Sick.

Crosswords and juice = my day

I'm not feeling so grand today, I have grown myself a fairly impressive head cold. Not surprising really, considering most of my day is spent getting sneezed on and holding the hands of little people who think it is a good idea to suck their own fingers before touching mine... mmm yum. I always prefer to take a day off work early on in the sickness, than end up being bedridden for a week. I am in that 'not sick enough to spend all day in bed, but shouldn't be around people' phase, so instead of work, today I will read my book in the sun, drink juice and channel health.

Today I have consumed a large vat of juice (carrot, apple, ginger, lemon and orange) and have taken a clove of raw garlic like a pill, to help increase my immunity. I'm carrying around a tissue with Olbas oil drops on it, tucked into my top; and am smearing my poor chapped lips and nose with Trilogy's Everything Balm (my favourite beauty product ever!). I also started back on my vitamin D supplement, which I take through Autumn and Winter, to strengthen my immune system. It usually works a treat, and I hardly ever get sick.

Here is an article I read today about the top 10 immunity-boosting superfoods. Try and add a few of these into your diet, to avoid yuck bugs this winter...

And, a repost from 2010, of my go-to recipe for chicken soup:

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I've been feeling like I'm coming down with something these last few days, and I'm not happy about it. I've been on holiday from university for a few weeks now and it just so happens that the week I start back for the most intense stretch of my entire degree, my body decides to get sick. Not impressed body, not impressed.

At the slightest hint of a cold or flu, Paddy and I have a few things we like to do to try and knock back the bugs before they get started. Despite a number of interesting medical ailments, I try my best to avoid going to the doctor as I find they are much too quick to prescribe antibiotics. I much prefer to make my own home remedies.

Lemon Honey Ginger Drink
I used to make my lemon homey drinks by pouring hot water over lemon juice and honey and calling it a day. But, when an old work colleague enlightened me to the glory of juicing the lemon and ginger through the juicer, and then adding honey and hot water, my immune system was never the same again.
For this drink, I juice a whole lemon, with just the skin removed (leave as much of the pith as possible) and a good 2 or 3 cm of ginger through the juicer. To this liquid gold I add a generous helping of manuka honey, hot water, and stir to combine. This tart beauty will definitely make your taste buds tingle, but really does the trick for soothing sore throats and getting lots of vitamin C into your system. It's nice cold too if you are that way inclined. I drink as many of these a day as my bladder can handle.

Healing Broth
A cheesy name, but a definite winner. This recipe is adapted from James Wong's 'Grow Your Own Drugs' herbal medicine book and TV show.

We have been using it for a few years now and it never fails to make us feel better. It would also be easy to make vegetarian, by changing the stock to vegetable, and swapping out the chicken for some lentils or legumes. 

Healing Broth

2 litres homemade chicken stock
1 chicken breast, sliced
2 onions, thinly sliced
Mushrooms- as many as you like!
3cm fresh ginger, skin removed, thinly sliced
10 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
2 Tbsp goji berries, soaked in hot water
1/2 packet dried soba noodles
Extra garlic and ginger to serve


Place stock, chicken, onions, mushroom, ginger, garlic and chilli in a large pot. Simmer on low for at least an hour. Add drained goji berries and noodle and continue to cook until noodles are al dente. To serve, finely chop 1cm ginger and 2 garlic cloves per bowl, and ladle hot soup over. Garnish with parsley and enjoy! Best served with homemade sourdough, of course.

This makes a huge amount, that feeds Paddy and I for at least two days; by which time, we are feeling better!

Other ideas:
I have been using Vicks to clear chest congestion since I was a child, but with my new awareness of the potential risks of petroleum-based products, I am keen to change to a more natural alternative. ecoMILF has a wonderful recipe for homemade vapour rub using almond oil and peppermint or eucalyptus oil. This sounds like just the ticket to me, so I am keen to give it a go.

With these plans in place, as well as lots of extra water and sleep, any colds we have are generally gone within a few days.

Homemade Muesli

I am keen to keep our grocery bill down, and would always prefer to spend my hard-earned money on local, organic food rather than processed rubbish that has travelled across oceans to get to me. Keeping the food bill down is becoming achievable thanks to a few handy hints:
1. Reducing the amount of meat we eat, and when you do eat it, focus on quality over quantity. We eat good quality, local and usually organic meat once a week and really enjoy it.
2. Make our own cleaners!
3. Not buying prepackaged snacks/treats/junk food. You will not find a single packaged biscuit, packet of chips or whatever else is popular these days in my pantry. My wallet and waistline really appreciates it.
4. Making whatever we can ourselves. Everything from stock to bread to muesli to cleaners. If I can do it myself, I will.

I was shocked recently to find a packet of relatively 'nice' looking muesli is over $6.00 to buy at my supermarket. Checking out the ingredients list, I wasn't too impressed about what I found in it either. Many of the ingredients I didn't recognise or couldn't see a purpose for. I much prefer my own, homemade version for taste, price and piece of mind.

Homemade Toasted Muesli

3 cups wholegrain rolled oats
1/4 cup each of chia, flax seed, sesame seed and sunflower seeds
1/2 cup coconut (any style is fine, I used shredded)
1/2 - 2/3 cup roughly chopped almonds
1/4 cup canola/rice bran/olive oil
1/4 cup honey
Dash vanilla

Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine. Melt together the honey, oil and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients. Mix until all the mixture is coated and shiny. Spread out in a baking dish and bake at 180 degrees for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should be slightly brown when you take it out but it will keep cooking as it cools. Stir it a few times as it cools down to keep the heat distributing evenly. Leave to cool entirely before storing in an airtight jar.

I used to add dried apricots to to the mixture once it had cooled, but now I prefer it as above. I add fresh fruit in the morning with organic yoghurt and milk for a delicious breakfast.

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.

Homemade Halloumi

Halloumi is a delicious, squeaky cheese that is super easy to make at home. Halloumi has a very high melting point, so unlike most cheese, it holds it's shape when you cook it. Traditionally made with a mixture of goat's and sheep milk, most of the stuff you buy from the supermarket will be made with cow's milk. Unlike most cheeses, halloumi only uses rennet as it's setting agent, and has no added bacteria or culture. I love halloumi as a component in various salads; it is also great as a protein option in pita pockets and some fancy-pants people serve it on teeny tiny skewers with watermelon.

Go out and find your self some rennet - mine is from Mad Millie, and dabble in cheesemaking at home. It really isn't as scary or difficult as you might think! I'm obsessed, and saving my pennies for a Mad Millie blue cheeses kit. Oh my goodness, can you just imagine homemade blue cheese? It must be epic...

This process looks quite long and involved, and while there are a lot of different steps to complete, the overall time required to actually do stuff is very little.

Halloumi

2 litres un-homogenised milk (I used raw milk, which is also unpasteurised)

1.5 mls rennet diluted in 5 mils cooled, boiled water

Salt

Step One

Set up a bain marie. I used a large pot, with a preserving ring inside, and a smaller pot (which lost it's handle a while ago) inside it. Then, I poured boiling water in the big pot. Add your milk to the smaller pot and stir until milk is at around 45 degrees Celsius. I don't actually have a thermometer so I just heat it until it feels quite hot to my finger. Alternatively, you could warm the milk in the microwave until it reaches temperature, and then add it to the smaller pot.

 

Step Two

Once the milk is at temperature, add the diluted rennet and stir thoroughly. Allow the milk to set at 45 degrees (I put the lid on to keep it warm) for 45 minutes, or until a clean break is achieved.

 

Step Three

After the curd is set firm, you will need to cut it into 1cm cubes vertically, horizontally and at 45 degree angles along both of these sets of lines. Have a look here for a picture tutorial. Then, gently stir curds for about 10 minutes, until they are much smaller and slightly springy.

Step Four

Once the curds are ready, scoop them into a colander lined with cheesecloth or muslin. Wrap the muslin over the curds and place a weight on top to press them down. I used a bowl of water. Once the curds are firm enough (about 5 hours for me), remove from muslin and cut into blocks.

 

 

Step Five

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Place the blocks of halloumi into boiling water and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the curds rise to the surface. Drain on a rack to cool. While draining, sprinkle with salt to preserve them and give the distinct salty taste.

 

The cheese will last for two weeks in the fridge in an airtight container. To serve, grill both sides of the halloumi until browned and slightly soft.

I served my most recent batch as part of a noodle salad with spinach, carrot, spring onion and a lemon pesto dressing. Yum!

I shared this post on Real Food Wednesday and Simple Lives Thursday.

A Project - suggestions needed!

Hello, hello - it's very unusual for me to be writing a post in the middle of a Monday, but the snow I was talking about yesterday arrived! Somewhere between bedtime last night and the alarm this morning, a considerable sprinkle was sprunkled and here we are, with the second snow day in three weeks! It's actually very much like de ja vu... but I'm not complaining! A surprise day off is giving me time to catch up on some reports for work but also some much neglected blog posts!

So, for my project - I had been on the hunt for a new light fitting for our dining area for some time now. The current one is embarrassingly hideous and since we bought our gorgeous new/old table, I had visions of a talking piece much like this one... Well, a patient wait on Trade Me had me purchasing this little beauty last night (I went and collected it about half an hour after the auction finished, I was so excited!). It's solid brass, weighs a ton and cost me all of $29. I was quite pleased with myself :)

But, I have a quandary. I always had visions of painting it, much like my inspiration, to be a funky, colourful centre piece above the classic wood table. However, Paddy thinks we should leave it brass... I've taken some photos of the area it is to go in, and I'm after some advice from you all! So, please, impart your wisdom and taste on me - to paint or not to paint? And if so, what colour??

The old lampshade - you can see why I want to upgrade!

The new lamp shade!

To hang above the table...

Painted maybe the same colour as the chalk board?

Inspiration and Realisation

A few months ago I shared some pictures that tickled my fancy. One of them was this:

Then, on a chance trip to the Sunday market I found this:

A few coats of paint later, I made this:

Ta da! My very own chalkboard. From inspiration to realisation. You saw it here first, people!

What I'm Reading in June

Opps, I'm a few days too late for this, but technically, these are the books I read in June! I finally went to my local library, which has recently re-opened after being taken over by Council workers after the earthquake, and I am absolutely loving having such a huge pile of books at my disposal! I am not really into fiction at the moment, instead preferring non-fiction books about health, food and sustainability. Here is what I was reading this past month:

Food Rules by Michael Pollan - this cute wee gem is a well-quoted collection of thoughts on how the author thinks we should eat. I'm a girl of structure, so rules for eating kind of appeal to my freaky, organised mind. Some of my favourites included:
- eat well-grown food from healthy soil
- eat sweet foods as you find them in nature (i.e fizzy drink and lollies are not natural!)
- don't eat breakfast cereals that change the colour of your milk
- cook
I actually follow most of these 'rules' anyway, but this is a good book if you are looking for a small read and feel like thinking more about what you put in your mouth.

Naturally Gorgeous by Charlotte Vohtz - this book was a fairly comprehensive guide for natural health and beauty. I liked almost all of the content, but found some of the suggestions a bit contradictory. For example, the book was an advocate of essential oils for skin care, but also encouraged fake tanners (which are riddled with terrible chemicals). Overall it was quite a good reference for some nice, natural beauty tips, but taken with a note of caution for those trying to avoid chemicals in their personal care products.


We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver - I got about 10 pages into this and never went any further. Lots of my friends have recommended it but it just didn't grab me. Maybe I'll go back to it another day.

Women's Health by Gillian McKeith - I own a book by this author and have read a few others of hers previously. I really like her perspective on health and lifestyle and this book is no exception to her excellent advice on health and beauty. This book breaks the four key phases of a women's life up, and examines the individual needs during this time. It provides specific, well-explained examples of the body's needs during each era of life and how to get them easily through diet and lifestyle modifications. The four phases are: Puberty, Reproductive Years, Perimenopause, and Post-menopause and Beyond. This is the kind of book I would buy as a reference, to refer to when I had adult acne, iron issues, wanted to get ready for pregnancy etc. A highly recommended read!

Living Green by Annmaree Kane and Christina Neubert - this book claimed itself as "the New Zealand handbook for an eco-friendly, toxin-free, sustainable life". While the information in it was well written and nicely organised, it was too much about the problems and not enough about the solutions. I thought it spent too much time exploring all the issues we may face on a daily basis, but not enough time (sometimes none at all) on what we can do to solve the problems. I did like the tables of natural cleaning product ideas and it had some good information on the chemicals in everyday products and the effect they can have our our bodies. Did you know talc was a hormone disruptor? No, me neither. My favourite part of this book was the referencing. Being a science-geek, I like to know where the information stated is coming from.

Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano - this was a light-hearted, American version of the above book, but with better suggestions and endless resources. I haven't had time to go through all the websites it provided, but they were plentiful! A good read for ideas on how to be more 'earth-friendly', as it says on the cover.

The Green Year by Jodi Helmer - I haven't quite finished this yet, but am really enjoying working my way through it. A day-by-day guide of little things you can do to help the world. Each suggestion is actually very achievable and you can clearly see how doing even half of them would make a big difference. The book states American statistics, but even in our little country, it is easy to see how simple it can be to help out. I have done a lot of them already but some other things I want to apply soon are: switching to homemade fabric 'paper towels', buying some more houseplants, cleaning my heat pump vents, changing the margins on my Word documents and signing up for paperless billing for my power and phone line. This is a great book fill to the brim with fantastic, easy ideas. Another highly recommended read.

I haven't managed to read the last three books on the pile, but I am hoping to have at least a quick flick through before I return them tomorrow!

Now, your turn! Tell me what you are reading lately?

Homemade Cleaners - All Purpose Spray

Image source

I ran out of my homemade spray cleaner tonight so quickly whipped up a bottle before I retired to the computer with a green juice (apple, kiwifruit, spinach and ginger - yum yum!) to catch up on the day's blogs. I have been making most of my own cleaners for at least a year now and I still can't believe how cheap and easy it is. Please, DON'T listen to the ads - we DON'T need to kill every single germ in our entire house with toxic chemicals. Some germs are good, and help us build up natural immunity. Since I have started using homemade, natural cleaners my chronic allergies, asthma and eczema have improved incredibly. So much so, that I almost never have an issue with them any more. While this is probably in part to my dietary choices, I am certain changing my cleaners to all natural alternatives have helped. Trust me, once you smell the delicious scent of a natural cleaner on your bench, you will never want to go back to those awful chemical health hazards in-a-bottle.

Homemade All Purpose Spray (for 500mls)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 Tblsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence (or 5 or so drops of an essential oil of your choice)
Warm water to fill the bottle

Pour baking soda and vanilla or essential oil into a spray bottle using a funnel. Add around 1 cup of water, shake to combine with the baking soda and then slowly pour in the white vinegar. It will fizz (think Science Fair volcano experiment), so it is best to do this in the sink. Once it has settled down add the rest of the water, put the top on and you're done! Easy peasy. I use this spray on all my benches, oven top, cupboards, doors, sink, toilet seat and to clean up any puppy puddles.

Vinegar is a natural antibacterial (sometimes I just use it neat, if I don't have any spray made up), and baking soda is fantastic for cleaning almost anything. If you are really worried about germs, try adding tea tree oil to the mix, for extra antibacterial protection.

Thrifting Finds

I have had a lovely weekend, which has involved a visit to a new GIANT op shop and a Sunday treasures market. What more could a girl want than TWO thrifting trips in one weekend! As most people, I always have variable success with my thrifting adventures, and this weekend was a good one!

Here are my finds:

Ten vintage champagne flutes.

An old bevelled frame, for which I have grand plans for.

Two vintage satchels, for Paddy's mountains of marking.

A basket, for which I also have plans for.

I love buying good secondhand; it is the most sustainable and eco-logical option. Why encourage the production of more 'things', when there is an everlasting array of wonderful treasures like these just waiting for new homes! I love looking around my house and seeing that almost everything was bought secondhand, with a purpose and after much waiting and searching. Delayed gratification is rad, and it sure keeps the crap down in our house. So next time you think you simply must have that new something-or-rather, try searching your local op shops and markets for the preloved version. It will cost a hell of a lot less, fill you with a delightful sense of accomplishment and is much better for our beautiful earth.

Fashion Challenge Update and Wardrobe Wednesday

Well, I may not have been posting much, but I have definitely been keeping up with the personal fashion challenge I set for myself a few weeks ago. It is going really well and I am loving my new-found sense of confidence and style! I look forward to getting dressed for work in the morning, and the compliments I receive really help to keep me motivated. Taking care in my appearance has really helped with my self-esteem and confidence and while receiving compliments is always nice, I am totally doing this for myself.

This also ties in nicely with the return of Wardrobe Wednesday! Find out more here. While none of these were today's outfit (I start work pretty early in the morning and missed the boat today!), they are some things I have been wearing lately that make me feel good :)

Outfit highlights from the past few weeks:

Where I got it all...

T-shirt: Pagani

Cardi: Tempt

Belt: Glassons

Necklace: Verabel

Skirt: thrifted (it used to be a dress, I hacked the top off)

Boots: Hannahs

Cardi: Tempt

Dress: House of Maryanne Vintage

Tights: Farmers

Shoes: Number One Shoe Warehouse

Necklace: Verabel

Dress: Frou Frou le Roux

Jacket: Valley Girl

Tights: Farmers

Boots: Hannahs

Necklace: Verabel

I just checked the messages and have one from my dressmaker, with who I have had a few, not-quite-right vintage pieces in getting altered. I can't WAIT to show the before and afters of these, one dress in particular I think you will quite like... ;) Watch this space!

Bread Bin Makeover

After the success of the retro cabinet Paddy and I refurbished, I have been feeling quite paint-happy. Painting, itself, is actually very therapeutic, and turning an item from something you would walk past in a shop to something that actually catches your eye is very satisfying! I acquired this bread bin from a friend of my lovely neighbour, Sharon and thought it was dying for a make-over. Blackboard paint has been on my mind lately, so I had a dabble at integrating that into my refurbish.

Before...

One undercoat of BIN sealant.

After four coats of 'Anglaise' and three coats of blackboard paint. it's done!

Excuse the light and the corner smudge; that was me cleaning the dust off.

I'm pretty happy with the results, and now I finally have somewhere to store all the bread I make! My next task is to sew some bread bags out of thrifted cotton pillowcases. Watch this space... :)

Boozy Wild Blackberry Homemade Ice Cream

Late in the Summer, Paddy and I went foraging for wild blackberries, which we stuffed into bottles and covered with vodka. After two months of waiting, shaking the bottles daily, we were left with a divine, VERY drinkable, blackberry vodka. We were also left with the berries, which we strained off after the two months. Paddy had a genius idea last weekend, and we decided to combine these delicious boozy blackberries with cream and condensed milk and make the world's easiest homemade ice cream!

A bit of ice cream research told me that fruit is best added to ice cream batter when it has been cooked, as this reduces the amount of water in the fruit and decreases the risk of the ice cream crystalising. So, the blackberries (after being strained from the vodka) were cooked down n a pot for about 15 minutes until they turned into a compote-type thing. The rest is so easy, you could leave your small children to do the work, and relax with a nip of wild blackberry vodka.

Something I love about making my own food from scratch is knowing exactly what goes into it, and this is no excpetion. I have never really liked commercial ice cream, but this homemade stuff is something I could see myself developing quite a liking for...


Homemade Ice Cream

500mls cream
1 tin sweetened condensed milk

Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, then gently fold in the tin of condensed milk. Pour mixture into a container, trying not to eat toooo much as you do it, and place in the freezer on a level surface. After an overnight stay in the freezer, it will be done! Pretty easy huh?

To make a fruity ice cream, leave the ice cream to set for 2 or so hours and then fold in the cooled fruit compote. I would also leave the ice cream to set for a few hours before adding other heavy flavours such as chocolate. This prevents all the fruit/chocolate sinking to the bottom of the container.

The sky is really the limit with this ice cream! My neighbour has made several batches, including brandysnap flavour, lemon flavour, Kahlua flavour and a lovely stracciatella (chocolate chip). My mind is busy with ideas for the next batch... I'm thinking gingernut?

A Touch of Cold

I have been feeling not that great over the past few days; most likely I have ended up with my neighbour's head cold. My throat is on fire, my muscles ache and I have more snot than I know what to do with (TMI? Oh well...). In some nice way, the weather has decided to come to the party, presenting a drizzly, grey few days. This has been a wonderful excuse to stay snuggled up on the couch with warm things and catch up on some reading.

Consequently, this is what has been featuring in my household over the past few days...

Freshly squeezed lemon and ginger juice, with manuka honey.

Organic, homemade stock...

...which Paddy lovingly turned into healing broth for me.

Steam baths, for the ol' sinuses.

Copious amounts of tea.

Grren smoothies. This one was banana, blueberry, spinach, organic yoghurt and raw milk, chia, flaxseed and coconut oil.

Fresh juices. This one was apple, beetroot, ginger, lemon and mint.

Hops and lavendar baths.

Orange juice.

Naps with Max.

And of course, hot, hot buns. Because no Easter would be complete without them.