It's Getting Closer

If posts could be written telepathically, this blog would have several new posts a day. I sometimes feels as thought I spend a lot of the day monologuing questions I want to ask and tips I would love to share rather than getting the opportunity to get fingers to keyboard.

It is nearly that time of year again. Plastic Free July is creeping up ever so quickly and with just over a month to go, preparations are being made for this year's challenge.

As part of a local event, Baby Mouse has been getting herself sorted to present a cooking demonstration of pikelets. She was telling me how at school she was talking about making homemade pancakes for breakfast and how one boy had told her how easy it is. "All you do is add water and shake!" I think she let out a little shudder. That's my girl!

She is following a really easy recipe and has had a few practise runs at getting the mix just right and perfecting the cooking time. The recipe is based on the Jamie One-Cup recipe that we use all the time around here but she has added a little bit of sugar along with some vanilla.

I know that the milk is in plastic but that is a whole other dilemma

As a bit of background research, we have been looking at (not buying) the shaker style pancakes/pikelets and the premade versions. I always find reading the ingredients amusing

• Shaker pancakes. (Scroll down the page to the ingredients link)
• Premade pikelets. Should the first ingredient we water? At my local supermarket these are were on special at $3.49 this week. That's nearly 44c each.

There are so many ways of reducing our use of plastic and often it just involves a little rethinking. I would love for you to share any great tip that might inspire others to join the challenge.

Take care

Breakfast Homework

This week on the Coursera course, homework was to make a nutritious breakfast incorporating carbohydrates, protein and a serve of fruit or veg.

I decided on using a breakfast that has become our staple 'after yoga' meal on a Sunday morning. It is based on the CADA but with some rolled oats and yoghurt added.

I ground a good handful of rolled oats in the food processor and then added a a handful each of cococut, almonds and pitted dates, along with an apple. Give it all a chop together. Serve with a dollop of yoghurt. I love that the amounts are fairly rough. I'm sure many different nuts and seeds could be added, but you would want to make sure that it doesn't get too dry. If I ever win Lotto I will be making it with medjool dates.

This amount feeds two very hungry adults and a child saying "That looks good. Can I have some too?" after already downing a chocolate croissant.

This week's homework, dinner.

Take care

Sharing

This brought an early morning tear to my eye.

Take care

Back to the (cook)books

When I first started studying over 20 years ago, the options weren't very flexible. I found myself studying full-time, on campus with long hours spent at the library going through many, many books.

Stupendous Joy put me onto Coursera a while ago and I have just started a 5 week course this week about Child Nutrition and Cooking. This free course is run by Stanford University School of Medicine. It is really easily paced and contains video tutorials and multiple choice quizzes. Homework is great because it is all about preparing meals: kill two birds with one stone. (No killing was involved in the making of this meal.)

Our first assignment was based on vegetables.

As the autumn weather has finally hit, a roast vegetable soup seemed like a good option. With a garnish of fresh herbs and cheese and a side of freshly cooked bread, everyone was pretty happy to eat the results. One little mouse isn't a huge fan of soup. That is why the bread is a must.

Lucky for me, there was enough left over, so I'm off to reheat some for lunch.

Take care

PS Take a look at the courses available. I would love to know if you enrol in any.

Snack time

School is back now and the kiddoes are doing their best to get up in the morning and get moving. As they get older, the school terms become busier and they really need that extra time to rest and relax.

On Sunday, the last day of the holidays, we spent a fairly relaxing day at home with lots of reading, drawing and DVD watching.

By around 3pm, the calls of  'I'm hungry' started and 'There's plenty of fruit in the basket' just didn't cut it. Something a little more substantial was needed. With chickpeas and tahini in the cupboard, the decision was a bit of a not brainer. Hummus.

I had also come across a great Hugh (sigh)  flat bread recipe via Mean Mother Cooker and was keen to give it a go. So easy and fabulously delicious. This recipe has also come in really handy this week for making lunches as an early morning batch can make its way into lunchboxes before anyone can say 'We're out of bread'. It is amazing to think that this entire batch cost probably less than 50c whereas a pack from the supermarket can be between $3 and $4.

The circles of bread were each cut into 8 pizza style triangles and topped with dip. Yum.

I am now on the hunt for more non-cake afternoon tea ideas. Any ideas?

Take care

PS  Jude Blereau fans on the east coast of Australia might be interested to know that she is heading your way. Check out this link for the details.