Home Grown

Sometimes, I despair at my attempts to grow vegetables in our garden. 

Yet there has been more than one occasion on which I have been able to throw together an appetizing green salad of various leaves picked from the garden.

The nasturtiums I sowed last year have finally come good, so I picked a few leaves to make a salad recently.  I'm not a great fan of nasturtium leaves in salads but I don't mind a scant sprinkling of them.  I grew the nasturtiums for the seed because I would like to try and make poor man's capers from them.

I have also grown a few Russian kale plants, these I don't mind so a good handful went into the salad bowl.

My rocket (arugula) bolted to seed but do you know that rocket flowers are edible?  They have a flavour which I think is very much like sesame seeds.  I have noticed that the native bees are very attracted to them as well.

To the salad I added a few blanched green beans and an avocado along with a thinly sliced lemon and voila! - A healthy green salad to serve with the main course.

A vinaigrette is my favourite salad dressing which I make from freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil and Dijon or French mustard.

Hmmm, is it still a vinaigrette if it doesn't have vinegar as an ingredient?

Well, here's a recipe for 

Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing

80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil

2 1/2 tbs fresh lemon juice, strained

1 tsp Dijon or French mustard

Fine sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a glass jar with lid, shake vigorously and serve.

Enjoy.

On A Mission

I've been on a bit of a mission the past few months.  To shed some kilos.

About eight months ago I came to the realisation that not only was I many kilograms overweight but my weight gain was continuing on an upward spiral...something that has never happened to me before.  I have never weighed more in my life than what I did eight months ago.

I tried the juicing thingy. It worked for a bit but I really couldn't see myself doing it long term.

So I started counting calories.  

I've lost seven kilos!

Have you heard of lemon water? I drink it for its ability to alkalize the body and for its high vitamin C content. This morning I decided to have it hot with a sprig of lemon balm.  Lemon balm is a great mood lifter.  And my mood certainly needs lifting at the moment.  For a variety of reason.  But that's another story. 

I also enjoyed a persimmon for breakfast.

One thing that counting calories has made me aware of is how much sugar I have each day.

Too much sugar makes the body acidic.

I believed that I was not one for having lots of sugar in my diet but now I realise that I have more that what I need.

So I juggle what I'm going to eat to try and cut down on the sweet stuff but I don't cut it out completely.

I also found this helpful chart to identify causes for certain cravings. 

Counting calories has encouraged me to do more exercise too...after all, exercise burns calories.

I've also started meditating...and talking less.  The effect has been interesting to say the least.

Making Do

Some days, most things are an effort.

Some days, the shops are too far away.

Some days, it's easier to make do.

And making do can produce the most amazingly flavoursome meals.

In the refrigerator crisper I found two beetroot and half a head of broccoli.

From the pantry I took 225g puy lentils, olive oil, cumin powder and pine nuts.

From the garden I took a handful of baby rocket, a few sprigs chocolate mint, eau de cologne mint, mint, lemon thyme, thyme, basil, lemon balm, marjoram,lemon scented tea tree, a few peas, blue berries, oregano flowers, and nasturtium leaves.

The lentils were cooked as per instructions on the pack and rinsed well, then fried quickly in hot olive oil with about one tablespoon ground cumin and salt and pepper to taste.

The broccoli (broken into flowerettes) was lightly steamed.

The beetroot was grated and cooked Russian style with butter and lemon juice and salt and pepper.

All were simply layered, puy lentils first, Russian Style beetroot next, steamed broccoli next and garden greens etcetera sprinkled on top with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts.

Drizzle with more olive oil.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges and enjoy the flavour bursts.

Here's a recipe for the beetroot.  I did  not use the flour to thicken, just cooked until the water had all evaporated.

I would normally have added an onion in there somewhere except the one onion I found in the pantry was ready to explode!

Day 257/366

A Slice of Lemon

Mr Honey Pie and I have been unwell.

He with shingles, me with the 'flu.

No photography today but I have been playing around with Picasa.  That's about all the energy I've got.

The monochromatic picture above appeals to me as a very large fabric print repeat.

Here is the original of the photograph before it was cropped and edited.

Hope you are all okay today.

Which reminds me... in Australia September 13 is R U OK? DAY

R U OK?’s mission is to help end suicide by empowering people to make a difference through open and honest conversation and to drive real connection.

Today we are encouraged to ask people in our lives if they are okay.

Let's not make this a once a year occurrence...

I was recently asked, while watching a documentary about teenage suicide, if all this publicity about suicide only encouraged copy cats.

I truly believe that talking about suicide is for the better.

To prevent a human being from committing suicide, it is with the hope that they will see the day when they believe life is worth living.

Day 245/366

First day of spring and the sun shone.

The sun shone even though it snowed last night.

The sky gleamed blue, the wind slowed to a breeze and the sun shone some more.

We slept longer than usual then drank coffee made with freshly roasted and ground beans.

We visited the growers’ markets, purchased fresh fruit, newly harvested vegetables, spring lamb and organic poultry from local farmers.

We marvelled at the splendid lemon scented gums and sat with Daughter and Grand Daughter and drank more coffee.

We planted shrubs in the garden while the sun continued to shine.

When the sun retired we dined on succulent roast chicken, savoury roast vegetables and finished off the meal with our favourite vanilla ice cream.

How did you celebrate the first day of Spring?

Day 144/366

"Bonza" lemons in bonsai pot.

Robyn G photographed lemons too, on day 137.

Check out her photograph here.

Day 81/366

When life gives you lemons, make kedgeree.

The Best Cheesecake In The World.

And makes a great birthday cake!
Here's the recipe:
No-bake Cheesecake
Makes 8 Servings or 6 individual servings.

Base: 

1 1/2 cups sweet biscuit crumbs (I use gluten free rice cookies).

1/3 cup butter melted.

Filling:

500g Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature.

1 x 400g can condensed milk. 

1/3 cup lemon juice (don't use green lemons because it won't set).

1 teaspoon vanilla essence.

Combine biscuit crumbs and butter.  Press into the base of a 23cm pie plate or into 6 individual aluminium foil pie dishes; chill.

Beat cream cheese until smooth, and blend in condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla essence; pour into crumb base.

Chill for 2-3 hours before serving.

Top with selection of fruits as desired.  (I use a layer of whipped cream on the filling before topping with fruit).

This cheese cake is so much more delicious if made at least 24 hours ahead.

In the past I have  frozen this cheesecake (before decorating or adding topping).  It keeps well.  That was in the days when we had a Meyer Lemon tree in our garden and it would crop heavily once a year.  To use up the lemons six cheesecakes would be prepared and then frozen.  Another favourite way of using up lemons was to make a still lemonade.

We have moved on from that house, which was on the Cumberland Plains of the Sydney Basin, and my family and I are now living in the Blue Mountains on the Great Dividing Range, about an hour's drive from Sydney.

Having a citrus tree in our present home is almost impossible...the possums just love the leaves and blossoms and unless the tree is fenced to keep the critters out there's not much chance of harvesting anything!