pecan nuts
ANYTIME FRUIT AND NUT BARS
07/08/13 18:27
ANYTIME FRUIT AND NUT BARS
Few years ago I read an article written by a mum who decided to take all electronic devices away from her kids during their summer holidays. She was astounded how quickly they started to entertain themselves (surprisingly no boredom). I am not as brave as this mum, but I have been setting limits on the screen time. I do it anyway, but during school holidays there are hours to fill unlike during school year.
It has been great to see, that on the days when we don’t have plans to go out, kids have found ways to enjoy themselves. We’ve had endless diving into the paddling pool to fish out toys, tennis rackets came out of their hibernation (my son spent three hand blistering hours bashing the ball against the house on one day), we had bobbing for toys in the kitchen sink (= flood) and numerous (very loud) games of UNO. Star Wars Lego has been spread all over my son’s floor (I forgot how painful stepping on a lego brick can be). My daughter has started her own “all about the human body” book and has put together numerous dance shows for me to watch. The best thing, they have been spending a lot time together without much bickering. The dreaded words "I am bored" haven't been heard much either.
The point is kids are pretty good at entertaining themselves when the push the button entertainment is taken away. It is noisier but happier without TV, Xbox or ipad. It is also healthier. And to fuel them I have made these anytime bars. I call them anytime bars because they can be eaten for breakfast, as a snack and they are also perfectly portable to take to picnics. They are rather open to variations, just swap the nuts and dried fruits for whatever you happen to have in your pantry :)
ANYTIME FRUIT AND NUT BARS
makes 10 -12 bars
ingredients
1 cup porridge oats
1 cup spelt flour
1 banana
4 Mejdol dates
1/2 cup of non dairy milk
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 -1 tsp cinnamon
1 apple, finely diced
Few years ago I read an article written by a mum who decided to take all electronic devices away from her kids during their summer holidays. She was astounded how quickly they started to entertain themselves (surprisingly no boredom). I am not as brave as this mum, but I have been setting limits on the screen time. I do it anyway, but during school holidays there are hours to fill unlike during school year.
It has been great to see, that on the days when we don’t have plans to go out, kids have found ways to enjoy themselves. We’ve had endless diving into the paddling pool to fish out toys, tennis rackets came out of their hibernation (my son spent three hand blistering hours bashing the ball against the house on one day), we had bobbing for toys in the kitchen sink (= flood) and numerous (very loud) games of UNO. Star Wars Lego has been spread all over my son’s floor (I forgot how painful stepping on a lego brick can be). My daughter has started her own “all about the human body” book and has put together numerous dance shows for me to watch. The best thing, they have been spending a lot time together without much bickering. The dreaded words "I am bored" haven't been heard much either.
The point is kids are pretty good at entertaining themselves when the push the button entertainment is taken away. It is noisier but happier without TV, Xbox or ipad. It is also healthier. And to fuel them I have made these anytime bars. I call them anytime bars because they can be eaten for breakfast, as a snack and they are also perfectly portable to take to picnics. They are rather open to variations, just swap the nuts and dried fruits for whatever you happen to have in your pantry :)
ANYTIME FRUIT AND NUT BARS
makes 10 -12 bars
ingredients
1 cup porridge oats
1 cup spelt flour
1 banana
4 Mejdol dates
1/2 cup of non dairy milk
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 -1 tsp cinnamon
1 apple, finely diced
- First combine the oats and spelt flour in a large bowl.
- In a blender combine the banana, Medjol dates and the non dairy milk. Blend till smooth. Add to the flour/oat mixture.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.
- Spread the mix into a baking paper lined 10x6 (15x25cm) baking dish, press down firmly. Bake in 180C oven for 30-40 min or until golden brown on the top.
- Let the bake cool down, cut into bars and enjoy. Store in an air tight container for up to 4 days.
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RAW CARROT COOKIES
10/06/13 11:36
RAW CARROT COOKIES
Our broadband has still not been connected. I am not in love with my temporary intermittent connection but I guess that’s all I have for the moment. Patience required. Another thing that has given me grief is my new fridge. Apart from being a tad smaller than my old one, I have found out that my lower fridge drawer is freezing my vegetables. Rocket with ice-crystals was the first victim, but I just assumed the temperature was too low. I adjusted it but I still pulled out solidly frozen cucumber and courgettes from the fridge the day after.
The cucumber, unfortunately, had to be binned. The courgette I attempted to cook in a stir-fry. Slicing it from frozen wasn’t easy! I honestly thought about using a saw. And the result? Well I have had better...
After seeing my frustration my husband read the fridge instructions (yes we should have done that earlier!) and we found out that the bottom drawer is designed for meat and fish, and will freeze vegetables. Not even the suggestion of putting up the temperature to max has worked. This drawer is now assigned for kids lunch box smoothies, and my array of flax, hemp and chia seeds. I am feeling a bit angry at SMEG for making a veggie unfriendly fridge. I do normally have more veggies and fruits that one drawer can contain! On the other hand this is making me plan my meals better so there may be a positive in this after all.
RAW CARROT AND CHIA COOKIES
My friend made a vegan carrot cake to have after our dinner the other day and I must say it went down a storm. It also inspired me to make raw carrot cookies. My son did say they looked like something stuck on the bottom of a shoe (thanks mate!) but he did admit they tasted great.
Makes 9-10 cookies
ingredients
2 medium carrots
1 medium eating apple
2 Tbs chia seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
tiny pinch of salt (optional)
1 cup pecans (or walnuts)
4 medjol dates
1/3 cup raisins
method
- Grate the carrots and apple very finely using a box grater. I find my food processor doesn’t grate the carrots finely enough. Place into a large bowl.
- Add chia seeds, cinnamon and salt into the bowl. The salt is not necessary but brings out the flavour of the cookies.
- Next in a food processor grind the pecan nuts till you achieve quite a fine texture, few larger bits are fine.
- Add the pitted medjol dates and process till the mixture starts coming together
- Add the date pecan mixture to the carrot apple mix. Add the raisins and mix thoroughly.
- Take enough mixture to roll into an apricot size ball, flatten it to make a cookie and place on your dehydrator sheet.
- Dehydrate at 115F (45C) for 8 hrs, turning half way through. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can use oven at its lowest setting, with door ajar.
- These cookies will keep in the fridge for 2-3 of days. But they may get eaten before that... :)
ENERGY BARS
09/03/12 12:04
ENERGY BARS
“Let food by thy medicine and medicine be thy food” Hippocrates
Medical doctors are amazing, the knowledge they have to learn and retain (!), the responsibility they carry on their shoulders is immense. There is however a room for improvement. Dr Dean Ornish emphasised in one of his TED talks that you can’t only mop the floor, you also have to fix the tap. Don’t only treat symptoms, treat the cause.
Recently I watched my friend L struggling with her baby’s eczema, her son (born last September) was waking at night trying to scratch the itchy red skin, clearly suffering. She was at a breaking point, no mother wants to see their child in discomfort. Naturally she visited her GP and a dermatologist. Unfortunately their approach was using topical creams (not even emollient) and if those would not bring much relief, he was to be put on glucocorticoids. Rather scary prospect for a baby.
My friend decided to contact a naturopathic eczema specialist. Since she is breastfeeding her son, she was prescribed an exclusion diet. It is a big change, she isn’t even allowed her beloved green tea at the moment, but her baby boy’s skin is clearing up. Next step will be reintroducing foods to find the triggers. What a fantastic news! I wish her doctor was able to recommend a similar approach, it has no side effects! Actually it does, my friend feels great! she told me this way of eating is making her feel “light”. And of course there is not better feeling than seeing her beautiful son’s eczema on the retreat.
ENERGY BARS
This is perfect for “grab and go” breakfast or just a quick energy boosting snack. If you want to make this completely refined sugar free, skip the chocolate chips.
Makes 10 bars
Ingredients
1 Tbs ground flax seeds
150g (1 and 3/4 cups) oats
50g (1/2 cup) pecans, chopped
80g (1/2 cup) dried apricots, chopped roughly into quarters
30g (1/4 cup) sunflower seeds
35g (1/4 cup) raisins
2 small bananas mashed, makes about 125ml (1/2cup)
1 Tbs date syrup
1/2 dairy-free chocolate chips (optional)
method
“Let food by thy medicine and medicine be thy food” Hippocrates
Medical doctors are amazing, the knowledge they have to learn and retain (!), the responsibility they carry on their shoulders is immense. There is however a room for improvement. Dr Dean Ornish emphasised in one of his TED talks that you can’t only mop the floor, you also have to fix the tap. Don’t only treat symptoms, treat the cause.
Recently I watched my friend L struggling with her baby’s eczema, her son (born last September) was waking at night trying to scratch the itchy red skin, clearly suffering. She was at a breaking point, no mother wants to see their child in discomfort. Naturally she visited her GP and a dermatologist. Unfortunately their approach was using topical creams (not even emollient) and if those would not bring much relief, he was to be put on glucocorticoids. Rather scary prospect for a baby.
My friend decided to contact a naturopathic eczema specialist. Since she is breastfeeding her son, she was prescribed an exclusion diet. It is a big change, she isn’t even allowed her beloved green tea at the moment, but her baby boy’s skin is clearing up. Next step will be reintroducing foods to find the triggers. What a fantastic news! I wish her doctor was able to recommend a similar approach, it has no side effects! Actually it does, my friend feels great! she told me this way of eating is making her feel “light”. And of course there is not better feeling than seeing her beautiful son’s eczema on the retreat.
ENERGY BARS
This is perfect for “grab and go” breakfast or just a quick energy boosting snack. If you want to make this completely refined sugar free, skip the chocolate chips.
Makes 10 bars
Ingredients
1 Tbs ground flax seeds
150g (1 and 3/4 cups) oats
50g (1/2 cup) pecans, chopped
80g (1/2 cup) dried apricots, chopped roughly into quarters
30g (1/4 cup) sunflower seeds
35g (1/4 cup) raisins
2 small bananas mashed, makes about 125ml (1/2cup)
1 Tbs date syrup
1/2 dairy-free chocolate chips (optional)
method
- Preheat your oven to 180C.
- First in a small bowl add 60ml (1/4 cup) of water to the flax seeds, let stand while preparing the rest of ingredients. The mixture will become viscous somewhat reminiscent of an egg.
- Mix together the oats, pecans, apricots, sunflower seeds and raisins.
- Add the mashed bananas, date syrup and flax seed mixture. Mix thoroughly.
- Line a 10x6 inch (15x25cm) baking dish with a greaseproof paper. I used a drop of water under each corner to keep it in place.
- Put all the mixture into your baking dish, press down firmly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 min or until the top starts to turn golden brown.
- Let cool and cut into bars.
KALE, APPLE AND PECAN SALAD
01/02/12 19:43
On Tuesday my Riverford delivery man, together with my veg and fruit boxes, unloaded the extra 4 bags of kale I ordered. As I found out I was not the only “kale freak” that week, another customer ordered 8 bags of the curly green. We discussed my plans to freeze some, and how to make kale chips that he vowed to try. Starting the kale revolution right at the source!
True to my plan I put two bags in the freezer. I steam them first for 3 minutes and quickly cool down in iced water, straight into freezer bags and quickly into the freezer. These will be great when the kale season draws to an end.
I do like kale in many ways and recently I fell in love with eating it raw. Massaging kale was a very new concept to me, but as soon as I saw it on Food Network’s Arti Party I felt inspired. Kale deserves a bit of a spa treatment and it surely benefits a great deal from it. Massaging it tenderises the leaves, leaving them much more palatable. Actually it did bring back memories of eating wild sorrel when I was a child, kale massaged with lemon juice has a very similar taste.
KALE, APPLE AND PECAN SALAD
- The honey pecans are fabulous, you can also use maple syrup to make these. I was a bit worried none would be left for the salad as they kept disappearing ...
- I actually like this salad made with just lemon (hence the wild sorrel association), but you can use a small amount of olive oil to soften the flavour.
- The beauty of this salad is that it keeps unlike tender salad leaves dressed with lemon (or vinegar), you can keep it in a fridge for couple of days.
Serves 2 (nice hearty portion)
ingredients
200g (about 1/2pound of kale)
juice of 1 small lemon
1/2-1 Tbs olive oil (optional)
pinch of coarse salt
1 medium apple, thinly sliced into half moons
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
20 pecans
1 tsp honey
method
Strip the kale of the tough stalks.Wash and dry in a salad spinner. Shred into strips.
In a large bowl combine the kale, lemon juice, salt and olive oil if using.
Now get your hands in, massage the kale between your fingers for about 2-3 minutes. It will collapse to less than half of its original volume.
Add the onion and apple and toss together.
Let sit for about 20min, the onion will soften beautifully in the dressing.
Now make the pecans, heat a small heavy bottom frying pan, add the pecans, toss them around for 1 minute. Add the honey (maple syrup) and gently caramelise together. This will take about 2 minutes. Take care not to burn the pecans! Tip them onto greaseproof paper and let cool. They will be glossy and gorgeous.
When pecans are cool add them to your salad and toss together. Enjoy.