Yep, we’re are making those school lunches again! Soggy Sandwiches, humble pie and squishy fruit!

I’ve been chatting to the odd mum and dad over the holidays, who say they get a sinking feeling about making school lunches. They do their best (at some hideous hour in the morning) to put together a snack and lunch only to find a returned soggy sandwich in the lunchbox at the end of the day. Or their lovely little creatures  might just say “I wanted the ….. and you gave me the …..! Or I didn’t have time to eat it…..

Shame on you, you dreadful parent. It’s your fault they didn’t eat their lunch. NOT!  I am willing to bet you are giving your utmost especially at that time in the morning and our darlings should appreciate you big time. I do. Give yourself a gentle pat on the back and make them part of the solution. It took me a while to realize that some my creations (shock, horror) were perhaps not quite as delightful as I thought they were according to my greatest critics – my kids. So, I made an extra one or two wraps, bagels, pasta salads, etc and tried them out myself. Those kids were right, the wrap was a tad soggy, the bagel filling was a little tasteless, the peach had started to go bad. So I ate a bit of humble pie, which leads us right into this post and the joy of continuous learning. Hopefully my upcoming recipes and tips will stop you falling into a quagmire (don’t you just love that word) of bad baps, sogginess, muddy flavours and lifeless lunchboxes.

Tips

Tip no. 1 – if they don’t eat your lunches, suggest they may just like to get up earlier and make them. They will probably decide suddenly that you are the best lunch maker in town.

Tip no. 2 – Ask them what they want ( within reason and excluding chocolate, processed cookies, juice drinks (or worse!), crisps etc). By the way I am not ruling out homemade cookies using an alternative to sugar but I am suggesting that crisps, pop-tarts, iced biscuits and so-called juice drinks are not very helpful to your child’s nutritional needs.

Remind them that food is their fuel and it’s meant to keep their minds ticking over, the bodies in full throttle and they energy levels at an even balance. They need a good balance of different foods, particularly those of a low GL or Glycemic Load (spreading the energy load for longer). They need some protein, some good carbs, good fats and fibre-rich vegetables and fruits. Water is just great by the way and we need a good amount of it all through the day (imagine how much you will save money not buying juices and just by filling their water bottle).

Tip no. 3 – Test out a smidgen of your child’s lunch ( have a portion for lunch or afternoon tea) and see what it’s are like after a few hours in a warm environment. You may want to consider buying a gel salad container, or a better thermos or some small freezer pads. Check the internet for the best types of containers.

Tip no. 4 – Make you child part of the equation, yes, and share the knowledge. Food is expensive, good honest, organic food is even more expensive. The crop failure this season and last season will see a sharp increase in food prices around the world. Make your child understand that their lunch is a special treat to be valued. It has been made with a few yawns and much love. I will be looking at creating some fine, frugal dishes this school year to share with you all.

Tip no. 5 – Make it as colourful, and as beautiful as can be. Celebrate that lunch, and thank yourself for making it. It should be a treasure trove of good, delicious food.  OK, I know we are not talking haute cuisine here (see pic below of a salad made by my current favourite restaurant De Kas in Amsterdam for an example of fine, honest, arty food) but  by using the best containers and the right foods, your school lunch be something akin to a prefect picnic for body and mind.  By the way, Isn’t it just beautiful that salad – and it tasted just as good. But I digress!

This is what we have been putting in our lunch boxes this week.

Snack – greek yoghurt with fresh raspberry sauce and an oatie cereal combo!

Snack – dried mango, banana, a spelt flour pinwheel scone and butter with Eva’s homemade raspberry jam (thanks Eva)

Snack  - separate small containers of blueberries, plums, watermelon chunks in a cooled thermos

Lunches – Jack requested his current favourites – toasted wholewheat bagel with smoked salmon, chives, lettuce and cream cheese or with paper thin prosciutto, with boiled egg, lettuce and sliced tomato.

Wholewheat pasta with pesto, peas and parmesan. We served all the lunches with locally grown organic apples and fresh clear water. Those lucky kids!!!

One of the food bloggers that I follow is The Botanical Baker. She does a lovely blog with gorgeous recipes at  http://thebotanicalbaker.wordpress.com

This month she is supporting the UK’s Better Breakfast Week (Sept  24 – 30), a great initiative which is asking for your ideas for fruity breakfast inspiration. Me, I adore breakfast and have been heard to say on more than one occasion “that it is the best meal of the day and surely the most important”. I leave you with a pic of our home-made cereal: dehydrated raspberries, hazelnuts, almonds, apricots, oats and dried cranberries, yumo!

School’s Out for Summer – Smoothies all round then…

Our best summer smoothie

So, another school year over and our kids are home for the summer. I look forward to summery days ahead, loads of reading, the odd spot of writing and sitting on grass, on sand, in the garden or hammock, sharing good food and conversation. A couple of weeks ago I made smoothies with a group of 60 or so young enthusiastic cooks in year 3. We had a tasting competition and worked with lots of different ingredients to make smoothies. Occasionally they went a tad wrong: too thick, too thin, too many blueberry skins, too sweet, too sour. But some shone with great taste and lusciousness. Because that is what cooking is like. A sort of constant magical blending experience in which learning is the key. Our favourite smoothie is a combo of frozen fruit and fresh. We use freshly squeezed orange juice ( 3 – 4 oranges) 2 handfuls of frozen raspberries and if they are a bit sour a dollop of light honey. Blend and devour. It really has the taste of summer even if the sun isn’t out. Don’t forget to add water to get a pouring consistency. Jack added rice milk to the one above, but water is just fine. But do, above all, experiment.

I am not going to write a long blog today but I am going to leave you with a few of my favourite things from my local shops. I have been testing cereals and have decided the best are to be found at EkoPlaza – The Hari Crunch company’s Open Up I can breathe is absolutely full of crunch and deliciousness. It consists of 30 % rolled oats, 26 % corn flakes with beet sugar (alas) coconut, pumpin seeds, pineapple, cinnamon, eucalyptus, ginger, cloves and in an strange but interesting twist, tumeric and black pepper!  Everyone in our family loves it with lashings of homemade maple and raspberry sauce and some greek yogurt.

We think all of their blends are winners and we have to keep them under lock and key. Yes, they are expensive but not as much as the less yummy types we tried from both Marqt, and Eko Plaza. We weren’t so keen on the Rude Health cereal or the house blend from Marqt. Overly sweet we felt with some having more than 3 types of sugars in their ingredient list. Check out the ingredient lists on every cereal package, and you will be amazed how much sugar they are all putting in. It really is quite the scandal.

Our other great discovery is the Raw Food Raw Bite bars available at Eko Plaza. I adore the lime bar and the coconut bar is pretty brilliant as well. We tried them cold from the fridge and although the kids were rather begrudging in their praise, I noticed they ate them up without too many complaints. I continue testing various recipes out on both my family and their friends. I am really interested to see if they are open to new foods, how they try them (with gusto or not) and how many foods are rejected hand out of mind simply because they look different. My advice keep trying and don’t make anything special for the fussier members of the family. They will come round in the end or else become very hungry.

The Food Forum had a stand at the BSN summer fair this year giving out recipes, making smoothies and selling slices of cold watermelon and fruits. We had stiff competition from the cotton candy (candy floss), the lolli-pop and the sweet fizzy drinks – but in the end we sold out of all our ‘sweets’ of the vines and the trees. It really would be a great thing to see schools adopt a non-processed food policy at school events but alas it will be a long time coming as making a large profit seems to win out time and time again. Fingers crossed though for a fizzy drink free fair some time in the near future. If you should get a chance watch the BBC’s documentary about The Men Who Made Us Fat http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jxzv8

It amazed me so many reports had been shelved by the government in the United Kingdom which pointed to the real culprit in terms of obesity/diabetes being white sugar and the effects of super clever marketing to get us all to buy more fizzy stuff, more energy drinks, more sweets and biccies. Sad stuff and so greedy really! Sad too that the main Olympic sponsors reek of over-processed food and sugar.

Still onwards and upwards. Let’s think of great alternatives for our summer larders – have loads of veggies, fruits, whole wheat crackers, good honest cheese, nuts and dried fruit to hand. We almost always have a watermelon handy, cooling in the fridge. Do try making salads with watermelon, adding feta, lime juice and mint. Do go to the Haags Market and buy loads of apricots, peaches and fresh herbs. Take the kids and teach them how to pick the best fruits and veggies.  We will be making lots of salads, the odd souffle for Jack (he loves them), Spanish style tortilla’s, checking out the produce at Marqt (Mike loves their smoked Mackeral) and trying to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. I am the new Food Correspondent for Dutch Buzz (check out their weekly podcast on http://www.dutchbuzz.nl) and I am doing Happy, Bright cookery course in my home kitchen (next one is Wednesday 18th July in The Hague, The Netherlands. Mail me via this blog if you are interested). Above all I wish you a happy, relaxing, unwired holiday with fine food and loved ones. Enjoy!

A Bright Salad for Sarah, Samantha and Mama Djambo (because it really is a grainy, grey day)

Yesterday I went to a cooking course with Sarah Britton, whose blog My New Roots (Mynewroots.blogspot.nl) I have following with joy for some time. What is so great about good cooking courses such as these is that you always, always come away feeling enthused, energized and refreshed. And this was a good one as I learned fab new recipes as well as way more about ingredients such as nama shoyu (raw, unpasteurized soy sauce) so naturally I had to rush home via The Check Your Oil shop on Haarlemmerstraat (for some lemon infused olive oil and apple cider vinegar -taste their huge range of oils before you buy) and the Unlimited Delicious shop (salted caramel dark chocs) because everyone needs some chocolates now and then). I also got some raw cacao powder to make a few other recipes of Sarahs and some dehydrated strawberries and raspberries to make up some cereals. Note to self – must buy a good food dehydrator!

As soon as I put my goodies away, I made up Sarah’s raw Walnut Taco Mix – see My New Roots July 2011 and then I just got to thinking about some grains and nut combos. As it is supposed to be summer I ended up making a salad in honour of Sarah (and Samantha of Kock Productions who organized the course) and of Mama Djambo (who is making lovely chutneys and impressing me loads!) So here it is …..

A Bright Salad for Sarah, Samantha & Me (featuring Mama’s Rise & Shine Chutney)

Cook half a cup of quinoa, half a cup of large bulgar and half a cup of large coucous (I am really going for the grains here)

I tossed all the grains in olive oil before cooking, added a lump of ginger to the pot and simmered all of them together in water until they were softish to the bite. This is a bit lazy as naturally they should be cooked separately but it seemed to work well. Quinoa is always still a bit crunchy but most cooks agree it is done when you can see a little dot in the middle. I added some brewers yeast to the finished mix to give it a salty, stocky flavour.

Half a cup of the Walnut Taco mix (see Sarah’s Blog mynewroots.blogspot.nl July 2011)

juice of one small lemon or lime

squeeze of ginger juice from coarsely grated ginger

1 teapoon of Mama Djamo’ s Rise & Shine Chutney or her First Wives Club Chutney – visit her website http://www.mamadjambos.nl or a favourite chutney of your own. Use a sweetish vinegar if you don’t do sugar. You can buy these at La Buena Vida on Fahrenheitstraat no. 582 in The Hague by the way.

a good half a cup of mixed herbs – mint, coriander, flat-leafed parsley, basil and I used something reddish called Bonenkruiden (herbs for beans) – please if anyone has the common name of this lovely dark red leafed herb, let me know. Use red basil to substitute.

One cup of cooked chickpeas

Mix all of these lovely ingredients together, adjust for taste – more lemon or lime maybe.

To finish, grate some raw beetroot on top (so pretty) scatter some almonds, add in an edible flower or four and you are done.

And it really is summer, so check out the organic market/farmer’s market near you and berry (sorry!) yourself in some fragrant fruits and one of Sarah’s very naughty raw chocolate brownies. Next week I am doing a smoothie course for year 4 which I am really, really looking forward to. I think we may run a competition for the best smoothie at the workshop… should be fun!

Birthdays are Big where I come from…..

Above, the preparation begins with those roasted tomatoes of course!

We’ve had a full on week of prepping, cooking and celebrating and it’s been a slice. We started by celebrating Jamie’s International Food Revolution Day on May 20 by making Raw Choc Brownies from mynewroots.blogspot.com which is a delighfully easy recipe using only Medjool dates, walnuts, raw organic cacoa, almonds and a pinch of sea salt. They were rich, decadent and deeply, darkly, secretly chocolate and the kid jury was out on them. The adults were for the main delighted by the richness but the 13 year olds at hockey found them just too, too datey.

I will continue to try to convince the trooops but may have to titivate the recipe and cut back on the dates. I also made http://www.101cookbooks.com’s Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies which are totally delish and gained much applause. Heidi Swanson’s recipes are always fantastic but as usual I cut back on the sugar and in fact used palm sugar instead. Coconut Palm Sugar is reportedly better for you (there is debate on that though) than other sugars with a lower GI- but it is difficult to find a report which proves this exactly. However, it has a wonderful taste with a complex, tropical flavour which I think it prefect in baking. I buy it at Asian stores or else buy Jaggery which is dark unrefined sugar – try it, you may be pleasantly surprised. It was a friend’s mum who passed on the fact that most baked goods recipes will still work a treat if you reduce the amount of sugar by a third. Thanks Kay! I also made, again from MyNewRoots blog the raw foods Raspberry Dream Cake except I changed the topping to strawberry and it looked just lovely. Again while they loved the raw foods cake most of the kids thought it “rather different” in flavour. I wonder if our kids (and us) are so used to large amounts of processed sugars and trans fats and are sort of wired for high sugar, high fat flavours. I loved the gentle coconut perfum of the oil used to bind the nuts and vanilla, mmm. Anyway I will continue to experiment with baked goods, raw foods and recipes using as many natural low sugar flavourings as is possible.

Strawberry dream cake

As I said in my family Birthdays are Big and if it’s yours, you get to choose your menu. We don’t want patat (French Fries or Chips) and Chicken nuggets, fizzy drinks etcl, we want real food for real people. We believe that celebrations should begin and end with real food and creating traditions. And that everyone should take part in making the feast.  Jack wanted a Cheese Souffle which strangely is what I used to request at the same age although I had called it a Shuffle. And for his party we agreed on a mixture of his favourite goodies with parental controls inserted of course. So, we served homemade raspberry lemonade, retro stuffed eggs, quails eggs, quinoa pasta with two sauces – a simple roasted onion and tomato sauce and a almond and basil pesto, carrot sticks with lemon hummus, lime zested popcorn and loads of watermelon, blueberries and strawberries. Lucy made a chocolate guitar cake which we  matched with Australian Vanilla ice-cream and cacoa dusted pofiteroles – oh, what a feast!!!

The retro 70 stuffed eggs were a hit with the adults especially. They really are such a cinch and they are great for a picnic. I predict you may be taking to the beach this weekend and maybe a family picnic is on the cards. If so maybe this would be a good snack in between beach combing and surfing. Enjoy! We are off to London and hope to try favourite cafes SAF and Ottolenghi’s on Longacre! Can’t wait..

Stuffed Eggs
10 organic eggs, hardboiled (for 10 minutes)
1 tablespoon at least of Washed and diced chives, parsely, coriander depending on what you fancy
1 tablespoon of that lovely lemon mayo from Marqt (or similar)
1 teaspoon of a curry style chutney or curry paste/curry powder – we love the selection from Mama Djamboes (available at La Buena Vida on Fahrenheitstraat 582) – try the First Wives Club!
a pat of butter
cracked pepper
sea salt

Cool and peel the boiled eggs. Slice in half. Scoop out the yellow part of the egg and place into bowl. Mix with other ingredients and mash to make a creamy mixture. Add a little milk if too dry and season to taste. Either place in piping bag and pipe back into the halved eggs or spoon mixture into the eggs. Garnish with herbs and serve with baby tomatoes – easy. Oh, it brings me back!

The Home Garden is Growing – First Harvest!

Our  little garden is growing and we harvested our first salad leaves for our school lunches today. Young salad leaves plucked from the garden.  I have been tussling with some monster pigeons and a snail or three, but after cunningly placing a few colanders over my precious little plants they are growing like ‘weeds’. The showery weather has delighted the garden if not us!

Today I made a gluten free lunch for Jack just to see if he could take life without his wholemeal bagel! He wasn’t best pleased with the idea so will evaluate it when he gets home. I made a bento style arrangment with boiled eggs, peeled carrots, falafel balls, homemade tomato sauce, dried apple, and a special treat, organic blueberries. I wrapped the falafel balls in the washed and dried home grown salad leaves.

 

It really isn’t rocket science growing your own salad leaves, and if in fact you live near Voorschoten and pop into the Outlet Garden Store you can buy a big pot of already growing salad greens for 5.95 for about 10 fine gustily growing lettuces. I think you will be quids in after forgoing a couple of salad bags from AH!  And you simply can’t get fresher or better. We are also growing chives, mint, basil, rosemary, rocket, edible flowers such as borage, pansies and nasturtiums, plus broccoli, shallots and tomatoes! We’ve put a smattering of salad seeds in pots scattered all around the garden. We’ve popped in snow peas and beans so now it’s just a race against birds and snails. Although, we have 5 tomatoes of different varieties on the go, I have found they don’t ripen up quite as I would like, but if you pick them green and place in a warm splot indoors they will colour up and be great for sauces etc. I seem to be constantly roasting tomatoes to make my own sauces for pizza, Italian dishes and to serve with paneer and rice.  Such an easy and quick thing to make and so much better than most of the tinned varieties.

 

I invented a rather yummy dish last week, using up cold brown basmati rice, adding in lemon juice, pomergranates, cubes of  lightly fried paneer which had been marinated in a mild curry paste, roasted hazelnuts and some fresh mint from the garden. I can’t stress how important I think it is to use loads of fresh herbs in cooking – they are full of goodness, heighten tastes and give delicious aromas to food. They are quite simple the herbal icing on the food.  Grow on….. and if you have space, grow an apple, plum or a pear tree.

 

There’s a new organic supermarket on the block. Now Den Haag boasts its own Marqt and I can see the attraction although I hope it doesn’t steal customers from my favourite farmers market on Wednesdays. Organic shoppers have never had it so good – we have the afore mentioned farmer’s market, Ekoplaza, Gaia, and various other “Natuur Winkels” – I think they all have their place but can only say that my fav shopping spot is the market with its friendliness and sense of commonality. But Marqt has some lovely products including their smoked mackerel, Brood’s bread and their very gorgeous lemon mayo (use sparingly) and finally organic quails eggs. I believe that Ekoplaza has the edge on fruits and vegetables though which are always displayed beautifully, particularly in their new flagship store on Kerkplein. Wherever you shop and spend your precious dollars or euros I wish you good honest food that rings with honesty, goodness and taste!

Before I leave, I would like to pose the following questions: Do we need vending machines in schools? Do you have them in your schools or workplace? What do you think of the products they vend?

Go Jamie Go! International Food Revolution Day, May 19 – Let’s Get Cooking ++++ Proper Good Picnics

May 19th – the first ever International Food Revolution Day!

Good on ya Mr Oliver, you certainly don’t do things by halves. You take the bull by the horn (or in this case the school by the board) and you run with it. We are so, so with you, you and all the other sung and unsung food heroes, such as David Kessler (The End of Overeating), Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food), Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Fish Fight, River Cottage), Chef Anne Cooper (lunch lady extraordinaire), Annabel Langbein (The Free Range Cook), Stepanie Alexander (School Gardens program), Heidi Swanson (101cookbooks.com), Yotam Ottolenghi (Plenty) SAF (Raw Food Restaurant in London and Istanbul), and so many, many more.

Add in a few slightly less famous names such as the head at my son’s school who allowed us to go in and try out our successful “Eat a Rainbow” cooking lessons, my friends like Jo, Antonio, Janet, Eva, Lisa and Bintou who like me love, love, love food cooked from scratch with tastes and flavours that sizzle and spring with joy in the mouth.

So, May 19th is the first ever International Food Revolution Day  – see http://www.jamieoliver.com – and we support it from the bottom of our stomachs! Jamie suggests a number of things to celebrate the day – organzie a local food event, host a dinner party, find an event near you. This year May 19th falls on a Saturday so we won’t be doing a school event but what we will do is bring some really healthy gorgeous snacks to our usual hockey and rugby matches. How about fruit kebabs, morning glory muffins, blueberry and apricot scones and some mini club sandwiches? This will put those crisps and hotdogs to shame (virtually the only food offered at our Dutch Clubrooms)  or so we can but hope! And yes as the weather begins to clear (fingers and toes crossed) my thoughts are turning to picnics, picnics on beaches, picnics in gardens, picnics under woodland leaves and under stars. So, if the rains hold back we will be having a family picnic either on the edge of a sports ground or beside the blustery North sea, watching the surfies.

A few BIG, BIG wishes for local Food Revolutions (they are quite Large!)

One is that our kids demand healthy, gorgeous food from our senior school canteen with no compromise (and that they begin to understand that although good food doesn’t have to be really expensive, it shouldn’t be cheap) and school vending machines with healthy alternatives!

Two, that our school runs a summer fair that is a Good Ethical Food Fair with no candy floss or cheap hotdogs and spongey white bread!

Three, that sports & party centres stop stocking food like this stuff below- overprocessed, overcheap and over -yellow really!

So, here’s one of my favourite picnic pie recipes to share with friends, relations and those who may become friends.

Spinach and a bit of Everything Filo Pastry Pie (top pic, not the one above!)

1 packet of filo pastry – thawed overnight in the fridge (I like the really long packs of filo not the small squares)

3 large organic eggs

300 grams of feta, crumbled or can use of mixture of feta parmesan, hard and soft cheeses such as mozzeralla

One box of EKO frozen spinach, thawed, and squeezed dry of excess water or a large bag of fresh spinach wilted and squeezed dry.

A quarter of a cup of pinenuts, gently fried in a heavy based pan with a tiny spray of olive oil

A handful of blanched almonds if you fancy

Sprigs of mint, washed, dried and torn (or coriander)

Some basil or fresh thyme

One large onion, chopped finely and fried until translucent

Pepper, freshly milled and a pinch of nutmeg

( and if you have some crusty bread past its best but not mouldy, pop in the food processor and whizz until it becomes crumbs)

A teaspoon of melted butter for brushing

Preheat the oven to 185 fan-bake. Lightly oil a baking tray or shallow pie dish.

This is a really simple recipe and will work as long as your frozen spinach has been squeezed dry of excess water. If you are using fresh spinach, wash carefully as it is often sandy then steam it in a little water and drain in a colander. Basically, you want a moist cheesy spinach mixture to place in the pastry, but if you think it’s too runny then add some breadcrumbs or some more herbs and nuts, if you think it too dry, add another egg or some crème fraiche.

If you haven’t used filo pastry before, the thing is not to let it dry out, so don’t open the packet until the egg mixture is absolutely ready.

Beat your eggs in a largish bowl, add in the spinach, feta and any other cheeses, nuts, herbs, and mix well. Give it a generous shake of pepper and if you like some lemon zest. Mix well – it should be quite thick and not too runny.

Melt the butter and have a pastry brush ready.

Open the filo packet and spread 3-4 sheets on the bottom of the baking tray or in the pie dish. Arrange your egg mixture on the sheets, leaving a good edge for folding up around the edges. Tuck the pastry around the mixture and now lay 2-sheets on the top of your mixture and tuck under the bottom. Brush gently with melted butter and add in a few more layers of filo and tuck around to form a rectangular pie. Brush butter on top. Bake in the centre of the oven until golden brown, some 25-30 minutes. Remove, allow to cool and wrap up in foil or place in a cake tin, ready for the picnic.

I like to serve this pie with a minted yoghurt dip, some onion chutney or a fresh coriander chutney and a really good salad. Here’s an easy yoghurt sauce

Half a cup of Greek yoghurt

Half a cucumber, peeled, deed seeded and grated and set in a colander to drain excess water.

A sprinkling of black onion seeds, some torn mint, basil and/or coriander leaves or my new favourite spice – sumac (comes from a berry from a wild bushy shrub which grows wild in the med and the middle east – sort of soury, salty, sweet and hard to describe really!)

Black pepper and salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and taste to adjust seasonings. Chill in jar to serve with pie.

And a few of our favourite things for picnics…… are retro 70’s stuffed devilled eggs, sun ripened tomatoes, homemade mini pizzas, morning glory muffins, ANZAC cookies, coleslaws and mini ham/veggie burgers served with salad and tapenade, carrot and ginger dip, braeburn or cox’s orange apples and melty camenbert, scones with strawberry jam and cream etc, oh, it’s just endless…..

Extra fancy special picnics may require a visit to The Cheesecake Company for a really gorgeous birthday cake or to Baklust, Phillip Garlenes for a messy but delicious chocolate pie, Brood for a brownie or olive bread  -great with all the afore mentioned dips – lastly, don’t let the weather put you off. If it is truly yukky outside try a picnic at home on a rug in the middle of the floor – enjoy!

Below a pic of Rebecca’s devilishly good classic “made with her own hands” cheesecake decorated (by us) with mango, peach and mandarin! A super special birthday cake for every once in a while! See http://www.cheesecakecompany.nl!

But do remember, we can all cook and cook we must for life is delicious!

Truffled Eggs and Bunny Tails!

I am in love with quails eggs, duck egg blue pre-loved plates, Easter trees, and shared brunches! A change of seasons is here, the apple and pear buds are bursting in my small garden, and I am ready to sow the seeds and plant out my shallots, beans, peas and edible flowers – I encourage everyone to plant something edible in their garden/on their balcony, or even their window sill, this spring! You can grow it, yes you can! Start with chives, parsely and thyme, move onto mint, bayleaf and coriander, pansies, nasturtiums, borage and shizo. Add them to your summer salads for a burst of colourful taste. A pot, some soil, seeds, water – hopefully a bit of sun, and off you go!  I do have a little problem in my garden that has amazing digging paws and the sweetest expression in the world plus taste for succulent spring plant tips. Our inherited French dwarf rabbit, Peta Bunnypaws is one of the most cunning escapologists I have ever met. She has a lovely huge house with 2 levels and a large run carpeted with fresh hay (with the odd carrot top hidden in it) but she spends her days hatching houdini like escape plans, intent on thwarting my inferior rabbit fencing expertise. The score stands at Peta 22, me nil. Tip: edible gardens and bunnies don’t mix so you would be bunny owners, beware!! She makes a fine living Easter decoration though!

Yesterday at the wonderfu farmer’s market in The Hague I purchased a gorgeously aromatic white spring truffle. I nipped home with it and a buxom bouquet of tall Tulips and other goodies and secreted it in the fridge close by to my eggs (it is supposed to perfume those as well!) and today we had it for breakfast. Sliced thin, popped into sizzling organic butter, salted slightly and smelling like fresh earthy soil on a dew-wet day … it was a little like heaven on an egg. I didn’t share it my holidaying children, it was just too good. Maybe one day…. if they are really good.

I can’t really tell you how wonderful the simple combination of scrambled eggs, truffle and spelt bread was…. you will have to try it yourself. Meanwhile, the kids are making chocolate eggs in a real egg shell in the kitchen, I am thinking about making my own wholemeal hotcross buns and wondering if Peta Bunnypaws is out yet and if she is in my herb section!

My friend Yvonne at the market who has a superb vegetable (and flower stand) now has a new website – http://www.tuinderijdeknotwilg.nl – say hello if you visit her stand, such a lovely person! And don’t you just love it when you can buy stuff without plastic wrapping yay!!! Happy Easter how ever you celebrate it but do try and share your food with friends and loved ones! Below Peta is considering plan 23!

Flour Power – Amber writes a guest post and “Good to the Grain”…

I’ve got a new Cookbook. Now there’s a surprise, well not really as I am rather taken by cookbooks particularly those of a healthy nature. Naturally I couldn’t resist one called Good to the Grain (Baking with Whole-Grain Flours by Kim Boyce and Amy Scattergood (now isn’t that a good name for a cook!). In my quest for delicious but healthy food and styles of cooking and in my attempt to stop myself contracting diabetes, a disease which I  have seen decimate my family’s good health and cause the odd amputation) I am always keen to use wholegrain flour, brown rice and largely cook from scratch. This wonderful book uses many alternative flours – Amaranth, Barley, Buckwheat, Kamut, Oat, Rye, Spelt, Teff, and Quinoa. If you love baking and like a really good read, you’ll adore this book. Kim started out wanting to cook healthily but got to experimenting with using less fat and sugar and appreciating the unique tastes and properties of each type of flour. I’m not an expert in gluten free baking but I am attempting to use more spelt, some rice (for vietamese pancakes) and to try a few alternatives. Below Amber Holmblad makes gluten free pancakes using Amaranth Flour. Amber contacted me after reading one of my articles posted on Jo Parfitt’s summertime Publishing website – http://www.joparifitt.com. Amber and I have become food friends over the electronic airways and I was delighted when she volunteered this recipe for the Food Forum Blog..

Amber says “I am a parent of 2 – one of my daughters has a gluten sensitivity so our family tries to avoid gluten as much as possible.”

Amber is an artist, a life coach specializing in creative expression (she does workshops too) an expat, and a mother of two who finds being a parent intensely creative. She is also passionate about serving wholesome, homemade foods that are nourishing, colorful and delicious.  See her work on http://www.holmbladcreative.com.

Perfect Gluten Free Waffles – not just for the weekends!

I make these waffles, nearly everyday for our family because they are fast, high in protein, nutritious and most of all – my kids love them! I know it may seem like just one more thing that your busy schedule doesn’t permit, but honestly sending your kids out of the house in the morning with a good solid breakfast is one of the best things you can do for them. I know how hectic mornings can be but making a commitment to starting the day out right is important. It gives their little brains fuel for learning and thriving.

Start with 2 cups of Gluten Free flour. I find the commercial mixes of gluten free flours to be loaded with a lot of unneccessary starches, so I always mix my own. This is my favorite combination:

1 cup Quinoa flour
1 cup Amaranth flour (If I can’t find Amaranth flour in the stores, I substitute 3/4 c. buckwheat and 1/4 c. wholegrain rice flour, which is also very tasty and nutritious)

2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp whey* (I make my own)

Mix the flours together the day or night before and combine them with 2 cups of warm water + whey. Allow them to soak for 12 to 24 hours in a warm place.

In the morning:
While the waffle iron is heating up, melt your butter and add the eggs, salt, soda and cinnamon to the soaking flours.

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp melted butter

These waffles need a little bit extra cooking time than the unsoaked, wheat flour kind. Soaking and allowing the flours to begin the fermentation process makes it taste better plus gives the waffles a crispy skin while still spongy on the inside. Plus, it’s healthier, and makes mornings easier.

I’ve also noticed that the soaked slightly fermented, flours don’t stick to the waffle iron so much, allowing me to use less butter than you find in other recipes. The times when I’ve used this recipe and forgot to soak the night before, I have had problems with the mixture sticking to the waffle iron.

*I make my whey by straining yogurt through an unbleached coffee filter and store it in the refrigerator. You can also use vinegar if you don’t have whey.

I love these waffles with a bit of sour cream and an all-fruit marmalade. My kids like theirs with a little yogurt and a dash of maple syrup.

In the afternoons, they are great with a homemade pesto spread or just plain without anything.

Tips for a speedy breakfast:
By soaking the flours ahead of time, you’ve already committed yourself to eating a healthy breakfast and you’ve done some of the work the night before.

If you’re really pressed for time in the mornings, measure out the baking soda, salt and cinnamon ahead of time so they are ready to mix in.

Or you can make them ahead of time and just heat them up in the morning. You’re still getting a much healthier start to the day!

This is a recipe was adapted from Sally Fallon’s Pancakes “Nourishing Traditions”. If you don’t know who Sally Fallon is, and you’re interested in eating healthier, then I’d suggest looking her up. Beyond the recipes, her cookbooks are filled with tons of information.

Cooks note – Whey is the watery part of milk, separated from the curd rich in lactose, minerals and vitamins.

Meanwhile this last week we made coconut and rice flour pancakes, a classic sweet, sour sharp Vietamese sauce with garlic, fish sauce, chillies and palm sugar, stuffed them full of holy basil, mint and coriander, beansprouts and marinated fried tofu! I made the precious left over holy basil leaves into a fragrant pesto. Also, went to a great talk by Katherine Fortier on Food Fights organized by Passionate Parenting in which she emphasised how sitting at a table for 20 minutes will not only enrich your child’s vocab but will make the whole family happier! So, keep trying, I know it can be tough, oh yes!!! 

A Little Spring Salad as the Earth Warms Up

 

March 8 International Women’s Day and I am acutely aware that I am lucky to be sitting here at my desk in the weak tremulous spring sunlight, writing and thinking about food, experimenting with recipes and enjoying my many freedoms. Recently after attending the International Pen Awards for those who write under duress I wrote a piece about writing in the warmth without fear of arrest or harassment – I know this is a blog is primarily about food (which I find tremendously important of course) but I can’t help but think of those women who work for freedom and justice and all those in the world who may be going without food today for reasons of war, injustices, lack of fair trade, water etc. I made a little salad today to share for lunch and thought I might just entitle it International Women’s Day Salad but that seemed way too grand. So, it’s just a little Spring Salad to Share. There will be something for everyone in it I hope. The secret is to have a really sweet crisp cabbage. In The Netherlands I use a pointy little number called a “spitskool”. Goes well with virtually anything this little salad. We had it with portabella mushrooms on Brood’s Spelt bread with a chaser of Twinning Organic Early Grey iced tea. You can see we are longing for the summer.Enjoy…

 

Spring Salad

Make a dressing by blending kaffir lime leaves (frozen or fresh) – If you have fresh, then remove the spine and chop finely into tiny shreds.  Add a tablespoon of rice vinegar, some lime or lemon juice (approx a tablespoon) some palm sugar to taste, fresh mint leaves and a good dollop of your favourite olive oil. I used lemon infused oil and added some water. Blend with a hand held wand. Taste and adjest seasonings. Sieve if using frozen lime leaves as they can be tough.

Mix the following ingredients together in a pretty glass bowl

Half a cabbage, finely sliced

A blood red carrot if you can locate one or a normal carrot cut into ribbions

Almonds toasted in a fry pan with a teaspoon of tamari sauce (be careful, don’t burn them) or peanuts

A red or green apple. cored and chopped into small peices

some torn mint and coriander leaves

seasame seeds

Mix with dressing and feel free to grate on some raw beetroot and finish with a mixture of herbs. Lovely!

 

Food-motions – a few glorious grains and soft spring rolls!

The foods in the photograph above make me happy! I love the hot red of the chilli peppers, the earthy textured dark of the Haas avocado, my all time favourite, that little peppery creamy French brie plus those tiny tomatoes which baked with rosemary sprigs slowly are a prefect companion to any salad.

I just find food and meals just so wholesomely human really – a simple and genuine full circle of love, caring and shopping with sustainability in mind. I  do try and temper my desire to cook and experiment with consience and our small planet is constantly in my thoughts. Growing up in the 60s/70s on a small dairy farm taught me much about  the land, farming and the farmers lot. I try to buy my dairy products from sustainably run or organic farms. I like small holdings and kind farmers and large agri-business tend to make me nervous. Cruelty-free food seems to make  my meals taste so much more satisfying all round. And having frugal parents who were also avid food-lovers taught me to waste as little as possible and to re-compost that which was unusable.

Preparing food is something most of us do for ourselves and our loved ones every day of our lives.   We share meals, buy/trade/grow/ store food, throw away food  (alas) and plan our next meal every single human day. As for me – I teach kids & adults about cooking, develop new recipes, write and read about food (and the behaviours/habits which surround it) from morning through to night.  And I have spent many a glorious hour exchanging recipes, sharing food memories and just chewing the fat with people all over the world.  Time spend teaching and talking food makes me as happy as an organically farmed pig in clover, oh, it does. Food is beautiful, colourful, smell-licious and divine.

Food -motion. Food-ire, Fear of Food…..

However, there is the food-motion side of things. Mention ideas such as healthy eating, home cooking, slow food, meatless Mondays, smaller chocochip cookies, those unneeded sports drinks, more dark brown bread, using lots of spices and fresh herbs and then you start to get into some dark and emotionally-edgy conversations. Sometimes I feel a great chilliness hovering above my food laden table, often I am surprised to find that people feel threatened and challenged. I am rather shocked that people seem so unaware of the epidemic of diabetes and the rates of adult obesity in developed countries given the constant media coverage.

It never ceases to amaze me how Jamie Oliver attracted such bile for suggesting we should do more cooking in our homes and schools both in the UK and the US – thanks Jamie, you got us thinking although I wish more of us would watch your speech on Ted.com (2010 Ted Winner). Really, Jamie was not trying to make anyone feel bad, he just wants us to cook great food and consume it. Food is glorious, a priveledge to eat and have accesss to. So many in our world can’t get a good square meal that it would be a shame not to put our best into what we have and to teach our kids how to as well!  It is central to our human lives and we all need to learn more about it.

I believe that learning to cook is a great skill to have, teaching us manual dexterity, organizational and managerial skills, chemistry, intuition, self-efficacy, confidence and above all teaching our knowledge about where food comes from and how it impacts on our planet.  On a lighter side, it is just such fun and for that little extra bonus you get to eat the end result. My next cooking course “Eating A Rainbow” – simple, delicious dishes from around the world will be taught at The Hungry Mind Centre, just by the International School of The Hague on March 19 and 26th – come and join me if you fancy – register via http://www.thehungrymind.nl or phone 070 3681804.

Now onto proper stuff, like cooking. Below is a picture of  few of my fav nuts and grains straight from the organic market of course. And I have a new cookbook -  have just made some quinoa and beetroot burgers from the Vegetarian with a Vengeance Cookbook, lovely stuff ladies – I am impressed.

organic nuts and grains, homemade ruccola pesto and sun-dried tomotoes

But today I am feeling very spring rolly. Maybe it’s that hint of watery sunlight or a bunch of Thai basil I found at the Amazing Oriental. You can fill these fresh spring rolls with almost anything as long as it mix up it – it has to have crunchy, spicy, herby with all those textures added to the soft rice noodles. But you will need a good dressing. The Vegetarian with a Vengence book gives you three possibles – a peanut butter, chilli and soy ginger sauce, a hoisin coconut milk garlic sauce and a lemon grass lime – all of which sound great. My quickest and so far my best sauce is a simple mix of shoyu (a quarter of a cup), a good squeeze of ginger juice from a lump of coarsely grated ginger, some lime juice, and 1 tablespoon of palm sugar (or to taste!) Mix it up and add some coridander or holy basil leaves and it is divine. Can add water if it is too much for you!

Soft Spring Rolls

Now, make your soft spring rolls out of rice paper sheets. It is not really cooking as such but more an assembly line so it is best to be prepared and think about flavour combinations. Buy the rice papers at Amazing Oriental where you will see either the large round variety or half rounds. I get the whole rounds. Prepare a variety of tofu, vegetables and noodles, and nuts first.

I like to marinate the tofu in curry paste and then fry on both sides gently until crispy. Cut into thin strips. If you can find some sustainably caught shrim (eko shops or Marqt then fry it with garlic or chilli sauce and set aside.  Boil some rice noodles and drain. Add some mild seasame oil and seasame seeds to them and set aside. Finely chop some sweet carrots, spring onions, cabbage or lettuce. Dry roast or add tamari sauce to raw peanuts or cashews and put in a small bowl. Wash your holy basil, coriander and mint and dry. The secret is practise and organization. Jack seems to be much better at rolling the spring rolls than me. But I keep trying to get it right.

Some lovely soft spring rolls!

Have all your ingredients handy and in small bowls. Work over a clean tea towel and have a bowl of warm water large enough to place the entire sheet of rice paper in it. Dip in your rice paper in the water for a few seconds and drain on another tea towel. Place the soft rice papre on a clean teatowel and put a lettuce strip in the middle – you can overlap the edge or fold it in later. Add in your other ingredients, noodles, some nuts, tofu, shrimp, herbs, bean sprouts, carrot and spring onions. Fold or roll into middle and tuck in edges or leave lettuce outside at top. It is difficult to describe but you will develope you own method. There will be a variety of different shapes and sizes, and the tightness of the roll will vary until you get the hang of it. Persevere, it is worth it. The idea is to make bite sized rolls to dip into sauce and pop into your mouth. Eat within an hour or so or they will start to dry out. If you want them for later cover well in a air-tight container. Enjoy. Can also serve with a watered down version of a thai chilli sauce – or soy sauce.  And love, love, love

hearts of dark choc from Mary's in Brussels with rose petals!

your food – it’s better when you cook it yourself and cheaper. It really is!