raised vegetable beds, weight loss

Lost one kilogram - now 83.7kg

Home made dog food

 

 

Make your own pet food

 

Cooking for your pets has a number of benefits.  You can feed them nutritious food that they love to eat, you know exactly what they are eating, you save money and you can package up meal portions and freeze them.  Both my dog and cat love the recipe given below.  I also give them chicken necks for calcium and some good quality dog and cat biscuits to make sure they get everything they need.

 

Most dogs are quite happy to eat vegetables but they should be cooked to make them digestible.  Despite the fact that dogs like scavenging and eat all sorts of things including cow manure, they are essential carnivores so don’t give them too much carbohydrate.   Although occasional treats of human food such as cheese or boiled eggs are enjoyed by dogs some foods we eat quite happily can make dogs quite ill.  Avoid feeding your dog chocolate, anything that contains caffeine, onions and garlic, grapes and raisins, macadamia nuts and walnuts, fruit pips and seeds, because they can contain toxins. 

 

Be careful not to feed your dog too much fatty, oily or sugary food, spicy leftovers, cooked bones and watch out for raw bones that tend to splinter.  I give my dog an occasional raw egg yolk and use the white for something else as too many raw whites are not good for dogs.

If you only feed your dog home-cooked food like the recipe I have given you may need to add calcium and other supplements.  It is a good idea to talk to your vet about the best diet for your dog.  But I know that both my dog and cat prefer the pet food I make to the stuff that comes in tins. You can vary it by using what is at hand and it is better than giving them your leftovers that may contain ingredients that are not good for them.

 

Check out http://www.kidspot.com.au/myspot-home-10-people-foods-you-should-never-feed-your-dog+3919+173+article.htm

http://www.savingsguide.com.au/save-money-making-your-own-dog-food/

 Weight loss - 84.7kg

 

extending your harvest, weight loss, ethical eating tips, waste tips

Weight loss - only 100g loss this week, still better than gaining weight - see diary of a food addict tab.


Ethical Eating Tip - Olive oil is a tasty, versatile and healthy oil for culinary purposes. Use locally produced olive oil if you can because it is transported a shorter distance and so has less impact on the environment. 

Australia now produces excellent olive oils and there is a wide range to choose from. 

You can produce your own olive oil if you plant a a grove of oil producing olive trees but you do need access to an oil press. I know Italian friends who produce all their own oil and preserved olives.

No Waste Tip - What do you with left over olive oil, or any other oil, once you have finished with it for cooking.  There is no easy solution but here are some ideas.

1.  Reduce your use of oils by using non-stick pans.  While olive oil is a healthy alternative to saturated fats it still contains a lot of kilojoules.
2. Once it is cool filter it through coffee filters or    cheesecloth and re-use.  You can do this several times.
3. Let it soak into newspaper and mix it with other waste and put it in your compost.  Wipe out oily pans with paper towel and put it ithe compost.
4. take it to your garbage depot and see it they have a recycling centre for oils, they are now being used in car fuels.
5. See if a local restaurant recyles its oils and will take your contribution.
6. If it is a small amount you can put it on a slice of bread and break it up to feed birds or your pets - but only occasionally.
7. put it in a break-proof container and put it in the rubbish if you have no other choice - don't put it down the sink.

Egg pasta, growing tomatoes, weight loss, ethical eating tips

Waste Not Tip

If you have some spare eggs use them to make pasta and then freeze it. You can make pasta by adding 1 egg to 100g of Italian '00' flour and a small pinch of salt.  You need to have 66ml of liquid for each 100g of flour so if your egg is small add a little water.  To make your pasta particularly rich and lucious use two egg yolks instead of one egg.  Save the egg whites and freeze them separately.  Double the quantity of ingredients for two people and so on. 

Mix the ingredients together to form a dough, knead for around 6 minutes until the dough is elastic and smooth and springs back when you touch it  Wrap in cling wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Take out and put the dough through a pasta machine until it reaches the desired thickness. 

Cut it up into lasagne sized sheets.  Place in a container with pieces of freezer wrap separating the sheets and freeze.  That way you can take what you need without having to defrost the lot.  When you defrost the sheets you can use them as fresh lasagne, or you can use them to make ravioli, or cut into strips or cut into squares and squeeze into bow shapes.

Ethical Eating Tip
Laucke flour gets the tick from the Ethical Consumer Guide.  It is a 100% Australian owned company that the Laucke family started in the Barossa Valley in 1899.  See laucke.com.au

Weight Loss
84.8kg - a gain of 400g rather than a loss this week.  No doubt aided by eating out five times in a row.  See diary of a food addict.

Growing Tomatoes
Plant a few pots of tomatoes in a glasshouse or warm spot to ripen before Christmas – the tiny salad varieties will ripen first.  See the growing tab for how to have tomatoes for food all year round.

Risotto, weight loss

Weight loss
End this week weighing 84.4kg. I started dieting 7 weeks ago weighing so that is a weight loss of 500g a week which surprising was my aim.  See the tab dairy of a food addict on overeating as an addiction.

Risotto- a perfect spring dish
There is a feeling of change in the air. The first buds are beginning to spring forth but there still are some cold days ahead. What better time of year for eating risotto? All the comforts of winter in the warm creamy rice with the promise of spring in the tender young vegetables added at the last moment to retain their goodness. You can use whatever you have on hand to flavour risotto. See tab Spring 2 for a lot more on risottos.

Waste not tip
Never waste left over risotto. Make risotto cakes or arancini see risotto under Spring 2 tab for further details. Add leftover risotto to soups or use it to top a tuna bake or similar dish. Just sprinkle the risotto topping with cheese and brown in the oven or under a grill. Use left over risotto to stuff tomatoes or capsicums and bake in the oven.

Ethical Eating tip
Sunrice has a big tick in the Ethical Consumer Guide. It is an Australian company owned by local rice growers.  In 2011 it rejected a takeover bid from a Spanish company.  It sells rice under the Koala, Mahatma, Premier, Rivana, and Sunrice (which includes some certified organic products) brands.

tips, weight loss, pumpkin soup, beetroot, ethical food shopping and eating out issues

Waste Not Tip:  Don't waste small amounts of stock, sauce, tomato puree or paste put them into ice cube trays and freeze.  Once frozen, pack into vacuum seal bags, label and keep in freezer to add to casseroles, soups etc for extra flavour.

Ethical Eating tip: Check out www.powersuperfoods.com.au to purchase certified organic pure raw chocolate powder.  This cacao powder has not been'dutched' during production and therefore has a very high level of antioxidants and the company abides by fair trade principles.

Weight Loss - 85.7kg - a loss of 900g despite the temptation to follow the suggestion of giving up dieting, staying fat and enjoying life without any guilt about what you eat - see diary of a food addict.

Beetroot Beauties - see the winter tab for how to use these versatile root vegetables for every course of your meal.

Ethical Eating - Do you base your food shopping on ethical considerations as well as cost and convenience?  Check out why ethics are important under the philosophy tab.

free-for-all frittatas, weight loss

• Weight Loss - 86.6 kg.  A slight weight gain this week - too many meals at MacDonalds on the road.

 

Frittata

·        A free-for-all frittata can make a quick and delicious meal of what you have in your fridge and pantry. It is a great way to use leftover cooked vegetables and meat.  Here is a basic method of preparing a frittata for 4-6 people.

1. PRECOOKED INGREDIENTS

·        Leftovers can add substance to your frittata especially a cup or two of cooked pasta, boiled or roasted potatoes, pumpkin, or sweet potato.  You can also add 1 - 2 cups of other cooked vegetables such as peas, beans, asparagus, artichokes, broad beans, spinach, silver beet, carrots, corn and zucchinis.  If your vegetables are not pre-cooked steam or boil them and allow them to cool a bit so they do not curdle the eggs when added to them.  You can also add about ½ cup of sliced meat such as cooked sausages, shredded roasted chicken, ham and salami.

2. SAUTE BASIC FLAVOURINGS AND AROMATICS

·        Gently fry your choice of sliced or chopped onions, shallots, spring onions, leeks in olive oil or olive and butter, until tender but not browned.  Leeks might take 30 minutes to cook thoroughly.  You might like to add some chopped bacon and celery or sliced capsicum for more flavour.  Add aromatics such as crushed garlic and minced chilli and any spices and hard herbs such as thyme, and sauté over medium heat for a minute. Allow the ingredients to cool down a little.

3. ADDING THE EGG MIXTURE

·        Lightly beat 6 eggs together and season with salt and pepper.   Add chopped soft herbs such as parsley, dill, fennel, basil.  Add the precooked ingredients and basic flavourings and aromatics. Stir together.  Heat a large heavy based pan on high heat and add the egg mixture.  Allow the bottom to brown for a minute and then turn the heat down.   You can make the frittata as thick or thin as you like by your choice of pan but remember the thicker the frittata the lower the heat you should use and the longer you should cook it to make sure that the bottom doesn’t burn while the middle is raw. It could take between 15-25 minutes to cook, meanwhile heat the grill or oven up to brown the top of the frittata.

·         

4. FINNISHING OFF THE FRITTATA

·        When the top of the frittata is still moist but with only a little runny egg mix on top sprinkle it with about ½ cup of grated cheese of your choice and put the pan under a hot grill for about 30 seconds or in a hot oven to quickly brown the surface (don’t leave it too long or it will be dry and tough).  The frittata should have a golden crust but still be creamy inside.  It is lovely served warm with a salad.

Some good combinations for frittatas

1.       broad beans, artichokes, spring onions, anchovies, parsley, percorino cheese.

2.       asparagus, peas, chives, bacon, capers, parmesan cheese.

3.       Leeks, mushrooms, ham, spinach, nutmeg,

4.       Peas, chorizo sausage, onion, red and green capsicum, a little smoked paprika

5.       zucchinis, red capsicum, onion, salami, basil, parmesan

6.       pasta, silver beet, chives, parsley, ham, anchovies, fetta

7.       French beans, garlic, potatoes, dill, parmesan

8.       Carrots, garlic, bacon, cumin, coriander

9.       sweet potatoes, sausage, onions, broccoli, chillies, garlic, ginger

10.   Fennel, zucchini, leek, smoked salmon, camembert,

11.   A variety of mushrooms, artichokes, bacon, chives, goats cheese,

12.   Pumpkin, blue cheese, bacon

13.   pumpkin, sausage, broccoli, blue cheese, coriander, parsley

14.   Potato, speck, garlic, cabbage, fennel seeds,

15.   Beetroot, onion, feta, dill

16.   Chinese greens, Asian noodles, onion, ginger, garlic