From My Kitchen - Sunday 15th April

It will be a busy few weeks for me as I work to get my PhD research proposal and Ethics application handed in. Balancing study with a full-time job is hard work and doesn't leave much time for play! That said, I have a Tupperware party on Tuesday to look forward to, as well as a session next Sunday to 'get my colours done', as well as a complete wardrobe sort! Hopefully this means that the mountains of clothes I don't wear will either be revived or moved on, and my shopping in the future will have some direction. I'm quite excited!

Most of my recipes this week are from this amazing site. I love that you can search by season, ingredient, or type of recipe. Check it out for some amazing whole food inspiration!

Here's the menu for this week:

Dinner
Sunday - ginger soba noodles with roasted garlic butter zucchini rounds (ok, it's basically a marrow...)
Monday - something from Paddy's brain
Tuesday - sushi bowl with organic chicken, avocado, brown rice and spring onions
Wednesday - red lentil soup with lemon and kale with wholemeal chapatis
Thursday -  lemony chickpea stirfry (minus the tofu)

To Do
- soak brown rice
- soak chickpeas
- make chapati dough
- make wholegrain sourdough

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

This is not so much of a recipe as it is a 'here are some things to put in a bowl together'. Paddy and I have been craving Vietnamese food since we went to a delicious, cheap and cheerful restaurant for tea a few weeks ago, and a lovely friend of mine has just gotten back from Vietnam. So jealous!

The beautiful bowl is from my mother-in-law. Isn't it gorgeous!

I soaked some dried mushrooms for a dish last weekend and my friend suggested keeping the soaking water to make soup out of. I decided to try it as the poaching liquid for the chicken for this salad instead. I threw in a cinnamon stick, some star anise, ginger root and galangal, and it worked a treat! You could definitely mix and match the ingredients to suit what is in your fridge, but the dressing is a must have!

Vietnamese Chicken Salad
- 2 organic chicken thighs, poached in stock or water with star anise, cinnamon and ginger and shreaded when cool
- curly kale (in leiu of red cabbage, which I had run out of)
- diced carrot
- diced cucumber
- diced red capsicum
- fresh corn, cut off the cob
- 1 finely diced medium red chilli
- a generous handful of cripsy noodles
- fresh coriander to taste
- fresh mint (I used Vietnamese mint) to taste

Dressing
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp each lime and lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Mix sauce ingredients together and set aside. Place all ingredients except crispy noodles in a bowl, dress generously and toss. Add the noodles just before serving. Enjoy!

From My Kitchen - Sunday 1st April

Last week of term = busy Amy! We also have family coming to stay for the weekend; the house needs a clean and the tins are empty, so it will be an even busier week than usual! I also need to make at least one batch of hot, hot buns! I usually do one batch a year, on Easter Sunday (I never bother with the cross, hence the name). I use a lovely recipe from River Cottage that includes crystalised ginger. Yum! Hunt it down and have a try if you are looking for a new recipe this year.
Here we go:

Dinner
Sunday - hunza pie with green salad
Monday - coconut cream mushroom cabonara
Tuesday - off to a Tupperware party so a big bowl of kale salad prior to will do me fine
Wednesday - pumpkin and millet cakes with jewel salad (a version of these but with pumpkin instead...)
Thursday - zucchini fritters with homemade chorizo crumbs and green salad

To Make
- weekly batch of muesli
- weekly batch of sourdough (Recipe coming soon. Have you made your starter yet?)
- zucchini chocolate cake (to help use up all the zucchini I have in the fridge!)

From My Kitchen - Sunday 11th March

Last week went by in a blur of activities - I didn't bother doing a meal plan as I only ate at home once! This week will hopefully be much more subdued as our visitor has left and evening events calm down. I haven't even opened my research proposal this week, which is a bit a naughty. I am aiming for 1000 words per week (not as easy as it sounds while also working a full-time job!) so will have to work extra hard this coming week to make up for it. I am really loving the work I am doing; the worst bit about it is trying to split my brain into work mode and writing mode; it can be very hard to separate out the two.

Anywho, here's the menu for this week:

Dinner
Sunday - leftovers! Free-range chicken and vege soup with Chinese dumplings (made with friends last night)
Monday - Paddy special: potato cakes with mushroom sauce and green salad
Tuesday - cooking class: this week it's beef in tamarind sauce with Nonya-style vege stirfry
Wednesday - spaghetti with roast pumpkin, sage, brown butter and greens
Thursday - marrow stuffed with brown rice and veges, topped with tomato sauce and cheese and baked until awesome!

Baking
- wholemeal, multi-seed sourdough
- homemade muesli

To Do
- nothing this week, it's all quick and easy!

From My Kitchen - Sunday 26th February

I've been sitting at my computer for the past 4 hours, working away on my research proposal for my PhD, so I am going to make this quick! Luckily it has been a rainy afternoon, so with a purring cat on my knee and dinner bubbling away on the stove, it hasn't seemed like much of a burden at all to be working on my weekend. Next week will be much calmer in our house, as Paddy's play has finished and he is back home at night. I might even be lucky enough to get a night off cooking dinner.
Here's the menu this week:

Dinner
Sunday - free-range, organic Chicken Marbella with dinosaur kale on brown rice
Monday - vegetarian quesadillas ala Paddy with navy beans, veges, salsa and homemade guacamole
Tuesday - cooking class: this week it's lamb and lentil curry with chapati
Wednesday - spaghetti with tomato, zucchini, lemon and garlic
Thursday - quinoa burgers with corn-on-the-cob and a huge green salad

Baking 
- wholegrain sourdough (I'm trying to replicate an AMAZING loaf I bought at the market this weekend)
- muesli (recipe to come)

To Do
- soak beans for burritos
- soak quinoa

From My Kitchen - Sunday 19th February

Well it has been a week of potentially exciting opportunities... Nothing I can share yet but things look like they may be changing quite a bit around here, sooner than we thought! (No, not a baby!). I have had a fairly lazy weekend, which has matched the changeable weather - housework was done, washing folded, animals tended to, a bit more garden has been taken over by things I want in it, time has been spent with friends, and a lot of blobbing out... Pretty good for a weekend, really. Paddy is in yet another play this week, which means a week of evenings alone at home. Although, my nights are actually quite full now, as I go to the gym, yoga and cooking class on different nights of the week. By the time it's the weekend, I am usually quite happy to be home! However, flying solo means dinners will be quick and easy. Here's whats on the menu this week:

Dinner
Sunday - a huge salad with mung and adzuki beans, kale, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, capsicum, apple, spring onion, sourdough croutons and a parmesan/garlic dressing.
Monday - fresh corn, capsicum and feta salad with chorizo
Tuesday - cooking class special. This week it's beef with black bean; honey chicken; and steamed fish with sour plum.
Wednesday - wholemeal flat breads with zucchini, feta and lemon topping, and a green salad.
Thursday - mushroom stroganoff with smashed new potatoes and a green salad.

To Do
- soak mung and adzuki beans
- make flatbread dough

Baking 
- wholemeal sourdough
- peanut butter bliss balls

Breakfast

I used to be in a rut about breakfast - I would have the same thing everyday because it was quick and easy, and I began to dread it. That is no way to start a day! If breakfast is dreaded, it doesn't set you well up for the rest of the day going well, does it. So, in line with one of my New Year's resolutions (get up earlier), which is going wonderfully, may I add, I have been branching out with breakfast.

source

Here are some of my favourites so far:

• breakfast smoothies: blueberries or mango, banana, organic yoghurt, organic whole milk, whole rolled oats, chia and/or flaxseed and/or hemp, and sometimes honey
• porridge: made with whole rolled oats and half milk, half water, served with banana or blueberries, organic whole milk, organic yoghurt, brown sugar and cream.
• homemade muesli: mix whole rolled oats, chopped almonds, seeds (sunflower/pumpkin/sesame) chia and  flaxseeds with honey and olive oil and toast until brown, add chopped dried apricots and serve with organic milk and yoghurt and fruit
• Japanese breakfast: brown rice with tinned tuna, mayonnaise, avocado and lemon. Sometimes with a cup of miso soup too
• wholemeal or spelt sourdough toast with butter and homemade preserves, and chopped up seasonal fruit
• green smoothy: banana, blueberries, greens and water
• poached eggs on wholemeal or spelt sourdough with wilted greens, butter, lemon, salt and pepper

I usually have a cup of tea with breakfast too, which varies from day to day. As I have a long drive to work, I sip a hot water and lemon drink. I have also recently purchased a wide mouth drink bottle, so I plan on taking a green juice on my drive to work each morning too. I can't get enough of those greens!

Any awesome breakfast ideas I'm missing out on?

From My Kitchen - Sunday 12th February

It's been another busy week here, with a new arrival to our family - an SPCA cat called Lola. She is possibly the most affectionate cat you will ever meet (she pretty much adopted me herself), cheeky, and soft as a cloud! Since I can't have any children for at least the next wee while due to study commitments, animals are providing a good distraction (even though it seems like EVERYONE is pregnant at the moment!).

Dinner
Sunday - off to the Chinese Lantern Festival, so something yummy from a stall
Monday - tom kha gai soup with organic chicken thighs, greens, red cabbage and capsicum
Tuesday - cooking class special: chicken gulai with carrot and cucumber salad (both Malaysian)
Wednesday - penne with mashed courgettes, basil and parmesan, and kale salad with apples and blue cheese
Thursday - vegetarian bean burritos with green salad

Baking
- more bliss balls (these are amazing!)
- wholemeal sourdough

To Do
- soak beans for burritos
- make chicken stock for tom kha gai

Blackcurrant Tea

1. Pick some blackcurrants or acquire some from a lovely friend or neighbour.
2. Add them to your favourite tea cup and cover with boiling water.
3. Allow to steep for a few minutes, then relax and enjoy.

Mung Bean Salad in Wholemeal Tortillas

Yum yum yum, I am still licking my lips after tonight's delicious dinner. Inspired by a recipe I found here, I was very excited to try out something new with mung beans. Usually I only sprout them, but now I have found out they are delicious and easy to cook, and make a fabulous base for salads. The recipe called for a vinaigrette, but I decided to use a lemon tahini dressing, as I had some tahini in the fridge that needed using up. Any dressing would be great on this salad though, so use whatever takes your fancy! I wrapped my salad in wholemeal tortillas, with homemade tomato chutney and some salad leaves. Delish!

I have had a busy afternoon, visiting the garden plot I have a share in for the first time. We will be documenting our adventures on a communal blog called Tenderfoot, so be sure to have a look see to keep up to date on what we are doing. I was pleased to come home to an easy and relatively quick dinner, and now I am cooking up a storm, making five seed sourdough, homemade cream cheese, homemade muesli and roasted pumpkin hummus. Now, who is on the dishes...

Mung Bean Salad in Wholemeal Tortillas
1 cup dried mung beans, soaked overnight and cooked until soft (about 15 minutes)
3 spring onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
10 black olives, diced
Large handful of greens, chopped (I used pea shoots, but anything would do)
Handful of fresh mint, chopped

Lemon Tahini Dressing
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp rock salt
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp olive oil

Wholemeal Tortillas
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
About 1 cup warm water

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. For the dressing, mash garlic cloves with salt in a mortar and pestle to form a paste. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and mix until combined. Toss warm salad in dressing and leave to marinate while you make the tortillas.

For the tortillas, place the flour, salt and oil in a bowl and slowly add the water and mix to form a soft dough. Place dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth. You can leave to sit for a while at this point, or just forge ahead with making your tortillas. Split the dough into eight pieces, and roll into balls. Flatten into circles with a rolling pin. Cook in a very hot pan until brown and bubbling on both sides.

To compose, place a tortilla on a plate, smear with a spoonful of tomato (or other) chutney, add some lettuce leaves and a good spoonful of mung bean salad mix. Wrap and devour.

Coconut Curry Soup with Pumpkin, Peas and Brown Rice

It's rainy here tonight and I was very glad to come home to a delicious bowl of soup that I has pre-made last night, all ready for my late return home. I based it on a yummy soup my mum has made a few times, with my own additions of course, and it was delicious! I highly recommend you give this one a try for a quick dinner idea.

I used pumpkin and peas but it could easily be made with any veges, or chicken or fish. I was originally going to use the very first of the new season's asparagus, but decided to instead save it for a special dish, all of it's own! I love asparagus, and am very excited that the season is almost here, even if it does mean farewelling by beloved brussel sprout until next winter.

This is coming straight out of my brain from last night, so if the seasoning is a bit light, add more... :)


Coconut Curry Soup with Pumpkin, Peas and Brown Rice

1 tin coconut cream
1 1/2 tins chicken or vege stock (I used my empty coconut cream tin to measure this)
3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
2 cm fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbsp green curry paste
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3-5 kaffir lime leaves
2 cups diced pumpkin
1/2 cup peas
1 1/2 cups brown rice, cooked 
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh chopped coriander

In a medium sized pot, bring to a gentle boil the coconut cream, chicken stock, ginger, garlic, curry paste, lemon juice, lime juice and kaffir lime leaves. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, then add the diced pumpkin and simmer until pumpkin is cooked (about 5 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces). To the soup add peas, salt, pepper and about half of your fresh coriander. Stir until peas are warmed through. To serve, place warm brown rice in the bottom of your bowl, ladle over soup and sprinkle with chopped coriander to garnish. I also added a handful of greens to mine before I ate it, since I can't get enough of them!

Spinach, Feta and Pesto Fritters

Wow what a busy week I am having! We had a lovely weekend away in Auckland, visiting friends and watching this extravaganza of awesomeness, and this week is full to the brim with work and evening activities. Last night I went out to a potluck to meet the families we are going to be sharing a vege plot with this Summer! I don't know all the details of this amazing project yet but Paddy and I and the three other families in our group have access to 100 square metres of land to grow organic vegetables on, all the free, organic seedlings we need to fill this plot, organic sprays (i.e seaweed) and compost and gardening advice and guidance from the full time staff who manage the plot! All in exchange for a minimum of an hour a week of work. I am unbelievably excited about the prospect of an entire Summer of free, organic produce, and an opportunity to meet like-minded people. The project is aimed at a very diverse group of people and includes immigrants, recovering addicts and low-income groups such as beneficiaries. The aim is to promote and support healthy eating and self-sustainability. How amazing does this sound!? And even better, the whole thing is funded in full by the Ministry of Health. As the weather continues to improve, I am even more excited about what this Summer has to bring.

So, I pottered along last night to met my gardening group and took these delicious fritters with me. I was feeling very pleased with myself after creating these, as they include spinach from my garden, homemade feta and homemade pesto from last year's basil, that I liberated from the freezer. And, they turned out delicious! Served with homemade tomato chutney, they were the perfect addition to the potluck.

The gardening group decided last night that we will set up a blog to document our journey, so watch this space, as I will link up once it is underway. In other news, I have made a very big decision this week, which I am looking forward to sharing once I have told the special people in my life. Things will be different around my place for a while!

Spinach, Feta and Pesto Fritters
2-3 cups fresh spinach, washed well
1/2 block feta (about 1/2 cup?)
2 generous Tbsp pesto
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup water

Place spinach, feta, pesto, lemon juice and the egg in a food processor and blitz until blended (but don't worry about getting it smooth, as the chunks are nice). Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the spinach mixture; season to taste. Begin to fold together and add water as necessary to make a thick batter (think corn fritter mixture). Fry blobs in olive oil, turning once brown and flattening on the cooked side to make fritters. Serve with tomato chutney or more pesto and salad greens.

Self-Saucing Chocolate Mug Puddings

Apparently I am a bit behind the eight ball in the world of chocolate mug puddings...
I discovered this treasure of a recipe concept on Pinterest a few weeks ago and couldn't help but give them a try. The recipe I found had an egg in it, and as we always seem to run out of eggs, I was keen to try making one without. I found a few different recipes and tested them - they were all yummy but I am a long-time fan of self-saucing puddings, and decided this was exactly what they needed. I also wanted to tone the sugar levels down a bit, as I don't really have that much of a sweet tooth and the recipes I tried kind of made my teeth quiver. So, here is my version of the chocolate mug cakes (not that unlike the hundreds of other recipes around), with the added delicious addition of sauce and half the sugar.
Yum yum yum...

Self-Saucing Chocolate Mug Puddings
Per serve:
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp chocolate chips
Dash of vanilla essence
3 Tbsp milk or water
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cocoa
3 Tbsp boiling water

Using one large coffee cup per person, add the dry ingredients first and stir to combine. Then, add the coconut oil, chocolate chips, vanilla essence and milk or water and stir very well until all mixed together. Make sure you get right to the bottom of the cup or you will end up with lumps of flour in your cooked pudding. Smooth the top of the pudding out and sprinkle the second measure of cocoa and brown sugar on top. Pour the boiling water, over the back of a spoon, into the cup. Microwave each pudding in 30 second bursts until puffed up and springy. Mine took one minute each but be sure to do it in bursts because an over-cooked pudding is dry and yuck. Serve with cream, milk or yoghurt on top.

Add dry ingredients to your mug and stir to combine.

Add wet to dry, stir very well.

Smooth down the top of your batter...

... and sprinkle over the sugar and cocoa
and pour over hot water.

Cook until moist and springy. Consume.

From My Kitchen - Sunday 21st August

It has been such a lovely weekend in Christchurch. After our second snow storm in three weeks, it has been such a treat to see the sun! I was very inspired yesterday to get out in the garden and started to feel positive about the space again. I had been feeling very unmotivated about the whole thing ever since the earthquake, but now I feel revived and ready to get stuck in again. I planted some new fruit trees, tidied up my herbal/medicinal garden and gave my strawberry bed a bit of VIP treatment. My plants had been furiously making babies and I managed to get 20 free plants from the runners! These are a wonderful variety of strawberries, which fruit continuously from about December till April/May. I managed to squeeze nine more plants into my patch and gifted the rest to my neighbour, Sharon.

The only thing left to tackle in my garden is the vege plot. As I have a small patch, I don't have the luxury of any kind of crop rotation, and I tend to be always planting, which means my poor soil never gets a rest. I have decided this week to try and empty whats left in my plot, and then give it a hefty fertilise/compost, so it is happy and ready to go when Spring planting starts. I might end up being a few weeks behind but it will be worth it in the long run.

So, this weeks meals are all planned around my vege plot. It currently contains: spinach, beetroot, carrots, kale, red onions, spring onions, broccoli and brussel sprouts and my goal this week is to eat it empty! I am also drawing on inspiration from a few different recipes I have tagged on Pinterest lately. I love trying new things, especially when it relates to food!

Dinner
Sunday: noodle salad with spinach, carrot, spring onion, homemade grilled halloumi and a pesto dressing
Monday: broccoli and homemade feta pasta sauce on wholemeal penne
Tuesday: raw tuscan kale salad with roasted brussel sprouts and quinoa risotto
Wednesday: upside down potato and onion tart with grated beetroot and carrot salad
Thursday: spinach souffle with roasted vege and quinoa salad

Baking
- wholemeal sourdough
- muesli bars

Coming up this week:

- halloumi tutorial
- homemade natural toilet cleaner
- my experiences with ditching shampoo...

Moroccan Spiced Split Lentil Soup

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I have been on a bit of a Moroccan kick lately, after borrowing a cookbook from a friend and realising that cooking from recipes isn't actually that hard after all (I almost never use recipes...). After finding this delicious and easy soup, I just had to give it a try. It turned out to be the perfect, quick dinner for a snowy Sunday night AND it would cost all of about $2 to make for four, good-sized servings. Is there anything not good about this recipe? I think not... I served mine with flat breads that I made out of a batch of sourdough that I hadn't got around to baking. You could do this with any bread dough - just separate into balls, roll out flat on a floured surface and cook in a hot pan until brown.

Moroccan Spiced Split Lentil Soup from 'Made in Morocco' by Julie Le Clerc and John Bougen
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely diced
2 Tbsp Moroccan spice blend*
2 x 400 gram tin of tomatoes
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup split red lentils
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or coriander

Heat oil in a saucepan and cook onions until soft. Add spice blend and cook a further minute until fragrant. Add tomatoes, stock and lentils and bring to the boil. Simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly. Add more water if mixture becomes too think. Season with salt and pepper and serve garnished with herbs. I added a dollop of organic yoghurt on top of mine too.

*Spice Blend
2 tsp each of cumin, coriander, paprika, ginger and cinnamon
1 tsp each pepper and turmeric
1/4 tsp each chilli powder and nutmeg

Place all spices in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and mix until combined. Store in a sealed jar. Makes 1/4 cup.

Last night I made a beautiful lamb kefta tagine with tomato and honey sauce from this same recipe book - it was divine! I highly recommend you check out this book if you are keen to give Moroccan cooking a try. It is simple, beautifully photographed and the recipes use normal ingredients that you are likely to have in your pantry. My kind of cooking.

'Made in Morocco' by Julie Le Clerc and John Bougen

From My Kitchen - Sunday 14th August

Well I am sitting here writing this and hoping for yet another snow storm to hit! This time it will be much more exciting and enjoyable as we now have a fully functioning heating system and are all snuggled up warm inside. The weather has been wild all day but still no sign of snow... Fingers crossed we wake up to a decent layer of white tomorrow morning...

I have borrowed a Moroccan cookbook off a friend and have ear-marked a few recipes to experiment with this week. On the stove at the moment is a pot of ridiculously easy split red lentil soup, it only takes 10 minutes to cook, smells amazing, and is made with ingredients I have in my cupboard - sounds pretty good to me! Here is what else I'm cooking for dinner this week...

Dinner
Sunday - Moroccan split red lentil soup with sourdough flatbreads
Monday - miso, leek, mushroom and soba cha noodle broth with pork and ginger dumplings
Tuesday - tagine of kefta meatballs with tomatoes and eggs (from my Moroccan cookbook!)
Wednesday - vegetarian shepard's pie with steamed broccoli and kale
Thursday - buckwheat kasha with roast veges

Baking
- wholegrain sourdough
- chocolate and craisin biscuits

To Do
- soak lentils and chickpeas (for shepard's pie)

Coming up this week (so I'm accountable and actually get around to posting things!):
- split red lentil soup recipe (cos' it's so darn easy and you should all make it!)
- my version of the super easy and delicious self-saucing chocolate mug puddings
- miso, leek, mushroom and soba cha noodle broth recipe
- an exciting new make-over project

From My Kitchen - Sunday 7th August

I'm a few days late this week as things are busy, busy, busy in my neck of the woods. I've been helping out with Paddy's school production, which opens tomorrow night and with the gym and acupuncture, I'm only just getting to sit down for a few minutes now! We have booked a trip to Melbourne in October, and to save money for it I have set myself a goal of not buying lunch for a single day this term. Usually I am pretty good but I can get a bit slack and it soon eats away at my money (no pun intended). I normally try to make sure I cook enough dinner for us to both have some for lunch the next day, and this works best if I dish it up when I serve dinner, so we aren't tempted by second helpings! However, on those days when there isn't enough I have a few go-to tricks to feed a hungry tummy. Watch this space for some cheap, quick and easy lunch ideas for thse busy working bodies out there. Anywho, here's dinner for this week:

Dinner
Sunday - dinner at the neighbours
Monday - lemon and caper chicken on brown rice with steamed broccoli
Tuesday - coconut cream mushroom cabonara with wholemeal penne
Wednesday - warm roast pumpkin, orzo and chorizo salad with a spicy dressing
Thursday - grilled halloumi on a lentil and greens salad with Asian dressing

Baking
- sourdough
- perfect recipe for self-saucing chocolate mug puddings (recipe coming!)

To Do
- soak brown rice
- make halloumi
- soak lentils

From My Kitchen - Sunday 31st July

So, this week is the first week back for the school term, after a lovely break from work. I have lots on this week - the gym on Monday night, accupuncture on Tuesday night and a few other bits and pieces to get through as well. Tomorrow night's dinner is a quick crock pot meal, but this week I am really lookin forward to Tuesday's meal - I've had this recipe filed away on my Pinterest for a while now and can't wait to taste it made up! I loooove peas, and we have a huge bag in the freezer from mum and dad's garden last Spring. Which reminds me, it's actually about time I planted my own peas, as I'm excited to say, it's allmmmooosst Spring here!

Dinner
Sunday - free-range pork sausages, roasted Brussels sprouts and kumara wedges
Monday - curried coconut pumpkin and chickpeas on brown rice (made in the crock pot)
Tuesday - spaghetti with green pea pesto
Wednesday - steak and mushroom pie with steamed broccoli and swede mash (we didn't end up having it last week!)
Thursday - fresh vege and noodle salad with creamy avocado dressing

Baking
- sourdough
- rhubarb muffins (also didn't end up having them last week)

To Do
- soak chickpeas
- soak brown rice
- defrost pie filling

Snow and Bread

Today in my lovely city we woke up to an actual Winter Wonderland! It had been snowing heavily overnight and it continued throughout the day, leaving us with a rather thick layer of the white stuff. In true Christchurch-ian fashion, the city shut down and we all had a snow day!

Max loved the snow!

What better to do on a snow day than make bread and soup. For the soup, I was lazy and used one of those great Kings soup packets and added in a few veges, but the bread was my classic favourite - wholemeal five seed. Perfect with lots of butter, dunked into a bowl of hot soup after a snow frolic!


Wholemeal Five Seed Bread

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups wholemeal or spelt flour
1 1/4 cups white flour
1 Tbsp each of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flaxseed and sesame seeds
1/4 cup wholegrain rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp bread yeast

Place all ingredients in a bread maker and set on the dough option. Alternatively, if you are organised, follow the steps for no-knead bread in this post. Keep an eye on the dough for the first five or so minutes, to make sure it has combined properly. Add a bit more water if it is too dry or a bit more flour if it is too wet. Once dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a floured surface and give a quick knead. Shape into your desired loaf, slash the top a few times and place in an oven, preheated to 200 degrees celcious. Bake for around half an hour or until the base sounds hollow when tapped.

From My Kitchen - Sunday 24th July

Brrr it's a cold one here at the moment - I can hear hail on the roof as I type this and we have had snow flurries throughout the day. Normally I would love this stormy weather but as we lost our heatpump to an aftershock about a month ago, it is not quite as nice to be huddled around a struggling oil heater instead. And you better believe getting out of bed is a mission in itself! Luckily, we are supposedly on an 'emergency waiting list' and should hear from someone in the next 7-10 working days but I am not hopeful... Until then, soup is most definitely on the menu!

Dinner
Sunday: curried mushroom soup with homemade ciabatta
Monday: warm lentil salad with roasted baby carrots and cauliflower cheese
Tuesday: I'm getting taken out for a dinner date, lucky me!
Wednesday: individual baked pumpkin soups (like these, how cute are they!) with cheese sticks and a green salad
Thursday: steak and mushroom pie with a green salad

Baking
- muffins for the freezer - perhaps rhubarb, as I have quite a stash in the garden
- spelt sourdough