Pinning it Down - Grain Free Baking

Joining in with Sarah and Pam as they encourage me to turn my pins into an actual project.


To my readers it must appear that all my energy at present is directed towards the gastronomical, whilst that is not entirely so, pinning projects did once again focus on my Grain Free board.

Our grain free breakfast menu this week included Grain Free Blueberry Banana Muffins from Real Food Whole Health.   As our little ones are not yet keen on berries, so I made half with and half without.  The only complaint was I didn't make enough.

We also thoroughly enjoyed Double Down Chocolate Muffins from Healthful Pursuits but alas I didn't manage a photo before they were all gobbled.  Truly though the most moist, fluffy, gnawish muffins I have ever baked from coconut flour!

This week was the week I tackled our lunch menu with more thought.  We discovered the joys of fritattas.  With cooking tips empowering me with a Clean out Your Fridge Fritatta from Tea and Cookies I made our very own Fritatta, a gloriously wild combination of carrot, beetroot, corn and tomato.

Join us at Pam's for the Party Fun.

Whole 30, Week 3 - Menu

Sharing our menu from the past week once again, in a desire to demonstrate how a large family or those on a tight budget can eat predominately Primal/Paleo.  Once again a slightly incomplete list, relying on our pre-planned menu for records.  Be sure to read Angela's Week 4 for another large family menu.
* Items on the menu which are not Whole 30 are in italic.  Mostly they have been eaten by the non-whole 30ers, not me. Potatoes remain on our menu as we find them difficult for a large family budget to eliminate.

Breakfasts

• Yoghurt and Fruit 
• Weetbix (children) & Walnut Granola
• Bacon and Eggs X 2 (PC loves fried tomato and leftover potato with his)
• Muffins & Banana Bread This time I made nut butter with my juicer. Excellent result
• Apple Fruinola  (Huge hit! Favourite)
• Grain Free Blueberry Banana Muffins

Lunches
Our Garden Salads slightly vary each time, they may include; lettuce, tomato, carrot, capsicum, cucumber, broccoli, green beans, mushroom, radish, baby spinach, red cabbage, white cabbage and red.

• Garden Salad and Silverside (baked)
• Fruit Salad (Big Hit)
• Zucchini Bake & Garden Salad
• Carrot/Beetroot/corn/tomato Frittata & Garden Salad 
• Tuna Salad with Garden Salad
• Coconut Pancakes (horrid) & Boiled Eggs

Dinners

• BBQ; Sausages, Lamb Chops, Mashed Potato, Mashed Pumpkin and Broccoli
• Grilled Chicken Thighs, Mashed Potato, Mashed Pumpkin and Broccoli (Big Hit!)
• Chips (fast food)
• Sizzling Garlic Beef with Broccolini and Rice (teens and I abstained from rice) Need to find substitute for cornflour
• Tuna Mornay (rice for the rule breakers;) Didn't thicken well with coconut flour:(  More research needed.
• Lamb Roast and Baked Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes and Peas
• Potato Bake, Roasted Bacon Brussel Sprouts & Zucchini, & Baked Eggplant.  (Only the zucchini got the thumbs up) 

Snacks
We bought boxes of fruit, although the Whole 30's emphasis is on vegetables not fruit.

• Bananas
• Peaches
• Almonds, Sultanas
• Double Choc Muffins (Grain free) x 2. Absolutely Delis the first time!! Moist and fluffy, a bit dry the second time, I didn't measure preciously.
• Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies (didn't pin so can't direct, sorry, but they were horrid anyway.  I overdid the bi-carb.  an 1/8 tsp means precisely that)

Drinks

• Water

*Bonus - Frittata
Via these tips, I created a recipe for our future use.
4 cups of vegies (any combination)
2 Cups of Cheese
10 eggs
Seasoning

Have I shared how much I love my Kitchen Aid food processor?  Thank you PC:):) I LOVE it and as you know use it daily.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 108)

1
I have a sneaking suspicion I have perhaps been over-reading on my ereader (Kobo touch).  This occurred to me whilst I was reading a book, the old-fashioned kind with paper pages, I had been endeavouring for several seconds to turn the page, growing more frustrated when the page didn't turn.  It took awhile to realise I had to manually turn the page, touching wasn't going to work.


2
Pondering the purpose of education as we help guide our older children on their journey and visualise the upcoming year for our younger ones.  How do we select what is important to learn and what is not so relevant?  How do we decide the must have skills and the bonuses?  For every family this answer will differ, ultimately it will be answered by family philosophy and culture.  

3
The older our children grow the more I am confronted by just what an awesome responsibility parenting is.  So much of our children's beliefs, values, habits, social skills, life skills etc are formed and influenced by us.  As home educating parents we have long been aware of this on a theoretical level but now I 'get it' and I don't believe this is exclusive to home education alone.  All parents play an enormous role in their children's formation.  

4
On the weekend Princess was finally promoted to the exclusive group of; 'lawnmowers'.  Caught a Kodak moment of PC walking alongside her teaching, alas didn't catch the moment with the camera, but I did catch her solo début.


5
Lots of baking and creating here, I made the most incredibly moist, fluffy and sinfully delicious grain and dairy free double chocolate muffins yesterday.  Superb!  5 star rating.  This morning I made nut butter with my Champion juicer, too easy!  Re-made the banana bread with far better results, adding the bread to our favourites list.


6
Term 1 resumes next week.  Stationary has been purchased, books are ordered and beginning to arrive, the book wrap is standing waiting, lesson plans are finalised, 'to do' lists are printed and children are begging to begin.  Well one child is, that counts as plural, yes?


7
 Earlier this week Anna Maria and Carpenter drove to Brisbane for the first time, socialising for three days with friends.  One more event to go; a mum and daughters movie night and then we step off this social whirlwind.  Oh for normality; weekly swim lessons and karate would have to be easier.   


Visit Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes. 

Whole 30, Week 2 - Menu

Sharing our menu from the past week and a bit, in a desire to show how large families or those on a tight budget can eat predominately Primal/Paleo.  Once again an incomplete list as, although I began a food diary I didn't maintain it.  Be sure to read Angela's Week 3 for more large family ideas too.
* Items on the menu which are not Whole 30 are in italic.  Mostly they have been eaten by the non-whole 30ers, not me. Potatoes in particular are still on our menu as we find them difficult for a large family budget to eliminate.

Breakfasts

• Yoghurt and Fruit 
• Orange Juice and handful of almonds (me),  weetbix (children) [We had a visiting child and I was uncertain how to approach breakfast] 
• Bacon and Eggs X 2 (PC loves fried tomato and leftover mashed potato with his)
• Pancakes
• Blueberry Muffins, Zucchini Muffins and Banana Bread
• Carrot and Walnut Muffins
• Apple Fruinola  (Huge hit!)
• Scrambled Egg with Coconut Milk (the children gave a thumbs down)

Lunches
Our Garden Salads slightly vary each time, they may include; lettuce, tomato, carrot, capsicum, cucumber, broccoli, green beans, mushroom, radish, baby spinach, red cabbage, white cabbage and red.
Really can't remember many lunches, sorry.

• Garden Salad, Smoked Ham and Boiled Egg
• Bacon & Eggs (me), Sandwiches (children)
• Potato Pancakes X 2
• Fruit Salad (Big Hit)
• Fried Mushroom

Dinners

• * BBQ Homemade Rissoles with Mashed Potato, Cauliflower and Peas.
• Chips (fast food)
• BBQ; Sausages, Lamb Chops and Green Salad
• Chicken Thigh in Tomato and Mango Sauce with Rice (Switched Mango Chutney for mushy Mango)
• Meat Pies and Homemade Pies with almond crusts for others.
• A Soupy Stew and Corn on the Cob
• Burritos with mince and plenty of salad filling.  Tortilla wraps for some and lettuce leaf wraps for others.
• Beef Stew and Mashed Potatoes. (Discovered a tablespoon of chia seeds to 250ml of boiling water makes a lovely thickener for stews)

Snacks
We bought a box of bananas and nectarines, although the Whole 30's emphasis is on vegetables not fruit.

• Bananas
• Nectarines
• Almonds
• Dates
• Soft Island Bliss Cookies (Too sweet but then our coconut was just regular coconut)

Drinks

• Water

*Bonus - Rissole Recipe (for Angela)

Rissoles are like meatballs, but larger and coarser.

1kg of mince  (Ground beef)

2tbs of almond flour (coconut flour might work too)

1 grated Carrot

Tomato Paster or Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)

1 Egg

Seasoning (Parsley, Pepper, Fennel, etc)

Roll into balls and roll through more almond flour.

BBQ (as above)

Pinning it Down - Grain Free Breakfast

Joining in once again with Sarah and Pam as they encourage me to turn my pins into an actual project.

In our endeavour to follow the Whole 30 I have seriously tackled the question of 'what to eat for breakfast?' with a daily menu. As I knew this morning was grain free muffins, it was simply a matter of  popping over to my pinterest grain free board last night and making a selection.

At six o'clock this morning I whipped up a couple of dozen muffins and a couple of loaves; Grain Free blueberry and zucchini spice muffins from Organic & Thrifty and Grain Free, Sugar Free Banana Bread from Spoonful of Sugar.  So easy.

So what do the taste testers say? PC and I enjoyed the muffins but the children were a little uncertain about the berries.  I used mixed as I didn't have enough blueberries.

The spices in the zucchini muffins just popped in your mouth, but they were slightly dry. PC felt they would have been delicious with a cup of tea, alas we're water drinkers here.


The banana bread was the favourite with the children, although slightly oily as I used regular butter not almond butter as per the recipe.  I also substituted the flaxseed for coconut flour.  I was rather keen on this recipe as it was flourless, so most cost effective.
Another successful grain free breakfast:)

Head on over to Sarah's to join in the party fun!

Creating a Nature Collage

Yesterday evolved into a nature theme. After our nature challenge Jem was keen to enjoy another activity.

We decided on making a nature collage.

We selected various items from the gardens; flowers, seeds, bark, grass, anything that appealed to him.

Once he had his collection gathered

we headed inside to create a masterpiece.

All was needed was a pot of glue, his collection and we had one happy boy.

Trench Digging

When we realised we needed to dig 40metres of trenches for piping; storm water and sewage, hiring a digger was the obvious choice.

When we rang to book the digger the machine was only available between 9am-4pm. The pressure was on. Fortunately as it hadn't rained the digging went more quickly than we estimated.

Prior to taking this tangent we've been building our deck. Decking had come to a halt though as the trench was to intersect through the decking, unless we wished to dig by hand it was time to take a detour. In no time we had two trenches dug.

Whilst PC was on the digger I raced into town for a couple of loads of crusher dust, which was then spread as a base in the trenches.

Next the pipes were laid and joined up

ready for the plumber to come and connect to the outlets.

One trench covered over and the next trench ready.
Satisfying to have one more job completed and crossed off the list. Back to the decking.

Pinning it Down - Backyard Nature Activity

When Sarah first announced that she and Pam were launching a pinning it down linky party I was all excited, just think of all the awesome pics I could share! Then came the kicker, she actually insisted I had to do it!!.   I had to actually turn that pin into action and only then could I share.
When this morning Jack Jack declared he wanted to 'do some school' (we're on holidays for two more weeks yet)  I instantly knew what we would do.



I've been conscious for some time of the need to spend more time outdoors with the children, reading this article only re-enforced my belief.





Endeavouring to do better, with the aid of this pin, we headed outdoors with egg cartons with each compartment painted  a different colour. The challenge was to find natural objects to match each hue.





At first some thought it would be too hard, but with a bit of tenacity they managed quite nicely







and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

The girls took off independently on their own, so I was rather keen to see what they would come back with.

Thank you Sarah and Pam for the encouragement to take my pins to a 'whole new level:)
Be sure to head on over to Pam's to join the party fun.

Whole 30, Week 1 - Menu

One of the most difficult challenges in changing a diet/lifestyle is the organisation and for a large family it may indeed seem overwhelming.  Reading blogs/websites is a wonderful help but many of the recipes/menus are for a family of four, and some food choices would make the costs for a family of eleven or a family on a tight budget incredible. My hope is by sharing the reality it may aid families transitioning or those wanting more ideas. Whilst I am striving to be Whole 30 (and not always succeeding) my family is not yet totally Paleo/Primal. Angela also has a large family and her menus for  Week 1 and Week 2 on Whole 30 are interesting and inspirational.

* The items on the menu which are not Whole 30 will be in italic.  Mostly they have been eaten by the non-whole 30ers, not me. Potatoes in particular still occur on our menu as we find them difficult for a large family budget to eliminate.

My apologies for an incomplete list as relying on memory rather than a food diary is not the most accurate.

Breakfasts

• Vegetable Juice; Carrot, Celery and Beetroot.
• Yoghurt and Fruit (Children)
• Fruit Smoothies; Orange Juice, Frozen Banana and Peaches.
• Omelette; topped with spring onion and tomato
• Bacon and Fried Eggs

Lunches
Variety and presentation are key elements in salads, each salad has a slightly different variation, we are also enjoying introducing new foods.  Salad choices in the past week include; lettuce, tomato, carrot, capsicum, cucumber, broccoli, green beans, mushroom, radish, baby spinach, red cabbage, white cabbage and red onion.
We never add dressing to our salads, but I did make a French dressing, no-one was keen preferring the unaltered taste of salad.

• Shipwreck Stew with Green Salad (Beans were not Whole 30) (A Favourite.)
• Bacon, Eggs and Fried Tomatoes.
• Tuna Salad and Garden Salad (Another success)
• Chicken and Salad (purchased at Healthy Habits when I met PC for lunch)
• Plenty of Salads (better recording next week)

Dinners

• Grilled Chicken Thighs with Potatoes in their Jackets and Green Salad. (Hit!)
• Homemade Rissoles with Mashed Pumpkin, Mashed Potato, Broccoli and Peas.
• BBQ;  Sausages and Lamb Chops with Mashed Potato, Mashed Pumpkin, and Green Beans 
• Leftover Shipwreck Stew with Roasted Bacon Brussel Sprouts and Zucchini and Mashed Potato and Pumpkin.  (A huge hit!  I just added sliced zucchini in with the brussel sprouts)
• Chips (fast food)
• BBQ; Sausages, Lamb Chops and Green Salad
• Baked Dinner; Roast Lamb with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Potatoes and Green Beans.
• * Bonus, previous week, Chicken Thigh in Tomato and Mango Sauce with Mashed Potato, Mashed Pumpkin and Broccoli. (Hit!)

* For four meals we had 5 extra teenage boys visiting, I was cooking for 11 boys in total, plus three adults (younger girls were visiting elsewhere.)

Snacks
We often buy a box or two of fruit per week, although with Whole 30 the emphasis is on vegetables rather than fruit.

• Bananas
• Nectarines

Drinks

• Water

Yoghurt in the Slow Cooker

We purchased yoghurt for a Christmas treat and then craved more.  At $5 a litre the cost was astronomical, so I began investigating how to make our own.  Using these recipes and tips we made a batch up, cost only $3 for 2 litres!  Using a slow cooker is so simple, just three basic steps.

• Pour 2 litres(.52gal) of milk into slow cooker. Cook on high until temperature reaches 180F.  Takes about 2.5 hrs. (You will need a milk thermometer.)
• Take off lid and cool until temperature drops to 115F.
• Add one cup of yoghurt (containing live cultures) and half a cup of powdered milk. (Too runny otherwise).  Place lid back on and towel over the pot, works best to store in cold oven for 10-12hrs.

After our success with cows milk we used the same method to make goats milk yoghurt. All was fine.

We then branched into making frozen yoghurt.

• For every litre of milk add half a cup of sugar and store in the fridge for 2 hours.  
• Then add to your frozen yoghurt machine, run the machine for 20 minutes and then freeze.

Having made cow and goats milk yoghurt I discovered a recipe for coconut milk yoghurt which I may yet try.  If you are keen to make soy yoghurt I also found a couple of recipes, although some sites suggested the above process was successful.