Campfire Story

October 1, 2017October 1, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ Leave a comment

I am a Nightwalker

I woke up early this morning, was it my husband’s, or did the snore belong to me? I was uncertain. Was my daughter in her bed? I had not heard her come home. Was my son doing OK? I was unsure, he was hours away, road racing. I could only be certain of one thing, it would be between 3:50 and 4:10 am, as I am a Nightwalker, and it is my time to rise. I groped around in the dark for my watch, 4:03 am.

Sometimes I try to deny my fate, close my eyes and will myself back to sleep.

Sometimes I get up straight away, resigned to my fate, plod down the hall to find a cosy spot. The quiet cold air and change of scene sometimes soothes me back to sleep.

Sometimes I lie awake and stare into the blackness and imagine.

Sometimes I flip back the cover of my laptop and write.

Always I wake. Always I leave my bed. I am a Nightwalker.

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Campfire Story

September 23, 2017September 23, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ 5 Comments

Just a moment to myself

Summer is coming. I’ve just finished cleaning the toilets, the windows are all open and I have sat down for a minute. I keep catching a breeze on the back of my neck, it feels like someone is trying to get my attention. My boney cat is coming up to join me up on the sofa. I watch her, like a climber in a crevasse, she front points with her claws between the seat squab and the pouffe. She can no longer jump. Our clocks are about to spring forward and we have been hit with a weird weather burp from Australia. The forecasters have promised 30°. I have put about six loads of washing on in preparation, middle age thinking.

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The Green Folder

September 21, 2017October 11, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ 1 Comment

How to Become a Vegetarian

A quick and simple guide to help you become a vegetarian

So you want to be a veggie but you have no idea how to start??? The answer is slowly and thoughtfully, probably not what you wanted to hear.

It is actually very easy, just eat a normal healthy diet. We have all seen the charts, five vegetable etc. All you have to do is change that tiny 50g of protein from animal to plant-based, that’s two portions of legumes or soy. In fact, if you eat a normal healthy diet, minus the meat, you would be hard pushed not to get enough protein.

HOW DO I GET ENOUGH PROTEIN AS A VEGETARIAN?

Try to eat three whole grains, two legumes or soy, five veg and two fruit, three nuts/ seeds, two oils and two dairy every day.

I was taught. Eat a portion of legumes or dairy WITH a whole grain. This was way before soy products!

1bc6c528e5df4bb1d0d9adeee630a585--vegetarian-protein-vegetarian-entrees — I found this online and it explains it perfectly

The theory is that legumes, dairy and whole grains all contain protein, but on their own, they are not complete. You have to eat them in the correct combinations to complete them, its an amino acid thing. More recently this has been challenged as a myth, so life has just got even easier for vegetarians, it is no longer a necessity to combine your food to get enough protein.

Here is a very good article explaining why

The advice now is, that if I eat a good combination of raw plant foods, legumes, low-fat dairy, nuts and seeds and whole grains throughout the day with my fruit and veg, I do not have to eat a cow.

SOME TRUTHS……………

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Campfire Story

September 17, 2017September 17, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ 2 Comments

Cake

I woke up on the morning before my son’s 16th Birthday and realised that I should have organised something by now. I had tried, the problem, communication with my son, he is like a sunflower. Sometimes he turns his head towards me and I am dazzled, by happy yellow but mostly it is turned away. I cross my fingers and hope that the sunflower I am growing, will be what was promised on the packet when my husband and I planted it.

Sunflower

I listened at an organised breakfast recently that this might not actually be the case, he might become a radish instead. Continue reading “Campfire Story” →

The Green Folder

September 16, 2017October 11, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ Leave a comment

Beetroot deserves more than being trapped in a jar of vinegar

A quick and simple guide to cooking and eating beetroot

Beetroot the beautiful purple root emerged from the sea, many centuries ago. She shook off her sea beet coat and it is said found a home in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. She went on to become highly esteemed by the Greeks and was even offered up to Apollo. The Romans adored her, Europeans in the mid-1500’s were fascinated by her and doctors used her. The beetroot, as we would recognise now, starts to appear widely in the 17th Century, loved for her sweetness and vibrancy. Alas, the Industrial revolution was her downfall, she was trapped, pickled and placed in tins and jars. We still haven’t truly released her. Let’s open the lid and make her beautiful again.

Beetroot does not have to be vinegar sodden, she can be delicate and beautiful.

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The Green Folder

September 13, 2017September 13, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ 3 Comments

Classic Minestrone Soup

A vegetarian staple. Vegetables, pasta and pulses add a hunk of wholemeal bread, top with shaved parmesan and you have a complete meal in a bowl. Make it yourself, it is outstandingly easy, cheap and nourishing. This recipe doubles up and will keep for a couple of days and freezes well. In fact, it tastes even better the next day. For extra depth make your own stock.

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The Green Folder

September 12, 2017September 12, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ Leave a comment

Munchy Seeds – a powerhouse snack

Looking for a snack that is just not healthy but promotes health? I have been making these as a snack for years, my son actually tells me when we are running low! May I introduce to you the wonderful, magnesium rich, vitamin loaded……

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Munchy Seed Mix

Skip to the bottom of the page to find out how if you do not need the blurb and just want a tasty, healthy snack!

For about 5 cups of munchy seeds, you will need a 120g bag of pine nuts, a 190g bag of sunflower seeds, and a 250g bag of pumpkin kernels, (or similar quantities), Savoury spread -Marmite – and some water. It’s going to cost about $15 NZD for about 25 servings, ·60c a snack – less if you buy in bulk – I would say that is epic value, here’s why.

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Advise Safe

September 9, 2017September 9, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ 8 Comments

What the sea brought to me – a conversation

I went to the beach to find the presents Sea had left after the storm.

That’s interesting, a little blue hat that belonged to a man of action once. Too small though.

Tiny black mussels trying to hide. They need more time so I can not take them.

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The Red Folder

September 7, 2017September 7, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ Leave a comment

Couscous Salad – the way I like to eat it.

This is a look in your cupboard and see what you have kind of salad. You need dried fruit, nuts, salt, sugar, a brown spice, onion, turmeric, olive oil and couscous. In the approximate proportions below.

175g fine couscous
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
boiling water to cover about 1½ cups
1½ cups dried fruit
1 cup of unsalted nuts – tbsp each of sugar, brown spice and salt
3-4 spring onions (finely dices red or even white onion will work)

Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and stir in the turmeric and salt. Add the oil use your fingers to rub the oil into the couscous until it looks like wet sand. Pour over the water and cover with a tea towel and leave to 10 minutes. I use a fork and stir a couple of times if I remember. When the couscous is cool enough to handle get back in with your hands and break down any lumps with your finger tips, lifting your hands up and letting the grains fall back into the bowl.

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The Red Folder

September 7, 2017October 8, 2017 ~ crowdedmind ~ Leave a comment

Couscous – a versatile carbohydrate

A quick and simple guide to using couscous

When I think of couscous my mind fills with images of golden domes of the stuff, sitting steamed and dressed with cinnamon, dates, plump sultanas, powdered sugar, butter and roasted almonds upon great painted plates. It sits proudly waiting to soak up saffron chicken or dark earthy beef and lamb dishes. I am a great fan of this clever and versatile carbohydrate, so am deeply disappointed if I ever spy dry, cold, pale or worse still, clumpy couscous.

Couscous has now become a mainstream carbohydrate, with a little love it can steal the show.

Despite popular belief, couscous is a pasta, not a grain and treated with a little care can be a spectacular salad, side or as a veggie the main dish. It originates from and is still a staple of the North African region that includes Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Libya. It is made of semolina and wheat flour but can be made with whole wheat, millet and barley.