Chia bro, too much

I came across this recipe for chia jam whilst perusing the latest edition of Nourish magazine at Red Kitchen.  There was an article about chia seeds and what makes them the superhero of the super foods.  I mean, if the 'superfoods' (blueberries, flaxseeds, kale, goji berries, seaweed etc) were The Avengers, chia seeds would be General Nick Fury.  

I have chia seeds in a smoothie most days (alongside berries and whatever other fruits we have in the house), but was interested to see how it would go in a jam - a jam that had no sugar as such in it, sweetened only by the berries themselves and either honey, maple syrup, yacon syrup or agave nectar.  Sweet!  

So what's gotten me going on about chia seeds?  They're 6 x higher in calcium than milk, have 3 x more antioxidants than blueberries, 3 x more iron than spinach and contain more omega 3 than salmon.  Plus good fatty acids, magnesium, potassium and a bunch of other vitamins and minerals that I can't remember.  

Ok, here you go - a (more or less) sugar-free jam, and it is tasty!  Not very very sweet, but you could easily add more honey (or whichever sweetener you choose).  

250 g frozen berries (I went with blackberries) 

1/4 cup apple juice

1/4 cup chia seeds

2 tbsp honey (I used blue agave nectar) 

1. Place berries and juice in a small pot, heat through, then simmer on low for 10 minutes.  
2. Stir in seeds and sweetener.  
3. Pour into jar and refrigerate.  Yum!!

You've been hit by a smoothie criminal...

Everybody loves a fruit smoothie.  It's one of those healthy things that kids and adults actually agree on.  (I say healthy - obviously sometimes smoothies are made with ice cream, cream, syrups etc, but let's for the sake of this post just assume we're all talking about smoothies made with fruit and either milk or juice of some sort.  Ice cream is the bomb, but sort of detracts from goodness of a kickass fruit smoothie.)

In our house Harry starts every day with a smoothie before school.  His Granny makes it for him and it's more like a fruit sorbet, made with frozen berries and a tiny tiny tiny bit of milk.  Brilliant way to get the body pumping for school.  If I make a blenderful then Finn will also kick start his day with a glass of berry and banana smoothie (my preference).  And KB happily downs a glass before work.  I usually make them with banana, berries (in summer we buy/grow lots of strawberries and freeze them for use throughout the winter), milk and a little cinnamon.  

A friend recently suggested I add in some seeds and try using coconut water and almond milk in my smoothies - this combined with the fruit makes for one heck of an energy kick and by using chia seeds I'm getting an awesome amount of calcium and omega-3.  As I'm currently breastfeeding, this is very good news.  I'd recommend adding these ingredients in for anyone who could use (a) more energy, (b) a bit of immune support or (c) a full stomach for longer - less desire to snack on muck.  Have a read of Katie's post regarding chia seeds, they're little power pockets!  I like her idea of a homemade energy gel, for kids doing sport, or adults working out etc (2 tbsp chia seeds to 1 cup coconut water).    

So, at the moment I'm using (to make about a half litre of smoothie): a banana, 1 cup berries (or thereabouts), half cup each almond milk and coconut water (add more if too thick when blended), 1 tbsp each chia seeds and linseeds.  

You could use anything really - stone fruit, pineapple, orange.  

"There was never a genius without a tincture of madness" - Aristotle

A tincture is a concentrated herbal extract using alcohol as the solvent.  It is also a common, and reliable, way to preserve herbs and their medicinal properties.  They can be taken straight (using a sprayer, a teaspoonful, or a dropper), or diluted into a tea.  They can be made from fresh or dried herbs, though drying the herbs first concentrates the oils, as I understand it.  

I've recently made up a couple of tinctures for use through the winter - one chamomile (using german chamomile, not roman, as apparently it's the german with the medicinal goodness) and one mixed herbs.  I used vodka as my alcohol, though you can also use rum, or even ethanol, though that seemed a little hardcore for me.  It's mixed equally with boiling water, so by the time it reaches your, or your child's, mouth it's pretty diluted and you really needn't worry about the alcohol level of what you're giving them.  Numerous cough mixtures we buy at the chemist are alcohol-based anyway, as are a lot of commercially-produced (and hideously expensive) elixirs and tinctures.  

The chamomile is for soothing and relaxing throat muscles, to stymie persistent coughs (you know when you start coughing and then it becomes almost impossible to stop?!).  According to Katie, from the Wellness Mama blog, it's also great for babies with sore teeth and/or tummies (rub some onto their gums, or onto their stomachs), children and adults with sore ears or trouble sleeping, and even a spoonful to bring a hyped toddler out of the rafters and back to earth - useful when it's getting close to bedtime!  

The mixed herb tincture (I harvested and dried mint, sage and thyme from our vege garden) is to make a throat spray.  Basically i'll mix in some honey (raw honey, if you can get it) once I've strained the herbs out, and pour it into a bottle with a spray top.  Sore throat?  Spritz!  I hate having a sore throat, so am looking forward to seeing how effective it will be.  My stepson tends to get a few sore throats through winter too, which makes it harder to get to sleep, so will be good to have on hand.  

1. So, get your dried herbs (I dried mine outside for about a week, hanging upside-down, then put them in our hot-water cupboard for a couple of days, so they were really dry and brittle) and crumble them into a large jar (mason jar, preserving jar, I used an empty gherkin jar...).  
2. Pour boiling water over to cover, then a fraction more.  Pour in same amount of alcohol.  Make sure the alcohol is full-strength, so it preserves the herbs.  
3. Store in cool, dark place for 4-6 weeks (you can use earlier, but it won't be as potent).  
4. Strain through muslin/cheesecloth and decant into bottles for use.  

NB: I bought my chamomile from Go Native NZ.  

when I wake up in the morning at a quarter to 6, I brush my teeth, ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch

Our 2-yr old isn't overly keen on our toothpaste.  Understandable, 'cause it's pretty strong and minty.  So we decided to give making our own toothpaste a go.  KB's brother and partner make their own and have been very happy with it.  All we needed was coconut oil and baking soda, with a couple of other optional ingredients, if we so chose.  KB and I tested it last night and, while the tea-tree taste was a trifle strong, it was palatable and seemed to do a good job.  Even more to the point - Finn used it this morning and quite happily brushed his teeth.  So, it's not in a convenient tube and the consistency will alter with the temperature (the oil will liquify if too hot and conversely harden when cold), but it's cheap, chemical-free and can be made easily in small batches (important given it's kept in wee pots, so to avoid potential for bacteria growth, especially if multiple family members are using the same pot - we've got bits of popsicle sticks to get out a bit each time, then throw those away.  

2 tbsp coconut oil (softened, but not liquid)

2 tbsp baking soda 

2 tbsp bentonite clay, powdered (to remineralise teeth, but also made paste a bit thicker)

2-3 drops essential oil - tea tree for anti-bacterial properties, peppermint or rosemary for freshness 

1. Mix together and scrape into pottles.  Ba-bam, you're done.  

Mojitos? Simple sugar syrup, please!!

Simple sugar syrup really is that, ridiculously simple.  And it's a staple for quite a number of cocktails, including my fav, the mojito (also to be found in the daquiri, caiparena and various others).  

I like to make mine with raw sugar, as it gives it a richer flavour, but it will also colour your drink slightly.  So, if clear, or clean-coloured, is what you're after, use white sugar.  This time, I've added a few mint leaves into the mix while heating, to give the syrup a slight hint of mint...

So, you need: 

2 parts sugar (I use 3 cups) 

1 part water (I use 1.5 cups)

1. Put ingredients in saucepan and bring to boil.  Turn down and stir until sugar is dissolved.  
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool and thicken slightly.  
3. Decant into storage bottle and keep in the fridge - it'll keep for about 6 months.  

You can also make a syrup which doesn't require heating, but it is thinner and requires some arm muscle - put 1 part each of sugar and water into bottle and shake until sugar is dissolved.  

sticky garlic chicky (+ zucc balls)

This was a really tasty meal I threw together yesterday afternoon, so there was something ready for my Mum, who was babysitting for us while we went for an evening wakeboarding session at Lake Arapuni (not a bad exchange, eh?).  It was quick and, best of all, can be prepared in advance as is good hot or cold.  Eat with a salad and some new potatoes, or steamed vege and chips.  Or as part of a tasty picnic lunch.  Versatile, me likey.   

Sticky garlic chicken: 

6 chicken drumsticks (or 2 breasts, or equivalent wings)

4 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tbsp brown sugar (less if you prefer)

dash sesame oil

salt and pepper

1. Sauté garlic in a little butter.  Stir in brown sugar, oil and salt/pepper.
2. Place chicken in dish for baking and top with garlic mixture.  
3. Bake for about 20 minutes in 200 degree celcius oven.  

Zucchini balls: 

2 zucchini, grated 

1 egg

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp grated parmesan 

handful chopped fresh herbs

salt and pepper

bread crumbs (optional)

1. Mix everything together, except bread crumbs.  
2. Place golfball-sized balls on baking tray (lined with baking paper)
3. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, if using.  
4. Bake at 200 degrees celcius for 20 minutes.  
5. Serve with sweet chili, or aioli.  

Come fly with me, let's fly, let's keep the flies away...

Chem-free bug spray.  Me likey.  So did KB when I said I was going to give it a try.  We both hate the smell of the insect repellents you can buy at the supermarket, and the fact that they're full of things that frankly we'd rather not have on ourselves, let alone on the kids.  There are some fantastic natural bug sprays available out there - Goodbye Sandfly is a great product and found in most supermarkets and even superettes in insecty, holidayey areas.  It is, however, fairly pricey, especially if you go through a fair amount of the stuff.  The price difference between Goodbye Sandfly (and I mean this as no disrespect to the product, and kudos to the folk in Kerikeri who make it) and the product we made at home was $25.98/100ml and $1.52/100ml.  

Needless to say, we're stoked that this natural homemade bug spray has been effective.  I mean, there's no guarantee that they will be.  But we've gotten onto something good here, so time to share it and hopefully you'll be able to keep yourself and the fam bite-free without having to worry about nasty DEET etc, or about how much the kids are wasting, spraying up and down their legs a million times.  

Incidentally, this is also an effective fly-deterrent - we spray it around the area (ie, the table) of where we're sitting.  Doesn't last forever, but at the price of making this we just keep on spraying/reappying as required.  We're going to make up a separate spray of vinegar and pyrethrum (the daisies are planted, so hopefully will have flowers next summer), but for the moment, this spray works double duty.  

Anyhoo, here we go...

1 litre apple cider vinegar (this is more effective against biting insects than white or malt vinegars, due to the fermentation process, so I have discovered in my researches)

60 drops each of tea tree oil and citronella oil 

packet of cloves (the more the merrier)

spray bottle (150-250 ml is ideal) 

slightly bigger than 1L bottle (washed-out 1.5L water bottle or something)     

1. Pour vinegar into your 1.5L bottle.  Add all other ingredients.  
2. Leave for 2+ weeks (the longer the better), if possible, but you can start using straight away.  Once all mixed together, I'd decant as much as will fit into your spray bottle, start using that, and keep the rest in the pantry to do its thing, until you're ready to refill the sprayer.  

NB: This is a strong smelling spray - the oils, let alone the vinegar.  But the smell dissipates fairly quickly, and to be fair, it's no smellier than its chemical counterparts.  Enjoy guys!!