Breakfast for Grumpy Husbands!

Just a bit of fun - LOL!

This is what I gave my husband for breakfast the other day when he was a bit grumpy! That made him laugh, anyway!

(He's not really too grumpy, he's just not a morning person!)

Fish Cakes with Creole Mayonnaise

A delicious fish cake recipe using fresh fish. You can use any inexpensive, coarsely grained fish in this recipe. (Adapted from Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions".)

1. Fill Thermomix bowl with 500g water, then steam fish in the Varoma on top for 15 minutes, Varoma Temp, sp 2 (or until just cooked - depends on thickness of fillets):
- 700g (1 1/2 lbs) fresh white fish
Empty water from Thermomix bowl and dry. Set fish aside.

2. Grind up bread, cilantro/parsley and lemon zest on speed 9, until fine:
- 1 slice wholemeal spelt bread (or gluten free bread)
- 1 bunch cilantro or flat leaf parsley
- zest of 1 lemon

3. Add remaining ingredients, chop on speed 5 for 3 seconds, and season to taste:
- 2 eggs
- 2 small onions, halved (or onion & shallots)
- 2 Tblspns Dijon mustard
- cayenne pepper (to taste)
- sea salt or fish sauce and pepper

4. Add fish and chop 3 seconds on speed 3:
- steamed fish

5. Form mixture into patties. Saute until golden in butter/ghee and oil:
- about 1/2 cup butter/ghee
- about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
(or can be steamed in Thermomix steamer)

6. Serve with Creole Mayonnaise:
Place ingredients into food processor/Thermomix and blend thoroughly on speed 7:
- 2 egg yolks (room temp)
- 2 Tblspns fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tblspns whey (opt.)
- 2 tspns raw honey (opt.)
- 1 tspn Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tspn sea salt
- 1/2 tspn dried thyme
- 1/2 tspn dried basil
- 1/2 tspn dried oregano
- 1/4 tspn paprika
- 1/4 tspn tabasco/chili sauce
- 1/8 tspn cayenne pepper
Scrape down lid and sides.

7. Insert the butterfly, and with Thermomix running on speed 4, slowly drizzle in oil:
- 2/3 cup oil (olive oil / sunflower oil / grapeseed oil or mixture)
Season to taste - may need more salt or lemon juice.

If you added whey, let sit (well-covered) 7 hours before refrigerating. Will keep at least 5 weeks refrigerated. Without whey, will keep about 2 weeks.

Mexican Beans & Refried Beans

Here's my version for beans cooked in the crockpot, and how to use the leftovers as refried beans. Of course, you can cook them on the stovetop too, just simmer pre-soaked beans for a couple of hours until tender. This is just a basic bean recipe - if you are cooking beans with tomatoes, vinegar or sugar in them, don't add them until the beans are completely cooked as they prevent the beans from cooking.

1. Sort and wash the beans. Soak overnight if cooking on stovetop or with pressure cooker, to make beans more digestable, and cook quicker. If using a crockpot, you don't really have to soak them. If soaking, rinse and use fresh water for cooking.

Tip: if you're worried about beans causing digestive discomfort and gas, add to the soaking water one of the following - 3 Tblspns fresh chopped green chilies or 1 tsp fennel seeds; and add garlic and cumin to the cooking water.

2. Place in crockpot and cook on low overnight, or for about 9 hrs, until very tender:
- 5 1/2 cups (2 lbs) dry pinto or black beans
- about 3 - 3 1/2 litres (quarts) water, as needed
- garlic powder
- ground cumin
Drain most of liquid off beans, and reserve. (Leave a little in so they're not dry, or if you want a bean soup, leave it all in.)

3. Chop onions, garlic & chilli on speed 6 for 4 seconds, then saute in Thermomix with oil & butter (or ghee) for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup butter (or ghee)
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
- chopped fresh chilies, to taste (optional)

4. Add to beans in crockpot and leave to cook a little longer:
- Sauteed garlic & onion (& chillies if using)
- 1 Tblspn cayenne pepper or 3 Tblspns chili powder (if not using fresh chilies)
- 4 tspns ground cumin seed
- 2 tspns dried oregano
- 2 tspns sea salt, to taste

Variation: you can also add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup honey, although not if using for refried beans.

5. Serving idea: serve beans on brown rice, topped with:
- red onion rings
- minced fresh parsley
- wedges of boiled eggs
- smoked paprika

6. To make Refried Beans, drain beans, mash roughly in Thermomix (speed 3), adding some reserved liquid until they reach desired consistency. Serve in burritos or tostadas, or as a side dish, topped with some grated cheese and salad if desired.

How to Save Money on Food

A lot of people tell me they can't afford to eat healthy. I think the problem is not that the unhealthy, pre-packaged foods are cheaper, it's just that people don't want to bother cooking from scratch, or maybe they don't know where to start. You can save a lot of money by making your own pizzas, breads, dinners, desserts, etc... You just have to be a bit more organized.

I make the following as much as possible from 'scratch', using my Thermomix (which saves me heaps of time and money) - tomato sauce (ketchup), pasta sauces, mayonnaise, vege stock paste, meat stock/broths to freeze, baked goods, rice & nut milks, custards, desserts, juices, pizzas, breads, snacks, crackers, meals (limit fast foods!!!) - this saves so much, and is so much better for you. I also make my own pasta (noodles) when I have time. I buy my grains bulk and grind my own flour too (in my Thermomix). I don't bother looking at the grocery store 'specials' catalogues - they're mostly junk food or stuff I don't buy. I just make my menu plan, and buy what's on it, except if something I use is on special, then I buy lots of it.

I also buy bulk as much as possible! (Don't pay for packaging if you can avoid it.) I probably do most of my shopping through co-ops and local growers, not the grocery store. Get a few friends together and start your own wholefoods co-op, if you can't find one near you. We have one for organic grains, flours, beans, dried fruits, oils, & natural sweeteners. We have another for nuts & dried fruit (also has organic flours, etc). We have another for organic veges - part of the year they are locally grown (a CSA), but during the wet season we get them from further south. By doing my shopping for organic wholefoods and fruit and veges this way, I usually pay much less than what is charged in the shops, and usually less than the non-organic fruits & veges cost!

So don't be afraid to try eating healthy - you can do it on one income - we do!

Menu Plan Monday - February 23rd

I've ended up with heaps of organic broccoli this week, as well as carrots, so I'm going to be using them a lot! (I'm going to have to blanch some broccoli and freeze it!) I'm also cooking extra when I can to freeze for another meal.

I try to use sweet potato instead of English potato whenever I can, or at least use a mixture of the two. The kids don't notice so much if I use the white fleshed ones, especially when they're mashed!

I've also added a list of lunch ideas - I didn't put them on particular days, as it just depends what we're doing, and whether there are leftovers from the night before, etc. Check out orgjunkie.com to see more menu planning ideas.

Monday: Broccoli & white sauce bake, steamed carrots, tossed salad.

Tuesday: Fish Cakes with homemade Creole mayonnaise, baked potatoes, broccoli & carrots.

Wednesday: Mexican Beans (slow-cooked with onions, chillies, cayenne, cumin & oregano) and brown rice & salad. (Make extra brown rice to be used for rice pudding, & extra beans to be used for refried beans next day.)

Thursday: Baked Chicken with Cashew Satay Sauce, steamed veges & basmati rice. (Make extra sauce to freeze for another meal.)

Friday: Spelt Spaghetti with ground beef and tomato-vegetable sauce; salad. (Make extra sauce to freeze for another meal.) Supper snack: Rice pudding.

Saturday: Lamb Shanks (marinated & slow-cooked) with carrots, broccoli and mashed potato.

Sunday: Roast Beef (marinated & slow-cooked), gravy & veges. (Refrigerate leftovers for tomorrow.)

Lunch Ideas:
- tinned salmon/mackeral patties & salad
- tinned tuna/salmon/mackeral & salad sandwiches/wraps
- pasta with tuna, tomato, & black olive pasta sauce
- potato wedges & raw vege sticks
- tortillas with refried beans & salad
- sauteed mushrooms on toast
- fritatta/omellette made with leftover veges (broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, carrot, onion, capsicum, herbs, mozzarella)
- leftovers made into soup, or in fried rice, or with pasta
- quinoa/pasta/rice salads (eg: Quinoa Caprese)

Soltero de Queso

This recipe is from Sue Gregg's 'Lunches & Snacks' cookbook. This is a great book for teaching children to cook, and helping them learn the basics of good nutrition. It even comes with a CD-rom with step-by-step picture instructions for the recipes. The kids will be making this meal themselves this week. I can't get lima beans, so I'm going to try broadbeans.

1. Soak onion in salted water 10 minutes (to mellow it); drain and combine with remaining ingredients in large salad bowl:
- 1 med. to large onion, chopped
- 250g (10 oz.) corn kernels, fresh or frozen (rinse off chill)
- 400g (16 oz.) green lima beans, rinsed
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 200g (8 oz.) feta cheese, coarsely chopped (or goat's cheese/soy cheese)
- 100g (4 oz.) sliced black olives
- 1/2 red capsicum (bell pepper), chopped
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons grapeseed/olive oil
- oregano
- parsley
- sea salt

2. Mound salad into lettuce cups on salad plates.

Blender-Batter Brown Rice Waffles or Pancakes

Brown rice waffles with pure maple syrup and strawberries

This is the best waffle and pancake recipe ever - so light, and the waffles are nice and crispy - and they're healthy too! They are dairy free, and gluten free if you use brown rice and/or buckwheat. They can also be made nut free and egg free. You can use all sorts of grains in this recipe (see variations below), so have fun experimenting! 

Pancakes with Rapadura and lemon juice

You use the whole, raw grain to make these, not flour, so it's best to start them the night before so you can let the batter sit overnight to increase digestibility.  Notice how light and white they are - like white flour pancakes, but much healthier. Everyone who tastes them loves them, even people who usually only eat wheat!

The method for this recipe is similar to the 'blender batter baking' method outlined in Sue Gregg's Breakfast cookbook.  I've made my version dairy free, but instead of using rice-almond milk I've gone back to the basic ingredients and added raw almonds and water to the rice flour, so it makes its' own milk. If you can't have nuts, just use 330g of your preferred milk instead of the almonds and water and skip step 2.

1. Place in Thermomix and grind on speed 9 for 1 minute or so until fine:
- 250g raw brown rice (see variations below for other grain options)


2. Add nuts and grind for another 30 seconds on speed 9:
- 30g raw almonds (or raw cashews)
   Scrape down lid and sides of bowl with spatula.

3. Add and mix for 30 seconds on speed 9:
- 300g water
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 30g macadamia oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4. Cover and leave to stand at room temperature overnight. (Or pour into a glass bowl and cover.)

5. When you're ready to cook them, add and reblend on speed 9 for 1 minute:
- 1 large egg (optional - works fine without)

6. Blend in quickly but thoroughly on speed 5-6:
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

7. Preheat waffle iron, wiping surface with some oil. Bake waffles until crispy, and serve immediately with butter and/or pure maple syrup. Or cook as pancakes in a little coconut oil in frypan. Delicious!

Variations:
You can use all sorts of grains in this recipe, not just brown rice...
try a mixture of rice & rolled oats, or spelt & oats (1 cup rice/spelt, 1/2 cup oats), or buckwheat (hulled) and/or spelt.

Any of these grains will work: spelt, oats, brown rice, kamut, millet, buckwheat (hulled), barley (hulled), corn (whole dry, not cornmeal), quinoa... corn takes more grinding and is very noisy, but it works well.

You can also add 1 tablespoon linseeds if you like.

And of course, if you want you can stir in some chopped pecans/walnuts/sunflower seeds/berries/banana pieces into the batter - we love blueberries and banana!

Have fun :)