September saw so many beautiful things including a Mandala

Hello lovely readers, it seems that I have been a little quiet here lately, but I intend to make up for it in buckets today as I have heaps to share with you. September has been a beautiful month here in the North of England as we were blessed with beautiful clear skies and warm autumnal sunshine. This meant that far too much time was spent on my yoga mat outside and far too little time holding my crochet hook, logging into my computer or let alone mention the old sewer that seems to be gathering a great deal of dust of late. I did however manage to turn my September Monthly Mandala, that I wrote about here, into a cushion and I must say that I am rather pleased with the outcome. It has been my intention for a while to make a ripple blanket, but seeing that I still haven't managed to get around to it, this seems to at least satisfy a small part of that chevron urge, for now anyway. 

 Sadly the light at this time of year is not particularly good in this little space of ours and to be honest the photo doesn't really do it justice. I don't know about the rest of you in the Northern hemisphere, but there has definitely been a shift in light and rooms are feeling much darker (and colder). I have started lighting candles again and there is no doubt that autumn has finally kicked his cold toes under my blanket. For me this change most certainly became most noticeable after the appearance of the Harvest moon this month, did you see it? Oh my it was really spectacular! They say that it tends to be larger and more colourful than other moons due to the tilt of the earth and the reflection from the atmosphere and I have to say that it looked so very big and colourful from the bedroom window.

September has been a month of harvest here too, with runner beans, cucumber, beets, and lots and lots of kale making it into our kitchen. Fortunately it also seems that we may even have enough Kale for another month or two, which is a blessing as we do love a bit of Kale in our house. Have any of you tried making kale chips, if not you must, its so easy (kale + olive oil+ salt+oven=delicious!). I also enjoyed the last of our delicious apples and am currently thinking of ways in which we can squeeze in another apple or pear tree in the garden, but I am faced with the slight dilemma that the little wendy play house is in the exact spot I would like to plant it, so I might have to wait a few years for the kids to outgrow their little space. 

September has been a month of struggle with my health, but it hasn't stopped me from becoming even more obsessed with yoga than I already was (not that I thought that was possible!). I was also incredibly lucky to enjoy two days of being taught by the very talented yogini, Kino MacGregor. Lets just keep this short and say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, I really enjoyed every minute of it even though my batteries were a little flat at times, it definitely is a memory I will always cherish. Here is a little memento of my weekend with Kino.

September has been a month of slowly getting back to warmer foods and soups. I have experimented with Vegetable Soup, Tomato and Basil soup and made my all time favourite Carrot and Coriander Soup. For those of you who follow me on instagram @Scrummytritious, some of the recipes are there. For the rest of you, here is the recipe for my vegetable soup.

So basically to make the vegetable soup, you are going to need:
Tablespoon of Coconut oil
7 Large Carrots
3 Large Courgettes
3 Onions
2 Stalks Celery
A generous bunch of fresh Coriander
2 Cubes of gluten free vegetable stock (I use Kallo Organic)
1.5L of water
Some Himalayan Rock salt & pepper to taste

Method
Chop all your vegetables (medium size chunks). Gentle fry the onions and carrots for around 5 minutes, then add the celery and cook for around 5 minutes before adding the stock and water. Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer and then add the courgette. Cook for around 10 minutes max and then add the coriander before blending it partly with a hand blender, leaving some chunks of vegetables in there. Enjoy!

Septemeber also saw the return of a loaf of bread to our lives. We have now been Paleo gosh for around seven to eight months and even though I wasn't having much bread before I was still enjoying the odd bit of grains, like rice and things baked with brown rice flour every now and then. This recipe for this delicious Sun Dried Tomato & Basil Bread is completely Paleo and made with ground almonds. I use ground almonds often, but have never thought of making a savoury bread with it and I must say it was delicious and I will definitely be making it again very soon. 

September saw our gigantic sunflower come into bloom. For some reason we NEVER succeed in planting sunflowers and even though we planted over seven establish seedlings, I think the Raven's and Jackdaws must have been too quick to dig out the seeds still attached to the plant. Does anyone else experience this? Fortunately for us, this beauty was overlooked and how very special for us. 

 September also finally saw the final touches going on to our stairs that has been a WIP for many many months. Earlier this year I had this massive urge to remove the rather tired looking carpet from our stairs. To be honest it is something I have been meaning to do ever since I since I received this beautiful book from a friend for Christmas 2012. The problem you see is that I never thought I would have the guts to pull and see what mess lies beneath an old tattered carpet. Well it seems that one very cold and frosty January morning, those worries and concerns where very far from my mind, instead I felt brave and ready to conquer all (I must have had a mild does of brain freeze one thinks). I must add here that it has taken me a little longer than anticipated, but I got there in the end and wow, what a transformation. I love this idea and it has made such a difference to the light and feel of our very narrow staircase. Thank you Sarah Moore for your wonderful inspiration, it seems collecting old wallpaper does come in handy after all. I used an eclectic mix of mostly old, but a few modern prints are hiding in here too as I really like the combination of old and new. 

Last, but not least, September has also been a month for yet another monthly mandala and this month it was the rather sweet little mandala pattern by Zooty Owl as mentioned here. This fun little Granny Mini Mandala pattern is super quick to work and as I have also come to realise, it offers some rather fun alternative possibilities, but more on that another day. For now though it is show and tell time. 

So for any of you who have joined in the yarn mandala fun, please add your mandala below. For next month I thought it might be fun to try Marinke Slump's 12-round mandala. For anyone interested you can find the pattern on Ravelry. 

Wishing you all a beautiful October.

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

An InLinkz Link-up

This and that ...

I just quickly wanted to pop in today to say HELLLOOOOO. It has been so wet and grey here in the North of England, but if I am honest, I have rather welcomed it. I am not sure how I will feel by Thursday with half term upon us and kids at home being cooped in, but for now it has been rather fun and mostly quite chillaxing.

 

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Today I even managed a little time in the garden, yes with my rain coat on and I feel rather satisfied that things are slowly starting to take shape out there.

 

 

 

In fact I am actually super proud of my veggies (OK, there are only a few), but they are all planted from seed, which has been fun. The potatoes and kale is doing tremendously well and the spinach and beetroot is slowly coming into their own. Today I planted out the broccoli and rather sad looking cucumbers, so we will see what happens to these.

 

I am feeling just a tad excited bout the beautiful Camelia Japonica that I bought yesterday for a little spot in the back of our garden that has been rather neglected for quite some time. Largely because this gardening lark can be quite expensive, so it really does take time to get where you want to. It has also been one of those spots that I had far too many ideas for what I wanted to fill it with, but I am really pleased with my final decision and look forward to seeing this beauty grow.

We also bought another couple of  beautiful Hydrangeas, one blue and one pink and just for fun I bought a St John's Wort. So for now I really haven't the foggiest what I am going to do with it, but I reckon that I will find many a good use for it somewhere along the line, especially seeing that I have recently been discovering that there are quite a few nifty tricks one can do with the odd herb and weed growing in the garden.

So for anyone who struggles with a cough that won't go away and one that's been lingering for a while,or for anyone who just fancies a little lymphatic cleanse (we all need it!), or for anyone who wants to boost their immune system, clear their skin or calm the nerves (reckon I will be needing it again towards the end of the school holiday!), wander into your garden and look for a weed called a 'Cleaver' (pictured above), and for anyone up for a giggle it also goes by the name of 'StickyWilly', so for once we might actually be happy to enjoy a little sticky willy every now and then (who would have thought! pardon me!!!). So basically what you do, pick a very generous handful and make sure to rinse it well and then chop it up, pour some cold water over it and let it stew overnight (with a lid on) and then the next day you can strain it off and drink up to five glasses of the water. To be honest it's actually quite tasty and the good news is that you won't die, I am still here. So for a full lymphatic cleanse you really need to drink it for a week, somewhere between three to five glasses per day and for those of you who can't be bothered with the overnight soaking, you can always stew it up as a tea with hot water if you like, either way it taste quite good.

So after this morning's little session in the garden, I enjoyed a little time playing games with the kids before embarking on a spot of Paleo baking. I have decided to try out the Paleo diet again, even though I have been here before as I am a firm believer that if something didn't work for you once it doesn't mean it won't work for you at another point in time. Our bodies are constantly changing and especially when you are ill. Take for example my attempts to remove ALL sugar from my diet (no honey, syrup, dried fruit, no nothing!) for over a year and if I am honest it felt like it made ZERO difference, now on the other hand I have seen the most AMAZING changes in my body since cutting it out since the 6th of January, so my motto: Keep on trying. Now I feel ready to slowly embark on the odd treat every now and then and today's cake is no exception. In fact it is just a tad indulgent and very chocolaty and has a smidgen of palm sugar and some delicious forest honey to tickle my fancy and reignite that little sugar devil in me!

 

 

 

So basically Paleo baking is tricky as most gluten free flours are rice based and seeing that you can't eat any rice or other grains, I used almond flour and coconut flour and I must say the cake turned out rather scrummy. For the ganache I used coconut cream and cacao and rice malt syrup. Lets just say it made the perfect Sunday afternoonsie.

So despite the fact that I have mountains of crochet awaiting, as I am in the midst of having to pull out my entire Nordic shawl that I crocheted whilst on holiday, as it seems that for some reason I have this massive triangle at the top rather than a straight end (don't ask as I honestly don't have the answer!). I have been putting it off as I think I need to be in the right frame of mind for this job!

 

I am also nearing the end of weaving in some ends for another little project I am working on, but more on that next time.

 

 

 

So why not start another project just when I should really be focussing on making a start on my starflower mandala?!! Seeing that 'should' no longer features in my vocabulary, I figured why NOT. So this afternoon when the kids went off to a party I quickly started cutting out the pattern for a dress I have been wanting to make for a while. Now don't hold your breath as dressmaking really isn't my forte, but I am determined to make at least one this summer.

 

 

You see when we went to South Africa, Ma bought me heaps of gorgeous fabric for my birthday which means no more excuses and basically that the girl's got to get on with it. I am actually quite excited by the prospect, just wish I knew a little more than I do, but hey that's all part of the fun, so watch this space!

 

 

So that's it for today. I hope you all have a lovely week ahead. Before I go I just want to say a big thank you for all your lovely comments on my previous post, you are all quite special and for those of you who wanted to know how the Prince concert went, lets just say that it was MAGNIFICENT!!!! I am just a little more in love with the man and his music than I was before I went, my golly he has oodles of talent!

 

 

Time to sign off.

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxoxo

 

Sunshine and a Winner

Hello lovely peeps, its such a beautiful day here in the north of England, in fact its the third beautiful day we have had in a row. It feels so lovely to wake up to clear blue skies and a bright and big sun that beams beautiful warm sunshine onto your skin. I almost felt blinded when I took the kids to school this morning, it feels good to know that hot goddess is back, oh joys.

 

On Sunday we made the very most of this glorious weather and packed a picnic, our second of the year, I think, and set off to a lovely little place called Hare Hill, a really pretty little spot that's perfect for my wheels and the kids. My gorgeous man kindly made some gluten, dairy and soy free bread and after a lovely gentle yoga and meditation practice we set off to go and count some Hares.

The kids loved exploring and searching for the 12 carved hares scattered around the grounds. This is the first time that we actually managed to get around most of the grounds. Thank you National Trust for doing an amazing job making it a little more wheelchair friendly. Finding wheelchair friendly places to visit can often be a little bit of a challenge, but fortunately I have my trusty forever fell running pusher who is happy to go anywhere, apparently it's all good training (and given my weight, errm I reckon the man might just be right for once! Operative word being once!).

 

 

Halfway into our walk we found the perfect little spot for our picnic. It was really lovely and quiet as other people tend to have theirs within the walled garden, but little Es knew best.

 

 

The kids ran around, climbed trees and had heaps of fun learning how to skim stones on water

 

We all thoroughly enjoyed the day and what I loved most about it was that the kids were outside straight after breakfast and didn't come in till around 6pm. It makes such a lovely change after months of being cooped up indoors and it sure feels like a rather lovely tease for a beautiful Spring to follow.

So now on to the exciting bit, the winner. I roped little Es in yesterday afternoon as we had a lovely girly afternoon with big brother away at a play date and it seemed like a good opportunity for her to write her numbers. Who needs a random number selector when you have a trusty four year old to assist.

numbers were written in a fashion and popped into a hat and in less than two shakes of a lambs tail little Es selected the winner

Congratulations Heather from the lovely blog my little red suitcase, please leave me a comment with your email address so I can get in touch with you.

 

There has been quite a few things happening here in our little pad, but one of them is finally getting some new shelves in my kitchen. When we knocked the wall through two years ago, we lost the majority of our cupboards and even though we have acquired an island with good storage and a lovely big sideboard, I am forever needing more space, so I am tres happy with these. All they need now is a little paint and maybe some lovely wallpaper, time will tell. 

That's all for today my lovelies. Wishing you all a skippity hoppity day.

 

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

Healthy Fruit, Nut and Oat Bar - a recipe

Today I want to share a fabulous recipe that I experimented with this week. I was hoping to do a great big post all about sugar, but it seems that I lost my tussle with time, so it will have to wait for now.

As some of my regular readers will know my current fad is reducing the amount of sugar we consume in our diets and this little experiment is nothing short of a really healthy alternative for a snack that is not only filled with good nutrients, but also pretty low of sugar, especially fructose. I know what you're thinking right now, but surely fructose is good for us!! The answer is yes it can be if taken in the right form, but if I am honest I think that generally speaking we are all pretty ill informed about this subject matter. Unfortunately I don't have time to go into any detail tonight, but I promise to shed a little more light on this subject during the next couple of weeks, but for now here is the recipe for anyone interested. I promise you won't be disappointed.

 

 



 

Healthy Fruit, Nut and Oat Bar

Ingredients

1 cup organic puffed rice (no sugar added!)

1 cup gluten free oats

1/2 cup shredded Coconut

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 brazil nuts

1/2 pumpkin seeds

1 cup dates (I use madjool dates)

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup nut butter

2-3 tbsp. Rice Malt Syrup

 

Method

 

I use a general cup measurement, so there is no need to be concerned about the differences that comes with some interpretation of cup measurements.

 

Simply measure out all your dry ingredients and process them all together in your food processor. I prefer a fairly processed mixture, but this is really up to your own preferences. I want the kids to eat it, so I don't really want big chunky pieces of nuts and dates peeping through. Then add your dates, as mentioned I used madjool as they tend to be a little softer, but if yours is hard, you can always soak it for up to an hour before you want to make this. Whilst it is processing, melt the coconut oil using a double boiler method, therefore just putting the oil in a bowl hovering over simmering hot water. You loose a fair amount of the nutrients if you melt it directly, so use this method instead. For the nut butter, I use this nut butter which is a blend of peanuts, cashews and hazelnuts, but you can just use peanut butter or any nut butter of your choice, or you can simply make your own if your food processor has the capacity to do it. Add the nut butter to the oil mixture and then add your rice malt syrup. I specifically chose rice malt syrup as it is fructose free. It has the consistency of honey and taste a little like a mild golden syrup with a hint of malt, but it works a dream.

 

Rice malt syrup is made through cultivating organic brown rice with enzymes in order to break down the starches and then cooking it until it becomes a syrup consistency. It therefore contains carbohydrate, maltose and small amounts of glucose, but no fructose whatsoever, which makes it a really good substitute for honey or syrup.

 

Once the coconut oil, nut butter and syrup is thin and runny, add it to your dry mixture and quickly process for a  minute or so just to ensure that it is all properly combined. Line a swiss roll tin or something similar with some parchment paper and scrape the mixture into your tin and then pop it in the fridge for a good hour or a little longer to give it time to set. Once it has set, you can cut it into the desired size, freeze some and keep the rest in the fridge if you like or in an airtight container outside. Personally I kept mine in the fridge, but I am sure it will be absolutely fine outside.  They freeze really well too! I got around 35 slices out of mine, so if you want less you can always half the recipe if you like.

 

  







 

I hope you have fun trying out this recipe, do let me know how you get on please feel free to ask any questions. I would be very interested in your feedback. We enjoyed a few slices during out 'Stitch and Bitch' on Friday and I have to say that this bar has been going down a treat and everyone is enjoying it. Since starting my quest to learn a little more about the implications of sugar to our bodies, I am struggling to find healthier options for the kids for snacks as so many of the so called 'healthy snacks' are loaded with sugar. This makes a pretty scrumptious snack that the kids will enjoy too! As you know nuts are pretty high in fat, so don't indulge in too many at once. I find that one slice gets me through my hunger periods during the day.

 

 

The good news is that our new toy (vitamix) arrived on Friday afternoon and we have already been having heaps of fun playing with it. So far we have made some soup, smoothies, and some ice cream, in fact the kids made their own ice cream, so they are loving my their new toy!

 

 

Before I go I just wanted to say thank you for all your lovely comments about the progress on my Spring throw and first quilt. In fact I finally got around to making the binding for the quilt on Friday and it is now waiting to be hand stitched, not my first love, but it will be worth it!

 

Wishing you all a happy and creative week.

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo