Chestnut, cacao and pomegranate multi-purpose mix!

I would say that chestnuts are the complete package.  They have a great nutrition profile, and they also lend themselves beautifully to both savoury and sweet dishes and are even a great idea for a snack.  They have a delicate, slightly sweet flavour and a lovely smooth texture.  Unlike other nuts they are quite starchy,  often used as a substitute for potatoes in some European and African countries.

Quick, no mess, gluten free flatbread - it will change lunchtime!

A lot of you who know me, especially my 'Coeliac friends', will already know this recipe, and use it regularly!  And you don't have to be Coeliac to get the benefits.  Just change the flour to regular self raising wheat flour and keep an eye on the liquid (you may need more) and you too can kiss boring sandwiches or dry wraps goodbye!

The beauty of this flatbread recipe is that all you need is a flat sandwich maker (see pic #2 below) and about 2 minutes of time spare and you will have a fresh, tasty, bendable (rare yet highly sought after in the Coeliac world!) flatbread that you can totally customise to suit your (or your kids) tastes.
I usually just throw these ingredients in a bowl and go by eye, but today I measured them out (roughly) to give you at least a guide for the basic recipe which then is only limited by your imagination to where you can take it!

What you may not know about honey!

 

Honey - the ancient wound healer

So my latest 'fascination' is honey!  Those of you who I speak to regularly probably know that due to a recent pimple outbreak (I know, ridiculous, I felt 13 again!) I went searching for natural remedies and remembered my Omi used to rave about putting honey on her face each night.  At the time I thought 'just another crazy Omi story' but I decided to look into it and due to its natural antibacterial qualities, it actually was a valid remedy for pimples! 

Finding this out prompted me to research further into what else is great about honey.  

• Honey is essentially bee spew!!!  The foraging bees swallow the nectar which goes into their special honey tummy.  They then regurgitate this up to the worker bees in the hive and they make it into honey!!  Mmmmm ( ; 
• Honey is a natural preservative!  So use honey instead of sugar when making homemade breads and cakes and you'll find they last longer and stay moist too!
• Honey is sweeter than sugar so less is needed in cooking to achieve the same sweetness, hence reducing kilojoules!
• Honey contains small amounts of vitamins and minerals such as copper, iron, vitamin B, manganese, calcium, potassium, sodium, phosphorous, and magnesium, among others.  Also 'friendly' bacteria such as lactobacili and bifidobacteria!
• Never give honey to an infant under 12 months of age, due to increased risk of botulism in their 'weakly immune' bodies.
• Different types of honey (depending on the flowers the nectar is taken from) provide different levels of antibacterial properties.  Manuka honey has a very high level. 
• Most commercial honey has been heat treated to stop it from crystalising and making it easier to process.  Unfortunately the heat kills a lot of the enzymes, vitamins and minerals so if all of that is important to you, buy raw honey which can be found in health food stores, or if your lucky like I was today, you may pass a little stall on the side of the road with honey taken straight from the owners own hives!!!  Now that's special! (And the boys loved my little lesson on bees and honey on the way home - well, that's my story anyway!)

 

Ok, I think tha'ts enough reason to make one of my favourite recipes using honey, Breakfast granola!  Why is it my favourite?  Cause I think breakfast is the most important meal of the day and with so much 'rubbish' on offer for brekky on the supermarket shelves these days, this is a way to get back to something more natural and healthy without all the processed sugar!  If this doesn't make you want to get out of bed each morning, I don't know what will!!!  Till next time......

Granola

 Ingredients

4 c rolled oats
1 c nuts, coarsely chopped (try hazelnuts, almonds, macadamias or a mixture of these)
1/2 c sunflower seed kernels
3/4 c honey
50g butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 c dried fruit (try raisins, chopped dried apricots, cranberries or goji berries)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius
2. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
3. Combine oats, nuts and sunflower seed kernels in a bowl.
4. In a small saucepan add honey, butter and cinnamon and stir over low heat until butter melts.
5. Pour over oat mixture and mix thoroughly.
6. Spread over the baking tray evenly.  Bake in oven, stirring occasionally, for 35 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
7. Stir in dried fruit and store in an airtight container.

Play around with this to your liking.  You could mix up the grains by using a mix of rolled spelt or barley with the oats, add some of your favourite spices such as ground ginger, substitute sunflower seed kernels for any type of seeds such as linseeds, flaxseed or pumpkin seeds.
For a gluten free version, substitute the oats for puffed buckwheat, rice, corn, amaranth, and/or rolled quinoa.

Thermomix owners - nuts can be chopped on speed 4 for 3 seconds.  Set aside.  Honey, butter and cinnamon can be melted and mixed together for 2 minutes/50 degrees/speed 2.  Then add back nuts, oats and sunflower seed kernels and mix on soft/REVERSE until it all comes together.

If your mind is like mine and eager to know everything about the fascinating bees and their work, look no further than http://www.honeybee.org.au/


(Original recipe from Good Taste magazine, 2007)