Spicy Sweet Brown Rice Porridge

Both delicious & nutritious and a perfect start for cold winter mornings…

Works best with pre-cooked brown rice. I cook 2 cups of pre-soaked medium grain brown rice with 5 cups of water and a pinch of salt in a rice cooker until ready. Then store in refrigerator. This usually makes 2-3 breakfast meals

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

2 cups pre-cooked brown rice

2-3 cups of water (depending on how soupy you like it!)

1 inch knob of fresh ginger grated

zest of one lemon or orange

1 stick cinnamon

handful of assorted dried fruits & nuts including: sultanas, cranberries, pitted prunes, goji berries, dates,  pepitas, sunflower seeds, black sesame seeds

Cook on low heat for approximately 15-20 minutes stirring often so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Serve with tahini, yoghurt, chopped fresh fruit such as; banana, pear, passion fruit, fresh berries and honey if desired. 

Even the most discerning kids will love it!

Parsley Soup

We have had an abundance of parsley here at Peace Farm and so I've figured this is the medicine of the moment! I was been searching for recipes that use a large amount of parsley and this is the winner...

Parsley Soup:

1 tbsn butter

1 tbsn olive oil

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 potatoes peeled & chopped

1 large bunch of parsley

1 litre of chicken stock

salt & pepper to taste

Optional: zest & juice of 1 lemon, sprig of thyme & small sprig of rosemary and garnish with parmesan cheese & grated nutmeg

Heat up the oil & butter in large pot then saute the onion & garlic. Add potatoes and the stock and cook for 10 minutes and then add parsley when the potatoes are cooked. Cook for a further 5 minutes and then blend soup in a food processor or with a hand blender.

When the parsley is only cooked for 5 minutes, this creates the most vibrant emerald soup and tastes amazing.

Enjoy!

Autumn Pumpkin, Adzudi, Shitaki Miso Stew

This is a wonderful warming Autumn stew that makes the most of the lovely root vegetables we are harvesting.

Serves 4

¼ large jap pumpkin coarsely chopped

1 large potato coarsely chopped

1 large onion chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 knob of fresh garlic grated

4 inch strip of kombu seaweed

2 medium carrots chopped

1 cup dried shitaki mushrooms (pre-soaked and retain liquid for stock)

1/2 cup adzuki beans (soaked overnight)

1 tspn cumin seed

1 stick cinnamon

Salt & pepper to taste

Miso to taste

Optional: nori (seaweed), gomasio (roasted sesame seeds & salt), flat leaf parsley to garnish

& add 1 tin coconut milk for a richer stew 5 minutes before serving

Saute onion and garlic and spices, then add ginger and all vegetables and beans. Cover generously with water and cook for 45 minutes stirring occasionally. When serving up, rub miso around each bowl, serve stew and top with garnish 

Enjoy!

Spiced Plum Chutney

This plum chutney is sweet & spicy! Made from our home grown plums and onions, it was  wonderful with our hand picked salad and home made chicken & herb sausage rolls...

Spiced Plum Chutney  Recipe

(adapted from a River Cottage recipe)

1 1/2  kg plums coarsely chopped

2 apples cored and chopped

3 small onions chopped

500g sultanas or raisins

500g light brown sugar

500ml red or white wine vinegar

25g fresh ginger grated

3 cloves

1 stick of cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 tspn cumin seeds

Place all ingredients in a large pot and cook for 20 minutes. Cool for a few hours, then bring to boil and then simmer for 2-4 hours to thicken and spoon into sterilized jars. Enjoy!!

Summer Harvest at Peace Farm

What abundance!

It's summer and the mandala gardens have gone wild! We have such an abundance of fresh produce and I have been delighting in cooking and preparing some wonderful fresh salads and chutneys too.
We had am amazing garlic harvest as well as basil & parsley. I have just made some beautiful basil & parsley pesto:

Basil Parsley Pesto:

1 1/2cups flat parsley
1/1/2cups basil
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients in a processor and drizzle in oil slowly, then, enjoy!

This is one of my staple recipes and one that I have fed just about all of our wwoofers and is great for a hearty breakfast any time of the year and uses whatever vegetables you may have in the garden...

Kitchardi (Indian spiced rice, vegetables & beans):

This is a very wholesome quick dish to prepare and is great for the digestive system and overall wellbeing!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 tspn ghee or other cooking oil

1 cup basmati rice

1 cup red lentils

1 cup of chopped vegetables (eg. potato, sweet potato, carrot, cauliflower)

handful of sultana & dried apricots (optional)

1 clove finely chopped garlic

I knob of fresh ginger grated

½ tspn curry powder

1 tspn cumin seed

1 stick cinnamon

3 cardamon pods

2 cloves

pinch or tumeric

1 tspn salt

Method:

Melt the ghee and add all spices, ginger & garlic, then add chopped vegetables and the rice & red lentils. Mix for a few seconds and then cover with boiling water so that none of the vegetables are uncovered. Cover lid and bring to boil and then turn to the lowest setting and cook for approximately 12 minutes. If it is looking too dry, add a little more boiling water and sit for another 5 minutes.

Serve with yoghurt (optional).

Enjoy!!

Peace Farm Summer Solstice Event

We had a glorious Summer Solstice celebration!

We gathered on the 21st of December to mark the longest day of the year. We had a beautiful sunny day. We had a visit from 'The Sun King'  (aka Simon Oats) and the beautiful goddesses Karina & Phoenix led us through a sun ritual where we created a gorgeous manadala from fruits and seeds and flowers representing the abundance of summer harvest.

A seasonal mandala expressing the abundance of Summer

We were then taken on a meditation walk where we planted a ring of sun flower seeds to bring in our summer dreaming!

Circling for the Sunflower Seed Planting ceremony

Following the ceremony we had a beautiful feast, largely comprised of fresh vege's from our mandala gardens and then performances including the Peace Farm mama's sun dance, Gaia Gita and  Murray Goodchild. We ended the day with hot tubbing under the stars, a cosy camp fire jam with the lovely and talented Malini (of Babaganoush) and Pinrada. Heaven on Earth!!

Enjoying the delicious food

Vix here...

I'm also involved in Peace Farm.

I'm very happily married to my love Murray and a very proud mama to my darling daughter Grace (nearly 2 years) and love my job as a kundalini yoga teacher.

I'm passionate about many things, particularly education based on the cycles of nature. I love alchemical crafts (transforming trash into treasure!) and I love wholefood homemade cooking, herbs, crochet, making mandalas, singing, dancing and the list goes on an on!!

In summary, I'm a lover of natural beauty.

More to come...