Christmas

Ok, I know this is supposed to be healthy information and more of that to come but "The Christmas Club" has started and we steer a more traditional than healthy route so I have attached the ingredients for the weekend with methods to follow.

Almond Bread

(2 loaf tins)

6 egg whites
1 c caster sugar
2 c almonds
2 c plain flour

Christmas Cooking Fruit Mince Pies

Mincemeat
250g suet (or butter)
250g mixed peel
250g currents
250g raisins
250g sultanans
250g apples ( chopped)
250g dark brown sugar
3 t mixed spice
1 lemon grated zest and juice
1 orange grated zest and juice
1 wineglass brandy or whisky

Mix together and store in sterilised jars.

Pastry

Short Pastry – 3 sm quiche

500 g flour
250 g butter
125mls water

Sweet Pastry

500g flour
300 g butter
1 egg (can add an extra yolk if you need it)
120 g caster sugar

Terine/Pie Pastry

1kg flour
2 eggs
360 g butter 40 g lard
300 mls cold water

Shortbread

500gr butter
285 caster sugar
660 gr flour
60 g ground rice

The Starting Point

Every time you make healthy stuff it makes it harder to go back to your old ways!!! After porridge all winter, no way am I buying another packaged breakfast cereal!!! Dr Peter Dingle would be proud. http://peterdingle.com/. His talk has inspired me to get back onto the healthy bandwagon and noticing my friends freak out and say "yeah but how?" makes me want to share what I know. Breakfast is a good place to start.

I have just visited Kakulas (Nollamara, Northbridge and Freo)and stocked up on dried fruits, nuts and oats. Made my own mueslie(hardly any oats), got a pot set natural yogurt (lots of the good bacteria) and am making the healthiest, best start to the day for our bodies !!!Bircher Muesli with water and a grated apple .... I feel so good almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, I make a big batch ready to mix up equal quants at night and grate the apple in the morning....easy

For those of you that need a recipe I have listed last weeks version below but please experiment. I prefer a big bowl or tub and just mixing it up and adding a few more nuts if required or a few more sultanas to make it sweeter/keep the kids happy etc. The more grain the cheaper it is to make but I wanted to get more seeds and nuts into our diet, thus this recipe. You can't go wrong with the mix. Use what you like or can afford. I forgot sesame seeds.

The yoghurt soaking makes the grain and nuts much easier for our bodies to digest.

Basic Muesli

5 cups rolled oats (can use other grains or a mix)
2 cups sunflower seeds
2 cups pumpkin seeds
3 cups almonds
3 cups linseeds
1 cup shreaded coconut
1 cup dates
1 cup sultanas
1 cup apricots
1 cup craisins/blueberries

1. Mix together and store in an airtight container, jar or bags.

Bircher Muesli

1. At night, I find just after dinner the best mix together equal quantities of muesli mix, water and yoghurt. I use one cup of each for 3 people. You can use juice to make it sweeter or flavoured yoghurt to make it sweeter. I like just water and plain pot set yoghurt. Place in the fridge overnight. It will thicken up.


2. In the morning grate in an apple. (you can do this stage at night if you are not a morning person). Experiment with other fruits, strawberries are lovely.

Motivated

Ok all, here we go. I've just looked at Jamie Olivers new mission - Ministry of Food http://www.jamiesministryoffood.com/content/jo/home.html and posted a message on his blog (message 254) I had the same idea really, it's the vegetarian version and thought it really is time so here we go. For those who have been asking ... a chat about cooking commences...