Cinnamon Cake - Loved it!

A few posts ago, I mentioned how I was having a cake week - it was during my last Master Cleanse, I made a few cakes and put them in the freezer because I was in the mood for baking that week. Well, last Sunday I took out a piece of the cinnamon cake I had made and it was one of the nicest cakes I have ever tasted....

We all enjoyed it - I even kept wondering if it had improved with the freezing process (not likely) but it was so moist, tasty and light.  Well, because of all that - I wanted to recreate it and of course see if I could improve on it. 

You know, make it even better, if that was possible. 

It is a challenge to make these things when I don't use sugar, wheat flour and anything processed - we have become so accustomed to those flavours, we often feel at a loss when trying to find ingredients to use in place of this. 

And for me, it has been over 8 years since I ate sugar, wheat, cows milk, caffeine or many other of these foods - and I still have to stop and think about replacement ingredients for certain foods I want to make. Yet, I know that is also part of the process here, find the old ways some of these recipes were made or come up with new ones.

I am never one to back down from a challenge, so in wanting to improve on an already great recipe for the cinnamon cake I decided what it needed was something like a coffee cake crumble over the top. Only it would be without the sugar....

I went back to the drawing board here and made my cake with the standard fare - 2 duck eggs, 1 cup milk, 3 cups spelt flour, 1/2 cup butter, baking soda etc. But then I added in 1 cup of ground almonds, 1 cup apple butter and extra cinnamon with some of our own honey.

These ingredients were all mixed in a deep bowl to form the cake batter which I then poured into a bundt pan. For the topping, I mixed up 3/4 cup oats, butter, milk, cinnamon and maple syrup in a small bowl. It did not look like quite enough, I could have done with more, but I thought it would give me an idea of how this would taste.

I crumbled the topping mixture over top of the batter and then placed it in a hot oven for about 40 minutes or so. Once it was cool I could not wait to taste how this one turned out - I tried to stick to my original recipe (thank goddess I keep notes!) so I hoped it would be as nice as the last one.

It was better! I loved it. Tonight I made a little icing (didn't need it but what the hell!) from creamed goats cheese and maple syrup to drizzle over each slice. It was delicious - my new favorite recipe, for today anyway!! LOL

April

Cinnamon cake with crumble topping

From Leftover Apples to Apple Crumble

You know how I don't like to see old fruit sitting in the bowl going off - it is just begging to have something done with it because I am reluctant to put it in the compost. So, my week has been one of learning to trust myself even more in the kitchen.

I had these very large sweet apples - 5 of them and wondered for a couple of days what to make. We have lots of apple sauce and apple butter so it was decided to make an apple cobbler. But I wasn't exactly sure what the end result would be, so I just started in and where I ended up was a complete surprise!

The apples were cooked with cinnamon, a little lemon juice, maple syrup with a sprinkle of corn starch and vanilla essence in at the last minute. I let them bubble away for about 10 minutes until they were just soft and the liquid had thickened somewhat.

In the meantime I had the oven preheated to about 175 degrees C and a baking dish coated with butter. I spooned with a large ladle the apple mixture into this baking dish, smoothing it out on top. 

Using a deep bowl, I wanted to make some kind of a topping for this cobbler - I ended up with 3/4 cup of spelt flour, 1/2 cup of oats, 3 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup of maple syrup - all mixed and formed into a little ball.

I wanted to cover as much of the top of the apples as possible, so I flattened this dough out and starting at the middle of the dish, I spread out the oat mixture covering the apples until only the edge was left open.

Next, this went into the hot oven for about 20 minutes or so. When I took it out, the apples were were bubbling and golden brown on top. The smell was incredible and the apple sauce had thickened up a little more.

Apple Cobbler or something similar! 

I served it as it was, hot with a cup of dandelion coffee. It was the most delicious tasting dessert I have had in a very long time! Delightful when things turn out well.

Perhaps I should do a little more experimenting...

Have a tasty day,

April

Liquid Gold - Bees & Honey

Since today is a food day, I have been cooking and eating all day! Which is not how things usually are however,  I have been working on some more recipes and we had some tasting to do. Besides, what else would there be to do on a rainy Thursday at home?

Well, one other thing I have been doing is filtering honey through a muslin cloth into jars for storage. We just moved a hive to higher ground and in the shift had to remove quite a bit of old comb (they had lots) and ended up with some lovely honey.

Of course this is a messy job and everyone in the house wants to be in on it - so everyone and everything gets sticky! The one thing I have noticed myself doing (again) is comparing my honey from my own bees to something that would come in a jar from Tesco's for instance.

Of course, my first thought is that Tesco honey looks 'like honey' - which is what we as consumers have been trained to expect from a honey product. These thoughts brought me back to the years spent working on my honey project at CAFRE college in Northern Ireland and the things I found out about myself and others as a consumer (or a well trained monkey!)

Well, first of all, the honey we have in our hives is different from something found in a shop. We do not feed our bees and do not treat with anything. We also keep a large herb garden. But more then that, we use the comb honey, untreated, unheated - as is.

Unless I want some filtered for baking and cooking - which is what I am doing today, we eat the honey straight from the hives. I wouldn't' for the life of me want to alter anything this precious. 

However I know enough about this subject and how honey is processed before it arrives on a store shelf to understand that our perceptions of honey are shaped by what is available to us from a shop. When I was working on my study at CAFRE college, during some of the food labs, I surveyed people extensively about their tastes, preferences and expectations for honey.

What was uncovered was that none of their preferences were based in reality - people wanted medium coloured, light tasting, clear honey - the type that would indicate it was blended from multiple sources, heated to high temperatures and imported in from God knows where. 

Yet, they expected this commercially produced honey to be very good for them and have medicinal properties. 

Very few people would have known to use local honey, on the comb when you can get it, unheated, untreated - right out of the hive is best, especially if you want it for medicinal purposes. And that local honey colours and tastes vary from season to season as well as within each hive. 

Bees which have access to herbs such as thyme, sage, lavender and chamomile would produce a great tasting honey as well as perhaps be quite healthy and strong themselves. Each of these factors is important for us to know as informed consumers (taking the game to another level). 

If you like honey and have a back garden, you should consider keeping bees, you don't have much to do with them, just plant a few herbs or flowers and let them do their thing. 

They are an indicator species for the planet - if they fail to thrive, so do we. That seems pretty important to me.

Well, off to keep going with the honey!

Have a healthy day,

April

Top Bar hive in back garden

Now in 3rd Month - Processed Food Free!

Today I have been getting caught up with all my jars - I have loads of them by now (after all these years!) and keep all of our dry foods in them. I love this system because I can see at a glance what needs filling up and things to make. Stock taking is very easily done.

Yesterday I made some muesli to fill up the empty jars, today I have been busy with salted roasted cashews for the weekend, bread for tomorrow and topping up half empty jars with seeds, nuts and flour. It is a nice system when you keep up with it and make your own foods to fill the jars.

I like that each jar contains the raw ingredients to make the foods we love as well as some of the finished products - or the fruits of my labour! I find that managing such a system only takes minutes each week once it was set up.

Key to absolutely everything in life - achieving something worthwhile at least, is a good level of organization as well as commitment. Following a lifestyle where you are preparing and consuming non processed whole foods is an investment in health and longevity, for everyone in the family.

I have said it many times - eating and living this way is our health insurance, our life insurance and an absolute guarantee that whatever our bodies (and our lives) throw our way, it can and will be handled with relative ease.

We are now into the third month of completely processed-food free living, having removed the 8 or 9 products that stubbornly worked their way into our diets. And I am always looking at each of us, examining our life, for evidence of any changes or difference.

I seem to do this about once a month - a little stock taking (the same with my jars! LOL) - these past few days I have noticed my skin is even smoother and softer then it was before. I had another complement on my hair again today - it looks healthy, why don't I have any grey hair, and have I done something different. 

As well, I am finding it easier to know when I am full, I probably eat less and I feel less resistance to doing the things I need to do. I can feel the old processed foods working their way out of my system as my mind gains clarity!

Not a bad place to be, the effort is well worth it! 

Have a processed food free day...

April 

Making Homemade Muesli - A great breakfast!

I just finished a great bowl of muesli after fasting since Sunday evening - and a couple of good workouts. It tasted heavenly! I love our muesli for a few reasons, mostly because I make it myself, but also because it is so easy to make! 

The kids love it, and I always feel like they have something substantial in their stomachs when they are heading off for sailing or rock climbing - activities that require some fuel in the system. A bowl of homemade muesli eats like a meal, filling, hearty and balanced.

I have included my recipe below, which will be included in my new recipe book Eat Like A Pagan - however there are a couple of things to point out - I use a very large mixing bowl and just start adding ingredients. Basically whatever I have on hand that might taste good in muesli, goes in. I also do not measure anything, a handful of this, a cup of that - just pour it in to your desired amount.

That way no two mueslis are alike, I use different nuts, seeds and dried fruit each time, but some such as coconut, raisins, sunflower seeds and oats form the backbone of this cereal.

Muesli

Sultanas

Shredded Coconut

Seeds (Pumpkin, Sesame, Sunflower)

Slivered Almonds, chopped walnuts, hazelnuts or cashews 

Oat flakes or Millet flakes (or both)

Chopped dates, apricots, figs or raisins

Dried blueberries or Cherries

Ground linseeds, ground almonds 

Maple Syrup and Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (less if making less)

Mix all dry ingredients together in the quantities desired (use a little or a lot) then pour over 2-3 tablespoons (or more to taste) of Maple Syrup and about 2-3 tsp of Olive Oil. Adjust the quantities of spices to match the quantity of muesli - use more or less as desired. 

When thoroughly mixed, scoop out enough to cover a flat baking sheet or other dish that can be easily placed under a grill. Grill or toast the muesli until you can smell it (should smell sweet) and it turns a golden brown.  Careful to not leave it too long - it will burn.

Take it out and stir to turn the cereal over and put back in for another few minutes. Once done enough, take out and enjoy with Almond milk or goat's milk as a great wholesome breakfast or as a snack for extra energy.

If you make too much you can store Muesli in an airtight glass jar for a few days to weeks (we have eaten after a month and still great!) as you eat it. This is great for traveling as well, my hubby takes it to work for a snack...

Muesli in jars 

There is nothing as good as a lovely breakfast to get your day started! Have a healthy day,

April

making Muesli 

How Much Further Can I Go?

Over this past week I have been asking myself what more can I do - how much further can I go with our diets to continue to improve things? And I think I have some more ideas coming up to the surface...

Of course, the next venture for us is to get a goat and have our own milk - this is my current project as I learn about how to care for these animals as well as how to make some simple cheeses at home. But, what then? 

The only other real purchase of foods for us now (we buy nothing prepared) would be our vegetables and fruit. For the most part, it would be quite difficult to grow many of these items here in Ireland. And even if they could grow it would be a full time job for a couple of people. 

Or is this what I have come to believe? Might there be a way to grow more of our own food, could I find a way to do this at least on a larger scale then we have at the moment. Hmmm....

When I ask myself how much further I can take this food thing, I start by mulling over my dreams, hopes, goals and wishes for our lives. Or in other words, what else have I been dreaming about when it comes to food?

For me that answer is simple, I want to be self sufficient and produce as much of my own food as possible. And of course that means more, bigger, larger garden and growing more of our own food. 

Part of me is thinking along the lines of increasing my time in the garden by one hour each day. If I were to start an experiment, where might that one extra hour or about 6-7 hours per week, bring me? Could we then have lots more to show for it or just a little bit?

Perhaps it is time to start this and see where it takes me... back to the garden it is!

I will keep you posted,

April

Return to Living

Today we went to a goat farm to learn about the care and milking of goats as well as spending some time making soft goat's cheese. It was fun and something I had wanted to do for a very long time. So, yes now I am hoping some day soon to move into the venture of producing our own milk!

I am laughing as I write this for a few reasons, one is because this has long been a dream of mine. I remember doing a course back in 1996 on sheep and goat farming - wishing then I could just stay home on the farm and raise little lambs amidst field of herbs. LOL

Another reason I am delighted to be doing this is because I can't wait to have our own milk, fresh from a goat (we don't need much) for my baking, cooking and perhaps making a little bit of cheese for us to enjoy.

To me, at this point with each of the changes we have undertaken in our lives to live sustainably, grow our own food, make everything home made as well as use organic foods and wild harvested herbs - milking our own goat would be the ultimate adventure along this path.

And I am not even certain why. We have had bees for several years now, we have ducks, geese and turkeys and we do our own thing when it comes to food. Perhaps getting a goat drives home the reality of living this way or else it means we have finally arrived in the land of milk and honey! 

Looking after goats with all you have to do seemed to be a little intimidating to me at first this morning, but by the time I came home after the whole day talking goat, milk and cheese - I was feeling a little better about it.

Right now, I am not so much concerned about this next venture as I am wondering where does it end? LOL Perhaps to become completely sustainable - self supporting in every way, finally living the life of your dreams. 

Maybe a little goat's cheese will go a long way....

Have a healthy day,

April