Tag Archives: Flour

A Few Small Things…

June 30, 2017 Munchkin

Oh it’s a horrible, grey muggy day today!!

Gnome admonishes me and says, “Stop complaining, Babes…”

And I reply, “It’s not a complaint! It’s a description!!”

It is really grey. It is really muggy. 🙂 Ha-Ha, one must keep up the humour especially during these times and use emoticons to show that everything is really in the greatest humour possible!! 🙂

Well anyway(s), here are a few small things to show you what’s happening.

Since my Mabe cooker done broke and I don’t have an oven, we are resorting to our old “tried and tested” methods again. Back to the Dutch oven and cooking over coals. We had a stash of Fray Bento meat pies from British Foods Belize so we decided to cook them traditional style. They puffed up very nicely (a lot better than the conventional oven) and they are a little burnt since we haven’t cooked like this for a while. These were a nice Sunday afternoon treat. Also, the fire kept the bugs away for a while which was a welcome break.

This is a vegetable that grows on a vine which we have planted up the side fencing of the Duckie Zen coop. The best way to describe them is that they taste like firm, little cucumbers but they have to be cooked. They are growing prolifically with all the duckie fertilising so we are harvesting a basket of these each day. I’ve mostly been steaming or putting them into soups and stews. This vegetable is called tindali (a vegetable of Indian origin)and was obtained from the Spice Farms in Toledo (courtesy of Dr Mathew).

Oh, and it’s Mango Season again! This is the chance to stuff yourself with Mango everyday…it’s great. There should be a Mango Festival down here at this time of the year; it is definitely worth celebrating!

A while back I tried to make some home-made senbei (Japanese rice crackers). I used ordinary glutinous rice flour because that was all I could find. The final result was that they were chewy (still tasted good) but not the usual crunchiness that you would expect from these type of crackers. After discussing with Gnome (and reading Wiki entries) we realised that the Mochiko flour that is traditionally used is cooked (not raw) rice that has been dehydrated and then ground into a fine flour which then gives the crunchy quality to the food. So you can’t get Mochiko flour for love nor money in Belize (!) so Gnome says that when we get really bored (ie. during the rainy days when we can’t get out) he will help me make the flour. Watch this space…it will probably take about 72 hours to make the flour by hand!

Keep well everyone and keep on going despite the weather!! Well, we’ll keep on going because we like to think that we are cool and tough…Ha-Ha!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Saving Money

Ten Coconuts and Security.

February 21, 2017 Munchkin

One of the main reasons why I write posts on self-sustainable farming is to encourage others to do the same. I would like people to realise that yes, it is hard work (you can’t just sit around and talk all day) but also, you can use your brains to be innovative.

Spending the time doing things on the farm cuts down the need for money to buy things. Basically you are exchanging your physical labour in order to be less of a consumer.

Oh by the way, just in case you haven’t realised, we do all our own work on the farm. We do not hire anyone to do our work, in any aspect of our lives, because part of our philosophy is independence and healthy living.

The way that we process ten coconuts at a time is a perfect example of time well spent on the farm. Ideally, we would like to this every morning but life does get in the way, as it always does, and we are thwarted by weather, other pressing farm jobs, general maintenance, machinery that needs fixing, Apothecary orders and of course, medical call-outs.

If you sell 10 coconuts at the market, you will get $10 Belize Dollars. We have chosen not to do that because you can get so much more out from each coconut.

The husks and shells can be used for mulch on the farm:

Shells can be used as vessels to hold food for poultry:

When you crack open the coconuts, there is coconut water. You still get water from oil coconuts…of course, you get more from water coconuts. This can be consumed or it can actually be used as a highly nutritional plant irrigation water (contains sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium).

The coconuts are grated by hand by Gnome:

Coconut milk and coconut cream can be squeezed from this; Munchkin’s job:

Coconut milk has a high protein content; it can be added to stews, breads and anything really to boost protein content and flavour. In addition, coconut milk (and cream) can be used to make very nice desserts.

Coconut Haupia:

We bag the coconut cream to use in cooking; it can be used in stews, curries, desserts, anything really! At this point, the cream can be further processed into coconut oil to make our soaps and stuff. If we have excess, we sell these in Supaul’s in Punta Gorda.

Okay, still not done yet!! After squeezing out the cream and milk, you get the left over coconut meal. Once the fat has been extracted, it now becomes a very high protein product(12 to 14%…compare to corn which is between 9 to 11%). This can be sun-dried and then milled to make coconut flour:

Or, it also makes great animal feed. All manner of poultry like it and even our guinea pigs are quite partial to it too:

Go on then…plant a few coconuts in your back yard for food security…it’s great stuff!!

Amusing, Belize, Food

Banana Flour Porridge!

June 8, 2016 Munchkin

I have written about the making of banana flour in previous posts and our main reason for doing this was for preservation. From a completely practical point of view, if you are going to go through the trouble of processing (grating, drying and grinding), it is really important that you actually like eating it!

Hmmm….we were very dubious initially after making a banana flour pizza made from a recipe found on the Internet. The recipe called for 4 cups of banana flour and when I baked it in the oven, it came out like stiff card-board…let’s say that if you threw it at somebody you could cause bodily harm. We valiantly put toppings on it and ate it like a pizza.

The next morning…and a few days after…we were totally constipated…

Together.Munchkin.Annoyed

We then decided to do the math:

4 cups of flour is equal to 32 bananas

therefore, we ate the equivalent of 16 bananas each in one sitting.

Imagine eating 16 bananas all at once! And worse still, without the water content of each banana!

This of course results in constipation!

Anyway, after that escapade, I was in no mood to make anything with this flour! A few weeks later, I decided to use it up and make dog food …I didn’t even think about it…I just put a cup of flour in a pot of water and let it boil. It actually came out like a nice porridge. Much to Gnome’s dismay, the tasty looking porridge was for the dogs and not for us:

“What do you mean it’s for the dogs?!!”

Since then, I have formulated the Banana Flour Porridge as follows:

1/2 cup of banana flour

1 quart (900mls) of water

1 can of sweetcorn (optional)

1 tbsp sugar

Pinch of salt

Place ingredients in a pot and stir on medium flame ( about 7 to 10 minutes) until the porridge thickens. Can be eaten hot or cold.

This serves 2 people. Yes, 1/2 cup of flour = 8 bananas! So, each serving is four bananas. The result: tasty meal and happily non-constipated!

Belize, Farming, Food

Home-Made Banana Flour.

February 18, 2016 Munchkin 4 Comments

Together.Eating.Fire.Pot

We are making our own banana flour right now. With huge bunches of green bananas, we find that the best way to preserve them is to process them into flour.

This actually involves quite a lengthy process but hey…that’s why we have chosen to live like this. The green bananas are peeled and then grated like so (by Munchkin of course):

The shredded bananas are then dried out in the sun. Once dehydrated, they are crushed by hand into crumbs and then milled (Gnome Job):

And this is what you get:

Eighty green bananas fills roughly half a gallon jar and weighs about 2lbs (1kg). And now Gnome has presented me with a challenge:

“Munchkin, cook something yummy with it!”

By the way, this product is not for sale because it contains too much blood and sweat! 😉

Belize, Farming, Food

Saturday Night Pumpkin Bhaji.

November 14, 2015 Munchkin

Munchkin.Another.Eating.Shot

Anyone for Pumpkin Bhaji? Whilst living in Scotland, I used to really enjoy Indian food especially the onion bhaji. Since we are still having a marathon run of pumpkins, I decided to make these Indian-style fritters. Check out my recipe for Pumpkin Bhaji in Belize Wild Recipes.

In this recipe, I used pumpkin, onions and red jalapeños.

The batter is made with rice flour so it is completely gluten-free. And of course, the most important flavouring is turmeric (yellow ginger, as they call it here in Belize).

Yummy!!

Belize, Food, Our Products

Coconut and Rice Flour Pizza with Sausage Topping.

April 25, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone, since we are selling our farm-fresh Coconut Flour and Rice Flour in The Apothecary, I thought I would post up a recipe for pizza made with these ingredients. There is no wheat flour added so it can be eaten as part of a gluten-free diet. The eggs and the xanthan gum act to bind the flours giving elasticity to the dough. You will find this pizza slightly more crusty and biscuit-like in texture…which gives a delicious nutty “bite” to the eating experience. For the topping, I have put sliced sausage, onions, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Oh, and some rosemary and thyme too.

Enjoy…this is what we had for lunch today.

For the full recipe, check out this link for Coconut and Rice Flour Pizza.

Belize, Farming, Food, Our Products, Saving Money

Making Coconut Flour and Cream.

April 6, 2015 Munchkin

Making Coconut cream and flour involves quite a few steps, a little muscle, time and diligence. When you do everything from scratch, you realise the value of what you are actually making. The making of the cream and flour go hand in hand as you will see from the following steps:

Firstly, Gnome has to climb a coconut tree to harvest and then he de-husks them. Next, he splits them in half and grates the flesh with a shredder attached to a hand-drill.

The next step is to squeeze the liquid out of the coconut. I usually add some boiling water to the coconut and I squeeze the shredded coconut through a muslin cloth to get all the milk and cream out. This is done in small portions in order to maximise the quantity and once all the milk/cream has been extracted, the shredded coconut is placed in trays and laid outside to sun-dry.

Meanwhile, the liquid is placed in the fridge and as it cools down, the milk separates to the bottom and the cream forms a layer a the top. The cream is skimmed off the top, a number of times, and poured into these bags for selling:

Each bag contains the fresh cream of one coconut. Belizeans like to cook rice with this; a Belizean cook in Punta Gorda told me that he just needed one of these bags to cook a 5lb pot of rice. Another great way to use this cream is to indulge in a pina colada or blend with fruit to make a yummy coconut “shake.” You can even use it in bread making to give a silky texture to a loaf.

Usage and Storage of Coconut Cream:

Our coconut cream is sold in the frozen state. Store in the freezer. When you are ready to use, simply use it in the frozen state. If you only require a small amount, cut off a chunk with a knife and store the remaining cream in the freezer. The shelf life of this product is 6 months if stored properly in the freezer.

Anyway, back to the shredded coconut; it takes about 6 to 8 hours for it to completely dry in the sun. Once dried, the coconut is put through a stone mill to grind it into flour. You end up with a fluffy meal which is perfect for breads, pancakes and muffins and it is has the added bonus of being gluten-free.

The coconut flour has a nutty flavour which adds texture to all kinds of foods. 1lb (454g) of this flour contains the meal of about 6 to 7 coconuts.

Usage and Storage of Coconut Flour:

Coconut flour is highly nutritious so should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. The coconut flour can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Otherwise, it can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months. We usually deliver this product in the frozen state; in order to thaw this product, simply place in the fridge for 24 hours.

We are currently selling coconut cream, stone-ground coconut flour and rice flour within Belize. The coconut cream can only be sold within Punta Gorda. However, flours can be transported anywhere within Belize. Please check out The Apothecary for our Health Food prices.

Casa Mascia Apothecary