Thursday, September 15, 2016

winter postcards

Spring takes a little longer to reach us here. There's signs if you look, daffodil stems poking through soil lining the footpaths to houses. Lamb ewes with their mothers dotted across the landscape as you drive by on the Monaro Highway. Right now we are dealing with rain and lingering winter illnesses. The mountain man and I declared this to be one of the worst winters for us in nine years. I was then surprised to come across some photos that showed things might not of been so gloomy after all and that there were some beautiful moments to be grateful for.

Starting with friendly afternoon visitors...










The excitement (and relief) when the mountain man brings home another load of wood to be stacked. There's nothing more comforting than being surrounded by piles of wood when you live in a cold region, knowing you will continue to have a warm cosy house and dry clothes in the morning.




 

Family skiing at Selwyn Snowfields. Finally a year where we could all ski together. We only managed a few days skiing in the entire season due to illnesses and bad weather and the snow then being rained away but it did come back! Unfortunately at the same time our wood piles were pretty low and mountain man had to spend a couple of weekends in the woods chainsawing. But never mind, I was so relieved I could even manage some time on the snow after my health issues this year and to do so with my favourite peeps was bliss. Luckily I took some photos with my phone camera, as you can see our hands are literally full.






How was your Winter? Are you yearning for Summer? I am! Bring on plenty of vitamin D and mouth watering fruits and salads. If you are heading in to cooler weather, are you ready? Well then, you better get your knit on.


Sunday, September 4, 2016

in the kitchen july august


Beetroot and Dark Chocolate Brownie from River Cottage Cookbook loaned from the Library. This recipe has been on repeat all through winter. Toss your brownie recipe and get this one. It's totally addictive!


Buckwheat Pancakes with a Blueberry coulis made with water and a little raw honey. In winter I eat only warm foods for breakfast and keep juicing and smoothies for later in the day.


Sweetcorn Pancakes with quiona flour and Coriander Pesto from the Endoempowered Holistic Program. These are my go to dinner patties, so quick and easy for when I haven't prepared anything special for me.


Local organic produce from my bulk healthfood shop, Moontree. I've been getting blood tests done over the past few months for any deficiencies and slowly my vitamin collection is growing and so is my health improvements.


Ham and Vegetable Frittata for the males in the house. The mountain man took two weeks off work in the school holidays and spent his time taking us to the snow and cooking dinners. Lucky me! He dusted off the CSIRO total wellbeing diet and made several recipes like the above and the following...


Pumpkin and Spinach Frittata with Kale Avocado Salad. We also took some frittatas to the snow because at Selwyn there's an indoor seating area where you can take your own food. It's fun to see the different nationalities and how far they will go to eat their favourite foods such as camping style Chinese Hot Pot and others just bring sandwiches and snacks. Mostly people do this to save money and that is our goal too but also to avoid the really dodgey food sold at the one cafeteria there. Think processed wheat, high salt, vegetable oils and very cheap melted cheese. Otherwise, It's a lovely place for family skiing.


Tomato Soup with Apple and Walnut Kale Salad.


White Fish with Parsley Relish. From memory I grabbed Basa Fillets from the Supermarket, not something I have bought in recent years due to the mercury and over fishing concerns. The most pressing issue now is microbeads and just recently I've read how microfibers from the clothing industry is causing more pollution in our oceans! We do eat Salmon fortnightly and only eat white fish when we stay at my mums in Sydney because she shops at local fish markets. But now I really don't feel that it is ethical or safe to eat fish even occasionally.


White Fish with Char-grilled Vegetables. The last recipe from the CSIRO cookbook. Thank you Mountain Man for the kitchen break!


Back on duty starting with Homous. I've been making a point of cooking the family similar foods from my childhood. Living far from Sydney and the diverse multicultural eats, the kids are not getting the same exposure (like I did) outside of the home either.


Organic Beef Kofta with herbs from the garden and Lebanese spices from the pantry.


Kids lebanese plate. I like to think of this as my version of "Nuggets and Chips" but tastes heaps better and has lots more nutrition. Always a winner with the kids.


Nice Cream. I had a little yearning for "Summer" so I blended up some frozen bananas, honey, coconut cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon in my froothie. I threw on my coat and beanie and found a little sunny spot in the yard to enjoy my little treat. It felt like I was on vacation for ten whole minutes.


Macadamia Raw Brownie. Based on the one from Happy Hormones.  A much more beneficial treat for when those monthly sugar cravings hit.


What's been happening in your kitchen? Do you have access to fresh seafood and do you have any concerns about fish?

Zena xx