Month: September 2015

Grown-up Nursery Food: Spaghetti Pomodoro

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I have quite a reputation amongst my friends for serving nursery food – they would show up at my house for dinner parties, and surprise surprise, the menu is exactly the same as what I feed my children.  This is because I do not believe in cooking separate meals for kids – a large part of helping a toddler to transition into becoming a child is teaching him how to integrate into our world.

Without much ado, here’s my recipe for an achingly glamorous spaghetti pomodoro.  The kick in this version is that it uses three different kinds of tomatoes:

  1.  Cherry tomatoes preserved in Cointreau – recipe is here
  2. Tomato pesto (see below)
  3. Tomatoes, garlic and chilli roasted in balsamic vinegar and olive oil (as illustrated in the photo below)

roasted tomatoes

To make the tomato pesto, blitz together two ripe red organic tomatoes (for extra taste, roast these), a bunch of basil, half a cup of pine nuts (I used macadamia because I ran out of pine nuts), half a head of garlic and enough olive oil to turn the mix into the desired consistency. Season to taste.

Boil pasta according to packet instructions and assemble.  Serve piping hot, garnish with fresh basil leaves and parmesan cheese if desired.

Making Banana Flour At Home

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Why am I making banana flour?

I love baking. Probably because my mother loves baking. Last week, over a three day period, I baked three cakes. It was then I thought to myself, ooops, my family is eating too much flour. Even though the flour I used is unbleached and organic, I felt that they were eating far too much flour.

Some time back, my friend Vivienne Webb gave me a bag of banana flour. I have never used it before, and was pleasantly surprised that the apple turnover cake I baked with banana flour tasted every bit as good as it would normally. And yayy, banana flour is gluten-free, so I baked an extra one for my friend Richard Boyle.

Feeling pleased with myself, I posted my recipe on Facebook. Then someone commented, banana flour is expensive. Sitting in lush Phuket looking out at banana trees, I can’t figure – nay, can’t accept – why banana flour should be expensive. It is five times more expensive than regular flour.

I don’t like economics that don’t make sense, so I googled. And made my own.

The goodies

As I am doing my diploma in Naturopathy, I took special interest in the dietary benefits of banana flour, apart from being gluten-free:

  1. Green (unripe) bananas are more nutritious
  2. The goodness is in the skin
  3. Green bananas’ starch is resistant starch, which means that they act more like fibre than starch
  4. Because bananas are sweet, you need less sugar when you use them instead of regular flour in baking

How to

Wash the bananas thoroughly. Top and tail each banana.

flour 1

Cut them into wood chip size. Spread the chips out on a plastic tray. You could either dry them naturally in the sun (cover with muslin) or in a dehydrator.

flour 2

Grind the dried banana chips in a strong blender. As the blade of my blender was not that sharp, I sieved and reground the coarser grains. Store in an airtight container and use soon.

flour 4

Just a reminder, this cake was the one which started it all 🙂  Recipe here.  It tastes really delicious!

apple turnover cake

Food From My Childhood – Apple Turnover Cake

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Cake, cake, cake. More blooming cakes. I should rename this blog Cake A Day blog. But hey, it’s all tied up with my childhood programming – my mum loves cakes.

So here’s another one.  But aha, this one is 100% gluten free. I used banana flour. And it tastes better than I expected (after several tries).

Ingredients:

20g butter

6 large apples, peeled, cored and cut onto eighths

1 1/4 cup banana flour

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon or mixed spice

3/4 cups caster sugar

1 cup oil

1 cup full cream milk

2 large organic eggs

2 large egg yolks from organic eggs

zest from 1 orange

Preheat oven t0 180C. Grease the baking tin. Line the baking tin with the apple slices.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mixed the dry ingredients together – sieve into the butter-sugar mix. Slowly fold in the liquid ingredients.

Pour the mixture in.  Bake until it’s all nice and brown, and the fork comes out clean when poked into the cake.

Got Alcohol? Got Tomatoes? Let’s Party!

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OK, you are probably not expecting this on a parenting blog.  But these unusual fermented tomatoes are so wonderfully delicious (the alcohol content is actually low) and they make amazingly delicious spaghetti pomodoro.   I will make my version of unbelievably tasty spaghetti pomodoro tomorrow, after this batch of tomatoes ferments.

How to make fermented tomatoes:

Sterilise a mason jar or any glass jar with a seal.

Pour in equal amounts of extra virgin olive oil and alcohol (sherry is best, but I use Cointreau because I like the orangey taste). Add cloves of crushed garlic and basil leaves. Add the washed tomatoes. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Seal the jar and leave in the the refrigerator overnight. It can keep up to three days. The tomatoes should be slightly fizzy – shows that they are fermenting!

Stay tuned for my best-ever spaghetti pomodoro! Glamorous enough to be served at dinner parties 🙂

fermented tomatoes 2

Food From My Childhood: Lemon Drizzle Cake

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I absolutely dislike cakes. I don’t eat cakes.

But I often find myself baking cakes.

All because I have a stay-at-home mum who baked cakes, bread, biscuits and pies in our sunny kitchen. I love the smell of baking, which is synonymous of a very happy time in my life. Childhood conditioning is indeed a strong force.

Here’s a slightly healthier version of the classic Lemon Drizzle Cake – I serve it with lemon yoghurt instead of the traditional drizzle made with icing sugar.

You will need:

175g unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

250g unbleached flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of sea salt

3 medium eggs at room temperature, beaten

100ml full cream milk, at room temperature

Grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease baking tin. Combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Sieve together the flour with the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add in the dry ingredients with the wet ones alternately. Mixed until smooth. Transfer to the greased baking tin and bake until firm in the middle and light gold all round.

Serve with thick set yoghurt and a squeeze of lemon juice mixed into the yoghurt.

Mango lassi – a sugarless treat

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The classical lassi, the traditional drink of India, is actually very simple to make.  It is yoghurt based, and may be sweet or salty. A plain one doesn’t even require fruit, just the yoghurt and salt.

Feeling bored, I decided to make a jazzed up version.  It tastes heavenly!

Here’s the recipe:

One very ripe mango

60ml buttermilk

60ml cold milk

3 tablespoons yoghurt (I ran out of yoghurt, hence the weird buttermilk combo)

Squeeze of lime juice

Ice cubes.

Blitz all together in a blender. I topped mine with flax, bee pollen and acai. Cheers!

Real-world stuff for teenagers with an inquiring mind

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It takes a whole village to raise a child……I never doubted that after raising five children. My children’s father and I are fortunate in that we seem to have an endless stream of engaging, inspired adults who are willing to contribute to our children’s development from so many angles. For me, it is all about taking textbook learning into the context of the real world, so that my children are excited about learning which happens when they begin to see for themselves how the world actually works. The ultimate for me when it comes to educating children is to encourage them to think and connect the dots for themselves, rather than passing exams.The possibilities are endless, exciting.

Whilst searching for a parking spot along Bondi Beach last Christmas, Georgina had a brilliant idea for an apps to solve a real-world problem. But how to take a brilliant idea off the drawing board into the real world? I have no idea. Fortunately, her stepfather has plenty of experience (as it is his work).

And the news for G is, it takes more than a brilliant idea to make something work business-wise. You need luck, commitment, some capital investment (she knows that), some legal stuff, some financial stuff and the know-how. Quite a lot for a 15 year old with so many interest to take onboard, but the conversation opened her eyes to the world of work. It also opened a lot of interesting discussions.

“She should go to Silicon Valley, get an internship with some innovative company like Google. Because developing an apps is not just about finding programmers. And she needs to have good relationship with the local council, who will be her partner for this venture.” All very sound advice for a teenager to think about – because it would probably costs only U$50k to develop this apps in Asia, but perhaps the U$50k would be better spent on airfare to San Francisco?

That’s his blog: light enough for a teenager with an inquiring mind to read 🙂 http://agermanonthemove.blogspot.co.id

Food From My Childhood: Victorian Sandwich

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OK, here’s a not so healthy recipe for once, the classic Victorian sandwich, that my mum would make almost on a weekly basis. It is also known as the pound cake (because traditionally, the main ingredients are all a pound in weight each).  I love it with lots of homemade strawberry jam and fresh cream.  Here’s the Victorian sandwich I baked for my friend – we had a slice of England in exotic Phuket.

Ingredients:

4 free-range eggs
6oz caster sugar (I reduced this by 25%)
8oz self-raising flour (I use 50% rye and 50% self raising, though warning, it doesn’t taste that light anymore)
2 tsp baking powder
8oz soft butter at room temperature, plus a little extra to grease the tins

To serve
good-quality strawberry or raspberry jam
whipped double cream

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line a sandwich tin.  Combine butter and sugar, and beat as vigorously as possible until light and fluffy. Then add in the rest of the ingredients until all are properly combined.  Pour into the greased sandwich tin and place the tin on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Don’t be tempted to open the door while they’re cooking, but after 20 minutes do look through the door to check them.  Poke with a fork, and your cake is ready when the fork comes out clean.

Enjoy.

Starting the day right

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Eat like a king in the morning, a prince at noon, and a peasant at dinner

Maybe it is because I am a ‘professional’ mother that I put great store in getting my family to eat right, especially the first meal of the day (I accept that they will lapse during the day, be it at the canteen, tuck shop or restaurant at lunchtime).

A good breakfast regulates the blood sugar and energy levels. It also stops children feeling hungry before lunch, which can be quite distracting.

The British Dietetic Association said the findings added to the growing body of evidence in support of eating breakfast every morning.

“There is a lot of scientific evidence behind this,” spokeswoman Catherine Collins told BBC News Online.

“Obviously the traditional fry-up is too fat and calorie rich to aid weight control, but cereals and toast are of benefit.

“Breakfast can be a very good source of vitamins. Many processed cereals are fortified with vitamins and minerals which people can find it difficult to get elsewhere if they are just having two meals a day.”

The study was presented at the American Heart Association’s annual conference in Miami.

Here’s what we had this morning: poached egg on a bed of wilted spinach and tomatoes. It is quick, easy and nutritious.

Note: please do read up on Egg Safety first before serving soft eggs: https://raisinghappystrongkids.com/2014/08/21/food-safety-eggs/

A g

Six ways of having a fabulous summer on a tight budget

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As the summer months edge into September, I cannot help but feel a tinge of regret. I always do, because summers had always been magical for me ever since my children were born. We were financially not well-off in those days, given that I was a University student and my children’s young father did not have a highly paid job. But we had something infinitely more precious than cold hard cash, and that was time plus the mindset to enjoy that time with our children. OK, I must confess here that in the beginning, we used to fight over this: I would rather we worked during the summer months to ease our tight financial situation, but he resolutely would not work at all from July to September. Oh, how we fought over our ideals, but I am glad he won hands down in this instance, because we have had close to 30 magical summers in our lifetime together.

Here are our trialled and tested ways of having a fabulous summer on a tight budget:

  1. Home exchange

This sounds unbelievable, but we exchanged our humble council house in a rough estate in Manchester with a couple from Italy who wanted two weeks of ‘hard culture and party’. Welcome to the Barlow Hall estate, folks, where most of our unemployed neighbours stayed up late drinking cheap beer and watching football on television (you could hear the swearing though the thin walls). The couple from Italy was quite tight-lipped about what they had to offer (they posted photographs that gave very little clues), but we thought we had nothing to lose anyway because no house could be crappier than ours. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at a small palazzo in Venice. Apart from the stress of our children wrecking priceless carpets and falling into the canal, I must say it was one heck of a fabulous summer.

Websites for home exchange:

https://www.homebase-hols.com

http://www.homelink.org.uk

  1. Camping

Over the years, I have visited some really amazing places, but when it comes to sheer magic, nothing could ever beat waking up in a tent in the morning, stepping outside and seeing hundreds of wild New Forest ponies streaming past within feet of me. My children were completely blown away.

Thus, investing in a tent was the best investment we ever made. If you are a camping newbie, you could try ‘glamping’ (glamorous camping) or camp in specialised campsites where you could find help on hand, running water and loo.

Though for me, nothing beats hitting the road with the children in the backseat of our old Land Rover, pitching up our tent wherever fancy took us. We camped in a cornfield in Luxembourg one summer (which must surely be the weirdest place ever) and had such a beautiful time in the fields of gold, feasting on corn, making corn dollies and going on long walks. Sometimes we ventured into the town for showers, to buy provisions and visit the sights. We waited every morning for the farmer to evict us, but he never came. We left a bottle of wine and a heartfelt Thank You note thanking him for one of the most magical holidays we have ever had.

  1. Visit hospitable friends

My eternal gratitude always to my dear friend Ruedi Achermann who very kindly loaned us his sumptuous apartment in front of the Rhine when we couldn’t afford holiday lets. We would chug to Basel on our trusty old beast of a Land Rover and live like lords for weeks on end. Look earnestly into your address book – you will have friends like Ruedi Achermann somewhere in there.

  1. Pack up with similar friends

Exploit economies of scale. Go on holiday with like-minded friends with children of the same age group. Not only do the children entertain themselves, adults can trade babysitting duties too.

  1. Collect coupons

We painstakingly collected coupons from The Times for free ferry crossing to France in low-season February, sailed to France for Valentine’s Day and made our magical third daughter there, all on a shoestring budget.

  1. Work for your board

My daughter’s martial arts coach from the UK will be running a three-month martial arts training camp on the beautiful tropical paradise Phuket. His wife and daughter will be accompanying him for this experience of a lifetime. And you guess it, free board and lodging for the whole family, an opportunity to visit somewhere amazing and start something …. all on a shoestring (airfares covered as part of the deal).

An evocative article on autumn: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3220331/Crackling-bonfires-new-books-school-Yes-end-summer-saddest-time-year-adore-it.html