Hearty Mackerel and Chickpea Pasta

Everyone needs a good pasta sauce under their belt, and this is mine. Its quick, good for you and can fill everyone up for not a lot of effort or money. You can switch the mackerel for another fish or protein. Add more or less veg, whatever your family likes.

Hearty Mackerel and Chickpea Pasta

Serves a family of six easily

Ingredients

glug of Avocado oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
two handfuls of chopped broccoli (include the stalks!!)
420g either tinned or soaked and cooked chickpeas or legume of choice
410g (approx.) tinned mackerel in spring water
700g jar organic passata or 2 tins chopped tomatoes
420ml stock or 1 tbsp. Rapunzel stock powder mixed with 420ml boiling water and 1tbsp great lakes gelatin powder (pre-mixed in cold water)
1/2 c frozen peas
plus any other veg you like. I often put in chopped runner beans, kale, spinach to name a few.
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. mixed or Italian herbs
1/2 tsp turmeric
sprinkle of quinoa (I add this if I have it as I find it helps to thicken the sauce but it isn't necessary)
500g pasta of choice



Saute onion and carrot on a low-moderate heat until onion goes soft and is starting to caramelize slightly. Turn on salted water for pasta.

Add in broccoli, chickpeas, herbs, seasoning and turmeric and give it a stir. Add pasta to water and cook until cooked to your liking, then drain, keeping 1/2 c cooking liquid, keep lid on if cooked before sauce is ready to keep it hot.

Add remaining ingredients except the fish, bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, partially covered.

Add fish, using utensil to break it up and distribute throughout the sauce. Add pasta and cooking liquid, mix well and dish up. If desired add grated cheese, crumbled feta or nutritional yeast. I usually serve mine with a salad, sauerkraut and mayonnaise.

Enjoy and eat lots, its yum! :)

Preparations

 

 

This is one of my most favourite times of year, technically not yet spring but in my eyes it most certainly is! Blossoms on the tree's and lambs trying to get in the garden are surely spring activities? I love being outside and this is the time that Josh and I spend vast amounts of time clearing, planning, weeding and so on in preparation for planting. I also usually start a new project or two, clearing up an area, re-planting with flowers and the like or just tidying it up. This year I have a corner already on the go and I'm also tidying up the children's hideout and have some plans to make it magical which I'm excited about. Josh is going to also build a pallet playhouse for the little ones to keep them amused in the summer evenings which is when we tend the gardens after a hot day. I was inspired by the one that Soulemama's family made for her littlest. I'm also planning for the inevitable adjustments that will have to take place when I resume studying, the daily rhythm will once again change.

Spring gives us such a wonderful opportunity to really engage our children in the magic of the natural world around us, showing them how to embrace and recognise all the subtle changes and get involved in the growing of food they will eat and share with others. It really is one the most.... what's the right word? I don't know...gratifying I suppose, joys for me as a mum who is home educating.

This is their life. It will be such a large part of what shapes the adults they are to become, and what a gift to be right alongside them on that journey.

I'm Back!! (With a sugar free biscuit recipe thrown in)

Gosh, time really has flown. I found I just didn't have enough time for blogging as the end of my course loomed, something had to give and my little ones were already giving up enough. Then once I'd finished, I didn't want to just move my focus from that to this. I needed to find our daily rhythm again and just bake and cook and make messes with my family.

But.. I passed. Yay! And now I will move on to begin my training in nutritional science. This topic rocks my world and is such as massive part of mine and my family's life, so I cant wait to learn and incorporate it into our food choices and the kids learning.

I intend for the blog to be a mish mash of recipes, health and nutrition information and tidbits of our day to day life; home education, homesteading and such.

Anyway.... Today I want to share my oat and raisin biscuit recipe (I call them biscuits because I'm British by the way). Obviously these still are still a treat food due to the honey content, but the flavour of them get better in the days after baking them and the kids love them. Oh and it goes without saying, but the more organic ingredients, the better!



Honey sweetened Oat and Raisin Biscuits

 

Ingredients

1/2  cup    Raisins
2     cups  Oats
1/2  cup    Wholemeal flour
1     tsp      Baking soda
1     tsp      Cinnamon
1/2  tsp      Ginger
1                  Egg (whisked)
1     tsp       Vanilla extract
1/4  cup     Butter  (or applesauce if dairy free)
1/4  cup     Coconut oil
1/2  cup     Raw honey


Put raisins in a bowl and cover with filtered water to soaked them.

Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

On a low heat, gently melt butter, coconut oil and butter together. As soon as it is melted, remove from heat.

Once cooled slightly, add vanilla then pour in egg slowly whilst continually whisking.

Add wet mixture to dry.

Drain raisins and fold into mixture, then leave to stand for 10 minutes. This allows the oats to soak up some of the wetness which makes it a lot easier to form into balls.

Preheat oven to 160 c fan bake.

Using a spoon, take some mixture and form into a ball shape then place on a greased baking tray. How much mixture depends on how big you want the biscuits to be. I usually do a heaped teaspoon amount (roughly). You can also roll it into a large sausage shape, wrap, and freeze. Then use a sharp knife to cut into rounds, if you don't want to get your hands messy!

Put into the oven, after around 5 minutes, carefully flatten with a spatula or fork and reshape the sides of the biscuits if any crack.

Bake for another 5 minutes (depending on your oven) until lightly golden.

Leave to cool slightly before removing them from tray.

These can last a week in an airtight container, in a cool place.

And there you go! Enjoy!

Purple Veggie & Rye Pikelets

These are quick, tasty and good for you! We only used carrots and beetroot this time as we were getting low on fresh produce but you can add any veggies you like, we often use spinach, peas, cooked kumara, cooked pumpkin, courgettes. I always add carrots and I find it helps the pikelets to keep their shape. Just keep in mind that any vegetables with a high water content need to be thoroughly squeezed and patted dry. This recipe makes 16 good sized pikelets.

Purple Veggie & Rye Pikelets

2 C Organic Rye Flour
2 C grated vegetables including 1 raw beetroot or 1/2 if you want a less beetrooty taste!
1 C Organic cheese
2 whisked Organic free range eggs
1 1/2 C Organic preferably raw milk
Black pepper and pink himalayan salt
Herbs of your choice.
Organic ghee or butter for the pan. 

Mix flour, vegetables, cheese and seasoning together. 

Add in whisked eggs and give a good mix up.

Finally add in Milk and mix well.

Let this sit for a minute, turn your oven onto its lowest setting and heat up your frying pan on a medium heat. I use my cast iron pan so it heats up really quickly.

Throw bout a tsp or two of butter or ghee into your frying pan, make sure it has coated the bottom then pour excess into a cup to add a little back into your pan as it dries up after every few batches or so.

Then simply add the mixture to your pan, I like to use a good heaped tablespoon for each pikelet.

Let each batch fry for about 4 minutes before flipping over to cook the other side. ( You should see the cheese melting and this is a good indication that its ready to be flipped ).

Remove from the frying pan and add to a plate in the oven to keep warm.

Serve with salad, couscous, rice, roast veg, anything you fancy really. My kids like a little natural yoghurt to dip them into or hummus.

Wait until any remaining have cooled, then pop in a container and into the freezer!

Almost there

It had been almost three weeks since my health troubles began. I woke on Tuesday with the need to get out of this house and feel.......different. Reassurance that this will not be forever and just take a breath. So I bundled everyone in the car and we went to the ocean. I feel at peace here, the children were excited to be somewhere different, poor things, we explored, talked, and I stood in the water, took deep breaths and let the crisp air wash over me and cleanse my spirit. This shall end, I will be well again. The next day I paid for the exertion with a lot of pain but those few hours will sustain me while my body continues to heal and recuperate. Every experience is given to us for a reason, and this has reminded me not to take times of vibrancy and great health for granted and that natural medicine rocks my world more than ever!!

Holistic aftercare for Tooth extractions, Dry Socket and TMJ

UPDATE: 14/05/15

I ended up getting a jaw and Neck infection, I had lumps all over my neck and pain in my jaw and ear. I was obviously advised that antibiotics was the only way to treat it. Instead I used Natures sunshine Echinacea and Goldenseal liquid 4 times a day on the extraction site aswell as taking at least 3,000mg sodium ascorbate. Finally I had ozone therapy by the naturopath. I'm so pleased that I was able to support my body through the infection instead of attacking it with conventional medicine. I'm feeling so much better but will continue to rest and allow my body to recuperate properly.



So, these last few weeks I have been recovering from a bad trip to the dentist. My first visit in a good 12 years. I had to have a tooth removed, it had a cavity, and although I had prevented infections and such for almost two years, I felt it was time to have it taken out so that I could concentrate on getting the area really healthy again. I was also concerned about the negative effect it may have had if I were to fall pregnant again. So off I went clutching my large amazonite, and I was being really calm and trying to zone out, but this chick was rough, it felt like my top jaw was moving (which obviously isn't possible) and my bottom jaw was popping in and out. At one point I thought I was going to be sick and pass out even though I was unable to feel anything.

So I get home, and I was bleeding profusely even though I had gauze in my mouth and there were pools of blood all over the bed. It finally stopped bleeding the next day but the pain was intense. I've had 4 natural childbirths and had intended on not having any pain relief for this but it was unbearable.

It turns out she had damaged my Temporomandibular Joint, which is the joint between your bottom jaw and the temporal bone, it was bruised and achy and the pain radiated throughout my ear, all across my head. I was also experiencing alot of pressure in my head and neck. This is known as TMJ. As I read about it I discovered that dentists should support the lower jaw when removing a tooth from it to prevent this and certainly shouldn't allow the jaw to move in and out of the socket. I was also suffering from dry socket which occurs when a blood clot fails to form in the extraction site. Sigh..........

So anyway, I managed after two days to come off the pain relief, but as a result have been basically bed/couch bound since. I dont like pain relief and I also felt it was important to feel how my body was healing each day so I could respond with natural medicine accordingly. (Call me crazy, I know!) I have managed to avoid any infection which is great and although I have all day pain due to the dry socket, I can now get back to running my home a lot easier and drive the short distances.

I wanted to share what I have been using to heal myself, and how to avoid more intervention from a dentist if you are unlucky enough to experience dry socket too!

Homeopathy

You can buy one of these awesome Salter Homeopathic's kits here.

 I really noticed a difference when taking Arnica 30c and Hypericum 30c. I would recommend Arnica 200c if you are having dental work or an operation. Just be mindful that it can prevent blood clotting, this is why I waited until the bleeding had stopped. Once I was aware of the dry socket I started taking Ruta Gravidarum 30c and Hypericum at different times of the day.

Sodium Ascorbate

 

Do you have this at home? If not, you need to, especially if you do not vaccinate. This is far gentler on the stomach that traditional Vitamin C and as such you can take much larger quantities. I had 1/4 tsp three times daily but could easily of had more. If you want to learn more about it watch this, you can buy it here.

Clove Oil

I would dilute two drops of this with a tbsp of melted coconut oil and use a cotton bud to rub it all over the gum and in the extraction site. Clove oil is a wonderful reducer of pain and has antibacterial qualities. This is what the dentist will use if you go back to them with a dry socket. You can also soak a piece of gauze with it (in a carrier oil) and leave in the hole. Be aware that clove oil can burn the skin so it must be put in a carrier oil first. Alternatively you can chew on a clove seed. Here's some info on clove oil if you want to learn more. And this is where I purchase essential oils

Activated charcoal

This is great for anything infection related in the mouth. Empty a capsule into water and swish around the mouth. Use it to brush infected gums. I made a paste and put it into the extraction hole and all around it and left it until it naturally dissipated.

Oil Pulling

This is an absolute must. Everyone should do this anyway, but particularly in times of infection and  disease. I started after 2 full days. Its important not to swish as this can dislodge the blood clot (not that I had one anyway) so I just sat the oil in mouth and would tilt my head to move it around. Interestingly on the two days that I didnt do, the pain was noticeably more intense.

Syringe.

If you have a dry socket, you will need one of these. After eating, make up a saline solution and squeeze into the socket over a sink to remove food debris. This is super important to prevent infection and increased pain.

Saline water

Swish with 1/4 tsp of salt in warm water at least once a day.

Cranial Sacral therapy or Cranial Osteopathy

I went to see an amazing Cranial Sacral Therapist in Nelson, she really helped to clear the pain in my jaw and pressure and pain in my head. I think a cranial osteopath would also have been great. 

Foods to avoid

Sugary foods where possible. Sugar is never going aid healing in my opinion.
Anything particularly chewy.
Salad (for the first week as its quite hard on the jaw)

Foods to eat

Natural yoghurt
Porridge
Homemade ice cream
Blended soups
Bone broth (daily if possible)
Spices such as turmeric
Onions and garlic to boost the immune system
Soft fruits and vegetables such as avocado and banana.


I hope none of you ever have an experience like me, but if you do, these natural remedies will definitely make a big difference!

Our version of a Mindful Meaningful Easter part 2

Easter is upon us!! You can read about the gifts we give here. This year they are getting a book, some art stuff or lego and a wooden animal made by their dad. I still haven't made any chocolate.... oops.......

As I said in Part 1, we want Easter to be a celebration of the colder months. We do this by making food gifts for the animals. We make bird feeders and do little food scrap parcels for the hedgehogs and such. Then we put them out on Easter sunday.

We always do an egg hunt with clues. Last year we did eggs with stamps/stickers/coins etc.. inside. You can also do a puzzle piece in each one then make the puzzle together at the end. This year each clue will have an ingredient with it and the last clue will be a recipe which the children will make with me and my husband. I have found a vintage 3d Rabbit cake mould, so we will make some honey sweetened chocolate buttercream so they can give him some fur!

Our most treasured tradition is the Wish bunny. I can't remember where I first read about him but it is what the kids get most excited about! He arrived one year with a note from the Easter Bunny, he was to stay with us for a few days and show the children how wonderful it is to have a generous and thoughtful spirit. He does this by giving them ideas on how to be kind to each other (and us) by tidying each others rooms or telling each other what we like about them for example. He gives us messages on the importance of growing our own food and we in turn plant some seeds or some seedlings we have been taking care of. This also reinforces how the seasons influence what we plant and why we eat according to the seasons. Then lastly on the day before (he is supposed to) leave the children can make two wishes, one for them and one for someone else. They can also gift him with something they no longer use so that he can take it away to give to children who need it if they want to. And I then take these to the salvation army. Now, mr wish bunny was supposed to leave after easter the first year he came, but Isabelle was so in love with him that he never left and she has taken him to bed every night since. So he's looking pretty 'well loved' now and instead disappears in the lead up to easter and reappears on Easter sunday morning!

So these are our traditions, do you do something similar?