Same Old, Same Old in Our Cooking

Do you have things - boxes, packets, jars of foodie stuff in your cupboards that you never get around to using up? Do you find yourself stuck in a rut making the same things again and again using the same ingredients?

What's with that? I mean, we are interested in these foods, we even like them - yet there they sit, day after day and we somehow pass them by for the same old, same old. I mention to people all the time - our diets must have variety in order to be balanced.

Yet - when we take in a narrow range of foods or even a wide range of the same types of foods - day after day, we tend to limit our digestive and absorptive capabilities in our guts. I have seen instances where entire pathways shutdown from lack of use.

With this in mind (and because I am detoxing, therefore looking for things to keep me busy!) I have been going through some of these foods that we enjoy but do not use often enough. One of these is the yellow split pea.

Years ago this was a more common staple in my diet - coming from Canada's east coast, it was used to make pea soups, peas puddings etc. I also used to make a lovely dal with them when I was vegan - but alas, time has flown by and I have let this lovely pea slip from my diet except very occasionally.

So this week I am going through each cupboard to see exactly what it is I have - and have not been using enough of. There are so many interesting things to be making - cooking - trying out with the ingredients I have on hand....

So why not! Hopefully some more adventurous dishes, recipes and cooking will arrive on these pages in the coming days....

April

Our full moon on 24 February

Guinea Fowl Chilli (Tomato Free)

I don't eat chicken - ever since my days (years) spent as a Food Hygiene Inspector where I saw thousands of them coming down the line....often with tumors, growths and what not. It used to be surprising to me because they were for the most part still quite young.

However, it seems they were very prone to cancers of one sort or another. I never saw this in any other animal to this extent and naturally removed them from my diet. Actually I haven't eaten them since - instead I would tend to go for their wild fowl friends.

I really have come to like guinea fowl which is not related to the chicken, but belongs to the pheasant family. It is a lovely bird and I have written about on here before. Again, like any meat, it is not something we would eat more then 3 or 4 times a year, but when we do we love it.

This past week I had a guinea fowl to do something with and decided to make a chilli with it. Just something a little different and with a lovely combination of flavours. It turned out nicely - I have made this before and everyone has enjoyed it.

To make the chilli - I proceed in steps. First of all I slow roast the guinea fowl in the slow cooker for most of a day or a night. This way it is succulent and tender. I cooked this one in plenty of onions, garlic, sage, salt and pepper.

I take the meat off of the bones and place the meat back into the pot - keeping it on a low heat setting. The guinea fowl had lots of liquid around it so I sprinkled a little spelt flour over top to make a thicker consistency.

In the meantime I soaked some red kidney beans over night to be ready to cook once the meat was done. I always cook my beans in lots of sea weeds - so they are not tough, and the sea weed gets into the meal as well.

In another pot I made a sauce - using carrots, beetroot, sweet potato, squash, sautéd onions, garlic and leek - these were cooked until tender and then blended into a puree. Then I added generous amounts of cumin, coriander, turmeric, pepper, salt and some bay leaves. 

Next I started to assemble everything - the beans went into the slow cooker with the meat and liquid, then the sauce was poured over top of everything. I left it to blend and heat through for about an hour or so and then turned it off. 

Once it had been sitting cooling for the afternoon it was ready - the kids loved it, the guinea fowl adds a rich taste to the rest of the ingredients as well.

April 

Guinea Fowl chilli

Creative Cooking 101 - Fish Dish

Yesterday was a cooking day - I just wanted to make things - perhaps I had something on my mind or whatever - either way I ended up cooking several dishes for the children to try and then put the rest in the freezer for when my detox is over.

One of the foods I had on hand was some fish - we have eaten a lot of fish over these last 2 years since we went back on meat sources of protein - and sometimes we get a little tired of it. So with that in mind I did some thinking about the hake I had and what to do with it.

Fish is so simple and easy to work with - it's also very versatile. I like that I can add a lot of other flavours to it as well - such as herbs, citrus, onion and a few more. But I also like it when the dish tastes fresh and is full of interesting tastes...

I finally decided to stew the hake in lemon juice, sautéd onions, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and water (with a little pepper, salt and dried dill from my garden). This all went well and was very savoury smelling - it looked great.

When it was fairly well cooked I poured off a half cup of the fishy liquid and put it aside. Then I let the fish sit for a few minutes in the juices. In another pot I melted some butter added 1 tablespoon of spelt flour and made a little sauce - I poured the fish juice into this.

Once it was heated up again, it thickened and this was spooned over the fish in the other saucepan with more pepper and a little sea salt. My children loved it - however, I have yet to taste it, so the verdict is still out.

It does smell very nice however....

April

Hake cooking in the sauce pan...

A Meatless Sunday Meal....

Not so long ago I was vegan - and had been for nearly 6 years, before that I was vegetarian off and on for a few years (quite a few!). One of the regular foods we ate during those years was some sort of nut loaf.

I say some sort because I would make them with nearly anything that I had on hand - of course your basic ingredients might be ground nuts, however, after that anything goes. These last few days I have been rethinking my nut loaf recipe and decided to make one for the children.

Today I had some soaked mung beans on hand, extra walnuts, some olives, lots of spices and a fresh goose egg. The mung beans had been mixed and ground (after sprouting for 2 days) with fresh herbs from the garden, garlic, onion and leeks.

I then ground the walnuts and just started adding what I could find. One of the nicest things about a loaf of any type is that it will all bake up together with some of the flavours blending throughout the entire dish.

Mung beans tend to stay together quite well when sprouted and blended - earlier in the day I had made a few bean burgers with them, which is one of our favourite foods. But, I do like to create something different from time to time, even when using the same vegetable ingredients.

Perhaps it has a little to do with retaining the spiritual connection with our foods while aligning ourselves to nature's forces - that to me, now means to make the majority of our plates from the vegetable and herb kingdom, but to also be in touch with the meats you are eating as well.

Meat per se is not a negative - what tends to be dark about it, is when it is laced with unknown medications, fed GM ingredients, stressed out and full of toxins. Of course now there is the very real situation of not getting the meat you are paying for....

Vegetables and animals you grow, prepare and cook yourself are a fairly safe bet!! LOL

April

Bean & Nut Loaf with olives and garlic....

Almond Citrus Cake

For another take on using oranges in our baking I decided to mix two of my favourite food together - almonds and oranges. I wanted to use up some oranges but also to bake using less flour and more of other, different ingredients.

Almonds are lovely because they grind down into a floury powder, yet retain that deep taste that goes throughout a dish. And they pair up well with citrus - especially orange. I also like the texture of cake, cookies or other foods like nut loaf when made with almonds.

Cakes are easy to make with nearly any combination of ingredients and are just as easy to freeze for those days when something a little sweet would be nice with your dandelion coffee. 

This recipe is really straight forward and easy to follow - I had my children working with me on this one too - we usually bake something on Fridays for our home school project....

Almond Citrus Cake

2 cups ground almonds

1 cup whole grain spelt flour (or white spelt)

1 large organic orange

3 eggs (I use duck eggs)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon Apple pie spice

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

pinch salt

7 to 8 tablespoons orange water

Place the orange in a saucepan cover it with water and bring it to a gentle boil for about 1 hour. It should cook gently, otherwise it will be tough. Once boiled, take off the heat and cool. Then cut it open and remove the seeds. The orange then needs to be blended into a pulp together with one or two tablespoon of the water it was boiled in.

Turn on the oven to 180C and prepare a baking tin - I usually use a bundt pan for cakes.

In a deep mixing bowl, place the dry ingredients and sift them together (flour, almond, baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt). Break the eggs in a small bowl and whisk together with the maple syrup. Next, add the wet ingredients (including the orange pulp) to the dry almond mixture and start to mix together - you will need to add the orange water here - add enough to ensure it is wet but not sloppy. Usually around 7 or 8 tablespoons.

Spoon this batter into a prepared tin and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes. Once a toothpick comes out clean - turn off the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack. This is lovely served with orange sections, or drizzled with maple syrup.

Enjoy!

Almond Citrus Cake

Herbed Oat Cakes

I just realised I don't often mention Oat Cakes on here - these lovely little crackers used to be a staple in our diets, until I stopped buying processed/packaged foods! LOL So, now they are an occasional treat whenever I make them.

Even though there are so few ingredients and they are tasty, they are far better homemade then anything you can find in the shops. So, please try this out at home - or any variation of this recipe, because they are lovely, good for you and kind of fun to make. Especially if you have children...

When you make them at home you can jazz things up a bit, (which is the same thing we have found out about everything else we eat) and make some different combinations using herbs, grains, nuts, seeds, spices or whatever, to suit yourself.

A basic Oat Cake (herbed) recipe would be:

Thyme Herbed Oatcakes

2 cups ground oatmeal or oat flour

2 tablespoons spelt flour for rolling

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 tsp salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

9 -11 tablespoons boiling water

Preheat your oven to 180C - in a deep bowl place the oatmeal, baking soda, thyme and some of the salt.

Carefully measure out the olive oil and add to the oatmeal mixture. Mix well - then slowly add the boiling water, 1 tablespoon at a time - be careful around spoon 8 - you might not need much more. If the dough is too dry - add up to 11. 

I usually stop somewhere between 9 and 10 tablespoons of water. The dough will be warm and soft but hold together well. Roll out flat onto a floured parchment to about 3mm thickness. Using a cookie cutter cut into round shapes - sprinkle a little salt over top and place on a baking sheet. You might also want to sprinkle more thyme at this point too. 

Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly golden - then allow to cool and enjoy with nut butter, jam, chutney, cheese, smoked fish or anything you wish. These are lovely on their own too. 

April

**Intuition for Business Class start 5 March in West Cork

Thyme Oat Cakes 

Living Consciously - Higher States of Awareness

One of the things I wanted to mention more of on here, would be based on the theme of Conscious Living (this is the only name I can think of to describe it). Which then begs the question - what exactly is Conscious Living....

So - here is my take on it, right now, from where I am at this point in time. 

Conscious Living to me would entail being fully and completely aware of all aspects of your life. Of course, the most basic and most important of these would be our food and water. The events of late should have people wondering about where their food is coming from and what they can do to improve the situation.

When we are aware of our lives - we tend to take a greater part in it - sort of like actually living. 

Think about the way we are being encouraged to live right now - we have lost out in so many aspects of living in this new century, we don't even have a rudimentary role in most of the food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear, the jobs we do and the thoughts that go through our heads.

We don't communicate with each other, we don't play, we are rapidly losing skills, abilities and general knowledge on how to care for ourselves. For instance, we are not healing our bodies - but encouraged to treat symptoms.

Instead, we have been told to place 'trust' (faith, hope) in others to do each of these things for us. As if this other person (group, business, committee, agency) might have our best interests first and foremost on their agendas. 

When these things (aspects of living in an aware manner) are taken away from us - a form of powerlessness results. Along with powerlessness comes a deadening of the consciousness - when we feel we cannot change something, after a while we give up.

And giving up is not an option....so this has to change. It all starts with you.

April

Food & Herbs - all the medicine we need

Prepare Your Garden for Spring

Even though the days are still damp and cold - now is the time to be getting your garden in order. If your's is anything like mine, you may find yourself standing around scratching your head wondering where all the weeds have come from in such a short space of time.

Then again, you might also find yourself marveling at how some plants have hung on to life - even through some of the most violent rain, wind and winter storms over these past few weeks. Herbs are like that - give them something to struggle for and they will choose life.

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind at this early part of spring is to not underestimate how very much is taking place below the surface or behind the scenes, so to speak. Our gardens are accumulating great energy - ready to spring forward into rapid growth.

I hope this sounds a lot like your own life right now. The preparation has been done, the work has been put in and now with the ground ready, your dreams will simply grow up from the roots they have formed. 

We are all very much like our gardens (or our gardens are mirror images of us) going though phases, changes and energy shifts throughout the year as the seasons roll on. But, each year expanding in scope, size and dimension as the garden matures.

This maturation process is a vital aspect of a gardens growth in the exact same way we, as energetic humans develop and maintain our energetic selves. Each year of a clean diet, walking a spiritual path and seeking deeper connections to our selves through our food - we also undergo a transformation.

There is nothing quite as beautiful as a garden in full bloom.

April

Something to look forward to....

Rebel Foods Cookery Day 17 February in West Cork

Cooking is my stress reliever - I couldn't imagine going a day without spending at least some of it in the kitchen creating a dish out of the things I might have on hand. Of course, it is also the basis for a healthy diet and lifestyle...

So, this is the place for everyone to begin whenever you feel the need to make some positive changes in your life. I have mentioned it before how when I first got going with bringing my diet and eating habits into line, I made one healthy change each week.

And I started out in a simple way - with one meal at a time. For me, breakfast was the most logical place to start while it remains the easiest meal (in my opinion) to alter, while you can have great tasting foods on offer at the same time. 

It was the best place to start because, our first meal had become a disaster. When ever I think of each of the commercial 'foods' being pushed in our directions - and especially those geared towards breakfast - I see sugar, salt and fat filled meals. 

Cereals in a box, for instance, have long been known to be far less nutritious then the cardboard packaging they are in. Yet, how many people (and children) only feel they have time to open a box and little else each morning...

However, no meal has to sink below the water line when it comes to nutrition - and certainly not the first, most important meal of the day. If you would like to make, taste and know what a foodie slash nutritionist eats to start the day....

Come on out to see for yourself! 

Where: Leap, West Cork

When: Sunday 17 February 2013 (11am to 3pm)

How: contact April on 087 2361616

Cost: €40 for the class, food, recipes and notes

Why: Because this is the best place to start!

Perhaps it's time to make a couple of changes to your diet - what better way, than to be motivated with easy recipes, some fun with food and lively conversation.... getting back to what is real with a Food Rebel!

All growth starts with a seed....

Oaty Crunch Cereal

I don't know about you, but I love my porridge, especially on these cold, damp, windy, dark winter mornings....so it also goes that I like oats. And usually cereals, but not the cardboardy kind that taste as bad as the box they are in likely tastes.

A few days ago, I had a memory of eating something crunchy, sweet and oaty for breakfast - that wasn't muesli. It was a roasted oat cereal that was really nice for a change from the usual fare and ever so ever simple to make.

I set about working on a recipe to call my own and having a few taste testing mornings (and evenings!) with everyone. The following recipe is the one we all loved - it wasn't overly sweet, or too oaty or not filling enough - it was just right.

To make this cereal:

3 cups oats

1 cup chopped pecans

6 tablespoons goat's melted butter 

6 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch salt

Preheat your oven to about 150C and prepare a large baking tray by covering it with a sheet of parchment paper. 

Mix all of your ingredients together in a deep bowl taking care to make sure all the oats are well coated with the butter and maple syrup. It should not be overly wet.

Then spread out the mixture evenly over the baking sheet and place in the hot oven for about 25 to 30 minutes. After 15 minutes or so, give it a little stir to ensure browning throughout. Then leave in the oven until it takes on a golden colour. 

I turned off the oven after 30 minutes and left the cereal to cool on the tray. Once cool I broke it up into clumps and stored in an air tight jar until we were ready to use it. This is lovely with goat's milk, a few fresh berries or chopped apple and of course on it's own.

It will keep for a couple of weeks like this - but it doesn't last long as it tastes so good!

April

Oaty Crunch Cereal

Herb & Spice Loaf

Today I wanted to make something quite different - I had been thinking of using up some of the dried fruit leftover from Solstice as well - so I put these two ideas together to come up with a bread/cake that everyone would enjoy.

There is a traditional loaf made most often with a strong tea (Tea Loaf or Tea Bread) however, as I don't drink tea, but I do drink anything with herbs in it, I decided this could be made using some of the more flavourful ones.

A tea loaf is usually spiced as well with either pumpkin pie spices or apple pie spices. If you don't have any, this is not a problem as we most often have the ingredients for these in our cupboards. To make apple pie spice mix together cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and a little cardamom.

Now for the bread - I mixed about 1 and half cups of dried blueberries, dried cranberries, sultanas, dates, and my personal favorites, elderberries. These were soaked in 1 1/3 cups of boiling water to which I added 3 teabags of lemon and ginger.

However, anything would do - perhaps lemon verbena, chamomile and lavender or any combination of herbs for taste, flavour or added health benefits. I put the apple pie spices (about 1 teaspoon) in with the soaking fruit - just to blend the flavours more.

This fruit was left for about an hour in the hot water, but could easily have been sitting overnight to bring out the full blend and tastes. As well, the spices could have been added to the flour mixture for a more subtle taste.

Next I put 3 cups of spelt flour in a deep mixing bowl and then sifted in 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Once these were thoroughly mixed I rubbed in 3 heaping tablespoons of goat's butter until the flour was forming peas.

In another bowl I had an egg well beaten with 1/4 cup of molasses - I like to use the black strap because it has the most mineral and highest nutrient content. I poured this in with the flour mixture and then the fruit was gradually added together with the water it had soaked in.

Once this was mixed it resembled a thick cake batter. I spooned the batter out into a prepared loaf tin and baked it for about 1 hour at 180C. It is a rich dark cake with a lovely moist texture...great with a cup of herbal tea.

April

Herb & Spice Loaf

Super Foods

I have been asked lately what foods would I consider to be super foods...and I know many people would immediately list off several wonderful foods - such as kale, broccoli, onions and fish. And each of these are wonderful - I eat them as often as I can. 

But there are a couple that really jump out for me - I would use them exclusively for their healing or energy shifting ability and then marvel at the successes I have had because of them. 

I would have to start with herbs, I use and enjoy many different ones - both dried and fresh, but there is one stands alone from this kingdom for me and that would be garlic. I simply love this food, remedy, herb and all round great healer.

Personally I have seen garlic work miracles in my own body, for my children and for many others around me as they literally astound themselves by healing without 'meds' while using garlic and a healing diet. 

The other super food - is perhaps something no one really considers that much at least not in the way I think they should...and that is water. Water is an essential element, and yes I would also have it listed as a food and it makes up the basis of my own food pyramid.

You cannot live without water. Absolutely every body function, process and system requires water to operate. And your body cannot cleanse, detox, heal, or eliminate debris when you are water deficient. This food is so important even your brain shrinks when there isn't enough to go around.

Other than that - a super food for me would be anything home made - sugar free, additive and toxin free, then carefully prepared by someone who enjoys working with food. Believe me, you can taste the difference...

April 

Fruit salad is a good place to start...

Jam Jams with Date & Raisin Mince Filling

On to further adventures here this week...I tried my hand at making some Jam Jams. For those of you who may not know what these are - these are cookies with some jam baked inside. Actually it can be jam or jelly or some other yummy filling - but it's basically a filled cookie.

I am digging back into my long distant past here - these would have been a childhood treat made with partridge berry and apple jam traditionally, as well as lots of molasses as a sweetener. They were lovely and even better when homemade.

When I had decided to make them, I wasn't sure what kind of jam I would use as a filling - but I wanted something very sticky. So that leaves out most of my jams because they do not have any sugar in them. But what I did have was date and raisin mince meat and this would do very nicely.

To make the cookie dough I used about 3 cups of spelt flour, 1 cup molasses, 3/4 cup goat's butter, 1 duck egg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt.

I mixed all of these together - using softened butter and warm molasses - then crumbling this into the flour (dry ingredients). After a few minutes a soft dough was forming - usually this recipe is made with brown sugar and wheat flour....

However I avoid these items and it always comes out just fine. As well, the dough is often chilled for a few hours before cutting into cookies. But with spelt flour it can become quite hard (though not impossible) so unless this is really too soft - I would just make the cookies right from the soft dough.

I rolled out the dough onto a floured surface and then cut some round cookies out to be baked in the oven at 175C for about 9 or 10 minutes. Once these were done enough I removed them and placed a spoonful of the mince in between each one to make a sandwich. But I let them cool down a tiny bit first..they were quite soft.

These went back into the oven for about 3 or 4 minutes further....and then came out to cool onto a rack.

They were big! Almost like giant Jam Jams - but were they ever good!

April

Jam Jams....Very tasty!

More Adventures in Rebel Cooking...

Today for something different I decided to try my hand at making some Biscotti - of course, I've never made this before and actually, have never eaten it either. But, that matters not - because until I started baking, cooking, growing and canning everything for myself - I never ate half of these foods! LOL

So, I dug around for some older recipes for biscotti and then thought about what it would mean when I had to adjust the recipe for spelt flour, fresh organic ingredients, goat's butter, and no sugar. This means I always end up tweaking each recipe quite a bit.

To the point that it no longer resembles anything that I might have started out with. In fact - what I ended up doing was combining the advice of several recipes to see what I might end up with. Having not ever tasted a biscotti before might have been a blessing as well....

Because then I could be fully impartial. Or at least I hoped so.

To make these biscotti I decided to have almond and orange flavours as I have this thing for orange right now and I really like the thought of nuts in any cookie. I also knew they needed to be crisp or hardened in order to dunk them in my coffee...

Here's what I did to make these cookies today....

1/2 cup almonds toasted and chopped

1 cup whole grain spelt flour

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 duck egg

3/4 cup polenta 

2 T orange rind

2 T orange juice

1/2 teaspoon gr coriander

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch salt

First I wanted to get each of the wet ingredients into one place. To do this I blended the maple syrup with the butter, added the egg and then the orange juice.

In a separate mixing bowl, I placed the flours, orange rind, baking soda, salt, spices and some of the toasted almonds. I then mixed this with a wooden spoon until it was well blended - adding the wet mixture slowly until a soft dough was formed.

On a piece of parchment paper I sprinkled some flour and the rest of the almonds. Taking half the dough at a time, I rolled it into a sausage shape taking up the rest of the almonds into the dough. I did this twice with each piece of dough.

Then I just placed each of these long sausages onto a baking sheet and into a hot oven for about 25 to 28 minutes. The oven was around 175C. Once these cookies were a little firm I took them out and let them cool for about 10 minutes or so. Then I sliced them into pieces and placed the pieces back into the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

They turned out nicely - a tiny bit crumbly but really fresh and flavourful. I think I will run through this one again to see if I can get them a little harder like a biscuit....Yummy though!

April

Almond & Orange Biscotti 

Homemade Fig Newtons!!

Last week during our cleanse, my son kept asking for Fig Newtons for our feast - it was funny because I don't think he has ever tasted them, but he did see some friends of his eating them and was curious as to what they were....

Well, this weekend, true to form, I stepped back and thought - I can make them, and they will taste even better then anything that comes from a shop. So, I did, and they were better then any fig newton I have ever had....

In fact they were so delicious - we ate them all before I even had a chance to snap a quick photo. But, all was not lost - I simply made another (and bigger) batch. LOL Right now I am sitting here, smelling the aroma of cooling fig newtons.

And boy do they smell nice - perhaps the nicest of any cookie I've ever had the pleasure of baking. The combination of figs, orange and cardamom - is nearly intoxicating. And just as flavorful, tasty or mouth wateringly delicious as you can imagine anything to be.

This is my own recipe here - I am still tweaking it a little - however - it makes an awesome Fig Newton, so give it a try for yourself at home.... you won't be sorry and perhaps you might be pleasantly surprised!

2 1/3 cups spelt flour

2 tablespoons honey

12 to 16 large figs

boiling water

8 - 9 tablespoons goat's butter

1 egg

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup goat's milk

1.5 tablespoons orange zest

2 tablespoons orange juice 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

pinch salt

In a small bowl place the figs with stems removed - then pour boiling water over top - enough to cover them. I then let them sit while I prepared the rest of the ingredients. Break the egg in a bowl big enough to mix in the milk and maple syrup.

In a small saucepan place the butter - allow it to gently melt or if already at room temperature add this to the egg, milk and maple syrup mixture - stir well to blend. 

Using a deep mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, cardamom and salt together. Once the figs have soaked for about 10 to 15 minutes, transfer to a food processor (or cook on stove top) to blend with 1 tablespoon of the soaking water, 1 tablespoon orange zest, plus 1 or 2 tablespoons honey.

Once the figs are well blended, set them aside. Then add the liquid butter mixture to the flour in the deep mixing bowl and stir until a soft dough forms. Add a little orange juice and the rest of the orange zest here. If the dough is too soft you may chill it for an hour or so - but I never had that problem so far. 

Turn out the dough (I did this in 2 smaller balls of dough) onto floured parchment paper and flatten into a rectangle shape. Spread some of the fig mixture down the middle of the dough or along one side, so that you can either roll it into filled cookies or layer 2 pieces. 

If there is too much fig mixture this is lovely on bread or toast....

Once the dough is filled and ready - cut into individual cookies and place onto a baking sheet. Put into a preheated oven at 180C for about 18 to 20 minutes or until gently browned. 

These are absolutely a treat!

April

Fig Newtons....Yumm!!

Haricot Bean Salad with Stir-fry veg

During my fast I often crave certain things, most often they are single fruits or vegetables. However this time I had my heart and mind set on having some bean salad as soon as I was finished and had time to prepare it...

I even had the beans soaking on the last day of my cleanse - I was so adamant I was having something yummy with beans in it. Usually I am not a bean person - I like them (in other things) but could never say that I would crave them.

What I do like about beans is their versatility - you can use them in nearly anything to make a dish tasty, thicker and full of an earthy flavour. Even right now as I am writing this, I have had a couple of servings of bean salad and now have a Venison Cassoulet warming on the wood stove (also full of beans!).

So, there must be something in the beans I need right now....

For my bean salad I soaked 1 cup of haricots overnight, but other beans would do just as well such as flageolet or cannellini. These were cooked in lots of sea weed (dillisk) until they were soft and then put aside.

Next I sauted some vegetables - grated carrot, shallots, onion, leek and garlic in olive oil and water until they were a little overdone to give them more of a fragrance. I then added 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and about the same in grated lemon rind while the vegetables were still hot.

After seasoning with salt and pepper, I spooned the cooked beans into the vegetable mixture which was let sit for about half an hour to marinate. A little more olive oil was added just before serving....

It was perfect!

April

Bean salad....