Days 12 & 13...

Remember I showed you how I soak my rice with water and lemon juice the morning before I want to cook it? If you don't do this already, I'd like to encourage you to try it. The rice takes on a beautiful softness - so smooth in texture and tasting better than I can communicate in words. My family notice it, and that's a big statement from them! ;-)

Last night's dinner was this wonderful rice with a simple chicken stir fry...

 

Even 18yo son ate it, so I was impressed. To bless him for giving this a go (he's never been keen on stir fry), today I made one of his favourite foods - sushi with smoked salmon. 

 I also made sushi for myself, but omitted the smoked salmon (yuk!) and added avocado and wasabi to the carrots and cucumber instead.

We've had a glut of strawberries this month and I can't stop myself from buying them each time I pass through the fresh produce aisle at the supermarket because they are so cheap! 

Of course, there are only so many fresh strawberries we can eat, and I needed to use up the overflow of red pretties, so today I made a couple of jars of Strawberry & Vanilla Jam. 

The thing with jam (jelly if you're in the USA) is that most people only make it if they are going to be preserving a large number of jars, but I like to make it even if there's only enough fruit for one or two jars. It gets eaten very quickly here, so I only have to pour boiling water into the glass jars and don't have to seal them.

Today I had 341g of sliced strawberries...

...and I added 225g extra fine (castor) sugar that I've had in  jar with 2 vanilla beans for a few months. 

I put the sugar and strawberries in a saucepan with the vanilla beans, and added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice...

Mash the strawberries in the pot, then bring it all to the boil. Turn the heat down to medium and stir frequently. When the fruit becomes quite rich in colour, take a little onto a teaspoon to see if it gels and doesn't run. If it sets quickly it is ready. This took around 12 minutes for me today.

Pour into jars and cool...

I added a paper lid and some ribbon to one jar and gave it to my daughter, Kezzie. 

I also took some Pumpernickel Bread to Kezzie's. This is such an easy recipe and the bread is delicious - especially with my Strawberry and Vanilla jam!

So how am I feeling at almost the end of 2 weeks of Accountability?

Maybe you can tell by my photo...

I have established the habit of daily granola, lots of salad (we had steak and a large salad for dinner tonight), no caffeine, choosing a variety of grains other than wheat, and walking everywhere I can. 

Tomorrow is day 14, so time to start some serious exercise. (the Zumba Basics dvd might actually find it's way into the dvd player!)

I'll let you know how I go.

So tell me, how are *you* going??

Hugs

Jenny

 

Slow and simple...plus Pumpernickel Bread.

 Hello friends!

I thought that I'd best update you on Blossom's special diet. The elimination time frame came and went so we started challenges. Surprisingly she had no noticeable reactions to a variety of foods, until we did milk.

She reacts dreadfully to milk and cream!

Well, you know what that means. Dairy is out.

At 16, and still a growing teenager, we now will be planning ways to keep a healthy dose of calcium in her diet. Fortunately there are a number of options there. 

~~~~~

My hand is still not functioning well, so simple and fresh is the best way to describe my meal preparation at the moment.

Today I visited our farmer man with the ute and trailer at the park and bought up on all his lovely fruit and veg.

 His pineapples, melons and passionfruit are the best I have ever tried, so fruit salad had to be made...

Fruit salad is the best way to help kids get their daily allowance of Vitamin C, and as both my teens have been battling chest infections and coughs this month, the coolness of a fruit salad has soothed their throats and aided their recovery. 

~~~~~

Today I also came across a *yummy* recipe for Pumpernickel Bread. Have you ever tried it? I have often bought it as I love heavy European bread, but have never made it myself  - never knew you could - so today I gathered the ingredients and gave it a go.

The recipe was for a hand kneaded dough, but I am unable to use my right hand with any pressure so threw caution to the wind and added all the ingredients to the breadmaker instead. 

I chose a regular small loaf cycle (it's a very small loaf actually) and though it wasn't uniform in height once baked, it was DELICIOUS!

Honestly, this bread tastes amazing home-made!

You can find the recipe in Notebook: magazine if you want to hand knead it, but if you just want to use the breadmaker like I did I'll share it here. Place in the breadmaker in this order -

It's made differently by hand, so please use the recipe in the magazine if you do it that way. :-)

Of course, I always forget the handle on the baking tin is hot...

Thank God for the pots of Aloe Vera in the garden. 

Healthy Hugs,

Jenny

xx