A Good Soaking Followed by Pumpkin Pancakes

One thing I have come across more and more lately is information on soaking/sproating nuts and grains. Sure I new about sprouts - alfalfa, mung etc that you add to your salads for crunch. But soaking nuts? Soaking flour? This was all new to me.

Nuts and grains contain enzyme inhibitors. This means when you eat them, they help block the absorbtion of minerals and vitamins (including iron). Heres another Who Knew? Who Knew that eating bread, pasta, baked goods etc were stopping your body from getting everything it needed?  Well there is an easy way around this - soaking or sprouting! In the old days when wheat etc was harvested it stood around in the field for a while. This exposed it to rain and sun which started the sprouting process. So modern farming techniques have sped up the time from harvesting to threshing & storage and our wheat no longer has a chance to sprout.

We can rectify this at home. There are heaps of charts online to show you how long to soak to release the inhibitors or to sprout so I wont reproduce them here. It does take a bit of planning. If you want to cook you need to soak at least overnight. This includes flour. If you are baking, measure out your flour into a bowl. If the recipe calls for milk use that but replace 1 tablespoon of milk per cup with whey, yoghurt or kefir. If the recipe calls for water replace the tablespoon with apple cider vinger. This is put with the flour and covered then left overnight. Easy! (but does need planning, no more spontaneous baking unless its with coconut flour)

So on Pinterest I found a recipe for pumpkin pancakes. It looked really yummy but used sugar & vegetable oil. I decided to have a go at making it Real Food and also have a go at soaking flour (I have soaked nuts, seeds and legumes before). Below is my ammended recipe included is the yoghurt for soaking.

                                                          Pumpkin Pancakes

* 1 1/2 cups unhomoginised milk
* 1 1/2 tablespoon natural unsweetened yoghurt
* 2 cups wholegrain flour
* 1 cup pumpkin puree
* 1 egg
* 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
* 2 tablspoons apple cider vinegar
* 3 tableppsoons maple syrup
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoom cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon allspice
* 1/2 teaspoon ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon himalayan salt

The night before soak your flour in the milk/yoghurt mix.
In the morning mix all the ingredients together (I found it a bit thick so I added some more milk)
Melt some butter in a frypan and place 1/4 cup of batter in to cook.

I served these with double cream and maple syrup. I loved them, Stella liked them but didn't love them. Breanna wouldn't try. That was fine as it meant more for me!

Dancing Queen

Stella dances. So does Breanna and myself, but Stella dances alot. She dances four days a week and also does competitions. Because we are at dancing so much I need to pack a snack/lunch bag for Stella (big enery requirements), myself and a toddler.

This food packing is especially necessary at dance competitions. You would think that having a pile of kids who dance the canteens would provide some healthy options for food. NO!! if you are lucky you can select an apple or orange. Other than that there is always water. That's it. There are chips, chocolates, cakes. lollies, noodles, hot dogs, toasted sandwiches on white bread and soft drink. Great food for children who are competing. Great food for children in general. Let's give them the worst possible foods and expect them to dance. Let's give them the worst possible foods every chance we get.

I am so over it. You go to any sporting event involving children and that's your options - junk, junk and water. Today I'm packing sourdough sandwiches, yoghurt, strawberries, kiwi fruit, soaked pumpkin pancakes, cheese, hard boiled eggs and dried fruit. Stella loves toasted sanwiches so I am going to ask the canteen to toast ours.

I will also be getting pro-active (not the face creams!) and asking if they can start providing some other options. It's no good ranting about it if I'm not willing to make some changes.

www.dyno-mom.com

Check out the above blog. I discovered it in my readings and I find it very informative and inspiring. Melissa has 10 kids (I take my hat off to her), and lives a whole foods life. There is some great reading here, From this blog I have been inspired to make my own water kefir, I have learnt about soaking grains properly and about the Weston A Price Foundation. I highly reccomend this blog.

Mother Guilt & Who Knew?

Mother Guilt would have to be the worst type of guilt known. We read or learn stuff and then we think "Oh my god Idid/didn't do x". Then we feel like the worst possible person in the world. Or we could forget the fact that it's school mufti day and we have sent our child in school uniform. Then we think "I am the worst mum in the world, if I wasn't so busy....."
And so on and so forth. Once we give birth a whole new world of guilt opens up to us (& we also learn how to use guilt on our children but that's another post). It starts from the moment (or just before we give birth). Did you use drugs? Have a natural, vaginal birth? Are you breastfeeding? Bottle? Does your baby follow a routine? It goes on and on and on. It doesn't help that we judge each other over everything (yes if you put coke in your baby's bottle I am judging you).

This preamble leads into my Mother Guilt that I'm having at the moment. I took the girls to the dentist on Tuesday. I have known for some time that Stella's enamel never formed correctly on her teeth - both her baby molars & her adult front teeth. The dentist told me at the moment there is debate about what causes it - antibiotics or the reason the child needed the antibiotics. Stella was sick alot the first year to two years of her life. So she had antibiotics when they were prescribed. Then Stella was fairly healthy bar some food intolerances. But she didn't really get sick. I was careful with her food and she didn't eat processed foods. Then I got slack. Then Stella started getting sick again, culminating in the mystery virus last year.

So my guilt is large. Knowing what I know now about correct diet when you're pregnant, and what foods to eat/give children, I am naturally blaming myself. And there it is...KNOWING WHAT I KNOW NOW. I didn't know back then.I know NOW. I need to keep telling mysel that because of the Mother Guilt. Certainly if I had this knowledge I would have done things different. I would have changed lots of things. But the thing is Who Knew? I did the best I could with the knowledge that I had at the time. And I think that's all we can do. I have better knowledge now, so of course I'm doing things different. Seriously who wouldn't do some things different?

Who Knew?
 Who knew that eating full fat dairy was better for you?
Who knew that you should soak your nuts and grains?
Who knew you should eat cultured or fermented foods daily?
Who knew that foods claiming that they were healthy are actually bad for you?
There are whole lists of Who Knews? These are the things that once you know you go "Oh my good if only..." See it's the Guilt creeping in again.

Just remember do the best you can with the knowledge you have, but try to gain more knowledge. When you learn new stuff DON'T beat yourself up about it. You did the best you could. And don't judge other parents (unless it's coke in the bottle) We give ourselves enough Guilt. We don't need it from anyone else.

And with Stella's teeth? Well she can have sealant put on the molars. The front teeth she can leave or when she's an adult she can have veneers for cosmetic reasons. With her health? Now she is eating well according to my best knowledge. Her diet may change a little bit as I learn new things, but I have removed all the crap from it and this year she has been a lot healthier.

Spring has Sprung!

Yes I know it's only August, but spring has arrived. The plum trees down the road have flowered and more importantly I have harvested the first asparagus spears for the year! I went out to the garden this morning to get some leeks to make potato & leek soup. While I was doing this I looked and saw I had 5 asparagus spears. So went inside and got a knife and soon they were sitting on my cupboard.

Looking at them I realized that I had the makings of a perfect breakfast in my kitchen. I scrambled up 4 eggs from my chickens, added the asparagus then served on fresh sourdough. Everything except the bread came from my yard. You can't get more local than that! Breanna tried the asparagus but handed it back to me...oh well at least she tried it.

I never used to like asparagus. That's not true, I had never tried asparagus. I just assumed that I didn't like it. Then one night I was eating out and there was some on my plate so I tried it. So glad I did because it ROCKS!! I had grown some previously but once I found out I liked it I grew it in earnest. I planted out a small bed with crowns. The thing is you can't harvest them the first year, you need to let them grow, flower and die back. The second year you can harvest, but you always need to let a couple grow and flower. The beauty of asparagus is you can have plants that last 20 plus years.

The season might be short but there really is nothing tastier then fresh asparagus. The stuff in supermarkets just doesn't compare. Another way I like eating it is sautee asparagus, leek & snow peas in garlic & olive oil. Add some black pepper & parmesan and pour over pasta. Beautiful!

So now my morning ritual will include checking the asparagus bed. When you harvest the spears you store them in a glass of water, just like flowers.

In my garden at the moment:

Asparagus
Rhubarb (again can last 20 plus years)
Artichokes
2 types of peas
2 types loose leaf lettuce
Rainbow chard
Kale
Broccoli
Beetroot (seedlings)
Garlic
Parsley
Chives
Dill
Potatoes (musnt have gotten them all out the last time)
Leek
Lemongrass
Sage
Rosemary
Oregano
Mint

Then the fruit trees.

Need to Plant:

Cabbage
Corn
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Pumpkin
Zuchinni
Melons

Coffee and Other Ramblings

I love my coffee. I really, really love my coffee. I start each day with a big mug (equel to 2 cups), recently I moved from instant to perculated. Then when I get to work I have another coffee, then at lunch I have another. Sometimes I'll have one at night with my neighbour. That's a lot of coffee!!
Recently I have been thinking that's too much coffee. So from today I am having my normal morning coffee and that's it. Oh I'm also having it in a normal sized cup not my huge mug. I'm going to use my huge mug for hot lemon or warm milk at night. It will be interesting to see if I get headaches etc from not drinking as much coffee.

This morning I decided to make waffles for breakfast. That's the beauty of only working 2 days. I can cook breakfast. it's fairly easy to make waffles and while they are cooking I can do other stuff, like blog. They are so easy that I doubled the recipe. That way I can have waffles in lunch boxes for snacks or feeze some for quick breakfast on my working days. Stuff like waffles or pikelets is easy to double or triple when you make it and it is so worth it in the long run.

Since I don't work on Thursdays anymore, I have booked Breanna into swimming lessons. Both girls were doing swimming on Saturdays at the Rec centre where we danced. It was so easy swimming then dancing all on the one day. Several of the dancing kids did the same. Then as the saying goes "all good things must end". It shut down. To make it harder Stella dances Tuesdays. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and often has competitions on Sundays. So at the moment Stella is not doing swimming. I was able to get Breanna into lessons Thursday mornings at the YMCA. I think swimming is not negotiable so I need to find a school holiday swim program for Stella.

I think that's all the little things that I wanted to say. You know the little things that on their own don't amount to much but put them together you have a blog post! I haven't blogged about my garden yet so that's next on the agenda. I have started a Facebook group with the same name so join up! There are pictures there ( I can manage that).

What Lurks Within

I had been planning on cleaning out the food cupboard for a couple of weeks. I've slowly been doing the freezers and fridge and have pretty much finished. I also have a suspicion that we have a visitor of the small furry variety (the dog has been going nuts). So this means today I clean out the crap and make sure that everything is in nibble proof containers. I'm working on the premise that no food source equels no visitor.

So I started pulling out everything. I had a keep pile, a chuck pile and a give away pile. You know how you're at the supermarket and some packet thing looks good and easy? So you buy it and put it away and forget about it? Well we had some that were 2 years out of date. These were chucked.
There were also the packets/jars you buy just before you start reading and changing your lifestyle. These have been bagged up to give away. Then there are my most recent purchases: coconut flour, whole peanuts, dried beans. These are in nibble proof containers. I'm suprised that I didn't find a mutant furry animal in there (mutated from all the chemicals in the packets).

I'm now going to buy 3 whiteboards (fridge, freezer and cupboard). This way I can list everything that is in that area and see what I have. That way I can use everything that we buy and cut down on waste.

What scary items are lurking in the back of your cupboard? (out of date weight watchers mousse anyone?)

Full disclosure I've been a little bit slack the last couple of days- white bread when I visited the hospital for example. I'm getting back on track by packing snacks and lunch items when I go out

Everybody needs good neighbours

Last night the girls and I had dinner at our next door neighbours. I made the vegetables and they supplied the chicken and tea. We eat with our neighbours at least once a week and get together for coffee/tea often.

We are lucky that we live in a small culdesac and know at least half of the people who live here. We have had the neighbours on one side of us for the 20 years we have lived here. They are no longer neighbours but family. I looked after the kids when they were little, those kids have looked after my kids. We feed each others animals, water plants, give cooking ingredients etc every Christmas morning it is traditional to have breakfast together. We are really lucky to have this.

We know our other neighbours and the people across the road but maybe because they haven't lived there as long we don't know them as well. My girls are growing up with a sense of community, which I like. It's not all about us, we are a part of a larger community (even though it's only a small street). How many times do we hear about some elderly person dying & nobody realised for years? Maybe if we took the time to say hello or to have a cuppa, that sort of thing wouldn't happen.

Most people today are shut off from their neighbours and communities. We go to work early, come home late and we are too tired. Weekends are "ME' time (unless you have kids and then it becomes "Kid" time. The people living across the road, or behind, or next door rarely figure. And that is a real shame. We are missing out on potential friendships, potential sharing of resources and skills. I have this and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Do you know any of your neighbours?

August Money

After my little rant about not spending enough on food and people wanting the cheapest food available, I decided to doument my expenses.
It should be noted that I have 4 chickens so eggs don't cost anything, I have a garden (but I'm not growing a great deal at the moment), and I already have stuff like bread & meat in the freezer. However I will need to repenish theses.

It will be interesting to see how much I spend in a month and compare it to other months.

Aldi

4 x organic butter                      Organic Yoghurt
3 x strawberries                         Baby cucumbers
2 x 750g bananas                       200g grape tomatoes
500g Brussel Sprouts                4 x organic pureed apple (Breanna is cutting 3 teeth & wont eat)
3x Oatcakes (3 ingredient!)        Block organic chocolate
Kalamata Olives                        Triple brie cheese
Tea

$59.10

Local Fruit Shop

12 x strawberries
2 kilo over ripe bananas (freeze for smoothies etc)
2 x bunches of silverbeet
2K oranges
2K pink lady apples
1K purple carrots
Box of apples
Swiss Brown mushrooms
6 bunches asparagus
proscuitto

$57.00

Abundant Organics

mix vegetable box
6 x royal gala apples
raw cream
2 x raw milk 2L
2 x bunches of kale
2x water
5 x 2L  unhomoginised milk
2 kilo potatoes
12 pink lady apples
6 pears
2 bunches beetroot
6 sourdough rolls
2 x loaves sourdough bread
2 x Kamut spaghetti
2 K bananas

162.75 (includes delivery)

Alcohol

2 x bottles wine

$24

Hospital Food

$45
This includes coffees. They do have "real' meal and I have brought the best options possible. This expense is from visiting my Ma who was in for an operation. I need to pack more snack options.


Woolworths

2 x Macro vegetable chips                              9 Squeezie organic puree (Again teething)
6 x 1litre organic non homoginised milk        2 litre Organic yoghurt
2 x Double cream                                             Roast Garlic Dip
Double Brie                                                     Organic watercrackers
300g natural yoghurt                                       4 K cherries (on clearance!)
maple syrup                                                     1 K organic peanut butter

$64.00


GO VITA HEALTH FOOD

5 x Sourdough bread
Co Yo Ice cream ( I spent $14.95 0n this but it was worth it!!!)
1 kilo rolled oats
1 K Rapudura sugar
1 K green lentils

$65.40

Local Butcher

Traditional Beef roast
1 K beef soup bones

$18

Grand Total:  $495.25

Was this 20% of my monthly wages?NO!!! This amount was approximatley $100 (give or take a couple of dollars) off that amount. So this is a mega budget food. Again I already had some meat etc in the freezer but we didn't use all of it, so I go into September with things I don't have to buy.

Real food in the bigger scheme of things doesn't cost that much. My food bill would of been less without the alcohol & hospital food.

So remember next time you say "real food is too expensive"  that you are only fooling yourself!

full fat

I have not had full fat milk in years. Or yoghurt or cheese or anything really. In our house when we shopped we brought skim, low fat, no fat or lite. It's what we've been told to do, it's what we've been conditioned to do. Childhood obesity? Well once the kids are over 2 give them low fat dairy. Butter? Hell No! Low fat dairy spreads instead. Limit your avocados, nuts and bananas. Buy lean meat. Cut off all fat. Use cooking sprays. We hate fat, cause fat is unhealthy and makes you fat. Right???

Well guess what, forget the great rock n roll swindle this is the great fat swindle. Without rehashing everything I've read (100 days of real food, Dyno-mom, crunchy thifty healthy cool, In Defense of Food & Nourishing Traditions, Weston A Price Foundation), I'll try to put it in simple terms. Our bodies need fat (especially children), fat does not lead to you getting fat or having heart problems. Don't believe me? Check out that reading material above.

So this means for the first time in years I'm buying full fat milk, yoghurt, cream, cheese and butter. I cook using butter or olive oil or coconut oil (peanut and sesame oil are also acceptable). Im giving both my kids full fat dairy. And guess what? I havent put on weight. I have lost weight. I'm not counting calories or portion sizes. I'm having full fat everything (along with no processed or refined foods). I get full. I'm not having mad binges or cravings.Crazy right. Who would think eating full fat would help you loose weight.

Money, Money, Money

I was thinking about doing a post regarding whole, real foods and a budget. Then I started thinking....(I may start ranting, you have been warned!). Why should we try to eat as cheaply as possible? Yes I do things like have my own chickens, have a vegetable garden, buy local in season produce (where possible), buy extra staples when they're on sale and I've just brought a 5 kilo bag of flour.

But and here is a big but (not unlike my own hehehehe),I  will willingly spend $6.30 on a loaf of bread. This bread has 4 ingredients. If I got bread from the supermarket I could get 3 loaves that have like 20 ingredients. So I pay more to get less. I pay close to $7 for 2 litres of milk. I pay extra to get organic, pasture fed meat.

I love food. I love cooking. So I figure I might as well have the best I can afford. I don't eat meat every night and when I do I use a smaller amount and have more vegetables, so that is a saving there. I know there are some people that generally can't afford a lot for food. But think. Do you have a house phone and a mobile? Do you have the internet? How many t.vs in the house? Do you have cable? How many times a month do you get your hair or nails done? Do you smoke? How much alcohol do you buy?

The thing is we buy or do all these things that we think are essential. We buy the biggest t.vs, the latest clothes, see the latest movies, go out and blow $100 plus on alcohol at the pub. And we think nothing of it. We do all of this and more and then expect to pay the least amount for our food. This is something we do at least 3 times a day and we want to be cheap skates. In my reading I discovered that around 50 years ago spending 25% of your income on food was considered budgeting. That's right BUDGETING!! I did the math and I wasn't even spending that (& as I said I try to get the best I can).

We live in a world where we buy our kids the latest game console (and games) and we pay as little as possible to feed them crap. Then there is the fact that if we pay $1 or $2 for milk and bread we are ripping off the farmers.

Back to my $6.30 loaf of bread, this bread rocks! After eating this I realise that the other cheaper breads taste just like crap. My bread is delicious, When Stella and I have a sandwich we are full. So that means a loaf of bread does all week (or more as I'll freeze some). So my bread costs more, has less ingredients but is more filling. I think that's great value for money.

So next time you whinge about your grocery bill, make a list of all your "essentials" you willingly spend big bucks on. Then think do I want to eat something that tastes great, is filling and isn't filled with crap?

How much do you spend on food?

Liebster Awards

I have been nominated by Neenish Arts for the Liebster Blog Awards.
This is an award for up & coming bloggers with less than 200 followers - so I sure qualify!

The conditions are:
1. Each person must most 11 facts about themselves
2. Each person must answer 11 questions set by the person who tagged them
3. Each person must set 11 questions for the people they tag
4. You then choose 11 people & link them to your post
5. Tell them you tagged them
6. No tag backs!

Unfortunatley I don't know any blogs that I read with less than 200 followers, so I can't tag anyone. But I will answer the questions and reveal the facts (Just the facts Jack, just the facts....LA Confidential).

11 Facts About Me

1. I do adult ballet. Im not that great at it but I love it. I started up 5 years ago and I should be doing a higher level class than the one Im doing. I can't make it to the higher level class though so I stay with my saturday class. When I was pregnant with Breanna I continued doing ballet. I did a class on the Saturday including all the jumps & turns and i had her on the Friday. She was backstage at the end of year concert at one week old.

2. I don't feel the cold as much as other people. In winter I hardly wear jumpers or jackets. Conversley I'm not that good in the heat.

3. I love Russel Crowe (that explains the LA Confidential quote above). I dont love, love him. I just think he's a fantastic actor and hot.

4. I'm addicted to gossip websites (DListed & crazy days and nights). I have to limit myself to reading them otherwise nothing gets done.

5. I can not stand seafood. No not even prawns. Hate it all. But I will cook it for my kids.

6. I love vintage and retro stuff. I don't have a favourite era and I will mix and match. I also dont have a set style. I can wear girly, rock chick, hippy etc just depends on my mood.

7. I  love all different types of music. As part of my new life/new me I plan on starting to see bands again.

8. I have 11 piercings. I did have 13 but I let 2 close up. 8 piercings are in my ears.

9. I use the same Sally from Nightmare before Christmas cup every morning. It holds a cup and a half of coffee and its a really cool cup.

10. I try to be organised/planned. I start with good intentions or have good ideas for organising stuff but I never finish/follow through.

11. I am never late (maybe once or twice). I am always early. Being late makes me anxious. Even if I have to get up earlier I make sure I get somewhere when I'm meant to.

11 Questions set by Neenish Arts

1. What prompted you to start a blog and for how long have you been blogging?
I've always liked writing things down and this is an extenstion on that. I have been blogging for maybe 3 months now.

2. Do you forgive and forget or do you hold a grudge?
I try not to hold a grudge, but if you really screw me over I will cut you out of my life. This does take a lot to happen though. People may p**s me off and I get angry and rant and rave but I do generally get over it.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go?
Where do I start? I would love to travel everywhere!!

4. Have you ever had your heart broken?
Yes twice.

5. Have you ever broken someone's heart?
Not that I know of. If I have I am truly sorry.

6. What's the best meal you have ever cooked?
Slow cooked (8 hour) Morroccan leg of lamb with red onion tagine. Was a beautiful meal.

7.What makes you laugh?
My girls, the kids at work, watching the chickens, some shows on the ABC. The other day I killed myself laughing after I saw the 2 to 3 year old bathroom at work. They had trashed it with red paint, including a hand print on the wall.

8. What makes you cry?
Cruelty - to children, people, animals, the environment.  War. When I don't do things perfectly.
Toy Story 3, P.S I love you, Gladiator.

9. Whats your favourite book?
I dont have a favourite but I love anything by Kerry Greenwood, Terry Pratchett, Janet Evanovich. I also love Living the Good Life, Animal Mineral Vegetable, oh Jasper Fforde and Lisa Lutz.

10. If you could live in a t.v show, what would you pick?
Modern Family. I could be Lily's nanny.

11. Have you had any encounters with a celebrity?
I have met Costas from gardening Australia.

Serendipity

I have been feeling stressed. I've been wishing for more time. There was so much more I wanted to do.

Well now I have an extra three days. How? You ask. Due to necessity I've had to go from working five days to only two. Stella's after school cater informed me yesterday that she can only have her two days a week. I have no other options. Work is letting me job share which is great. I get to spend more time with Stella (I'm with Breanna all day), I'll have time to garden, cook more and have some me time.

All good things. The money will be less but I've managed before and I will again. It just means less impulse buys, grow more food, cook more and maybe learn to sew. Less stressed mummy will be better for the girls (and for me).
Sometimes fate needs to step in so we can make some changes. This will be all good.