Herby Baked Salmon

Would you like your kids to enjoy eating salmon?

Well give this recipe a go, it got the thumbs up from my tough little critics.
I served them up quite big portions, thinking I'd get some scraps, but everything was polished off.
Hopefully all the healthy omega 3 fats will result in great behaviour!

Herby Baked Salmon

Ingredients

400 - 500g fresh salmon
1 Tablespoon fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh oregano, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 Tablespoon dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon dried garlic granules
2 sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon quinoa flakes
1 Tablespoon buckwheat flakes
1 Tablespoon parmesen cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
1 Tablespoons flax seeds
2 Tablespoons olive oil


Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees

2. Combine all the ingredients in a blender, except the salmon and olive oil. Blend until there are no big lumps.

3. Place your salmon in an oven proof dish. Sprinkle the herb mixture on top of the salmon, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes.

 This is my fussy Miss 5, enjoying her salmon.

And the non fussy nine year old eating his.

And the blink and it's gone 2 year old.

Sourdough steamed buns

My fussy little 5 year old likes a lot of variety, and she's been getting bored at lunch time.
So we thought we would give steamed buns a try, and so far, so good.

Sourdough Steamed buns

For the Dough

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole spelt flour
1 1/2 cups white spelt flour
2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

Combine all ingredients except the baking soda. Mix well, you may need to add a few drops of water if too dry.
Knead for a few minutes.

Cover and leave for several hours or longer to sour.

When your ready to make the buns, knead through the baking soda.
Split the dough into 8 small balls.

Filling

You can use whatever you want. This mixture was just what was in our garden and fridge at the time, but the possibilities are endless.

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, grated
1 cup cabbage, red and green finely diced
1/2 cup finely chopped spinach
1 clove garlic, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon 5 spice
1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Directions

Heat a small fry pan and add the coconut oil.
Add the onion, and fry gently for a few minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for a few minutes, stirring often.

Lets put it together

Grab your dough, roll each little ball, and flatten slightly.
Roll out on a gently dusted surface (or baking paper) to make a 10cm circle.

 Add 1 heaped tablespoon of filling to the middle, then take an edge of dough and fold over the filling mixture.
Select the next edge of dough a few centimeters along, and make a fold, continue all the way round your dumpling.
Twist the top to seal it.

Place your completed buns in a steamer lined with baking paper.

 And steam for 15 minutes.

And enjoy! My little monkeys did.

It's a wrap

We are loving sourdough wraps for lunch at the moment.

They are tasty, and soft, and you can fit so much more healthy salad ingredients into them than a sandwich.

They are best cooked and then eaten straight away.

Sourdough Wraps

makes 6 large wraps

Ingredients

2/3 cup whole flour

1 1/3 cups white flour

3 Tablespoons melted coconut oil

1/2 cup sourdough starter

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well, you may need to add 1 -2 Tablespoons of water to form a nice ball of dough, then knead for a few minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight or longer to sour.

When your ready to cook them, cut the dough into 6, and roll into balls.

Flatten the balls, and roll out on a gently dusted surface to make a large circle (approx 25-30cm diameter).
I like to roll mine out on baking paper.

Heat up a heavy fry pan with no oil, or I like to use my electric pizza oven with a ceramic stone base.
Either flip your rolled out wrap onto your pan (I always find that bit tricky), or lift your wrap on the baking paper and put them onto the hot pan (baking paper down).

I find this the easiest for me.

Cook for 30 seconds, then flip and cook the other side. If you are using baking paper you can remove it now, but save it for holding your wraps together when they are full.

Fill with your favourite ingredients, roll up and

enjoy!

Sourdough Berry Delight

Sourdough Berry Delight

serves 4 - 5

What can you have for breakfast when you feel like something sweet, but not as labour intensive, and healthier than  pancakes.

Give Berry Delight a try.

Ingredients

1/3 cup buckwheat flakes or flour

1/3 cup quinoa flakes

2/3 cup white spelt flour

2/3 cup sourdough starter

1/3 cup water

3 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 - 5 cups chopped fruit (I have used 1 apple, 1 pear, and 2 cups frozen berries in this one, but you can use whatever you have, I even bulked it up with grated sweet potato and carrot before).

Directions

Combine the buckwheat flakes or flour, quinoa flakes, spelt flour, sourdough starter, and water. 

Mix well to combine and leave for several hours, or overnight.

Ensure your batter mixture is covered to keep insects out.

When ready to cook, add all the chopped fruit to a frypan and cook gently.

Turn your grill on.

Add the eggs to the batter mixture, and mix well.

Pour the batter mixture on the top of the cooking fruit, and leave to cook gently for 5 - 6 minutes.

Transfer frying pan to under the grill, and grill until the top is starting to look golden (normally another 5 minutes).

Cut into wedges and serve.

We like a big dollop of yogurt on the top.

Cheese and onion popcorn

Cheese and Onion popcorn 

This is a really simple recipe, but irresistible. So irresistible that my family ate 3 batches of popcorn in one go.

It contains nutritional yeast for it's cheesy flavour and plentiful B vitamins,  

Kelp salt for the many minerals kelp and other seaweeds contain (and that our soils are lacking), 

And dried onion powder for that delicious onion flavour.

Ingredients

1 batch unflavoured popcorn

1 Tablespoon (or more if you like) melted butter or coconut oil

Seasoning

2 teaspoons dried onion powder

1/2 teaspoon kelp salt

2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

Directions

Combine the seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl, and mix well. 

Pour your melted butter or coconut oil on your popped popcorn, and add a teaspoon or so of your seasonings. 

Enjoy.

Sourdough fruit bread

This should really be called fruit and vege bread, it's amazing what you can sneak into a loaf of bread.
And it's really handy for when 'I'm hungry' strikes.
It's a lovely moist loaf, which keeps for several days.

Sourdough Fruit bread

Ingredients

2 cups whole spelt flour, sifted

1 cup dessicated coconut

1 cup water

3/4 cup sourdough starter

1 banana, mashed

1 carrot, grated

1/2 cup grated zuchinni 

1/2 cup raisins

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups white spelt flour

Directions

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a non metallic bowl, and leave for 2 - 24 hours to ferment.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix, then knead for a few minutes before transferring dough to either bread machine pan, or loaf tin.

Cover, and let rise for 2 - 5 hours.

3. Use the bake only setting in a bread machine, or heat your oven to 180 degrees and bake for 57 minutes,

Low sugar cheesecake

This is a no bake, low sugar cheesecake.
So low in sugar that it doesn't actually contain any processed sugar, just 2 Tablespoons of raw honey to sweeten it, and the natural sweetness of a fresh pear.

The base does take a bit more organisation than a typical crunch up biscuits and butter base, as it is made with sprouted buckwheat groats. But don't let this put you off as it is really simple, but just takes a bit of preparation.
And the great thing about buckwheat is it's gluten free, and contains B vitamins and an essential amino acid called tryptophan.

Tryptophan is really important for your body to create serotonin, which is the feel good chemical.

So basicly what I'm trying to say is this cheesecake will make you happy.

You can just soak the buckwheat groats for half an hour before using, or sprout them for a few days for maximum nutritional benefits.

Low Sugar Cheesecake

Ingredients

Base

1 cup of soaked or sprouted hulled buckwheat groats

1 cup shredded or dessicated coconut

1 Tablespoon chia seeds

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

10 dried apricots, cur into small pieces

juice of half orange

Middle Layer

250g quark or cream cheese

200g greek yogurt

1 pear, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup water

2 Tablespoons gelatin

Top with sliced kiwifruit or sliced strawberries if you prefer.

To make this cheesecake, soak the dried apricots in the orange juice for a few minutes then combine all base ingredients in a food processor.
Blend until well combined and press into the base of a 20x20cm dish.

Place in your fridge while you make the next layer.

Combine the water and gelatin in a cup. Sit the cup in a small bowl of boiling water and stir until the gelatin has dissolved.

Add all the middle layer ingredients to your food processor, and blend well.

Pour on to the top of the base layer and leave to set (will take about an hour).

When ready to serve, top with sliced kiwifruit and serve.