Loaded for Lunch

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Posted on March 4, 2020

I am not sure when the term ‘loaded’ became part of menus but it is difficult to go to a cafe or eatery now without seeing loaded fries, loaded nachos or even loaded baked potatoes on the menu. As far as I can ascertain, it simply refers to the addition of a variety of toppings and sauces, often with high cholesterol and calorific value.

Last night I made Mexican Quinoa for dinner. In an effort to reduce our consumption of processed meats, I no longer add salami to this dish. When I was packing up the inevitable leftovers I noted that it was not quite enough for 2 more main meals.

Today we decided to have our main meal at lunchtime as we are going out at about 5pm. GMan suggested that perhaps we could have some corn chips with last night’s leftovers to bulk it out a bit.

So, I present to you – Quinoa Loaded Nachos.

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Layers of corn chips spread with leftover quinoa, halved cherry tomatoes and cheddar cheese. Baked in a moderate oven for 15 minutes.

A quick, easy and nutritious meal.

Prepared – Not Panicked

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Posted on March 1, 2020

As you can probably guess this post is about the current global outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).

This post is not meant to replace any government directions regarding travel or quarantine periods. It is simply my thoughts on the current situation.

Here is the official Australian Government Department of Health website.

It would not hurt any of us to stop and consider how we would manage if there were widespread cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in Australia.

Since we do not have work commitments to consider my main focus is simply to ensure that we have enough supplies to ensure that we could take care of ourselves for an extended period if required. I have not been stocking up on food as we always carry enough to feed us for at least a month but probably much longer than that. While they may not be gourmet meals we could adequately nourish ourselves.

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I have also read recommendations that people ensure that they have plenty of their prescription medications. I have checked that I have enough but noticed that my current prescriptions expire in about 6 weeks so I have made a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow to get new prescriptions. If the virus does have a significant impact in Australia over the next couple of months, I do not want to be trying to get new prescriptions at that time. Doctors will have far more pressing demands for their skills and I do not want to be in a waiting room full of potentially infected patients so it is much better to plan ahead and get it done now.

Preparation is not panicking, it is commonsense to take responsibility for your own well-being.

Crazy Corn

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Posted on February 8, 2020

We were away for 4 days but by the time we arrived home 2 days ago the corn was ready to harvest. I picked a total of 28 cobs. Apart from setting aside 1 cob for GMan to have for lunch today I processed all of the corn.

My preferred option is to blanch the cobs then strip the kernels to freeze and use as required.

To see the full details of the process I use please check this old post from 2014.

This year I ended up with 2.5kg of frozen corn kernels.

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The corn is not the only produce we have in abundance at the moment. We have been picking, eating and giving away figs aplenty. The persistent rain over the past week has been the enemy but I am not about to complain. Additionally, we have been fortunate to able to pick dozens of mangoes from a neighbour’s trees. I shared some with friends and family as well as freezing multiple jars of pulp and containers of mango pieces.

Processing large quantities of a particular harvest can be a bit time-consuming but it ensures that as little as possible is wasted as well as providing the opportunity to enjoy your own local produce for an extended period through the year.

Finding Balance

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Posted on January 14, 2020

It is a little over 6 months since I finished work and I am now beginning to look at how I manage my time at home.

While I was working it was the time available which dictated what I achieved at home. However, now that has all changed as my time is my own.

The first 6 months were taken up with the final preparations for our overseas trip followed by 9 weeks overseas then it was less than 2 months until Christmas and a road trip and family Christmas.

My activities can be roughly divided into the following categories (in alphabetical order, not priority):

Cooking – meal preparation – sometimes in bulk
Exercise – aquarobics, gym and walking
Gardening – growing vegetables, flowers and shrubs
Household maintenance/renovations – usually in conjunction with GMan
Online/Computer – blog, Facebook, emails
Relaxing – reading, music, television
Routine housework – making bed, washing, ironing, sweeping, vacuuming
Sewing – clothes, mending, patchwork and Boomerang bags
Socialising – book club, film society, theatre, friends, family, Air BnB guests
Shopping – groceries and miscellaneous
Travel – local, interstate and overseas

By their very nature, housework and cooking tend to occur everyday. Formal exercise is twice a week but I am trying to include either some walking or gardening every other day.

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I try to find time for some gardening, relaxing and computer work each day.

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Sewing and socialising usually happen several days a week.

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Shopping is as little as possible but groceries are mostly once a week.

Some activities cross over such as aquarobics and socialising. I also try to combine activities and errands to limit the number of trips I make into our local town (8km away).

From time to time a particular activity may demand a substantial block of time to the exclusion of almost everything else but I generally try to keep a mix of activities each day or so.

Gluten Free Veggie Rolls

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Posted on January 13, 2020

Regular sausage rolls are quite obviously not vegetarian. Nor are they gluten free. So, here is an alternative.

GLUTEN FREE SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 cups gluten free self-raising flour
90g butter
1/3 cup cold water

Method

Place flour in a bowl. Finely shred the butter and rub into the flour until crumbly. Add cold water and stir in with a knife blade to make a firm dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface and roll out as thinly as possible. Use as desired for quiche, savoury pie, sausage rolls etc.

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VEG FILLING

1 cup red lentils (soaked for 3-4 hours)
1 onion diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
300g sweet potato
2 tablespoons hummus
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons dried powdered tomato
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper

GLAZE

1 egg
1 tablespoon milk

Cook the sweet potato and mash roughly. Saute the onion and garlic. Drain the lentils and combine all of the ingredients thoroughly.

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Whisk the egg and milk together for the glaze.

Roll out the pastry on a flexible surface which will assist in rolling the pastry. A baking sheet works well. Spread mixture on pastry. Create a roll and use a little of the glaze to seal the join of the pastry. Cut into suitable sizes. Glaze with egg mixture and bake for approximately 20 minutes at 190C.

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NOTES

I use this mix of gluten free flour and add 2 teaspoons baking powder for each cup of flour used.

The filling ingredients can be varied depending on personal tastes and what you have on hand. For example the hummus was in the fridge and needed to be used up. The main thing is that you are looking for a mixture which will stick together and is adequately seasoned to your liking.

These can be part of a main meal as well as a substantial snack.

I served them with quinoa tabouli and some homemade tomato sauce for dinner.

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The remainder have been packed up for the freezer.

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Local and Leftovers

Cooking Dinner

A Golden Oldie

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Posted on May 5, 2019

Prompts from several different sources inspired me to make a Lemon Delicious pudding yesterday.

First, a Facebook group post encouraged members to make a post recipes for a childhood favourite food.

Second, my brother, sister and brother-in-law were coming for dinner. What better, than to share a dessert from our common childhood memories?

Third, another Facebook group discusses how our grandparents lived, including cooking and preparing food.

I had not made Lemon Delicious since 2012 when I began eating a gluten-free diet, however, I was not going to let that stop me.

I have posted the recipe for Lemon Delicious on the blog previously. See here. Unfortunately the photos have disappeared from the old post and I am unable to retrieve them.

So, here it is again – with the addition of the gluten-free option.

LEMON DELICIOUS

1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plain flour (use gluten-free flour if required)
Juice and rind of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Cream the butter and sugar. Add flour, juice and rind. Mix well. Separate the eggs, add yolks and milk to mixture. Place the whites in a separate bowl and beat until stiff. Fold the beaten egg white into the mixture. Pour into an ovenproof dish. Stand the dish in a tray of water (about 2-3cm deep) and place in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is firm to touch and golden.

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The finished product is like a lemon self-saucing pudding. This can be served warm or cold with ice-cream, cream or custard.

NOTES:

As a nod to past generations, I did not use my Kitchen Aid mixer to cream the butter and sugar. I used a bowl and tablespoon – hard but satisfying work. I also beat the egg whites using a hand-held rotary beater. The results were equally as good as any I have made previously using electric appliances.

The ‘sauce’ of the pudding was somewhat thicker than other efforts and I think this was probably due to using gluten-free flour which does tend to absorb more moisture. I would probably ad the juice of another half a lemon in order to rectify this. Despite this, the pudding was extremely well-received by the dinner guests and I will definitely be making it again before too long – especially as the lemon trees are absolutely laden with fruit.

Scones? Yes, please.

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Posted on April 28, 2019

I have never had a great deal of success baking scones but when you add the requirement to be gluten-free into the mix it really becomes a challenge.

A few years ago I acquired this book and I have mastered the scones. I think the trick is the flour blend which is explained in the beginning of the book.

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I use the following to make 1kg of plain gluten-free flour and use the Kitchen Aid mixer to thoroughly blend the flours before storing in an airtight container.

340g brown rice flour
340g potato starch
200g arrowroot
120g quinoa flour

Here is the original scone recipe from the book.

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Please note that it has 900g of flour so makes a large batch. I make a half mix because that is what will fit in my mixer. I used a half mix for this batch of over 30 scones.

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As usual, I have adapted both the recipe and the method. I make savoury cheese scones to serve with homemade soup but there is no reason that you could not make sweet scones.

CHEESE SCONES

400ml warm milk
40g psyllium husk

450g gluten-free flour blend (see recipe above)
8 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon finely grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

2 eggs
20ml apple cider vinegar

130g butter

Combine milk and psyllium and set aside. Combine dry ingredients and cheese. Grate/shred the cold butter into the flour mixture. Add the eggs and vinegar to the psyllium mixture then add to the flour mixture. Combine until you have a soft dough. I use the Kitchen Aid stand mixer for this but can be done by hand.

Lightly knead and shape to a rectangle of the desired height. Use a knife dipped in flour to cut the pieces and then arrange on a baking tray or two. Be sure to allow enough space between the scones for even cooking. Brush with milk and bake at 180C for about 15-17 minutes.

Whilst this is far from a ‘traditional’ scone recipe, it does provide a very acceptable gluten-free alternative which most people who do not have any gluten retrictions are more than happy to eat.