Life is a Journey not a Destination

Those who have been with me for a while might remember I’ve made a few attempts at breadmaking over the last two years. I’ve tried with the breadmaker, without the breadmaker and numerous recipes. Always I had mixed success.

My last venture involved following Rhonda’s recipe at Down to Earth and it was indeed a success. However, it was totally made by hand, which after a couple of days, was becoming a problem for my hands (which I suffer with in the warmer months). After a failure with the dough hook in the Kitchenaid mixer I asked Kevin to bring back home from work our breadmaker (which he said wasn’t being used). I used the breadmaker at one point but wasn’t quite happy with the loaf, esp. the size and shape. And so my latest, and greatest, venture was launched.

Assemble required ingredients (using recipe at Down to Earth)….make sure you get a VERY good quality flour…I use organic unbleached…

Get out the breadmaker….

Place everything in the mixer…and press the dough button….

When finished (about 1.5hours later)..put oven on to preheat….roll into log and place in bread pan…

Cover with napkin and set aside to rise…

Approx 30mins later it will look like this…

Now place in the oven and cook as directed…todays loaf had some friends…

Another 20mins later and you have a delicious loaf to cut and enjoy…

I’ve been making bread every other day for last 2 weeks. Today I tried half white and half wholemeal flour and it turned out great. I think we finally have a WINNER!!!!

Vanessa of Green Ness asked me a few questions about me being a vegetarian and rather just answering her I thought I might do a post about it as I don’t think I ever have for some odd reason.

So back to the beginning. It was early November 2004 and I commented, yet again, to Kevin that “if I had a personal chief I’d become a vegetarian”. This time his reply was “well, why don’t you just do it?” Shocked I said because it was too hard and I don’t want to have make two different meals every night. I was even more shocked when he said he’d eat whatever I made at home. WOW! Even I was impressed with my hubby. There were a few periods when I’m sure he regretted agreeing to eat vegetarian at home but I think he’s reasonably happy these days.

Now, the main reason I wanted to be vegetarian was that I don’t like the way food animals are treated.  If you’re in the dark and want to learn more go visit Animals Australia. When I made this decision there was very little in the range of free-range meat but these day I don’t feel the need to kill animals to meet my nutrient requirements and I don’t think I would like the taste now. I will buy free-range ham and meat for Kevin & Amy (but the meat has to be cooked outside as I can no longer stand the smell). I eat eggs from my own chickens and eat dairy (trying to get organic where possible). I know I probably shouldn’t have milk (diary cows aren’t treated the best either and I LOVE cows) but for now I buy organic.

Amy and Kevin will have meat when out and Christy is vegetarian – but only because she has such a limited diet – every couple of months she will eat a little bit of free-range ham. I don’t like them eating meat that isn’t free-range but they make their own decisions.

Now that I’ve been a vegetarian for over 5 years I have quite a large range of recipes to choose from so variety and choice isn’t the problem it was when I started. I do try to plan our meals for the week to make sure we’re having a good variety and not falling into the trap of pasta or rice every night. I also keep some meals  and things like falafels/veggie snitzels in the freezer for quick easy meals. Because a lot of meals are one dish type meals they really are easy to prepare (unlike meat and a variety of veg).

Please feel free to ask any questions you have and I’ll do my best to answer.

When the Olympics started in Bejing we had Chinese for dinner but when I went looking for a special meal to celebrate the start of the Winter Olympics in Vancover it proved a little more difficult. Most traditional meals that I found involved fish – no good for this vegetarian. Eventually I remembered having a meal at Le Cellier in Walt Disney World – the Canadian restaurant in EPCOT. We had Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. The recipe I found looked a little fiddly but then I remembered I already have a tried and true recipe for Cheesy Potato Chowder. I made some homemade bread, decorated in red and alas, we had a special “Canadian” meal which we enjoyed for lunch before settling down to watch the opening ceremony – which was spectacular. Loved that it was on a Saturday afternoon so we could all watch it together.

Then later on we enjoyed some maple cookies made with Canadian Maple Syrup (that I bought specially). Boy, were they yummy!

Kevin thought it was all a bit silly until the cookies came out . But the girls seemed to appreciate my efforts.

At  least the next Olympics are in London so that will be nice and easy to cater for .

Fresh summer fruit…what more can I say. My favs. are mangos,cherries, watermelon & raspberries.
And strawberries fresh from our garden!!

Of course, you can always put it on pavlova nests with cream for a REALLY yummy desert.

Then we have salad…I have this for lunch nearly every day during the Summer..changing it up a bit each day for variety.

and plenty of barbeques…especially when entertaining and when on holidays…

And lets not forget my current favourite breakfasts…cheese on toast…

and green smoothies…

and corn thins with hummus…

Then we have dinners made with produce from the garden – zuchinni slice…

and feta & cherry tomato frittata…

and lastly we have the yummy treats….banana goji muffins…

and of course nothing says Summer like a bowl of  ice cream…

and even better is homemade ice-cream.

Hope I haven’t made anyone too hungry and for those of you currently experiencing Winter…hope this gives you something to look forward to. Most foods I will eat year round but there are definitely some seasonal favourites. It will be interesting to do a Winter favourite post and compare.

What are your favourite foods to eat during Summer?

Well, this recipe is about as home made as I can make. Cherry tomatoes from the garden and eggs from our chickens…comprising about 90% of the meal.

Cherry Tomato & Feta Frittata

Yes, we braved the shops (with not such a happy outcome) and saw The Princess and the Frog (much happier). To try and easy my stress levels we decided to try out the Lindt Cafe for the first time. One word – YUMMY!!!! We asked the waitress how many strawberries per serve. She said 5 so we ordered 2 to share. Oops, turns out there were 9 per serve. Which would have been okay if hadn’t ordeedr iced chocolates (hot choc for Amy) as well. We certainly waddled away from the cafe (and Kevin hardly touched his drink). Oh, well, live and learn. We will certainly be back.

Look at how cute Amy’s hot chocolate was – came with a serve of chocolate sauce and a jug of foaming hot milk. She said it was delicious.

The iced chocolates didn’t disappoint either.

Christy had a glass of water and a cheese roll from Bakers Delight .

Gingerbread Muffins (Feast by Nigella Lawson)

• 1 2/3 (250gms) cups plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves                                 (I obmitted this)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup (50gms) packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (50gms) packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (150ml) whole milk                                (I used low fat organic)
• 1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 6 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil                    (I used olive oil, but will try macadamia nut oil next time)
• 4 tablespoons golden syrup
• 4 tablespoons molasses                                        (I used extra golden syrup)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cups.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk the egg in another bowl, then add the brown sugars, making sure to break up any lumps.

Add the milk and vinegar to the egg-brown sugar mixture then measure in the oil with a tablespoon. Use the same oily spoon to add the corn syrup and molasses so they don’t stick to it. Whisk the mixture to combine and add to the flour and spices.

Stir until mixed but still fairly lumpy-the mixture may be more runny than you expect for muffins- but you need the dense stickiness of gingerbread, rather than a cakey crumb. Spoon or pour the mixture into the muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes until the tops are dry. Cool on a rack.

Yield: 12 muffins

WARNING : These will NOT last  long – as you can one has already been devoured!

Thanks to a busy day cleaning and tidying I’m all ready for Halloween and our 4th Annual Halloween Party. But before the party I wanted to give you a peek at the decorating so far. These have been around the house for the last few weeks and we’ve got a few more things to go up for the party.

In the kitchen….

Check out the napkins that Amy & I made last weekend…

And don’t you just love my Disney dish?

The loungeroom….

Family room….

Front entry….with the great big spider web Kevin got from Pottery Barn Kids….

And, of course, the bathroom….

Then, with cleaning out of the way, I had time to make up some cupcakes for the party tomorrow…

Of course, we’re going to try one each tonight….

I did make some chocolate muffins in the pumpkin molds a few days ago….but they have already been devoured .

These are my new absolute favourite things to eat. AND unlike the desert the other day, these are actually good for you. I got the recipe from Belinda Moore.

¾ cup wholemeal spelt flour
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup rapadura sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup desiccated coconut
50ml macadamia oil
100ml milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup goji berries soaked in hot water
1 large banana, mashed

Drain goji berries. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add milk, oil, vanilla, berries and banana. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Pour batter into 12 muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees C.

Easy and delicious and according to Belinda they freeze well. I’ve just put some in the freezer to take away with us on Friday.

Okay, first a warning – this is most definitely not healthy  (or cheap) but it is a delicious and decadent desert to serve to friends .

From Recipes+ Mag March/April 2008

3 tsp plain gelatine

250g packet buttersnap biscuits

100g melted butter

2 x 250g packets cream chesse, softened

1/2 cup castor sugar

300mls thickened cream

200g white chocolate buds, melted, cooled

150g box crisp coconut wafer confectionary balls

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

1. Sprinkle gelative over 1/4 cup boiling water and dissolved completely. Allow to cool.

2. Blend or process biscuits to make fine crumbs. transfer to bowl, add melted butter and stir to combine. Press crumbs firmly over base and 3/4 up sides of a 22cm springform pan. Place in fridge until set.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large mixing bowl until smooth, add castor sugar, then cream, beating until smooth. Beat in gelatine. Stir in melted chocolate. Cute half the coconut balls in half, reserve. Roughtly chop remainder, stir into cheese mixture with coconut.

4. Pour filling into crust. Top with reserved wafer balls. Cover, refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm.

5. Enjoy.