JUST BEAUTIFUL

QUINOA

I was thinking today whilst travelling about the winter crops I am going to be putting in at the new house, and of course I couldn't go past the quinoa.

Quinoa is being considered by NASA as a crop for Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) because of its high protein value and unique amino acid composition. The CELSS concept will utilize plants to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and generate food, oxygen, and water for the crew of long-term human space missions.

Quinoa has been produced in South America since 3000 B.C., and although the Spanish conquistadors all but eliminated the existence of quinoa in an attempt to destroy the South American natives and their culture. Despite this quinoa is still an important seed crop for human consumption in the Andean region of South America.

Quinoa is able to grow in the severe cold and high altitude of the "altiplano" region of the Andes. Although quinoa is considered a grain, it's technically the seed of a plant related to the beet, chard and spinach plants, and has been classified as a pseudo-cereal. Quinoa can be substituted for almost any grain in any dish from soup to salad.

Quinoa is truly a "super grain" because of the wonderful nutrition it offers. For minerals it contains more iron than other grains, has high levels of potassium, riboflavin, magnesium, zinc, copper and folacin. It is a great source of protein. Unlike other grains it contains plenty of the amino acid lysine, as well as the other essential amino acids, so it provides complete protein. It is a great kid food, not only because of these nutritional benefits, but because of its light, nutty flavour.

This super food does have a downside though, saponin. Quinoa has a natural coating of saponin to ward off birds and other pests. Saponin is a bitter, soapy substance that needs to be removed BY WASHING THE GRAIN WELL, before using.

Whole quinoa can be treated and used much like rice. It has a nutty and slightly grassy flavour.

Quinoa flour can be used to replace up to all of the wheat flour in most recipes and can be combined with other gluten-free products to create an all-purpose flour substitute. The higher fat content of quinoa lends itself to a moister baked good. This higher fat content also means that quinoa flour should be treated like a nut flour/meal and kept in the freezer to keep it from spoiling.

Simple quinoa salad. You cook a cup of quinoa for fifteen minutes, and let it cool in the refrigerator. Dice 3 plum tomatoes, half a can of black olives, a few sprigs of parsley and then mix with the juice from half of a lemon and a dash of kosher salt. Toss in the quinoa and serve.

Sautee some veggies -- onions, mushrooms, and usually some yellow or green squash, but you could add whatever you want -- with salt and pepper, and garlic if I'm feeling ambitious. when the veggies are soft, toss them with cooked quinoa, add in a few dashes of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and tabasco. Takes all of 15 minutes and it's good warm or cold.

Baked red peppers stuffed with quinoa filling. Make a marinade. You can do a Mediterranean one - with finely chopped garlic, balsamic vinegar, oregano, basil, a few chilli flakes etc - or a more "eastern" one, which i personally love: garlic, ginger, sesame oil, tamari (soy sauce), olive or other oil, sambal or some other hot sauce, etc.. Play with the proportions, adding things until it tastes good - the good thing about a marinade is that you can always make it good, you just may end up with way more than you anticipated. Grate firm tofu into the marinade and let it soak. If there's way too much marinade, reserve some of it. Next, rinse the quinoa, and then put it on the stove with water; 1.5 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until the water is absorbed. If the quinoa is too crunchy, add a little more water until it reaches the consistency you like. I like still with a tiny bit of crunch; the quinoa equivalent of al dente. Some people like it very soft. Meanwhile, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil, on low-medium heat until the onions are getting a little soft. Add mushrooms and cook until they're soft. Then add the tofu and, if you want, some beans. White kidney beans or flageolet are good for this, but you could also use regular kidney beans or whatever suits your fancy. Next add the quinoa to the mix and sauté for another couple minutes. Taste. If it's not flavourful enough, add salt, pepper, the marinade you reserved, and maybe some balsamic vinegar. Adjust it to your preferred spiciness level. Make pepper boats. There are two ways of doing this = One, remove the top, pumpkin-style. Remove seeds and reserve the top; you'll put it back on as a lid. Two, Cut in half vertically without removing the top. Remove seeds and lie flat. Either mix cheese in with the filling - old cheddar is good for this - or sprinkle on top after filling the pepper boats, in which case parmesan, Romano, or feta are all good. In either case, put in lots of filling. Cook at 350 until the peppers are soft. The only danger is that the filling might get a bit dry before the peppers are soft. If you have that problem, you could cook the pepper boats in the oven for ten minutes, then remove and fill them, then put them back in the oven.

Other ways to serve quinoa are in a pudding such as rice pudding, or as a hot cereal in the morning cooked in fruit juice and topped with nuts. Add it to soups or stews at the end of the cooking time, or make a cold grain salad out of cooked quinoa by adding raw or cooked veggies and herbs and tossing with a light dressing.

Cook up a big batch and store it in Tupperware in your refrigerator, and you'll have a ready-to-eat side dish--like rice or pasta--that goes with just about any meal. (To warm, microwave it for 60 seconds.)

Health Benefits of Quinoa

Nutrients Quinoa is an excellent source of magnesium and manganese. It’s a very good source of protein, vitamin B2, vita­min E, and dietary fibre. It’s a good source of the minerals iron, phosphorus, copper, and zinc.

Gluten Free Quinoa is gluten free, and is a safe alternative for wheat/gluten intolerant individuals, and celiac disease sufferers.

Weight Loss Quinoa has been found to be more satiating than wheat or rice, and may be exploited for its potential impact on eating behaviour.

Malnutrition A study by the Department of Applied Nutrition and Food Chemistry in Sweden has demonstrated the effectiveness of quinoa as an infant food for undernourished children.

Protein Quinoa not only has high protein content, but the protein is of an exceptionally high quality. It contains all the essential amino acids, making quinoa an excellent protein source for vegetarians.

WARNING: Quinoa contains oxalate, and should be avoided by individuals with a history of kidney stones.

Take care of you and yours :)

Catching up......

This packing and organising things is taking some time in between work and family, so I haven't been on as much posting. The garden is starting to bear fruits all over the place. The chillies, and I have a few bushes of them are ready for picking, this lot to the left need a while longer though. The sugar baby watermelons are just about there, I am dying to try one of these as it's the first time I have planted this variety. Don't they look gorgeous! Growing behind it is the amaranth crop, which I won't get to harvest this year, however I have ample seed remaining so will plant out next year at the new house. If you don't know much about amaranth, do a search at the top of the page, it's an amazing and useful grain! Now these are ready if you like them small, I tend to let them get bigger, we are after flavour not the heat in this house, and that is helped again by ensuring you remove the seeds when using them. Chillies also make a great herbal remedy or two, check them out on one of the many herbal blogs if you are interested. Wooohoooooo! I did finally get to harvest one of the loofahs. Now I can set about turning it into a bathroom sponge, instructions to the right hand side for those that may be growing them. I plan on also using the sponges for the kitchen, will be interesting to see how it all goes, ignore the bad photo, somehow I managed to cut half the picture out...sigh Just as food is for the tummy, flowers are for the soul (ok, and the bees). This lipstick pink rose smells heavenly, not like those new ones out, look good and no perfume! They look lovely mixed with the white york rose I have, must be a childhood thing, I always associate home with flowers amongst other good things lol The pineapple guavas are beginning to show their fruits, they seem to take a long time between flowering and fruit setting, and longer to grow! I don't think we will get to try these ones before we leave. The house we have purchased has a massive pear tree, a crabapple (which I know absolutely nothing about), small almond and a couple of others undetermined as yet, so it wont be entirely barren....just almost lol. Well time to finish for the day, no point in having a day off to race around like a headless chook I say! Hope your week is going well Take care of you and yours:)

THIS ARVO IN THE GARDEN

Today was spent at my parents place, finishing shadecloth and fixings to keep the sun side of their verandah cool. We got back around 4pmish in a humid horrid heat. I walked around the garden quickly checking on chooks and plants. The chooks were fine, having plenty of shade, the plants look a little worse for wear, however the retic on them later this evening will help that. The mandarine tree has gone haywire since we so mercilessly pruned it, the leaves are gorgeous in fragrance, and such a lush green, the new owners will have a wonderful crop. Gawd, look at this! The hallway is full of boxes of books, those from my childhood, hubbys and of course the kids. I cannot wait to hand them all over when they get their own homes LOL! Every room in the house is the same, boxes everywhere, and of course being the neat freak I am it's killing me LOL! I do love this cottage, and will be sad to move in one respect, on the other hand the possibilities with our new home are boundless, the thought of all that garden room is very exciting! The yacon, which I planted to try will be ready for the new owners in a while LOL. It has sent out a number of new shoots ffrom the bottom, so I guess I will be trying this one in the new house too lol The peas you see creeping up the back of the wire are from the pea straw, good nitrogen fixerr, it's used on all my garden, keeping a constant cover helps both summer and winter. The pepino, another plant I will have to wait to try has also gone bezerk. I took the wire support frame from the back of it and it has not looked back, hopefully it won't spread too far out. Butternut pumkins still rambling through the cape gooseberry and rosebushes. One looks almost ready to pick....perhaps we will still be here! Tomorrow will be all packing. It is strange really, I am far from a hoarder. If I have something that doesn't get used every week or at the max every month I find it a new home, yet there still seems to be endless boxes! I don't have many ornaments or things, not being much of a consumer in that area, so it is rather frustrating to still see so much! Hope your week-end is a good one! Take care of you and yours:)

Amazing in every sense of the word....

Today I came across some photos of the south east Australian fires. Whilst feeling intense sadness for these people, there was also something else..........

An overwhelming sense of pride. These everyday people are true heroes, and I mean that word in its purest form. In every interview I have seen they show the true grit we Aussies hold dear to our hearts. They saved others lives, yet downplayed their parts, talking instead of other everyday heroes, they rescued animals, they were thinking of somebody else other than themselves and they talked about how they would work together to rebuild their homes and their communities, despite their loss of loved ones and possessions.

To each one of these people I salute you…..you are the true salt of the earth, the true grit we Aussies are made of, the true heart of our country and the true souls of our species.

The link to pictures of the fires, the people and the devastation can be found here.

Find time to donate to the relief fund if you can and say a prayer for them all. Take care of you and yours:)

Making Herbed Oils

I had a question today about how I make my herb oils and what I do with my chillies or tomatoes in oil. I am the last one to fuss, so my recipe is extremely simple. I dry the herbs, tomatoes and chillies until I am certain there is no moisture remaining in them and then top up with oil. Why no moisture? Despite reading recipes where fresh ingredients are used, the best advice I can find says there is the possibility of botulism if there is any water content remaining. I don't know who is right, however I am not prepared to take the risk! If you want to use fresh undried, I'd recommend the canning method. Now you can use any oil you choose, for me I use extra virgin olive oil, which I buy in 5 litre cans, In my dried tomatoes in oil I also added some peppercorns (a couple only), some onion I had dried previously and some dried basil then topped with oil. The herbs I leave as just the dried herb with oil, however you could add other dried ingredients....there is no limit, use your imagination, make combinations of things you enjoy! To the left is my dehydrator, the Excalibur. A nine tray monster who dries tirelessly.I would recommend this to anyone. It may not be pretty but it certainly can work. It is easy to moderate temperatures and simple to clean, and with 9 trays you can have a blast! Hope that helps, if not here are a few links: Flavoured Oils Tomatoes in Olive Oil Making Herbed Oils Bread dipping oil recipe Hope you all enjoy the week ahead Take care of you and yours:)

Still Packing.....

Don't they look fab? Three bottles of rosemary oil, wonderful for spritzing the pan when cooking lamb, or using in a dressing for a salad. I thought it might be wise to pick and dry as many of the herbs as I could given I am starting all over again in the new home. I also did a basil oil and another oregano. Whilst waiting for this lot to dry I was packing...., albeit with a headache as big as Mt Sinai. The contract is signed and all we are waiting for is the change over paperwork and the young couples finance to be completed, not a hitch in sight *touches wood*. They have agreed to allow us one weeks rent so that we can get organised, the way I am going with the packing a couple of days might be sufficient. Nice to have that additional time up our sleeves though. The weather here has been unbearable, today must have been 40C+, and humid, we are heading for another storm I think...hopefully with some good rain out of it! Hope your week is going well! Take care of you and yours:)

TOMATO & CHILLI DELIGHTS

The tomatoes here are finished, I planted out early and got a wonderful crop due to the strange summer we have. As I was collecting I was drying, along with anything else around the garden I could find to store. The chillies are still producing, however I have picked enough of those to do us a year (we don't eat that much of it), so the new owners will have 3 bushes full by the time they get in (early March). Here's the result. 50 tomatoes in 4 jars, it's amazing how little there is left once dehydrated! I added dried basil and dried onion to them with a few peppercorns. We keep the oil once the contents have been eaten and utilise it in our cooking....no waste just great taste! The chillies I have placed in oil and left some dried. Sometimes you need one or the other for different recipes. The packing is going well, I have the lounge room finished, the office 3/4 done, bedroom done and this arvo will do the gardening gear....nice to have time to potter doing it instead of a great rush! Hope your week-end is a good one! Take care of you and yours:)

Just Because.....

If you haven't visited HermitJims blog...scoot by, it's a great blog! I just had to copy this video he has posted. Why? Because it touched me! Take care of you and yours:)

Wicking Beds & New House

I forgot to tell you when posting the other day....the 3 wicking bed surrounds arrived! Of course I won't be doing anything with them here, will wait until moved and then will make up, add worms and they will be ready to plant out! Now I have seen these things advertised in Perth, same size and slightly shorter for $250.00+ each. We paid $125.00 each at our local suppliers. So if you live within a few hours of here, it would be worth the travel to buy here! Here's a couple of photos of the back yard of the new house.....as you can see there is a ton of garden work ahead, but that is just fine by me...exciting even! This is the left side of the drive down the side of the house, the lawn patch you see will be the only one to survive. We will build a small fire pit in the centre, Plant a shade tree over it and it can be son's place to sit in the evening with his mates (teen boys love fire pits and toasting marshmallows for some reason lol) As you can see, there is a ton of bare ground.....oh the fun I am goin to have! Behind that fence to the shed on the right are 3 chook pen areas. We plan on using 2 of them and placing 2 x 23,000 litre tanks (just over 5000 gallons each tank) in the other area for water supplies. This is the right side. The patch of lawn here is going and that area will be a pond, for frogs, birds and water foods. It will have a waterfall to cool off the patio as the wind blows around it. The shadehouse you see is going to be turned into a greenhouse so I can grow crops all year round, tomatoes, some herbs etc. The patio as you see it in this picture is about half of it, it really is huge, and I am dying to spend quiet evenings and cool days out under it! And here is the aircraft hanger...alias hubby & son's workshops lol. Despite appearances this tractor and tools shed is in excellent condition, a good few coats of paint and it will be fine. On the back and sides will be planted passionfruit vines and boysenberries to keep the sun off in the summer months. More photos to come as I take them. Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead! Take care of you and yours:)

WOOOHOOOOOOO

Today we received a good offer on the house! The young couple with one child came in to look at the house 2 days ago and fell in love with the garden and the cottage, I think it was actually the mango tree that sold it though, they were wrapped-they are south African and both remember them growing everywhere in their towns when they were small. We’ve agreed to allow us one week of rent here after sale. This will enable us to put up the fence for the dogs and move in a little more leisurely fashion. OMG I’m so excited….all that fruit and veggie room LOL, and of course hubby is over the moon about the aircraft hanger…the shed. Two storeys plus a single storey attached…which son has claimed. The weather is warmer than the last week; however hubby has been great with continuing to complete the hen house, not in our nature to leave things half done!The new owners have a magnificent load of butternut pumpkins getting ready to fruit all over the place, the grapes….well lets just say son made sure there aren’t many of those left lol. The pepino is flowering like crazy and the loofah is setting tons of flowers and finally some new fruit. The fires over east have been horrendous. To think that at least two of those fires were deliberately lit is beyond words…..almost; however I won’t repeat what words are floating around in my head to describe those low life! Apart from donating all we can do is pray the road ahead is made as easy as is possible in these tragic circumstances. The flood victims the same. We certainly live in uncertain times, in every aspect I can think of…..

And now to packing…

Take care of you and yours

WEEKLY ROUNDUP

A very quiet week-end! Having the house on the market is quite strange. I am loathe to plant a large crop of goodies given we could be out the door in a week but am dying at the thought of not planting out things.....so I will continue to plant, if nothing else any new owners will get a good feed lol. The orange tree is doing beautifully. I love nothing better than fresh squeezed juice, pulp is the best part! I feed this beauty plenty of chook manure until it buds up and then stop until the fruiting is finished. I find this gives me more fruit - otherwise it's all new leaf growth. This is my one and only loofah to date! Look at the size of it, it seems to grow an inch a day! I saw plenty of bees around the vine today, so I am hoping that they will do some more pollinating. The strange thing about this plant is that the flowers only appear to last for a day - how on eath it expects to fruit with such a small window for insect pollination is beyond me lol Don't forget.....you can eat these when they are young! Older of course makes the perfect bathroom, laundry and kitchen sponges, you can find out how to under the links to the right. Taaadaaaaaaa! The grapes are finally ripe! Son has been patiently waiting to grab a bunch lol. These are sweet white seedless, don't ask me which variety, I lost the tag ages ago! Taking cuttings from vines to share with others is very easy, you can find a great link HERE As promised, here is an update on the chook pen (hen house for the yanks lol). The piece jutting out will be the nesting/laying boxes. This way we will just have to lift the lid to collect eggs each day. The roof and back need completion, the fencing we will finish of this arvo (afternoon for the yanks lol) and then we will be able to transfer the girls and rip down the old pen. That soil will make for magnificent veggies! The butternut pumpkins have invaded everything in sight lol. This one is growing in the middle of a rose bush! I love butternuts. We can never have enough of them! One of my favs is pumpkin soup, it makes a magnificent one! I also freeze pulp to add to other soups, freeze it in rings for roasting, which really brings out the sweetness and use with mashed potato. I am thinking about using an old fridge or freezer buried in the yard as storage similar to a cellar. The how to is also in the links to the right if you are interested. Well, that's my week-end so far, another hour and hubby will be home from work and we will get moving on that chook pen. Hope your week-end is going well too. Take care of you and yours:)

Global warming 'irreversible' for next 1000 years: study

Climate change is "largely irreversible" for the next 1,000 years even if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be abruptly halted, according to a new study led by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The study's authors said there was "no going back" after the report showed that changes in surface temperature, rainfall and sea level are "largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after CO2 emissions are completely stopped." NOAA senior scientist Susan Solomon said the study, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, showed that current human choices on carbon dioxide emissions are set to "irreversibly change the planet." Source What are you doing to reduce your environmental footprint? An update tomorrow on the garden and progress on the chook pen (hen house for the yanks lol) Take care of you and yours:)

TOXIC HOMES

Ever stop to consider how toxic our homes are? When you think about all the rubbers on carpets, vinyl floor coverings, curtain backs, plastics and foams etc it can be scary!! Each one of these items releases gases for its lifetime…….right into our breathing space. In fact I have heard it said our indoor air, (at least in the country) is more toxic than outdoors! What can we do about it? For me, I always have at least one window in the front of the house open (or ajar in winter) and one in the back of the house. Now I know you will immediately bring up how inefficient this would be in terms of heating or cooling a house but I just cannot stand still air anytime, perhaps because I am asthmatic (although I haven’t had an attack in years) or perhaps I’m just weird! Tomorrow I am going plant and container shopping, to bring some plants into the family room, this too will help because according to various studies, different plants remove assorted chemicals in different amounts (from the air). For instance, the common philodendron, spider plant, devil’s ivy, and Boston fern naturally remove formaldehyde from the air, and peace lilies, chrysanthemums, and gerbera daisies are said to filter out benzene and trichloroethylene. A few other hard workers include the bamboo palm, Chinese evergreen, Janet Craig dracaena, English ivy, snake plant, and rubber plant. Long term of course I want to get rid of all these chemical causing “things”, replacing floor coverings with natural tiles, the curtains will go in favour of natural materials such as organic cotton products, the furniture will go recycled woods and cottons etc etc. My one regret? That I didn’t know all these things when I was 20, I could have all this done by now, it seems as though there will never be enough years to achieve all I want for a healthy, sustainable lifestyle !

Take care of you and yours :)

WHEN LIFE THROWS LEMONS......

You make lemonade from it! We purchased our little california bungalow 2 years ago after downsizing, knowing we would have more time to spend doing things other than maintaining house and garden all week-end, every week-end. The idea was to carry us out of here in pine boxes, we didn't want to do the moving thing again! But guess what........ They have decided they want to install 3 dirty great mobile towers and parabolic dishes over the road, and I will be damned if I want to live under the shadow of those things for the rest of my life, so we are now house hunting! I am very disappointed after being here just 2 years and JUST getting my 50 fruits and veggies going, yard the way we want it etc. On the other hand, where we are going will be quieter, and it's only 2 years gardening I will be losing, I'm sure I can make that up quickly if I really get stuck into things. There is a larger worshop for A, so he won't be as space challenged in this one and son loves the idea of room for a fire pit in one area surrounded by a very small lawn - he and his mates can sit and yak whilst toasting smores or something lol. The patio area is larger, which suits me, we eat meals all day & night out there in the nicer weather. So.....it seems our adventures have not quite finished yet LOL Hope your week-end is a good one! Take care of you and yours:)