commercial brand endorsed as part of their blog post - ahem).

I suggest you do your own research if you're concerned. I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist. There's lots of info out there - far too much for me to write out here.

One thing I do want to mention is that some people have reported a 'cleansing crisis' or a 'healing crisis' in the first few days which is basically the intestines have a bit of a freak out at all the good bacteria. Symptoms are a gurgling tummy, diarrhea, and tiredness. You can help that if it happens by drinking less tea more often - so lots of frequent sips, and by drinking a lot of water. It should sort itself out pretty quickly.

Is it alcoholic? It is slightly. About 1%. You'd need to drink a lot of it to get drunk - and I don't recommend that because it would be way too much for your tum.

So there we go, Kombucha Tea! I'll be continuing this fermenting series with kefir milk and sauerkraut so what this space.

Yoghurt in a Slow Cooker

Part of my job as mum/wife/cook/home maker is to look at ways to make things healthier, more budget friendly, and as home made as possible. I really enjoy the challenge of making food from scratch and it's satisfying to know that the end product is full of good things for our bodies.

We are not big yoghurt eaters. I don't eat it at all as I'm dairy intolerant and the kids have only limited dairy in their diets. But my husband likes yoghurt, and he eats cottage cheese every day. After buying a big punnet of cottage cheese every week for a while, and after looking at all of the additives that go into it, I thought that there must be a way to make fresh organic yoghurt and curds at home.

After a bit of Internet research I had a go yesterday and I was thrilled with the results. It was so simple, anyone can do it. You'll end up with a huge jar of organic yoghurt for a fraction of the cost of store bought organic brands.

Here's how to do it:

You'll need:

A slow cooker
1L whole milk
1 small punnet plain, unsweetened organic yoghurt with as many live cultures as possible (at least 5)

Turn your crock pot or slow cooker on low with the lid on.

When it's warmed up a bit, put 1L into the crock pot. Use organic whole milk if you can, if you can't find it or it's too pricey use a whole milk that is pasturised but NOT ultra pasturised. The better quality milk you use, the better your yoghurt will be.

Replace the lid and leave it for around 2 hours until it's steaming and frothy around the edges but not boiling (85 degrees C or 185 degrees F). This took 1.5 hours for me but it will depend on your crock pot. I don't have a milk thermometer and I'm not really the type to measure it anyway.. so I judged it on when it looked right.

Turn the crock pot off and leave the milk to cool down to warm - you want to be able to put your (clean) finger in and have it warm but not burning hot (around 46 degrees C or 115 degrees F).

Take out a cup of the milk and mix it with 1/4C of your yoghurt in a clean bowl. Place the milk and yoghurt mix back into the rest of the milk in the crock pot and replace the lid.

Wrap the whole thing up in a wool blanket or thick beach towel to keep it all snug and warm and put it out of the way. Some people put it in a cold oven, I put mine in the bottom of my pantry.

Leave it for between 5 - 12 hours.  I was impatient so I peeked after 5 hours and it was thick and creamy. Leaving it for longer such as over night will be fine too.

Bottle in clean glass jars. It will keep in the fridge for 7 - 10 days.

It's great plain in baking or curries, and I'm looking forward to trying some combinations on the kids such as raw cacao powder and agave, vanilla and honey, and pureed strawberry.

Make sure that you reserve a small portion of your home made yoghurt (plain) for the starter for your next batch!

Curds

I reserved around 1.5 C of my yoghurt to make into cheese. Basically all you need to do is strain the yoghurt through a cloth into a bowl. I used a cheesecloth. I draped the cloth into my bowl, poured in the yoghurt then gathered the sides and tied a knot. Then I grabbed the ends and tied them to a wooden spoon, and placed the handle of the wooden spoon over a ceramic bowl. In the morning I had whey (thin yellowish watery stuff) in the bowl and a thick white cheese left in the cloth.

The curds can be used like cream cheese on crackers or toast, or you can loosen them up a bit with some water or yoghurt and add a pinch of salt to make cottage cheese.

Whey

Whatever you do, don't through away that precious whey. It will keep in your freezer for a while, and you'll be needing it soon when I start to teach you all about the wonders of fermenting - coming soon!

DIY Not Peanut Butter

We have a four year old who used to have a peanut allergy and we're still wary of giving him peanut butter. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter anyway because peanuts are so acidic and the state of the guts in our family is tenuous at the best of times. That leaves me with almond butter, or sunflower seed butter, and both are pretty expensive.

The other day I was doing the supermarket shop and as I approached the spreads aisle I had a thought. How hard can it be to make a nut or seed butter? Super easy as it turns out.

This morning I made a jar of almond and sunflower seed butter while I was making the kids their breakfast. It takes no time at all and the taste is amazing - nutty, sweet, salty and none of that gluggy oily taste. And have you ever read the ingredients on the back of a peanut butter jar? Some of the things you may find listed are: icing sugar, sugar, mono-diglycerides, and hydrogenated vegetable oils. Making my own means I can use organic seeds and nuts if I choose to, for a fraction of the cost of a store bought organic spread. It also means I can control the amount of salt I use and I can keep it sugar free.

For this batch I used 200g of raw sunflower seeds and a handful of raw almonds with the skin on. When you're buying your nuts and seeds make sure they are unsalted, unroasted, and have no additives.

Place your nuts/seed mix on a tray and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius or until golden brown. You'll have to shake the tray every few minutes to stop them burning, and they do catch quite quickly.

Once they're nice and golden let them cool for a bit before blending them up. They'll turn to a powder first and then if you take it a step further the mix will start to form a paste as the oils in the nuts are released. I add a bit of oil to loosen it up, I like to use almond oil. Peanuts are naturally oily but almonds and seeds are less so, so I find it does need a bit of oil to turn it from a paste to a spread. I like mine a bit salty so I also add a small pinch of sea salt.

Once you're happy with the consistency and taste pop it into a jar and refrigerate. Yum!

I hope you'll give this one a try, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to make your own super yummy nut spread.

Home Goodness

I had a back to basics day yesterday. Benny and I went to a fruit and vegetable market, the co - op in Katoomba, and a butcher for our meat. I try to always shop this way but sometimes life gets in the way. Lately my groceries have been bought in a whirlwind tour of Coles late at night or in a rush after school pick up. Interestingly, whenever I stop buying my food from local suppliers my motivation to cook drops off dramatically. We've had more than a few baked beans-and-sausages dinners of late. Yesterday it was time to change that.

Shopping at a few different places takes all morning. Especially because my food co-operative is 30 kms away. Despite my best intentions it's not always going to be possible to shop like this, and I've come to realise that it's OK. My mothering motto has always been do the best that I can with what I have.  Some days I have lots of time and energy and patience. Other days I just don't.

Yesterday it wasn't a problem, Benny and I had no plans other than to shop and to cook so off we went up the mountain as soon as Jemima was safely aboard the school bus.

After a morning shopping we spent the afternoon cooking up a storm. Over the weekend J and I had a talk about the food he's eating at work and what we could do to make it healthier for him. Being gluten free he finds work lunches really hard work, and he often ends up eating a stack of Corn Thins (which are not a meal) or going without. Yesterday I made a couple of soups to help him out.

The first was a kale and bean soup that was really easy to make. In a stock pot I sauteed some leek in olive oil and a little butter until soft. Then I added a big bunch of washed and chopped kale. When it had wilted and the stalks were soft I poured in some chicken broth that I had in the freezer (just enough to cover) and two tins of drained cannelini beans. Simple, wintery, and nutritious.

My next soup was pea and ham made in the slow cooker. I rinsed around 2 cups of green split peas and added them to the slow cooker with three stalks of celery (chopped) and a ham hock from the butchers. Enough water was poured over the top to almost cover the ham hock and then it cooked on low throughout the day. I removed the ham and blended the soup and then added the ham meat (pulled from the bone) back in along with a good sized tablespoon of mustard.

The last thing I made was some rhubarb, grapefruit, and orange marmalade. We have a grapefruit tree at our house (of all the fruit trees to be blessed with, it had to be a grapefruit!) and at the moment it's bursting with big yellow balls. Oranges are cheap and a bunch of rhubarb was $2.00 yesterday at the market. I had 700g of fruit made up of 6 rhubarb stalks, 1 grapefruit, and 2 oranges. I used some peel from the grapefruit and oranges but not all because my kids don't really like chunky jams.

The fruit was cooked until soft with a little water before 550g of sugar was added. It took no time at all to reach setting point and I was done.

I have to say that I feel so much better after getting back on track with our food buying and prep.

Hope everyone is having a great day xx

Anzac Day

It's been a while since I've written a family post! Anzac Day is an extra special one for me because my great grandfather was a soldier in the Australian Army in WWI. He was one of the first to arrive at Gallipoli and one of the last to leave. Although I never had the chance to meet him, stories about him and his Military Cross have been part of the fabric of my childhood. I've started to talk about the Anzacs a bit with my own children and I'm thrilled that this year Jemima is involved in a special Anzac day at her school. The idea of Australians and New Zealanders as brothers in arms is poignant for us as a Kiwi family living in Australia. It's comforting to think that there's that connection there between our homeland and the land we call home. Tomorrow we're planning a quiet day in each others company reflecting on how very lucky we are to be able to do that.

Gluten free Vegan Anzac Biscuits

There's no reason why we dietary challenged folk can't enjoy the good old Anzac biscuit. As a child these were a staple in my house at all times of the year. I make them often too, but I especially like to make a big batch the night before Anzac Day. Here we'll use tapioca in place of flour, and a mix of flaked quinoa and almond meal instead of rolled oats. They have a slightly nuttier taste than traditional Anzac biscuits.

Combine in a bowl with a whisk:

1 C tapioca starch
1 1/3 C coconut
1 C flaked quinoa
1/2 C almond meal
2/3 C sugar

Then in a saucepan melt together 2 Tbsp golden syrup and 100g DF margarine (or use butter if you can).

Mix the melted butter and syrup into the dry ingredients along with 1 tsp baking soda that has been stirred into 4 Tbsp boiling water.

Combine until well mixed then roll into balls. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 180 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden. Yum!