Monday 9 March 2009

Our wholesome homemade meals slideshow

I've always had a passion for food...taste, colours, textures, aroma, vitamin content. I started encouraging my boys whilst in their highchair to be involved in the preparation of meals and also to experiment with cuisine and foods from various cultures. As a result not only do all three boys eat a very varied and well balanced diet but they have also developed a keen interest in making up their own recipes, presenting meals and serving in ways that appeal to the eye. I believe a wholesome diet preferably organic is the backbone to good health. So my hope is that whatever toxins we are exposed to throughout life whether it be environmentally, socially or any other which way...the vertebrae which forms this particular backbone will be one of our most important and solid allies. As a great friend says "It's the belly that keeps the back up!" Useful links on side bar where you can find out about how to balance your diet and interesting information on vitamin and mineral contents.


Here are some of the photos of our recipes for our Groovy gang rainbow recipe book. The concept behind this recipe book is to encourage children to eat a good variety of wholesome foods...involve them in a fun way with preparation...it also includes many ways to encourage toddlers to experiment with food...labour and energy saving tips...whist using as much local organic produce possible on a tight budget!

Our book will be available to buy as a paper back and e-book as soon as we have finalized all the writings and everything else with the self publishing company....Thought I'd give you a sneak preview....I will provide links for purchasing when everything is finalized.



P.S Occassionally some of the images are presenting themselves twice on this slide show, don't know why, doesn't seem to happen every time but bear with it as eventually you should see 50 seperate images!

Sushi night and preparing the vegtable patch

Thought we'd have a go at making sushi for ourselves, couldn't get wasabi paste without lots of horrible E numbers in it, so just used horseradish instead this time....have learned not to spread it onto the nori sheets and next time need to make sure I have a much sharper knife to slice with.... will also remember not to wet the edge of the Nori sheets too much!!! Was a good night and they tasted delicious, had a laugh too as we were inclined to fill the nori a little too full as though they were fajitas.... wooops if at first you don't succeed try...try...again!

Have added more recent images to the art page dated 14-03-09 for sketches, water colours and pastels too.





I had a vegetable garden years ago when we had a massive garden it was so nice, the taste, smell of the earth preparing fresh veg just lifted out of the soil. We had leeks, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, spring onion, peas, tomatoes, strawberries and chives along with all the various herbs. My organic veg box has not been such good quality so decided to grow our own again, had wanted to wait until we had a bigger garden but can't wait any longer...Dean started preparing the ground last week and Craig has drawn out the plans and bought the seeds....Cmmmon SUN!!!




Tuesday 3 March 2009

Nutrition...remedies, ideas.

James Wong uses food to create natural beauty products and remedies, something I love doing myself with essential oils and foods...

Below are two recipes from the first of six programmes by James Wong....WELL worth watching! "Grow your own Drugs" programme and link details below.


Sleep remedy

Ingredients:

3-4 handfuls of hops
(can be bought from garden centres, online or better still grow your own)

3-4 handfuls of lavender
(much cheaper to grow your own...straight into the ground or in pots)

Method:
Sew up the sides of a square of breathable material and fill with hops and lavender. leave beside your pillow or at the side of your bed.

James Wong used this remedy on the programme with a few people who had some massive problems with insomnia and they all experienced profound positive changes with their sleep pattern!

Cold remedy Chicken soup to boost the immune system

Ingredients:

2 litres of organic chicken or veg stock
2 onions
approx 4 inches of ginger
2 chili's
12 shitake mushrooms
3 chicken thighs
Couple of handfuls of Goji berries (Used in TCM..Can be grown in pots or bought dried from health food stores)
10 cloves of garlic


Method:

Bring to boil then Simmer stock for 1 1/2 hrs with Chopped onions, grated or finely sliced ginger, chilies, mushrooms sliced or whole and chicken thighs.....add gogi berries and chopped garlic in the last half hour....break up the chicken thighs remove skin and bones and serve.


James Wong tries out more of his home-made remedies.

Ethnobotanist and gardener James Wong turns the spotlight on flowers this week, as he continues to explore plant-based natural remedies and beauty treatments.

He reveals the historical use of some well-known flowers to relieve the symptoms of three common minor ailments. Using elderflowers, James shows how to makes lozenges which could soothe a sore throat; with marigold flowers, he makes a gel for acne; and he makes a cream for eczema from violas.

People with each of these ailments, who are keen to try out a more natural approach to their health problems, can try out James's remedies.

BBC TWO Monday 9 March 2009Next week, James reveals more about the fascinating properties of trees.

Grow Your Own Drugs Ep 2/6
Monday 9 March
8.30-9.00pm BBC TWO
www.bbc.co.uk/growyourowndrugs