My Beautiful World

I titled this post “My Beautiful World” not because my world is perfect, in fact it’s far from it. My life is as full of as many disappointments and cracks in the pavement as the next person and there are many missing pieces. But lately I’ve been focusing on the things that make me joyful and realizing that the odd little bubble I live in isn’t so bad after all.

My world like yours is a work in progress, it’s me trying to find all the pieces that fit and letting go of the ones that choose not to fit. I could be sad about the ones that don't fit, and I have been sad, but I’ve come to realize that their absence creates space for other things that I love to expand.

I'm working on filling my world with the things that make me happy. My 'happiest places' are my doggie Miss Charlie, being creative and my obsession with organic gardening and healthy eating.

I’ve learnt that this life is about surrounding yourself with the people who let you shine the brightest and allow you to be the best person you can be and letting go of the people who dampen your flame and squash your spirit.

Everyday I’m learning to be grateful and to be joyful for the life that I have. So much of our lives is a choice and sometimes you just have to step up to the plate and go for it. I'm learning to step up, taking small steps each day to get to the place where I want to be. I'm working towards being bold enough to take the giant steps, to celebrate life by being the loudest drum and dancing with hands in the air!
  
I'm forever creating my beautiful world

Gluten Free Apple Crumble

I've just had one of those moments where I needed dessert. Perhaps it was because dinner was a little while ago or because I was watching someone cook dessert on Masterchef. Whatever it was I had a desire that needed to be fulfilled. Given that I'm gluten and lactose intolerant and on a clean eating path there's no processed goodies in my house. I've refused to buy I cream ever since I realised how many chemicals were in it and I haven't quite got around to making the raw ice cream I've been dreaming of. So what was tonight's answer?

Today I stocked up on fresh produce and there are plenty of apples in the house for juicing so I decided to create my food intolerant version of Apple Crumble with an Almond Milk Custard. Given the time and the fact I was using Apple I went easy on the sugar side. Not much was needed anyway with the sweetness of the apple. The crumble was created with flax meal, chopped pistachio and almond. I also added some craisins that were in the pantry to add a variation in flavour. Once constructed it was drizzled with honey before baking in the oven for 15 mins. 

I made this dessert for one person so if you are making it for more people you'll need to adjust your quantities accordingly. It's also easier if you make it in a rammekin or small dish

Here's the recipe

Apple Crumble

1 apple per person 

2 tablespoons flax meal

8 almonds 

8 pistachio

1 tablespoons craisins

1 tablespoon honey

Chop the Apple and place into a rammekin. Sprinkle craisins over the Apple and then top it with the flax meal. Chop the almonds and pistachios and sprinkle over the top. Drizzle honey over the whole thing. Place into an oven heated to 180 degrees and bake for 15mins.

While the crumble is in the oven you can make the custard. It only takes 5 minutes so you can leave it until the crumble is almost cooked.

Almond Milk Custard

This recipe will easily serve 2. If you are cooking for one you can either indulge or save some for the next night

150grams almond milk

1 egg

10 grams unrefined cane sugar or coconut sugar. I used rapadura

10 grams gluten free cornflour

Vanilla

Place a saucepan on kitchen scales and measure 150grams almond milk. Add the egg and whisk well.  Add vanilla, sugar and cornflour and whisk well again. I normally whisk it til it foams a little. Place over a low heat and whisk until it starts to thicken. I like my custard to be thick but still runny so once it starts to thicken you don't need to continue with the heat for long. Remove from heat and whisk well to ensure a smooth conistency. 

Remove the crumble from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Because of the portion size you can serve it in the rammekin. Pour some custard over the top and enjoy

Garden Update

 I haven't shared about my garden for a while now. It's still an ongoing and ever growing project. Lately I've been watching a lot of documentaries on FMTV about sustainability and our foodchain. I'm more than a little concerned about not just what goes into our food but also what goes on it when it's growing. Now I've been juicing daily I try to buy as much organic as I can afford, which is usually the items on the list that absorb the most nasties in the conventional growing methods like celery and the ones that you can't really wash residue off, ie Kale. The last thing I want is a glass full of pesticide. So my answer to this has been to look for ways to increase my growing space.

 A few weeks ago I resurrected my old raised garden bed that I bought when I was at my last house, it's been in pieces since I moved nearly 2 years ago. Today its a bed of kale

 This bed contains curly and tuscan kale and was planted about 3 weeks ago and so far there has been really good growth and no bugs. It's had a dose of organic fertiliser and a couple of applications of seasol. 

Apart from a bed of Rocket in a kids sandpit clam shell everything else is growing in pots. I'd always been under the impression that I needed to plant in full sun. I'd had my eye on a particular spot of garden along my fence but was worried it was too shaded. But a bit of gooling at the weekend informed me that leafy greens don't need as much sun and will tolerate shade. 

I'd been a bit lazy with pulling out the grass that had grown into the existing garden so I decided I could accomplish 2 things in choosing that spot. No more grass in the garden bed and a perfect growing spot. I laid cardboard down on the spot a couple of nights ago to start killing the grass and today I built the garden. Several bags of potting mix, and compost along with some shredded paper and garden edging I have a new garden bed and this is the result ...

 It contains lots of yummy greens for juicing.

 Across the front I have planted curly leaf parsley.

 Then behind that in rows from left to right there is 

 white stemmed silverbeet

bok choy

rainbow chard

   I planted some rainbow chard in a big pot when I planted the kale and it will be interesting to see if there is any difference in the results between the pot and the bed.

I also planted some english spinach a month or so a go and have been picking and enjoying it for a few weeks now

It's planted in a galvanised wash tub that's had holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. It was a great way to recycle a tub that had been a display years ago when I had a shop with my sister. The spinach from this patch is the sweetest I've ever tasted. I love eating it straight from the garden.

There's lots happening in the greenhouse at the moment too. Loads of coriander and parsley along with chives, mint, wheat grass and cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes started flowering again a few weeks back so I've moved them into the greenhouse to keep them warm and see what happens.

 
 I can't wait for everything to get to the point when I can start harvesting and eating all of these lovelies and share them with my family.