Candy! Healthy? Bet your ass :)

Call me crazy, but I've had a hankering to experiment with making some version of chocolate using vast quantities of raw cacao and coconut oil. Because coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, I thought we could come up with something quite beautiful. Raw cacao gives you this amazing chocolate hit that seems to affect users on a psychological level. I hoped it would be possible to make something delicious that would also be reasonably good for you.

I decided after making it with coconut oil to try also making it with coconut butter
Success?

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground vanilla
1/4 cup coconut nectar
1/4 cup raw cacao
2 tbsp coconut sugar


combine ingredients and press into a square silicone pan (8 x 8)
chill for 30 minutes then score
return to freezer to fully chill

divide into pieces, and store in an airtight container in the freezer

I scored this pan into 64 pieces (8 lines in each direction), and each person had one or two. Fantastic, and just enough to tantalize you, and give you a truly remarkable raw chocolate hit. Plus the almond butter will help keep blood sugar stable, although the sweeteners are very low on the glycemic index. Don't forget raw cacao is a superfood. I'm not a chocolate lover, but even I could get down and dirty with this fudge. Woowee.

Yes folks, you have it here: guilt free chocolate. Unless you eat the whole thing in one sitting.  I'm not saying I did. Just, you know, you probably don't want to. ;)

Passover -- our eclectic, non-traditional meal. Recipes will Follow!

The Bread of Affliction 

We consider ourselves equal opportunity feast attenders. And nothing puts the feast in holiday the way Passover does. In our house, it's not that Passover is pot-luck, but everyone does bring part of the meal. Which is great, because if just one person had to make the whole of this elaborate ritual meal, that would mean cooking for a week, and putting life on hold for the duration. As I had a movie to work on, a house to run, a son to raise, and a husband to argue with, I thought it was a good idea to limit my contributions to:

homemade matzot (that's the plural of matza, for the uninitiated: unleavened bread aka the bread of affliction )
soup with matza balls
a layered roasted vegetable dish inspired by the terrine made by the chubbyvegetarian at chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com
and
our famous gluten-free brownies

I ended up throwing in some fabulous healthy fudge, and made three kinds of matza instead of just plain.

The matza is the same as what we had last year, and it was so good that of course we're having it again this year. It was motivated by a recipe shared with me by Erin McGuire. Thanks Erin. Everyone loved it.

 The soup will be a new one. I was inspired by a bunch of organic leeks I saw at the store, and was imagining something starting with leeks sauteed to luscious perfection in coconut oil, and a broth of simmered celery and carrot for depth and sweetness. Buttery leeks and the savoury matza balls together, garnished with plenty of parsley from our window garden ...

The layered vegetable and goat cheese dish was an experiment. It involved roasted vegetables, goat cheese, ricotta, spinach, sauteed grape tomato sauce, and some organic eggs, so how bad could it be? I personally thought it was pretty terrific. Hope I wasn't the only one.

The brownies have been a favourite since their inception. I made a double batch a week ago, and we went through 2/3 of it in less than 24 hours as people dropped by just to nab one or two. Just for kicks, I upped the ante this time by throwing in a handful of Callebaut chocolate morsels. Death by chocolate, anyone?

The secret, in my opinion, has nothing to do with asking the universe for what you want. Pish tosh on that, I say. The secret is as follows: when preparing for any big holiday meal, or party for that matter, break your tasks down into small manageable bites that you can accomplish in the week leading up instead of having to do it all at once, over the course of many many hours, on the day of. Much, much better, in my opinion.

One of the things I appreciate about these gluten free brownies is their content of coconut flour, which keeps them super moist and fluffy even days after they are made. So, these are a gimme as far as making ahead goes. Ditto the fudge, and certainly the soup broth. You could also make the matza balls ahead, and store them in an airtight container. Just heat them up in your broth and you're good to go.

The layered baked vegetable and goat cheese dish was a little time consuming, but I broke it down as follows: three days ahead and prepped and roasted all the vegetables. I also sauteed up the grape tomatoes. Two days ahead, I made my cheese mixtures, and assembled the beast. Finally, on the day of, three hours before dinner, I put it in the oven, baked it for two hours, and then let it cool for one before I de-panned, inverted, and plated it. And I've got the pictures to prove it.

So, really, all I actually had to do on the day of was make the matzot -- so many flavours, we'll be eating matza until Rosh Hashannah -- heat the soup up, and put the layered baked vegetable and goat cheese dish in the oven. Easy peasy. Of course, because the week leading up to Passover was so busy, I actually ended up making almost everything the day of.  There you have it.

This was by no means all the food, however. Everyone brought something. Sandra brought a tofu and parsley dish, Ben brought a warm spinach salad, and his version of a spanakopita. My Sarah and Ted brought oven roasted vegetables, Kathryn and Hendrik brought wine, and Sharon brought farfel, the fixings for the seder plate, and meringue macaroons and fresh fruit to go with the brownies and fudge. Needless to say, everyone will be eating leftovers for a week ...

:)

Lasagne -- not traditional, not vegan, not dairy free, and not gluten free

But, boy, it tastes great :).

My challenge was to make a lasagne that involves no visible vegetables other than tomatoes, and still have it both tasty and healthy. Of course, we enjoyed it with a side of sauteed broccoli and cauliflower, and some really luscious and creamy lima beans.


ingredients:

12 whole wheat lasagne noodles, soaked in water for 10 minutes
1 container ricotta
4 organic eggs
170 g mozarella cheese, grated
100 g parmesan cheese, grated
sea salt
pepper
4 cups simmered sauce, pureed


directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the ricotta with 4 beaten eggs. add in a pinch or two of sea salt and a little pepper. Throw in a little of the grated cheeses for fun
2. either use one large, 3 L rectangular glass pan, or 2 small square pans. Grease the pans lightly with coconut oil
3. if using square pans, cut the noodles in half so they are short enough
4. spoon a little sauce into the bottom of the pan
5. layer on three noodles side by side
6. spoon a little sauce on top of the noodles
7. spoon 1/3 of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles, and sort of flatten/spread it with a fork
8. layer the next three noodles side by side
9. repeat the sauce and the cheese mixture
10. repeat the noodles, the sauce, and the last of the cheese
11. finish with your last 3 noodles. Top with the last of the sauce, and top that with the grated mozarella and then the grated parmesan
12. bake covered for 45 minutes, and uncovered for the last 15, for a total of 1 hour.
13. alternatively, the pasta can be frozen before cooking, and then cooked from frozen at some point in the future. It can be handy to make two lasagnes in one go, and freeze on for next time.

Simmered Tomato Sauce -- A hearty, sweet sauce for all your sauce needs

The sauce I make is typically a sauce of minced garlic, chopped onion, and diced tomato, with some herbs thrown in for good measure. When the tomatoes are sweet, this sauce is sweet. When the tomatoes are sour, this sauce is more sour. This sauce is cooked until the tomatoes break down a little, but it's not a long cooking sauce, and it has the fresh taste of its components. 

Today, I wanted to make lasagne, and I wanted a sauce that was a little more grounded, a little more well rounded, a little more ... substantial.  I accomplished this by the addition of carrot to my sauce, and a rather extended low temperature cooking time. Yep, I simmered this sauce for 2 hours. The result is a reduced sauce, robust, full bodied, a little sweet from the carrots, and bold enough to hold its own, but mellow enough to soften all the edges and please all palates.

I pureed it after cooking (using an immersion blender -- such a great kitchen tool) to make a smooth sauce, which suited my purposes.

I'm of the opinion, when making sauce: go big or go home.  What I mean is, you might as well make as much as your pot will hold, because it freezes beautifully in glass jars, and then you have some ready the next time you need it -- for a quickie dinner when you're pressed for time, or for whatever meal you've lovingly planned -- and it's one thing less you'll have to do then. In harvest season, I will buy as many tomatoes as I can carry, and use every pot in the house. There's no point in doing that now, because the tomatoes are neither local nor cheap (but Loblaws now carries organic romas in pound packages, which is great), but because of the long cooking time of this sauce, it's a great idea to make more than just your needs for the day.

The following recipe, after cooking for 2 hours, made 2 L (8 cups), which I sadly used all at once because I made an extra lasagne for the freezer. 

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup garlic, finely minced

3 cups onion, finely chopped

2 cups carrots, finely chopped

5 lbs roma tomatoes, diced (about 10 cups)

2 tbsp sea salt

2 tbsp marjoram

1 tbsp oregano

black pepper

directions:

1. saute the garlic, onion, and carrot in a covered saute pan with 1 tbsp sea salt until well sweated and translucent. Use low heat.

2. add the tomatoes, herbs, pepper, and rest of sea salt, and stir

3. cook on low heat (just enough for a low simmer) for 2 hours or so, until the sauce has achieved lift-off

4. use chunky, or puree. Use now, or freeze for later. If you freeze it, make sure you leave a little space at the top of the jar for expansion. It would be a shame to break the jars after all your hard work chopping.

This sauce really was perfect in the lasagne. I think it would be really nice with the addition -- either in the sauce or in the lasagne itself -- of a full-bodied mushroom. Alas, my spouse is not only not a mushroom lover, he is a mushroom hater.  I look forward to trying this sauce again for pizza -- ooh, with thinly sliced king mushrooms -- or portobelli. Yum.

Roasted Fennel, Roasted Beet, and Royal Gala Apple Salad -- gluten-free, dairy free, vegan

We received another fennel bulb and some beets in our organic box, and I thought it might be interesting to make a roasted vegetable salad.

I oven roasted the beets and the fennel individually after tossing them with coconut oil. The addition of some royal gala apple, a little lime juice, some sea salt, black pepper, and apple cider vinegar completed the dish. I think fresh parsley would have been a nice addition. I like the way the whole dish turned quite pink. Pretty.

ingredients:

1 fennel bulb, cut into slivers

1 lb of beets, diced

2 small royal gala apples, cut into eighths and sliced

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

lime juice

apple cider vinegar

sea salt 

black pepper

honey (optional)

directions:

preheat oven to 345

1. toss beets with coconut oil and a little sea salt, and place in a baking dish

2. toss fennel with coconut oil and a little sea salt, and place in a separate baking dish

3. oven roast beets and fennel until they are cooked to your liking (I did 1 hour, but there were other things in the oven at the same time so the cooking was slower)

4. toss the beets and fennel with the apple

5. add sea salt, black pepper, lime juice, and apple cider vinegar to taste

6. optionally serve on a bed of baby spinach 

I know beets are good for you ... I'm just not a big fan. But I really like fennel and apple together. :)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies -- dairy free, sugar free, high protein

Elaine was waxing poetic about her love for pecan meal, so I was reminded of the oatmeal cookies I used to make that involved dates and pecan meal. Pecan meal and dates together do lovely things that put me in mind of brown sugar. Yes, alchemy afoot. These cookies use good things like ground nuts and coconut flour, some spelt flakes, chewy raisins, sweet spicy cinnamons, and fragrant ground vanilla. There is no cane sugar, although there is a little coconut sugar, which won't elevate blood sugar levels, to sweeten along with the dates and raisins.

The flavour is complex and yet homey, with a lot of the traditional oatmeal cookie about it. However, the ingredients elevate it to a health food, and make it a reasonable, high energy snack.

My three year old is crazy about these, and I myself find them seriously yummy. I'm not sure my husband would sit in the dark with a glass of milk and eat them by the dozen, but he does like them, too.

They are not gluten free because of the spelt flakes, but they are an updated twist on an old favourite. If you prefer oat flakes to spelt flakes, you can certainly use those. Or, you can try any other type of flaked grain you please, if you have a preference. I like spelt because of the texture, but pretty much any flaked grain will work here. To be honest, I used spelt flakes because we'd run out of oat flakes  ... I guess that just proves that I am an opportunistic cook.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 cup pitted honey dates

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 egg

6 tbsp coconut sugar

1/2 tsp ground vanilla

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp flax meal

1/2 cup pecan meal

1/2 cup blanched almond meal

1 cup spelt flakes (or large oat flakes or whatever flakes you fancy)

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp coconut flour

1/2 cup thompson raisins 

directions:

preheat your oven to 345

1. soak the dates in the warm water for 10 minutes, and then puree (I use a stick blender, but you can also use a food processor)

2. melt the coconut oil in the warm date puree

3. mix in your coconut sugar, your vinegar, and your egg

4. sitr in your cinnamon, vanilla, and sea salt

5. add the flax, pecan, and almond meal

6. mix in your spelt flakes and your baking soda

7. mix in your coconut flour

8. add the raisins

9. place spoonfuls on a lined baking sheet, and flatten with a wet fork

10. bake at 345 for 20 minutes

makes about 2 dozen (fairly large) cookies

yum!

Du Puy Lentils with Carrots and Spinach -- Continuing Crockpot Adventures

It was a rainy Monday, and our fridge was bare. It seemed like a good idea to do some cooking. We got the crockpot going, roasted some fennel and beets for a salad, made a polenta, and baked four dozen oatmeal raisin cookies. And then we danced. In the rain. A la Singing in the Rain. Just kidding. Sort of.

The thing I enjoy about a crock pot is that aside from the chopping and measuring, no work is involved, and magic happens. Ingredients go in, and food comes out. So great.

This dish has a nice flavour, and gave us a nice variation from the tomato-chickpea  kick we've been on. And it goes very well with the latest polenta dish. (My son is eating the tomato polenta for breakfast as I write this. Second breakfast actually. He thinks he's a hobbit.)

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 tbsp garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, finely chopped, approx 1/2 cup
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups du Puy lentils
1/2 lb finely diced roma tomatoes (aka plum tomatoes)
3 cups filtered water
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp marjoram
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp allspice

1 1/2 cups diced asian sweet potatoes

150 g chopped spinach


directions:

1. turn on the crockpot to HIGH and set for 6 hours
2. layer the ingredients as follows:
a) coconut oil
b) garlic
c) onion
d) carrots
e) lentils
f) tomatoes
g) salt, marjoram, bay leaves, all spice
h) water
g) sweet potato
(reserve the spinach for after the heat is turned off)
3. after the dish has finished cooking, turn off the heat, and stir in the spinach

Voila. It is done. Ingredients go in, food comes out. Cool beans.

This would be a great dish to serve with crusty bread ...

Savoury Polenta with Garlic, Onion, and Tomato -- gluten-free, polenta with a twist

Apparently, we are still on our polenta kick. One of my favourite ways to make polenta is with a pound or two of tomatoes, with some well sauteed onion and garlic for extra zest. It's so savoury and flavourful that I've served it in small sticks as a party finger food. That format is also quite appealing to littlies, because it's easy to pick up and shove in their mouths. The large amount of almond meal and flax meal along with the tomato practically make this dish a meal in itself. Certainly, I've eaten variations of this as a lunch time porridge.

If you are not as much of a garlic phobe as am I, you may or may not cook your garlic and onions to death. However, I think the flavour of the tomatoes, garlic, and onions is mellowed, harmonized, and balanced by the saute and simmer. I used marjoram and a little chili powder. Oregano and or basil would also rock in this dish. 

The making is simple. A little saute in coconut oil, a little water and the cornmeal/almond meal brought to a boil, then baking in a greased baking dish. If you are a purist, you can certainly make this using only cornmeal, no almond meal and flax meal. However, I believe that the addition of the flax and almond do not detract from the taste and texture in anyway, and go a long way to making this a dish that will be stabilizing to blood sugar, and much better for you than a dish made just with cornmeal. Unless you are allergic to nuts. Then this dish will be much better for you without the almond meal ;) But if you are allergic to nuts or coconut, chances are you gave up on my blog long ago, if you ever found your way here at all.

ingredients:

1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1 tbsp finely minced garlic

1 small onion, finely chopped -- approx 1/2 cup

1/2 lb finely diced roma tomatoes (or more)

2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/2 tbsp marjoram

3 cups water

1/4 cup flax meal

1 cup almond meal

1 cup organic corn meal

directions:

1. saute the garlic and onion in the coconut oil in a large pot until they are fully cooked

2. add the tomatoes and simmer until the tomatoes are cooked into submission

3. add the water, and stir in the flax meal, almond meal, and corn meal

4. over low heat, keep stirring until the mixture thickens up

5. put into a prepared baking dish (a square glass dish would be my choice here 1 1/2 or 2 L dish) (or the  recipe can be doubled and baked in a 3L rectangular dish)

6. bake at 345 for 60 minutes

7. allow to cool before cutting or it will just fall apart

8. pieces can be brushed with oil and grilled or reheated in the oven on a baking sheet

Kohlrabi and Carrots -- more fun with the saute pan

this kohlrabi is smiling at us

Continuing in the whole new veggies and new brassicas theme, we decided to detour to kohlrabi. We added a little colour with some carrots. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the finished saute. Please picture sticks of pale translucent green, and sticks of bright orange all shiny and glistening with moisture, heat, and coconut oil. You get the picture.

I first tried kohlrabi about 13 years ago, and I like it as much now as I did then. Then, it was a random find at Fiesta Farms when I lived in the Annex. Now, I feel lucky when I come across it, because it's just not that common. 

I would describe kohlrabi as 'if broccoli and radish had a child' but without the bite of radish, or the watery-ness. Kohlrabi is more like hearts of broccoli in a round format.

Kohlrabi keeps well, requires no chemical pesticides (brassicas are naturally hardy against pests, according to the owner of Highberry Farm up on Lake Huron), and is perfect for sautes, soups, stews, salads, inside our samosas etc. Additionally, they are super adorable. 

ingredients:

1 bunch kohlrabi cut into sticks (approx 500 g)

2 large carrots cut into sticks     (approx 200 g)

1 - 2 tbsp coconut oil

Harvest Sun vegetable bouillion seasoning (or other organic bouillion seasoning)

 or just salt and pepper, which is great, too

directions:

1. saute the kohlrabi and carrot in coconut oil over low heat

2. season to taste

3. serve and enjoy

Have you tried kohlrabi before? How do you like to prepare it?

Black Kale -- A good pirate name, or food?

This isn't a recipe so much as a food suggestion: try new vegetables. We've had kale many times, however, black kale was a bit of a novelty. There are so many great veggies out there. Sometimes I like to go to the store and just try veggies I've never had before. You can research on the internet how to prepare them, or if in doubt, saute with a little coconut oil and a pinch of sea salt. It's a wonderful, veggie-tastic world out there, and brassicas abound. Yay!

We lightly sauteed up a few bunches of black kale with a little coconut oil and sea salt on low heat, and it was fabulous. I could eat brassicas from dawn til dusk, being a green veggie lover. My son seems to take after me in that regard. They all have quite different flavours, kale having more of a savoury flavour and bite to it than broccoli, with its mellow sweetness ...

Some people prefer kale baked until crisp. To prepare it that way, wash it, cut it into bite sized pieces, and massage it with some oil, a little sea salt, possibly some lemon, or parmesan cheese. Whatever turns your fancy. Then bake in the oven spread on a baking sheet until crisp. It's delicious. However, I have to confess that I still prefer my brassicas sauteed. They are so lush and luscious that way.

Yum :)

What cool veggies have you tried, and how do you like 'em prepared?

Gulag Peas -- I still remember the 1970s ...

Back when I was a kid and we'd have frozen vegetables, I could barely choke down the peas. They were so dry and nasty tasting. As an adult, I purchased frozen peas and was amazed to find them tender and sweet, practically on par with the sweet peas and mange-tout I could buy at the farmer's markets. Every now and then I would come across what I affectionately called 'gulag peas' in a dish at a Chinese restaurant for example. Peas that are so dry and nasty tasting that they could have been the food given prisoners in a prison camp. Peas that gave me an instant flashback to my gag-worthy frozen enemies from the seventies.

I purchased some frozen organic peas, and when I opened them I was surprised to find that they had much more in common with gulag peas than they did with the sweet peas more usually found in the frozen vegetable aisle of the super market.

Rather than serve them lightly sauteed with a little coconut oil and a pinch of sea salt, I realized bigger guns would be needed to bring out the virtue in these gulag peas.

The dish I came up with is savoury and tasty although still simple enough to appeal to my son who tends to eschew veggies that are jazzed up. Yes, I just can't get this kid to stop eating plain brassicas with just a little coconut oil and sea salt. No, I am not really complaining.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

500 g frozen peas, defrosted

2 large roma tomatoes, diced

300 g frozen spinach, defrosted (or you can use fresh)

sea salt

black pepper

granulated garlic

chili powder

directions:

1. in a large saute pan, add the coconut oil, peas, and tomatoes

2. add some chili powder, sea salt, black pepper, and a pinch of granulated garlic (just a little, now)

3. simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. The moisture from the tomatoes will hopefully counteract the dryness of the peas ...

4. once the tomatoes are reduced, add the spinach, and stir well to combine. If using fresh, allow the spinach to wilt slightly and heat thoroughly. Do not over cook the spinach!

5. serve and enjoy

Brown Rice and Adzuki Beans Make Friends -- Gluten free, vegan, and good for you

Rice and beans are a tummy comforting staple in many parts of the world. I thought it would be fun to use our fave short grain brown with the little cuties called adzuki beans, because the adzukis have a serendipitous habit of tinting the rice pink as they cook. Pretty! If I'd used a darker rice, such as our colasari red or wild rice, the pretty pinkness would have been entirely lost.

The mild and sweet flavour of adzukis is inoffensive to most, even those who are not big bean fans. Our favourite bean is probably the garbanzo or chickpea, however I wanted something that would cook without soaking in almost the same amount of time as our whole grain rice, so that I could do them the honour of cooking them together, allowing them to become friends.

I opted not to salt the cooking water until the end, just adding a dollop of coconut oil. Now, some cooks advocate never adding salt or acid (tomato) to the water when cooking beans as it makes their delicate skins toughen. I can't say I'm convinced, however I wanted this rice and bean dish to be a vehicle for the exciting seasoned sea salts we were gifted, so just a little coconut oil found its way into the water, although I did add a little salt just before the cooking was finished. FYI, oil in the cooking water will keep starchy boiling pots of pasta, rice, beans, etc from boiling over in my experience. I did add 1 tsp of salt at the very end, and stirred it through. Not enough to fully season it, but a start.

Rice and beans are one of the simplest and most satisfying meals, and can be flavoured however you like, cooked with some sauteed onion and carrot, spiked with herbs, teased with garlic and chili. Sided with some sauteed broccoli, and you have everything you could want in one simple meal. They work for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, can be used as a filling for flat breads, lettuce leaf rolls, and hollowed up peppers, tomatoes, or zuchinis. So versatile. So simple. The variations are limitless, bordered only by your imagination and your palate. Varieties of beans and rice, although finite, are more than I can name here. They can be cooked in a crockpot or on the stove top, or in the oven in a casserole. And what can I say, but I am a fan of the humble rice and bean.

If you are in the mood for simple, just some salt and pepper on your plate of rice and beans will make your rice and beans sing a folk song. For more complicated arias and operatic feats, you'll have to look to your imagination and your personal pleasures of palate. Salsa or chutney, seasoning or sauce, anything goes with rice and beans.

ingredients:

1 cup adzuki beans

1 cup short grain brown rice (eg calrose)

4 cups water

1 or 2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt

directions:

1. put rice and beans in a pot and add the water and coconut oil.

2. bring to a boil, and turn down to a simmer

3. set the timer for 1 hour

4. at one hour, add a little more water, add 1 tsp sea salt, and stir until well combined and creamy.

5. turn off the heat, and let the water absorb for a few minutes before serving

6. serve and season as befits your palate with sea salt, pepper, etc.

We enjoyed ours tonight topped with seaweed granules, freshly ground black pepper,  and seasoned sea salt. My three year old insisted the coffee accented salt was what he wanted, and figuring a few grains wouldn't over-burden him with caffein, I acquiesced. I then watched him tuck joyfully into his rice, beans, and sea weed, and pop sauteed cauliflower florets in his mouth with enjoyment. Who says little kids don't like veggies?? This week he ate plenty of his usual broccoli, but also lots of sauteed black kale, sauteed kolrabi, and a salad of boiled eggs, avocado, diced tomato, and carrot. When I see that I remind myself not to worry the next time all he wants to eat in a day is almond butter sandwich after almond butter sandwich after almond butter sandwich ...

Play Dough: finally, a use for those ingredients that have been languishing for years ...

In this household, I just don't cook with white flour, refined table salt, oils other than coconut (and occasionally olive and butter), or traditional food dye -- you know, the ones in those little bottles  with labels that say things like 'red dye number 4' on them. Have I really become such a food snob that I don't even regard these items as food anymore? Sadly, yes. I have to admit that I will go through incredible feats of culinary engineering to avoid using white flour even in a cake. Kamut flour, coconut flour, almond flour, I bow down at thy altars ... Shame on me? Perhaps.

I have food dye lying around from the last time I made fake blood (which is, incidentally, the only time I will ever use corn syrup), thus only in yellow and red. I have a container of refined table salt that my husband had from his bachelor days, and a bottle of grapeseed oil that I wouldn't use for cooking because it's definitely old ... And a bag of organic white pastry flour that I probably bought last time I made a traditional cake ... when was that?

Despite the fact that I can't cook with these items, I still can't through them away. Because that feels wasteful, and ... there are people hungry in the world ... even if this isn't actually food. (Yes, I'll say it again -- shame on me).

Perfect. I made play dough for my son. I knew I was keeping this stuff for a reason ...

He received some homemade playdough as a party favour from a birthday party a few weeks ago, and has been loving it ever since. This morning, we found it had starting growing mould. A quick internet search later, I found many recipes for play dough that involves only things I already have (and most of them never use). The consensus is: 2 flour 2 water 1 salt, with some other things thrown in for texture and effectiveness. I found recipes for edible play dough, long lived play dough, non-cook play dough, and every thing else you could imagine. Why would anyone want their kid to think it's okay to eat play dough? I had to shudder when I read the recipes anyway, because I don't actually consider the ingredients to be edible. (All together now: Shame On Me)

To stave off the insurgence of mould, I added some peppermint essential oil, which has good anti-microbial  properties. However, you could also just keep it in the fridge when you are not using it. Or keep it for a few weeks and then compost it and make more. Yes, this is completely bio-degradable.


ingredients:

1/2 cup white flour (mine was organic, but here you could definitely use conventional)
1/4 cup salt (save your expensive sea salt for something edible, and use that vilified table salt)
1 tbsp cream of tartar (you can buy this powder in bulk, or in the spice section of a grocery store)
1/2 tbsp oil (use whatever's cheap and cheerful that you have lying around, but save your expensive oil)
1/2 cup water (hah -- I didn't even filter it) (okay, one last time: shame on me)


essential oil such as lavender or peppermint if you have it (totally optional)

food dye (if you don't have any, you can skip this, use berry or beet juice, or a little water based paint)


directions:

1. combine all ingredients except food dye in a pot and cook over low heat until it forms a ball of dough, stirring constantly. This will take just a few minutes.
2. take the ball of dough out of the pot and knead it on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat
3. add food dye. (I divided mine into 3 balls of about 90 g each, and added 4 drops of red to one for pink, 4 drops of yellow to one for yellow, and 4 drops each of yellow and red to one for orange.)
4. flatten the balls, and add a few drops of food dye, and knead it in. Try not to get it on your hands ...

This makes a lovely consistency of play dough, and will keep in a sealed container or baggie.

Oooh, and what pretty ice cream colours.