"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Saturday 14 January 2017

Alternative presentation, same contents

Getting greens into RMan is never easy.

But, thanks to our daughter, Natasha, RMan is now happily eating more greens :D

RMan phoned Natasha to ask if she knew of anything I would like for Christmas.  RMan and I are at an age where gift buying for each other becomes problematic as we basically have everything we need.  Married for 36 years, with kids long flown the nest, we really don't need any more "possessions".  In fact, if truth be told, I am currently offloading still useful things I haven't used for years on my children...

But, Natasha and I have been chatting about spiralzing marrows in an effort to reduce our carb intake and improve our veggie consumption (for our read "RMan" tee hee).

So, naturally, Natasha suggested a spiralizer to her Dad.

RMan, blindly accepted her suggestion, (thank you Natasha) and this is what was in the present that I opened at Christmas.
Being quite bulky, I have no where to store this, so it is
 "hanging about" in my under stair cupboard
Talk about fun lol
Spiralized marrow, potatoes and (not so successful) carrots
 together with the first of my homegrown heirloom tomatoes,
 and red / orange peppers
Carrots, zucchini and potatoes were put through the machine last week.
The spiralized stir fry with peanut chilli sauce
All the veggies, except the potatoes were stir fried, and, with the addition of a peanut chilli sauce, some crumbled feta and chopped walnuts, were served for dinner together with...
I have to confess, this spiralized dinner was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s :D
...deep fried spiralized potatoes (and a small steak for RMan).

It was outstanding.  And, more importantly, RMan declared that he "thoroughly" enjoyed his dinner, and would, in fact, eat that every night :D

The deep fried potatoes worked really well, and would also be ideal if you have unexpected guests and need a "snack" - viz. homemade crisps, not shop bought.  I have recently been diagnosed with slightly elevated blood pressure, so salt free (and added chemical free) homemade crisps is just the ticket!!

The carrot didn't really form spirals, but their different shape was obviously more appealing to RMan.

Plus, I have a couple of homegrown butternut that need experimenting with.

I have a fancy to make something else as well...

If it works out, I'll share it with y'all ;)










For more info on how you can obtain your own Foothills DryAway solar / wind food dehydrator please click the link.

10 comments:

  1. it looks super deelish Dani! we have been trying to incorporate more veg and fruit for the past several years as well - we are all getting to the age where eating for our health is really important! i love your home-made fried crisps sans any additional crap! can't wait to see what else you do with your spiralizer!

    sending much love on a snowy, blowy cold day! your friend,
    kymber
    (p.s. - forgot to mention how much i love the sunflower in your header pic!)

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    1. kymber - Oh, trust me, it was... :D

      Yup - hit that age and need more greens- maybe they'll help preserve me for longer lol

      Wish we had snow - we're at the 35- 39oC+ stage most days - enough already - I WANT (and need) WINTER!!!

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  2. I got myself one the other year, I do some of my veg with it ready for dehydrating, they are then the ideal size for adding to soups, nice to know you have now got him eating veg

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    1. Dawn - You are a clever lady - using the spirals will certainly make soup contents more "interesting" :D

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  3. I bought a mandoline to cut those razor thin vegges and first time out, I sliced off the tip of my finger. Apparently this is well known at hospital emergency rooms and is called "mandoline finger". Is there such a thing as "spiralizer finger"?

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    1. pqsa - Bwahaha - think if would more be "spiralizer knuckle" - the turning handle is a tad too close to the unit frame.

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  4. I have spiralised butternuts as a replacement for pasta, lovely with a pasta sauce. Your stir fry sounds delicious,

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    1. Chickpea - I need to try and spiralize some of my homegrown butternut. I have seen it for sale in the shops, so know it is possible ;)

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  5. I bought that same spiralizer, but have to say, I'm having difficulty using it. I had pinned such high hopes on it being used all the time, but it's just not happening here. Now this post has me wanting to drag it back out again. Wish me luck!

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    Replies
    1. Sue - Whilst the spiralizer is not the easiest to operate (or my hands are too big), and myine didn;t come with instructions, the video I watched online recommended inserting the food onto the end closest to the blade first, and firmly pushing the handle turning end towards the blade section whilst operating. That worked for me :D

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