My definition of pure delight? A houshold full of gluten free, vegan, dairy free, fussy eaters finding a box of goodies on the front porch from Little Bird Organics. I reviewed some Chocolate macaroons a while back from Little Bird Organics, and life hasn’t been the same since, so when this gorgeous pack of treats arrived, excitement ran high. This deserves two posts, one for the sweet treats, and another for the savoury.

Little Bird Organics has a great tagline : “A little birdie told me food should be three things: mostly raw, definitely organic and full of goodness.”  Everything I want in my food!

Today I wanted to tell you about the Macaroons. In particular, the Strawberry and White Cacao Macaroons – you are drooling just thinking about it, admit it. These could quite possibly be the prettiest wee cakes ever, and contain Raw Cacao, Coconut, Coconut Oil,  Vanilla Bean, Vanilla Extract, Agave , Freeze Dired Strawberry and Himalayan crystal salt. These tasty morsels are scrumptious. You know you are on to a good thing when your carnivore husband who looked at you in undisguised horror when you offered him a raw, vegan treat now raves about them and offers them around to guests. There are five macaroons in the retro cute resealable pack, and I would suggest you really only would need one, as they are seriously sweet and rich.

The second sweet treat for today is actually a healthy breakfast item- Macademia and Berries Grawnola. I swear once you taste this, your tastebuds will refuse anything else. The gluten free grawnola is made of Sprouted buckwheat, Macadamia nuts, Sprouted sunflower seeds, Coconut, Linseed, Currants, Strawberry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Pineapple, Lemon, Agave,  and Himalayan crystal salt. Mix the crunchy grawnola with the zingy bite of the berries, and you won’t want it to finish.

I was going to take a clever photo of this in a cereal bowl today to show you, but unfortunately my husband snuck off with it and took it to work where he proceeded to snack on it all day.

Now I will admite that price wise this is at the higher end of the price range for breakfast cereal. It is $14.90 NZD for  a 350g bag. But it is way better for you than any packaged sugary cereal in the supermarket, and much tastie than any other gluten free cereal I have tasted from my local organic store. I believe you can’t put a price on quality organic food, so my family will be regularly stocking up on this for sure.

So, I am off for a cup of tea followed by a yummy treat from the Little Bird unbakery (how cool is that).

Stay tuned for next week’s review………..

Enjoy

Cheers

Ali

Oooh SAFFRON. I write that in capital letters because using it to cook makes me feel very exotic and more than a little flash! I wonder if using exotic spices makes me a real cook yet? This dish is so simple to make, and really delicious. I adapted it from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Life.

Do note that whole wheat couscous is not gluten free.

To make it you will need:
2 carrots cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 leek sliced
1 red onion roughly chopped
1 white onion roughly chopped
2 cups swede cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 spring onions sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons non-dairy butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1.5 cups whole wheat couscous
salt and pepper to taste.

Directions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius
Place all the veges apart from the spring onions onto a baking tray and coat in extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle over some rock salt
Roast for about 20-25 mins, turning occasionally
While the veges are roasting, bring the vegetable stock to the boil in a pan
Remove pan from the heat, add in the non-dairy spread, cumin and saffron
Cover pan while still off the heat, and leave for 15 mins or so
Remove the roast veges from the oven, and pop into a large pan with the 1.5 cups couscous
Bring the vegetable broth back to the boil, then pour over the veges and couscous
Cover with lid, and leave to stand for approx 15 mins or until liquid has been absorbed
Fluff the couscous up with a fork, and chop some spring onion on top

This would serve approximately 6 people as a side dish.

Tonight I had my couscous alongside wholemeal pita bread with hummus. The carnivores had theirs as a side dish to meat.

So SAFFRON (see the capital letters denoting it’s exoticness again!).

I did a bit of research to find out it’s health benefits. It seems they are numerous! Here are just a few:

It contains many plant derived chemical compounds that are known to have anti-oxidant, disease preventing and health promoting properties.

It contains antioxidants that help protect the body from oxidant-induced stress, cancers, infections and act as immune modulators.

The active components in saffron are used in  traditional medicines as antiseptic, antidepressant, anti-oxidant, digestive, and as an anti-convulsant.

Saffron is a good source of minerals like copper, potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, selenium, zinc and magnesium.

And finally, it is also rich in many vital vitamins including vitamin A, folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin-C that are essential for optimum health.

Crikey, no wonder it ain’t cheap!!

Enjoy

Cheers

Ali

Question: When can I officially call myself a cook?!