Thursday, April 28, 2011

On My Plate..................


I often wander what other people eat, what makes them choose what they eat and why? I am a great fan of the blog Oh Joy and the Oh Joy Does Lunch With section. It fascinates me and inspires me. Please tell me that there are others out there that feel this way, or do I need to get out more?????????????

Today:

Breakfast - Cinnamon Quinoa - Healthy lead from the alkaline sisters
Morning Tea - Super Cacao Ball
Lunch - Salad with Cinnamon Pumpkin, Goats Cheese and Roasted Tamatoes with Balsamic Dressing
Afternoon Snack - Ladyfinger Banana and Barambah Blueberry Yoghurt
Dinner - Left Pumpkin, Macadamia and Coriander Soup
Supper - Persimmon
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Pumpkin, Macadamia and Coriander Soup


It was a miserable day here with squally showers and blustery winds a blow. Indeed it was a perfect day for soup. I purchased a bag of macadamia nuts from a guy at the farmers markets on the weekend for $3.00 and whilst many were consumed during the nut cracking process yesterday we did have enough left over for soup. Perfect for such a dreary day.


Pumpkin, Macadamia and Coriander Soup
Serves 4 - 6

1 tblspn ghee
1 medium onion
1 clove of garlic, crushed
½ - 1 tblspn red curry paste (depending on your like for spice)
½ small pumpkin chopped roughly
1 zuchinni chopped roughly
1 organic vegetable stock cube
1 – 1 ½ cups water (approx)
¼ tspn ground black pepper
¼ cup coconut cream
1 cup macadamia nuts roughly chopped plus extra for garnish
Good handful of coriander leaves
Juice of 1 lime

Heat the ghee gently in a large saucepan
Add the onion and garlic, stirring regularly
Add chopped pumpkin and zuichinni and allow to cook for about five minutes, stirring regularly
Add vegetable stock cube, ground black pepper and enough water to cover by 1 cm
Sitr until the stock cube has dissolved
Cover with a lid and allow to cook slowly until tender
Add coconut milk and stir to combine
Whiz everything together with a handheld blender or food processor
Add the chopped macadamias, handful of coriander and whiz again
Add the lime juice, stir and adjust flavours to your taste
Garnish with extra coriander and macadamias (roasted if you like)


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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Healthy Lead - Anzac Biscuits



Anzac Day evokes such emotion and the all round goodness of the anzac biscuit is part of that. Here is my attempt at the healthy chef's version of the anzac biscuit. I have to admit that I used the pulp of almonds leftover from making almond milk so that may have contributed to them being a little crumbly. If I made them again I would suggest adding the addition of an egg white to bind the ingredients some more.
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Coconut Spelt Pancakes



Easter Sunday – what a glorious morning. If there could possibly be a positive to getting up at the crack of dawn with kids, the glorious morning sunrise would have to be it! Our morning exercise was followed by a little treat for Easter Sunday -

spelt pancakes with banana, natural yoghurt and a drizzle of honey.


Coconut Spelt Pancakes

Makes 10 – 12 small pancakes or “pikies” as my boys call them

Ingredients

1 ½ cups spelt flour (wholemeal or white)
1 tblspn honey
½ tspn salt
2 tspn baking powder
1 ½ tspn baking soda
½ cup buttermilk (1 cup if no coconut milk)
½ cup coconut milk (1 cup if no buttermilk)
1 egg

Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and powder in a mixing bowl
Add the honey, milk and egg before using a hand held mixer to beat ingredients to a batter
Allow batter to stand for 30mins (if a thinner batter is preferred then add additional milk)
Heat a heavy based frypan over a mild to medium heat and brush with clarified butter
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the frypan
When bubbles begin to appear in the pancakes flip over and cook the other side
Repeat process until no batter remains
Serve with your choice of fruit, nut butter, honey, maple syrup, natural yoghurt or just have them plain.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Sesame Chicken and Orange Salad

A perfect lunch after a crazy morning at the Easter Bonnet Parade.


Salad
Serves 4

2 bunches brocollini, washed and trimmed
2 zuchinni, cut into batons
2 cups of pre washed baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup organic sultanas
1/4 cup craisins
2 tbs toasted sesame seeds
2 poached or pan fried organic or free range chicken breasts shredded


Dressing

1/4 cup (60ml) red wine vinegar
1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil
1/2 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs orange juice
Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Prepare the chicken breasts by cooking them your preferred way (ie. poached or pan fried)

For the dressing, place all the ingredients in a jar and shake until the sugar is dissolved
Season to your taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
Blanch the brocollini and zuchinni for a couple of minutes and then refresh in cold, iced water
Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile slice the baby spinach leaves into thin shreds.
Place shredded spinach leaves in a bowl along with the sultanas, craisins and sesame seeds.
Add the well drained brocollini and zuchinni before adding the shredded chicken.
Dress to your taste or let your guests dress the salad themselves by adding it on the side.
Sprinkle with some extra sesame seeds should you like.


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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Wholewheat Empanadas


I am always on the lookout for something new to feed my boys that they can handle easily and without to much mess or fuss. You mums know what I am talking about don't you? Well these empanadas turned out a treat and were fun to make. They are also a snack that would travel well if you were out and about rather than buying something. I used a combination of 1/2 wholewheat flour freshly ground using my grain grinder (i will post on this soon) and 1/2 wholemeal spelt. I find that freshly ground wholewheat flour has a crunch to it so if you aren't into that then you could try to substitute 1/2 wholewheat with 1/2 plain flour. Aim for organic if you can.

When it comes to fillings, I am not one for going out and especially buying something as these are a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge so just use your imagination and what you have on hand. A couple of tips however, try to avoid anything that will lose to much water when cooking and also don't overfill the empanada. Also try not to overwork the pastry.

The empanadas pictured are both sweet (red grapes, ricotta and a sprinkle of brown sugar) and savoury (organic chicken, thyme and red pepper). For other filling suggestions try here or if you are looking for a standard gluten free recipe then try here. The possibilities are endless. You can buy a mold that makes things easy or just as easy is the use of a round cookie cutter, filling it and folding it in half before sealing the edges with a fork.


Empanada Dough - makes about 16 Empanadas

1 1/2 cup wholewheat flour
1 1/2 cups wholemeal or white spelt
1/4 tspn sea salt
6 oz unsalted butter
1 egg (lightly beaten) plus another for brushing
5 tbs water

Preheat oven to 185 degrees celcius
Mix flours, salt and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
Add the egg and mix before gradually adding the water. When the mixture starts to come together stop the food processor immediately.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured bench and form a ball
Wrap in plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes
After allowing the dough to rest roll out into a thin sheet and cut out round discs (place in mold if using one)
Place a small amount of filling in the centre of each disc
Fold over the press or seal the edges with a fork if you don't have one
Brush with egg and bake in a pre heated oven until golden brown (approximately 10 - 15 mins)

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Friday, April 15, 2011

Pumpkin Seed Herb Pate


I have recently started getting into the "raw" thing and with such beautiful blogs out there like golubka finding inspiration isn't hard. My efforts in grasping the techniques of raw food preparation have not been without error and I have certainly had some shockers. This pate is so easy, tasty and versatile - just make sure you remember to soak the pumpkin seeds. The pate stretched from green tacos and wraps for lunch to a dip with veggies for a snack and a side with a salad.


Pumpkin Seed Herb Pate

2 cups of pumpkin seeds (soaked for at least 2 hours)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (any other fresh herbs can be used)
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon of tahini
juice of 1 lemon
pinch of sea salt
pinch of cayenne or black pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth and dip like
Wrap in leaves of your choice or use as a dip for veges.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Juicer Pulp and a Banana Cake


I have this thing about food wastage and when it comes to juicer pulp i can't bear the thought of throwing all that nutrition in the bin. If only I had chooks!!

After juicing this morning I took a glance at the fruit bowl and "bingo" - a large ripe banana stared at me just beckoning to be turned into a cake and the juicer pulp was going to to be a part of that.

Suprisingly the outcome was good. Actually i couldn't believe how good it was. I try to use minimal sugar in my recipes and in this cake I only used a 1/4 cup of rapadura which for me and more so the kids was plenty and paired nicely a little dollop of Meredith Dairy Sheeps Milk Yoghurt and blueberries. Delicious! A drizzle of honey would be complimentary to this cake when serving it if you wanted things a little sweeter.


Recipe:

4 eggs separated
2 tspn vanilla extract
1 tspn baking powder (gluten free)
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/4 cup rapadura sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn ground nutmeg
1 cup juicer pulp
2 medium ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup of walnuts, pecans (whatever you have)

Preheat oven to 185 degrees celcius
Line a baking tin or springform tin with non stick paper

Bowl 1 -Beat the eggwhites, vanilla, baking poweder and soda until thick and fluffy
Bowl 2 - Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, coconut oil, cinnamon nutmeg in another bowl until creamy
Bowl 3 - Mix juicer pulp, mashed banana, almond meal and nuts
Fold alternate batches of Bowl 1 and Bowl 3 into Bowl 2

When mixed completely place batter into baking tin and bake for 30 - 40 mins or until a skewer when inserted comes out clean.


For other ides about what to do with juicer pulp try here and here
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Local Eggs


Eggs - I sometimes wander what we would do in our household should we ever become allergic to them or unable to eat them. They have been the saving grace of many a meal put before us and our use of them is many.

Farmers markets have been around for a while now and I am ever so happy that there is one that has started not far from where we live and what makes me even happier is that the quality of some of the food on offer has been fantastic. Last night it was belting down with rain and all I could think about was "I hope i wake up and it is sunny in the morning". Why? Well the farmers markets were on this morning and I get this happy, excited anxious feeling that comes over me when it is time to go and if it were to be raining then I may not get especially when I have to drag a 2 year old and a 4.5 year old along. I would be devastated! Call me crazy but being able to buy from local farmers is important to me and I love every aspect associated with that.

So when I woke this morning, it was raining but I still loaded the kids in the car (in pjs mind you) and trudged through the mud with the pram, umbrellas and everything else known to man to seek out my supplies before the next shower came. I think one of my favourite stall holders would have to be rawganix farm eggs They are the most beautiful eggs I have come across in a while and are the result of poultry being pasture fed and in pens that are designed to be moved. Take a look at their website. They have some interesting business plans in the pipeline that I will be looking forward to reading more about as they evolve.
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Fruity Snack


I recently borrowed my mother in laws dehydrator and so far it has proven to come in very handy especially when it comes to making some healthy snacks to eat on the run. In my world the mornings just seem to fly bye in the blink of an eye and so to does the thought of stopping and having something to eat however thanks to these little dried beauties keeping going doesn't have to be such hard work.
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Falafel and Hummus for a Quick Lunch



A bag of chickpeas has been staring me in the face for weeks now. Countless times I have looked at them, picked them up, looked them up and down, put them back and looked at them again. Finally last night it was like something came over me and I soaked them before going to bed and cooked them today before turning them into hummus and my own style of falafel as a quick lunch for the kids and I. For the hummus I followed this recipe here and for the falafel I just made it up using whatever leftovers needed to be used up in the fridge. Certianly not your traditional style falafel considering they included avocado and dijon mustard but they tasted pretty good none the less and the boys didn't mind at all.
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Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad




The farmers markets were buzzing this morning. Some of the purchases made this morning included local cheese by Gympie Farm Cheese, fresh beetroot and rocket so there really is no need to explain the logic behind my choice of lunch today.

Serves 4

Salad

2-3 beetroots roasted
4 small handfuls of rocket
4 small handfuls of spinach
1/4 cup pecans
100gms goats cheese (your choice), crumbled

Dressing

2 tbspn olive oil
1 tbspn balsamic vingegar
1/2 tbspn brown sugar
1 tbspn lemon juice
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Trim the beetroot and wrap each one in foil before roasting for approximately 40 - 45mins or until tender.
Allow the beets to cool.
Assemble rocket and spinach leaves between four plates.
Slice the cooled beetroot into wedges before placing on top of the salad leaves along with pecans and goats cheese.
Drizzle with salad dressing to your liking.
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Welcome

Hey There, I’m Sherilyn the creator of Wholepromise. This is where I venture outside of being a mum, wife and Fertility Nurse Specialist. I live on the Sunshine Coast in Qld, Australia and am spoilt by year round access to Farmers Markets offering a plethora of local, seasonal and organic produce. In all Wholepromise is my style of food, it’s the food I want my boys to appreciate and it’s the food that makes me happy. Styling and photographing it is just another bonus.

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All photos on Wholepromise are by Sherilyn Palmer. If you would like to use one then please ask and provide a link back to the original source - with thanks :)