diy slow-cooker curry

diy slow-cooker curry (in our multi-cooker)

I like the idea of being able to make an amazing curry without the use of a stressful recipe with thousands of ingredients, or just resorting to an 'out-of-the-bottle' job.  This, as a first attempt, I am quite pleased with.  Lots of veggies and quite tasty, all be it not very traditional.

Serves:
4-5 people, with rice

Ingredients:
Big packet/bunch of spinach leaves
2 small carrots or equivalent
1 large onion
1 red capsicum
500g of meat, cut into strips
2 tins of diced tomatoes
1/2 tin of coconut milk
Bunch of spices (I used 3 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp tumeric, 1/2 tsp immitation safron, 1/2 tsp cayan pepper, heaped tsp minced garlic)

Step by step

One... chop up all your veggies and meat into whatever sizes you like to eat them in.  I like small diced pieces.  Spinach (this can just be done in strips) in one bowl, all other veggies in another.

Two... put carrots, onion and capsicum in to brown.  Add your garlic and spices.  Add meat, keep stirring until just brown.

Three... add spinach and tins of tomato.  Stir and slow cook for 4 hours.  Tip, check after two hours and if there is too much juice, let cook with the lid off so some evaporates.

Four...  stir in coconut milk and leave on keep warm for as long as you need.

Serve... with rice.

what the doctor said...

Well, went to the doc this morning to get my blood results back... PERFECTLY HEALTHY!  Pretty pleased about that.  I have to admit, some part of me actually wanted me to be pre-diabetic or something so I would have the motivation to keep getting healthy.  I thought if I got a clean bill of health I'd lack motivation... but if anything I feel more motivated because I just feel so thankful for my health and I want to do everything I can to stay healthy for as long as possible (with the knowledge that even being healthy, very good chance I'll still get diabetes at some point).
So, the doc did my BMI for me this time.  I'm 73cm and 89kg which gives me a BMI of 29.  To get down to a BMI of 20-24 (the healthy range), I need to be 71-75kg.  My mission, therefore, is to get down to 75kg and then re-asses.
She also told me that I need to do vigorous exercise for 30-40 minutes 4-5 times a week, or an hour 3 times a week.  Totally doable with my amazing exercise buddy (thanks Amy).  So, I am pleased to report that I have finished off the day with a DIY curry for lunch and pumpkin spinach and feta roll for dinner, no naughty snacks and a very intense hour long workout (gah, gonna be sore tomorrow).  Feeling good.  God is gracious.

Pumpkin and Spinach Soup

Pumpkin & Spinach Soup

What does one do when, on a ridiculous impulse, one buys an entire pumpkin?  Perhaps the title of this blog has given the answer away...  one makes soup!  For soup cooking in our house we use this wonderful contraption  called a multi-cooker.  It can also pressure cook, slow cook, brown, keep warm, and cook rice.  But we never cook rice with it.  We have another contraption for that.  If you don't have a multi-cooker and you were thinking about getting either a pressure cooker or a slow cooker, get this instead.  It's brilliant.  There are few different brands out there.  We chose the cheapest one we could find online and it's been great.  But now, on with the show...

Serves...
3-4 people as a main or 6-8 people as a entree.  Just add more of everything if you need to feed more people.

Ingredients
500g preferred pumpkin
Big ol' bunch of spinach or baby spinach (those leaves you were going to use for a salad but haven't really felt like a salad and now they're going to go off if you don't use them)
Heaped teaspoon of minced garlic (or to taste)
2 medium onions
Knob of butter/equivalent
11/2-2 cups of stock of choice (I used chicken, it's what I had)
S&P to taste

Step by step

One... Do your chopping... pumpkin into small cubes (good luck, hate chopping pumpkin), spinach into strips (set aside these two into same bowl), onion* diced (leave on chopping board, your done chopping now).

*TIP - I always cry when chopping onions unless I rinse them well under cold water while peeling... in other words, chop off both ends, chop in half, run under cold water while peeling back outer layer.  Magic.

Two... Melt butter in saucepan (or on browning setting on your fantastic multi-cooker) and "saute" the onions with the minced garlic.

Three... Chuck in the pumpkin and spinach and move around a bit for a minute or two.  Add some salt and pepper to your normal taste, you can add more later if need be.

Four... Add your stock.  Ideally the stock should almost but NOT cover all your veggies (for me anyway, but adjust to your own desired thickness).  Stir a little.

Cook.. Put on to boil (low heat), lid on for 25 minutes.  If you have a fantastic multi-cooker, use your "soup" setting, 25 minutes, airproof.

Blitz... Use a hand-held wizz-stick thing to pulverise your soup.  And your done.  If you've got a fantastic multi-cooker you can just leave it on the keep-warm setting while you go about your day.  Serve with lightly toasted low GI bread, sprinkle of parmesan, some crispy lean bacon and perhaps a dob of light sour cream? Delish.

scripture stop... ephesians 3:20

"versatile cards"

A couple of weeks ago I found a little box of cards that I bought when I was in Hong Kong (years ago...).  They're called "versatile cards".  Very accurate.  They were so pretty and sweet that I didn't know what to do with them, so I did nothing.  But now I have put them to use.
I've been going through a book called Faithfully Fit (I'll post a review here when I'm done) and it involves a lot of journal keeping and writing down memory verses and food for thought and things like that.  So, verses or snippets of wisdom that resonate with me I have been writing down on the little cards and then flicking through them in quiet time so I remember the things that have impacted me.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. EPHESIANS 3:20 (ESV VERSION)

This verse was one of them.  I know I've read Ephesians before but this verse has always eluded me.  This surprises me because it's so impacting.  What a powerful God we have that he is able to do more than I can even think or ask of him.  It's encouraging to know that when I pray, this is the god who I am praying to, a god whose Spirit lives within me and who loves me and who is powerful beyond my comprehension.

the dreaded bloods...

I hate hate hate hate hate giving blood.  Not a big fan of needles in general but blood tests are just so much worse.  It doesn't help that my blood is as thick as peanut butter and the phlebotomist (fun word) inevitably has to push the needle around inside my vein as I open and close my hand and quietly hyper-ventilate.  I am becoming a bit of a veteran at all this...

Tips for having blood taken...

1. Have a glass of water before you go to bed the night before.  I used to just try and drink a gallon of water when I woke up in the morning until a lovely phlebotomist (still love that word) told me this trick.  Still good to drink plenty of water in the morning as well.
2. Take a book... Being distracted while in the waiting room is very important.  You can't guarantee there'll be something good on the TV or riveting mags on a little table. Book.  A good book.
3. Play the sap... big puppy eyes!  If you go in looking all tough and confident, you may find yourself being confidently poked and prodded by a girl whose first week it is on the job.  If you look vulnerable they will call you "sweetie" and treat you very gently, calling in the pro if need be much earlier on in the piece.
4. Avert your eyes, don't close them... Nobody wants to see their blood being taken from their own arm (gah!).  Closing your eyes though can make you feel woozy and more sensitive to touch.  Much better to count the out-of-date posters on the wall.
5. Big deep slow calm breaths... I learnt this today actually.  My phlebotomist told me that this helps the blood flow.  Could have been a pacifying lie, but either way it was very calming.
6. Don't get cranky when they need to take the needle out and do it again... Phlebotomy is not a precise art.  It's very tricky and even the best of phlebotomists can need a few tries at some tricky veins.  The more patient and considerate you are the nicer they will be to you, and more importantly, gentler!

Well, those are my tips.  Live long and prosper.

Note: I love it when they call you "sweetie".

Banana & Date Loaf (no added sugar)

banana & date loaf, fresh from the oven...

Yesterday afternoon I noticed that I had two very very very ripe bananas sitting in my fruit bowl.  When my husband took our 18 month old out to the shops I knew it was the perfect time to do some cooking.
This is a slight variation of a recipe I found in a mag, I took the maple syrup out.  You can add it back if you want to but I don't think it needs it.  Instead I just added a little cinnamon and nutmeg.
Be warned, messy cookers... you will get in a mess with this one!  Lots of bowls and measuring jugs and spoons and flour and goo everywhere!  But good fun and quiet... good for nap time cooking (for you mothers out there).  Things in brackets are optional suggestions for diabetics/health nuts.

Ingredients
1 cup pitted dried dates, chopped
1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda
1/2 cup water
11/2 cups self raising flour (wholegrain)
3/4 cup plain flour (wholegrain)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
125g butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk (skim)
2 over-ripe bananas, mashed

Step by Step

One... preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan-forced.

Two... Grease a 9cm deep, 11.5cm x 20cm loaf pan.  Line the base and sides with baking paper, extending the paper 2cm from the edge on the long sides (I always make a dogs breakfast with the baking paper... just make sure you can pull your loaf out of the tin when done).

Three... Place dates and 1/2 a cup of water in a small saucepan over a high heat.  Bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Simmer for 3 minutes or until mixture is pulpy.  Remove from heat.  Stir in bicarb soda (such fun).  Sit to cool for 5 minutes.

Four... Sift flours into a bowl.

Five... Stir in coconut and spices.

Six... Make a well. Add butter, eggs, milk, banana and date mixture.  Stir really well to combine - make sure you get any little pockets of flour... helps if you have a clear glass bowl.

Seven... Pour mixture into your prepared pan and make the top nice and flat with a spatula.

Bake...  1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean (cover cake loosely with foil if over-browning during cooking.)  Let cool on a wire rack and serve while warm with some heart-tick marge or nothing at all!

Note: I just realised as I wrote out this recipe that I forgot to put eggs in mine... still turned out pretty good.  So, if you're allergic to eggs... winner winner!

my story...

So I went to the doctor yesterday and she explained something to me that no-one had every really explained before.  I had gestational diabetes which pretty much means that one day I will get full blown diabetes.  It's virtually unavoidable.  Jaw dropping.
Everyone else had told me that my chances were higher than others, but apparently people who eat jelly beans whilst standing on their heads are at a higher risk of getting a pimple on their nose... who knows what any of it means?

The last time Norah got to see her great grandpa...

My mum was diagnosed with Diabetes a month or so ago (bit too close to home) and my grandpa died almost a year ago from diabetes related complications.  I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovaries syndrome) and found to be what they call "pre-diabetic" about four years ago.  I went on metformin and saw a dietician and got my body working again so I could get preggers (which eventually did happen).  Then, as I have previously mentioned, I got gestational diabetes quite early on in my pregnancy (my daughter is now 18 months old).  Afterwards I was cleared of having diabetes and thought life would just go on as normal.

I thought life would just go on as normal.  I would be fine as long as I did a little exercise here and there and didn't gorge myself on 30 cent cones every day.  Apparently not...
My PCOS is acting up again.  I have a blood test tomorrow to check my sugars, feeling a bit nervous about that.  Hate needles.  Regardless of the results, it's quite clear that I need to lose that gut and get healthy.
Anyway, I now have renewed determination to change my life.  I don't like cooking.  I'm clumsy, things get messy.  Disaster.  This has to change.  If I want to eat proper healthy it has to be home cooked with lots of veggies (yick).
Don't like exercising.  Can't run. Have bad knees.  Completely uncoordinated.  This must change.  I'm going to become one of those people that can do a few jumping jacks without large portions of their body moving independently of their frame.
And more than anything I'm going to surrender my quest to God, because without him nothing is possible and with him all things are possible.

I'm also going to have to purchase a set of scales...