Thursday, March 15, 2012

on the food front






  1.  Spiced chicken with rice and mint from this book. Served with a cucumber and yoghurt salad. From this book.
  2. I've started making porridge again for breakfast. Soaked the night before in water and yoghurt and served with milk, yoghurt and maple syrup.
  3. Golden Delicious from the holiday cottage down the road. A neighbour says he remembers eating from the same tree as a child.
  4. Last night's harvest from the garden.
  5. Good muffins.

Since being away, and being exposed to so many foodie things (orchards, markets, little specialty shops etc) we both felt somewhat renewed in ourselves to eat more wholesome food and to increase our reliance on our home produced food.

I remember saying that it wasn't really a very good season vegie garden wise. After all that rain, our garden started making up for some of its lost time. At the weekly shop there wasn't a lot I needed to buy vegie-wise, which felt quite liberating.

We've been harvesting lots of spinach, silverbeet, cucumbers and herbs. Also some corn, beans, potatoes, rocket, zucchini and the few tomatoes that didn't split in the rain. Last years broccoli is re-flowering. But I'm not quite sure what to do with that rhubarb. Afterall, I'm the only one that likes it's tart flavour.

While away, we fell into the bad habit of having soft drink while out. We didn't feel the better for it. Since being back I've started cutting out processed sugar from our diet. I've been using maple syrup or honey instead, and I'd like to buy some more rapadura sugar (I used to love this stuff, but it's hard to come by here). I'm trying to use more whole flour than white.

Making school snacks can be a little tricky when you're trying to stay as healthy as you can.
I devised this recipe which has been a big hit with the kids. And I don't mind a few myself.

Good Muffins


2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 small zucchini, grated
1 small carrot, grated
2 apples, peeled and grated
1/2 cup maple syrup (or other natural sweetener such as honey or rapadura)
1/2 cup whey (or milk or yoghurt)
1/2 cup coconut oil (or other oil)
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon


Mix together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Pour into a 12 hole muffin tray that has been lightly greased. Bake at 200 degrees celcius until a knife inserted comes out clean. Serve plain or buttered.


Most ingredients can be interchanged with similar ingredients and I've listed a few above. The sweetness could be adjusted and you could use other fruit such as banana in place of the apple.

Let me know if you try it.


Wishing you all a pleasant rest of week.


p.s thank you to all those who recommended new places to visit in yesterdays post. We'd like to do some more trips in Victoria in the next few years. But Tasmania is top of Daniel's list, and is on the agenda for next year. Fingers crossed.

18 comments:

  1. Your muffins look delicious and I'm going to try them today! Lots of zucchini here....!
    So when you come to Tas, can you stop by my place so I can give your Violet a squidge? She's delicious too!!

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  2. Yes, and then stop at my place too! You have to have some time in Deloraine, its beautiful. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else! :)

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  3. Ooh, there sure is a lot of comfort coming out of your kitchen...and how rewarding to be eating homegrown produce :)
    Tasmania is a place that I long to visit too, it just seems to have so much history.

    x

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  4. I've struggled with lack of produce this season too, it's quite depressing after all the work and hope. The reward was picking a couple of kilos of figs this morning. Tassie is amazing, make it happen!

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  5. Yum yum yum, with a little jealousy thrown in over all those apples!

    Despite the weeds taking over the veggie patch during the end of my pregnancy (because I couldn't bend over!) our veggie patch has survived and I'm so excited at the thought of getting back out in the garden once I'm recovered. Cohen points out everything in our meal that we have picked from the garden. I'd like to ensure that he won't grow up thinking that 'yoghurt grows on trees'! xx

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  6. Yum! You are making me hungry. Will try the muffins.
    Love the Spiced Chicken Dinner photo, what is the sauce (I don't have the book you linked). And are there sultanas in your rice, I can't work it out but it looks super yum!

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  7. It is liberating to not buy many veggies...I love it and just keep expanding my growing and garden. I love that feeling of harvesting just before cooking dinner.Plus it tastes so much better even in a bad weather year!

    I know your wanting to get out of refined sugar but rhubarb cordial and/or jam are great things to make with a glut. A little of these sweet things goes a long way!

    Rapadura sugar..try Honest to Goodness, they will post it to you.

    Lovely blog!

    Ms Nada

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  8. How great that your neighbour remembers eating apples from the same tree.

    I really like your muffin recipe. I'll try it this weekend. Interestingly, I used to only cook with rapadura (and sometimes honey) but recently I started using brown sugar (more cost effective) but I have started on the honey again. I made a banana cake last weekend, using honey, and it sunk quite a lot. I was not sure if this due to using honey and if if made the mixture heavy? I haven't had this trouble with cookies.

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  9. These muffins look great. I've never heard of rapadura so I'm off to google it! Thanks!

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  10. Thanks so much for the muffin recipe...going to give that a try!
    Lovely to walk throught he garden and just pick for tea isn't it? Sometimes i wonder if it is worth all the effort and then i think about how good it must be for the children....just knowing where their vegetables come from and beginning to name them is fabulous!
    I'd love to visit Tasmania....you are inspiring me to be brave and perhaps try for a family holiday soon!xx

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  11. Oh! I love your style!! The plates you use and everything else. So simple but serene.

    Have a great day!

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  12. So jealous of the fresh garden produce! We are at the end of a rainy winter here in the Pacific Northwest. I cannot wait for gardening season...just a few more weeks.

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  13. I looked at the first chicken dish and thought 'oh yum!' then saw that you hadn't posted the recipe but just a link to a cookbook. Got a bit disheartened, clicked on the link. YES! I have that one already!

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  14. Thanks for the muffin recipe, such good timing. I was talking to hubby this morning about trying out brekkie muffins for our fussy toddler.
    I cook up rhubarb with a little honey then puree and freeze in small portions. It's great to have on porridge or yoghurt in the morning or with apples in a crumble or a personal favourite is on vanilla ice cream.

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  15. Try the kofta curry with coriander sauce, it is incredible! (Though perhaps not for kidlets!)

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  16. Thanks for the muffin recipe. I'm SO going to try it this weekend!

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  17. Yum, those muffins sound delicious. I've started trying to do a big cook up on Sundays. Today I'm going to make red capsicum chilli hot pot, bread, rolls (trying for the first time!) and THESE MUFFINS! Thanks for the inspiration :) I also have never been able to find rapadura sugar (in Melbourne). Haven't looked incredibly hard but certainly can't find it at any of my local shops. Nice to be catching up on your blog after my little blogging holiday! x

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  18. Hi Tania

    I've baked your muffins. They are yummy. I posted about them here http://wireandwhite.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/bit-of-this-bit-of-that.html and mentioned your blog. Hope you don't mind.

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