photo: libby gardiner c 2015
Tuesday 21 April 2015
Monday 6 April 2015
Quote #1
A favorite quote from one of my favorite books, 'All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindegarten'-Robert Fulghum
Saturday 4 April 2015
Easter Bunny
Being gluten intolerant the Easter Bunny generally misses my house, but not to worry because I just made a fresh batch of really delicious RAW CHOCOLATE :)
Happy Easter!
Friday 3 April 2015
Marinated Prawn Gnocchi
If you've read my earlier posts you may have come to the conclusion that I like to cook. Actually I love to cook, if I could spend everyday playing in the kitchen I'd be a very happy girl.
Yesterday was shopping day and I bought some prawn meat and decided to marinate it overnight in a mix of garlic, chilli and olive oil. When I got home this afternoon a quick scan of the fridge and the presence a tub of light ricotta on the top shelf helped me decide that it was a gnocchi night. I make my gnocchi with gluten free flour so its very light and as it turned out was the perfect accompaniment to my prawns.
I love making gnocchi, whether it be potato or ricotta based. The trick is to not make the dough too dry. Prior to discovering I was gluten intolerant I made gnocchi a few times with normal flour and I have found that it's not only easier to make with gluten free flour but also gives a lighter result.
I found my gnocchi recipe on the internet and then adapted it to be gluten free.
500gm Ricotta
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 large Eggs
1tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Plain Gluten Free Flour (plus 1 cup extra just in case)
Put all ingredients except flour in a bowl and mix until well combined. Then gradually sift in flour until it reaches a workable consistency. It needs to be rolled into a snake to create the individual gnocchi so the consistency should be soft but not so damp that it's really sticky. Flour a board or a piece of baking paper and divide into 4. Take each section and roll into a snake until it's about 2cm in diameter then cut into segments that are 2.5 cm long. Place onto a plate or a piece of baking paper and keep each individual piece separate. Continue until all of the dough is used up. This recipe serves 4 so if you are only serving 2 you can use half the amounts to begin with or you can wrap up half the dough and store in the fridge over night. Another option is to freeze any excess gnocchi once cut, if you are storing it in a freezer bag remember to flour it well so that it doesn't all clump together in the freezer
At this stage I put a large pot of water on the stove and put the gnocchi aside while I started my prawns.
There's no real recipe for the next bit because I made it up as I went along. It helped that I'd been shopping yesterday as the vegetable crisper was full and I had heaps to choose from. And as an added bonus there are still plenty of fresh herbs in the garden. In a deep non stick fry pan I put in a tablespoon of garlic oil* a small bunch of chopped spring onions and some garlic chives, and cooked them on a low to medium heat. After a few minutes I added a handful of broccoli florets and some yellow capsicum and let that cook for a few minutes.
Next I put my gnocchi into the boiling water. Gnocchi is cooked when it floats to the surface. While the gnocchi was cooking I put my marinated prawns in the fry pan and turned the heat up little.
After a couple of minutes the Gnocchi was floating and I removed it from the pot with a slotted spoon, when the prawns were mostly cooked I threw in the gnocchi and added some fresh chopped coriander and a twist of lime.
As soon as the prawns were cooked it was ready to serve, with a pinch of Himalayan salt and some more chopped coriander.
Yesterday was shopping day and I bought some prawn meat and decided to marinate it overnight in a mix of garlic, chilli and olive oil. When I got home this afternoon a quick scan of the fridge and the presence a tub of light ricotta on the top shelf helped me decide that it was a gnocchi night. I make my gnocchi with gluten free flour so its very light and as it turned out was the perfect accompaniment to my prawns.
I love making gnocchi, whether it be potato or ricotta based. The trick is to not make the dough too dry. Prior to discovering I was gluten intolerant I made gnocchi a few times with normal flour and I have found that it's not only easier to make with gluten free flour but also gives a lighter result.
I found my gnocchi recipe on the internet and then adapted it to be gluten free.
500gm Ricotta
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 large Eggs
1tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Plain Gluten Free Flour (plus 1 cup extra just in case)
Put all ingredients except flour in a bowl and mix until well combined. Then gradually sift in flour until it reaches a workable consistency. It needs to be rolled into a snake to create the individual gnocchi so the consistency should be soft but not so damp that it's really sticky. Flour a board or a piece of baking paper and divide into 4. Take each section and roll into a snake until it's about 2cm in diameter then cut into segments that are 2.5 cm long. Place onto a plate or a piece of baking paper and keep each individual piece separate. Continue until all of the dough is used up. This recipe serves 4 so if you are only serving 2 you can use half the amounts to begin with or you can wrap up half the dough and store in the fridge over night. Another option is to freeze any excess gnocchi once cut, if you are storing it in a freezer bag remember to flour it well so that it doesn't all clump together in the freezer
At this stage I put a large pot of water on the stove and put the gnocchi aside while I started my prawns.
There's no real recipe for the next bit because I made it up as I went along. It helped that I'd been shopping yesterday as the vegetable crisper was full and I had heaps to choose from. And as an added bonus there are still plenty of fresh herbs in the garden. In a deep non stick fry pan I put in a tablespoon of garlic oil* a small bunch of chopped spring onions and some garlic chives, and cooked them on a low to medium heat. After a few minutes I added a handful of broccoli florets and some yellow capsicum and let that cook for a few minutes.
Next I put my gnocchi into the boiling water. Gnocchi is cooked when it floats to the surface. While the gnocchi was cooking I put my marinated prawns in the fry pan and turned the heat up little.
After a couple of minutes the Gnocchi was floating and I removed it from the pot with a slotted spoon, when the prawns were mostly cooked I threw in the gnocchi and added some fresh chopped coriander and a twist of lime.
As soon as the prawns were cooked it was ready to serve, with a pinch of Himalayan salt and some more chopped coriander.
Yum!
*garlic oil - where did I get it? I made it. I have a jar of peeled garlic in the pantry it's topped up with olive oil to keep the garlic from spoiling. It has several benefits, when I can't be bothered peeling garlic there's always some ready to use. I can stock up on garlic when I find good Aussie garlic at a reasonable price and not have to worry about it drying out. And it gives me the most amazing garlic infused oil to cook with.
Saturday 28 March 2015
Being Mindful
This is my third attempt at writing this post. It started out somewhat differently because I've been thinking aloud as I tap away on my laptop trying to get to what I wanted to say and I have no doubt that it will evolve and change as I write. You see things have happened recently, 'life has happened' and it led me to the following thoughts.
Sometimes things happen in life and you get dragged along in the tide unable to change what's about to unfold. There's no point in 'what ifs' or 'what you could have done' because it will all ultimately happen as it is meant to happen. You simply have to sit back and let it!
The difficult part is to allow even the painful things in life to unfold without resistance and somehow in the process find some peace by being able to shut out the internal chatter that ultimately causes anxiety. The kind of chatter that defeats you.
In the last couple of years I've been exploring the practice of mindfulness and I have been finding it really helpful to shut out the internal chatter and find a peaceful place within.
I'm constantly on a journey with this, but I find as I get older and the more I learn it's easier to be mindful and find a peaceful place in the middle of my thoughts, even if just for a few minutes.
It's essentially about being present, in the 'now', finding a moment to breathe and that being all there is in that moment. Just focusing on the sensation of breathing. When you focus on your breathing its easier to shut out the noise of your thoughts.
It's a practice that also helps you be aware of the internal chatter because we are so used to it simply being there and we dont realise that we don't need to listen to all of it. Mindfulness teaches you to not only quiet your thoughts but enables you to choose which ones you want to listen to. And it enables those of us who suffer from anxiety to identify it and and avoid the descent into the pit.
In my quest I've found that there are so many amazing resources online for this including countless guided meditations on YouTube. As well as lots of articles and great books. There's loads of practical exercises you can do too, but ones others find great don't really do it for me, they're not my thing. I kind of like to keep these things simple and uncomplicated otherwise I lose interest!. A while back I found a 10 minute Guided Meditation on YouTube and I've stuck with it. It's saved to a play list and when I need to be still and quiet my mind, which is usually when I feel myself descending into an anxiety pit, I open the YouTube app on my phone and hit play.
I could keep writing but I'll leave it there for now. In the process of writing the post above I've learnt more yet again. Part of the journey of my life has been to overcome anxiety and sometime in the near future I'll share some of the other stuff that's helped me. In recent years I've found some really helpful natural therapies, but it's important to remember that we're all wired a little differently and what works for one may not work for all, but maybe bits of it will. It's simply a matter of finding the unique combination that works for you.
And for those that are fortunate not to suffer anxiety, mindfulness can simply offer a few moments of peace in a noisy world.
For now in my mind my goal is to be a bit like the boat in the picture, just floating along on a calm sea. Breathing in and breathing out.......
Sometimes things happen in life and you get dragged along in the tide unable to change what's about to unfold. There's no point in 'what ifs' or 'what you could have done' because it will all ultimately happen as it is meant to happen. You simply have to sit back and let it!
The difficult part is to allow even the painful things in life to unfold without resistance and somehow in the process find some peace by being able to shut out the internal chatter that ultimately causes anxiety. The kind of chatter that defeats you.
In the last couple of years I've been exploring the practice of mindfulness and I have been finding it really helpful to shut out the internal chatter and find a peaceful place within.
I'm constantly on a journey with this, but I find as I get older and the more I learn it's easier to be mindful and find a peaceful place in the middle of my thoughts, even if just for a few minutes.
It's essentially about being present, in the 'now', finding a moment to breathe and that being all there is in that moment. Just focusing on the sensation of breathing. When you focus on your breathing its easier to shut out the noise of your thoughts.
It's a practice that also helps you be aware of the internal chatter because we are so used to it simply being there and we dont realise that we don't need to listen to all of it. Mindfulness teaches you to not only quiet your thoughts but enables you to choose which ones you want to listen to. And it enables those of us who suffer from anxiety to identify it and and avoid the descent into the pit.
In my quest I've found that there are so many amazing resources online for this including countless guided meditations on YouTube. As well as lots of articles and great books. There's loads of practical exercises you can do too, but ones others find great don't really do it for me, they're not my thing. I kind of like to keep these things simple and uncomplicated otherwise I lose interest!. A while back I found a 10 minute Guided Meditation on YouTube and I've stuck with it. It's saved to a play list and when I need to be still and quiet my mind, which is usually when I feel myself descending into an anxiety pit, I open the YouTube app on my phone and hit play.
I could keep writing but I'll leave it there for now. In the process of writing the post above I've learnt more yet again. Part of the journey of my life has been to overcome anxiety and sometime in the near future I'll share some of the other stuff that's helped me. In recent years I've found some really helpful natural therapies, but it's important to remember that we're all wired a little differently and what works for one may not work for all, but maybe bits of it will. It's simply a matter of finding the unique combination that works for you.
And for those that are fortunate not to suffer anxiety, mindfulness can simply offer a few moments of peace in a noisy world.
For now in my mind my goal is to be a bit like the boat in the picture, just floating along on a calm sea. Breathing in and breathing out.......
Sunday 22 March 2015
In the Raw and a little Fermented!
I've been more than a little fascinated with the benefits of fermented foods for quite some time now. There have been a few attempts at making sauerkraut in the last year but the results have usually ended up being consumed by my best friend. But in recent months the whole fermenting fascination has been rekindled by chef Pete Evens 'Paleo Way'. I eagerly awaited the release of his culture for life fermenting kit only to find that it was a little out of my price bracket. So I decided to order some vegetable starter culture online at healyourself.com.au and go back to the good old fashioned way of fermenting in air lock preserving jars. 2 days after I received shipping notification for the starter culture an email appeared in my inbox from The Raw Chef, Russell James, offering the fermented vegetable module of his online Fermentation course at a ridiculous price... so I snapped it up.
The particular course I purchased offered 10 recipes plus access to a bonus 4. They include not only a downloadable pdf version of each recipe but also a video showing either Russell or his colleague Amy demonstrating how to make each one. The trick to creating fermented vegetables that don't grow mold is all in how you pack it into the jar! So simple yet so easy to mess up. Fortunately in my previous adventures I managed to create without mold but didn't have the confidence to eat it hence my best friend being my guinea pig.
My first attempts in the last week were using Himalayan salt on it's own as a catalyst to ferment then later in the week after my starter culture arrived I started using that. The advantage of the starter culture is that it creates a ferment with a much higher pro biotic content than you would get using salt alone.
Here's some of what I've made so far. It's still all in the fermentation stage but I have sampled and it's already delish and that's coming from someone whose taste buds previously found sauerkraut to be totally undesirable
The other thing that's happened as a result of this is that I've also rekindled my love of raw food eating and have taken the dehydrator out of the cupboard and started creating again. The Raw Chef has recipes on his blog and I've taken a few of these and run with them. So far this week I've created zucchini tortillas, buckwheat bread, marinated mushrooms, dried tomatoes, cashew mayonnaise and raw macadamia cheese.
I'm still eating cooked foods but this has been reduced and I have to say I'm feeling better for it. I'd started eating more processed foods again and as a result my sugar cravings had come back. In the last week I've noticed a distinct decline in my sugar cravings. I'm hoping these will go completely once I start eating the fermented veg and krauts
If you want to experiment yourself and need a little inspiration or guidance the Raw Chef offers a free 10 Recipe eBook, there's a link in the side bar.
The particular course I purchased offered 10 recipes plus access to a bonus 4. They include not only a downloadable pdf version of each recipe but also a video showing either Russell or his colleague Amy demonstrating how to make each one. The trick to creating fermented vegetables that don't grow mold is all in how you pack it into the jar! So simple yet so easy to mess up. Fortunately in my previous adventures I managed to create without mold but didn't have the confidence to eat it hence my best friend being my guinea pig.
My first attempts in the last week were using Himalayan salt on it's own as a catalyst to ferment then later in the week after my starter culture arrived I started using that. The advantage of the starter culture is that it creates a ferment with a much higher pro biotic content than you would get using salt alone.
Here's some of what I've made so far. It's still all in the fermentation stage but I have sampled and it's already delish and that's coming from someone whose taste buds previously found sauerkraut to be totally undesirable
The other thing that's happened as a result of this is that I've also rekindled my love of raw food eating and have taken the dehydrator out of the cupboard and started creating again. The Raw Chef has recipes on his blog and I've taken a few of these and run with them. So far this week I've created zucchini tortillas, buckwheat bread, marinated mushrooms, dried tomatoes, cashew mayonnaise and raw macadamia cheese.
Top left: zucchini wrap ready to dehydrate. Top right: assembling the wrap with grated
carrot, lettuce, marinted adn dehydrated mushrooms, macadamia cheese, dried tomatoes
and cashew cheese. Bottom left and right:all wrapped up and ready to eat
I'm still eating cooked foods but this has been reduced and I have to say I'm feeling better for it. I'd started eating more processed foods again and as a result my sugar cravings had come back. In the last week I've noticed a distinct decline in my sugar cravings. I'm hoping these will go completely once I start eating the fermented veg and krauts
If you want to experiment yourself and need a little inspiration or guidance the Raw Chef offers a free 10 Recipe eBook, there's a link in the side bar.
Thursday 5 March 2015
Looking for inspiration
I haven't had a lot to say lately so I thought would take the time to introduce you to the new blog of my dear friend Trudy. She has an amazing insights into inner peace and joy. You can find her wisdom at Wisteria Wellbeing.
(I found this photo on Unsplash a website that offers free high resolution stock photos.)
Libby :)
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| Photo by Oliver Berghold via Unsplash |
Libby :)
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