Hang out in my kitchen this weekend - help me cook and listen to some music!

Your tasks will be simple – chop a few veggies, chat a bit, sing along with the choruses and join me in some boogying. Don’t worry, the standard of dancing won’t be very high, as I’ll be wearing slippers, trackies and a woolly winter jumper.

First we need some music. We’ve got a new kitchen stereo and I’ve got a USB stick with 1000 songs on it, playing on random. Ooh, great first track – Bruce Springsteen with Brilliant Disguise. Some old lady boogying coming up…

I’ve been making grain free bread a couple of times a week. But this week I want to make two loaves today and freeze some, so I don’t have to think about it later in the week when I have clients. I’m going to make a Pumpkin cashew loaf and a Carrot almond loaf. So first I’m peeling and chopping some pumpkin, and putting it on to boil.

While that’s cooking, let’s sort out today’s batch of Caspian sea yoghurt – a yoghurt that ferments in about 24 hours at room temperature, so the easiest yoghurt imaginable. And I’m all about the quick and easy. So let’s stir up the batch that’s ready, mixing the cream back into it. Then we take a little of the last batch to start the new batch – about 100ml goes in a one litre jar, then we stir in milk. I’m also going to make some fermented cream, to have with soup, so I’m mixing that up in a smaller jar.

The pumpkin is cooked enough to make the bread, so we’ll mix that up and get it into the oven. Now let’s make the Carrot Almond bread. The Carrot loaf can be made with either grated carrot, or leftover pulp from juicing. Today it’s grated. I’m not going to bother washing out the food processor; the dregs of the other bread will be fine in this one, and it’s less washing up for @sift666. Ok, into the other loaf tin, and into the oven.

Time for some Lou Reed – Perfect Day. “It’s such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you”, Steemit friends.

While I have the grater out, I’m going to grate some beetroot for our lunchtime smoothies. I was intrigued by one of the smoothies in a recent Culinary Challenge, which had beetroot and raspberries in it, so we’re sampling that today.

But first, again to minimise washing up, I’m going to whip up a coconut milk and carob pudding in the blender. This is the easiest pudding in the world, as long as you are ok with collagen hydrolysate. This recipe is on my list to share with you. Remind me if I don’t post it soon! Made, poured into glasses and into the fridge.

Although I’m using the inspiration of beetroot and raspberries for our smoothies, ours will have different bases. @sift666’s first. This has a base of Caspian sea yoghurt, and a protein mix flavoured with carob. I’m going to leave out the maple syrup, but include some stevia instead.

Mine is a bit closer to the original – it has a base of creamed coconut and water, coconut syrup instead of the maple, and my cacao flavoured protein mix.

Powderfinger coming up now with These Days.

@sift666 is back from the supermarket with some things for our next kitchen job, so time for a break, and to sample our new flavoured smoothies. We found the combination a bit tart. It does need a good quantity of sweetener to balance it out, which we’re trying to minimse. I added extra cacao to mine which balanced it too. I think another time I’d use a little less beetroot and try it with a sweeter fruit.

Now it’s time to get some mince (ground beef) into the crockpot. While I get the meat mixed and cooking you can help @sift666 peel and cut up veges. This is a mix we cook up and freeze in 1 cup containers for winter breakfasts. On top of a chunk of one of my nutrient dense breads, it’s a breakfast that will keep you satisfied for hours. This batch has onions, carrots, swede (rutabaga), pumpkin, butternut squash and the leftover beetroot from the smoothies. Plus some sea salt and dried herbs. The veges go into the food processor and get zizzed up to small pieces, then into the crock-pot as well.

And now here’s my favourite Iggy Pop song, featuring Kate Pierson - Candy

Now that the mince is done, I’m going to continue chopping veges and get soup prepped for dinner. This batch of soup has onions, ginger, turmeric, carrot, a golden beetroot and a white one, and a little butternut squash. Yes, we are using a lot of root vegetables and squashes for these cooked-ahead dishes. But that’s ok, it’s winter and we need warming foods. Other vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cauli, broccoli or greens can be quickly cooked up on the day.

While I do the soup, @sift666 is cutting up some fish and freezing it in small baggies for our raw fed flosskin, who you’ve undoubtedly seen plenty of photos of before.

Right, the last project for today is to make some Vit C gummies. I’ve made gummies before with lemon juice, gelatin and honey. But today I want to make them without honey and with added whole food vitamin C powder. So I’m using a bit of mandarin juice to take the edge off the sour a bit. It’s a bit of an experiment, but if it works (and it seems to be) I’ll finalise the recipe and share it here.

Most of you youngsters won’t have heard of T-Rex but come back in time with me for a 70’s classic – Get It On, Bang a Gong. More boogying coming up.

OK, into the last stretch. I opened a new 1kg bag of ground almonds and I only needed 250gm for the loaf. So the balance weighed out into 3 bags and into the freezer to keep fresh for next time. The loaves have been out of the oven for a while now, and have cooled down. So they’re being cut in half. Half of each will go into the fridge and half into the freezer. The soup is ready for blending, and I’m tossing in a handful of cashews. The gummies are set and get cut into pieces. Next time I’ll pour the mix into silicon molds, to make them a bit more exciting.

Photo time!

The smoothies were long since consumed and I forgot to show the two jars of Caspian sea yoghurt, but here’s some of what we’ve prepped for the week ahead. I would have made a bigger pot of soup and frozen some, but we need a new soup pan, which is on the shopping list for next week. This will be two nights’ dinners anyway.

OK, time for a well earned break. I’m going to put my feet up and watch some TV, while @sift666 has a bath. Then in a hour or so, I’ll come back to the kitchen and blend up the soup while the rest of the dinner is cooking.

I’m going to leave you with Laurie Anderson - Let X=X. She’s not to everybody’s taste, and to be honest this song and Born Never Asked are probably the only songs of hers I like myself. But give it a go, see what you think.

Here’s the full list of songs that played over the 5 hour session. Yes, I really do have some songs from this century in my playlist, but when you select Random, the gods of music have the last word on what is played. Check some more of these out if you're hankering for a blast from the past.

1. Bruce Springsteen - Brilliant Disguise
2. David Gray - This Years Love
3. Dishwalla - Counting Blue Cars
4. Travis - Driftwood
5. Marty Robbins - Eighteen Yellow Roses
6. Flashdance soundtrack - She's A Maniac
7. Bee Gees - Don't Forget To Remember
8. Clash - Garageland
9. Cher - Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves
10. Lou Reed - Perfect Day
11. Barry Manilow - Mandy
12. Radiohead - Talk Show Host
13. Neil Diamond - Gitchy Goomy
14. Eric Clapton - Knocking On Heavens Door
15. David Bowie - Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
16. Dire Straits - Local Hero - Wild Theme
17. Tom Waits - Small Change
18. Powderfinger - These Days
19. Leo Sayer - Orchard Road
20. Harry Chapin - She Sings Songs Without Words
21. Big Audio Dynamite - The Globe
22. Iggy Pop feat Kate Pierson - Candy
23. Live - Top
24. Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't It Be Good
25. Madonna - La Isla Bonita
26. Berlin - The Metro
27. Rolling Stones - Play With Fire
28. Nirvana - Breed
29. David Bowie - Oh! You Pretty Things
30. Eagles - The Last Resort
31. T-Rex - Bang A Gong Get It On
32. Massive Attack - Protection
33. Janis Joplin - Me & Bobby Mcgee
34. Fine Young Cannibals - Blue
35. Alison Moyet - Money Mile
36. Melissa Etheridge - Watching You
37. Jewel - Deep Water
38. Clash - I'm So Bored With The U.S.A
39. America - Right Before Your Eyes
40. Cat Stevens - Hard Headed Woman
41. Simon & Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy In New Year
42. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
43. Laurie Anderson - Let X=X
44. Captain & Tenille - Muskrat Love
45. Simon & Garfunkel - Sound Of Silence
46. Ocean Colour Scene - The Circle
47. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
48. Billy Idol - Eyes Without A Face
49. Melissa Etheridge - No Souvenirs
50. Daddy Cool - Eagle Rock

Thanks for reading and listening

Photo by me. Videos from Youtube.

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Some of my previous posts:

RECIPES AND KITCHEN TIPS:
BREAKFASTS –
• Choc Blackcurrant Smoothie
• Feijoa Pear Smoothie
• Cashew Porridge
• Other Breakfast ideas
BREADS & BAKING -
• Grain free, dairy free Pumpkin & Cashew Bread
• Grain Free Banana Cashew muffins
• Carrot Almond bread
• Vegetable muffins
• Grain free cheese muffins
• Happy birthday to me! with birthday cake recipe…
• Grain Free Apple Cashew Walnut Muffins
• Carrot Cashew Blender Bread
• Stove top grain free bread
• Apple Walnut Coconut Flour muffins
SOUPS & DINNERS –
• Warming winter soup
• Paleo Cottage Pie
• I judged the Steemit Culinary Challenge: Paleo
SNACKS & FINGER FOODS –
• Healthy Chocolate & Fudge
• Jerky with vegetables
• Choco-mallow protein bars
• Grain free Fruit & Nut bar
• Finger food for a gathering
• Real food ideas for snacks and road trips
FESTIVE –
• Festive smoothies for Xmas morning ~
• Orange Cranberry Xmas Breakfast Muffins ~
• Crisp & crunchy Xmas cheese stars
• Best ever (and easiest) Christmas cake
• Xmas menu ideas
• Planning your holiday eating to be a bit more balanced
• Paleo Easter Buns (coconut-almond flours, gluten and starch free, lowish carb)
• Even yummier Paleo Easter Buns
KITCHEN TIPS & MENUS –
• Tip for storing ginger & tumeric ~
• Equipment for the real food kitchen
For MORE RECIPES and my 15 step Whole Food cooking course, see my recipe website.

ENTERTAINMENT:
• Benefits of joining a community choir ~ Wearable Arts Award Show ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 1957 to 1966 ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 1967 to 1971 ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 1972 to 1976 ~ Singing carols with the NZ Symphony Orchestra PLUS my best loved Christmas music ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 1976 to 1983 ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 1983 to 1988 ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 1988 to 1994 ~ If crying in movies was an Olympic sport ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 1994 to 2001 ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 2001 to 2007 ~ 60 years of my favourite music – 2008 to 2014 ~ Remembering those who passed away in 2016 ~ 60 years of my favourite music – some randoms ~ 60 years of my favourite music – more randoms ~ 60 years of my favourite music – Kiwi classics ~ My fiction-trail competition 1 entry – Time to buy a Purple Hat ~ My fiction-trail competition 2 entry – The Broken Man ~ My choir singing on the streets of Wellington ~ Voices from the Front – a story of Gallipoli ~ RIP Kiwi comedian John Clarke aka Fred Dagg ~ Some New Zealand music ~ Pumpkin pie story contest entry ~ 60 years of music - Musicals I’ve been in ~ Book review, with a musical bonus – Alex Bledsoe’s Tufa novels

If you’re from New Zealand (Aotearoa) and are looking for other kiwis, see the list on this post. Let me know if you want to be added, or want to add your location.