Creamy nut & seed milk

Creamy nut & seed milk

A kitchen staple, that is great all year round – especially in autumn if you are harvesting your own pumpkin seeds! We have been meaning to get you guys this recipe for a while. We suggest it as an alternative to dairy milk in so many recipes (especially in our book), but have never shared the recipe for ours! So here it is.

We have made lots of variations of this, but our favourite is this almond and pumpkin seed combination (specifics in the recipe below!). But use what you have. This recipe is a super thick and creamy milk, because it’s how we like it!
 

Nut/seed milks are really good for you, they are high protein, filling, have heaps of vitamins and minerals, and are just a good chance to take a little break from dairy really (it’s all about balance!). 

Click here to read the full post, get the recipe and learn some fun new ideas for what to do with all that nut pulp!
 

Chard & ricotta pie, how to grow chard + survey Q&A’s

Pie #2: Chard and ricotta pie

This is a mid-week meal, inspired by you guys and the total abundance of chard coming out of our garden right now (and it turns out we really like “pie” – see Pie #1: Leftover Skillet Pie). It’s grain-free, vegetarian, adaptable with the seasons and most of the ingredients are available year-round. A good, easy family meal or mid-week meal with leftovers!
 

We first made this when we were harvesting an abundance of chard as we read through all (there were seriously so many – thank you!) of your survey responses. There were a whole lot of requests for more mid-week, vegetarian meals, cooked straight from the garden. So the timing couldn't have been more perfect!

And we also share with you the basics on how to grow your very own chard in this post! Because the experience of growing what you cook and eat is really amazing. There is nothing like it. And we want you all to experience that.

P.S. You guys said so many awesome things and we want to let you know that we have heard you and we will be making changes, so we can get you all of the information you want!

In the meantime, here are some your most burning FAQ’s answered...

To read the full post, get the recipe and hear the answers to your questions, click here!
 

Frozen chocolate & orange torte - to share with the ones you love!

Frozen chocolate and orange torte

Tomorrow is Valentines day and as much as it's not totally our "thing", we think sharing good food with people you love is always a good thing. So this one is something simple to make, to share with all of those that you love!
 

This is very possibly the easiest cake in the world – no bake and takes 10 minutes. And it's raw/vegan/dairy-free/gluten-free if that is your thing, it's creamy and has the classic orange/chocolate flavour with a crunchy base. You might even notice that those hands in one of the shots isn't either of ours - they are our friend Shantanu's. We "taught" him how to make this cake because he loved it so much and he generally can't cook - and I say "taught" very loosely, because there really isn't much teaching that goes with this cake, it's so easy. It went more along the lines of "put that in the blender, blend, yup good". And it turned out perfectly.

Click here to read the full post and get the recipe.

**P.S. We now have Solidteknics pans and skillets in our online store! These are amazing, made in Australia, life-time warranty pans, that are just like cast iron but so much better and lighter. Check them out! 

Also a big thank you to everyone who completed our survey! Congratulations to our winners Maria Shaw, Megan Dunn and Katie Robson! Hope you legends are enjoying your pans as much as we do!
 

Leftover skillet pie - make some food with your leftovers!

Leftover skillet pie

A delicious, puffy, all-the-things-in-the-fridge egg pie, great hot or cold, serves many. Make it a boxing day routine!

So, I am just going to get straight to it. 35% (or more!) of food at Christmas time, ends up in landfill (in Australia that is over 5 million tonnes). I can’t even begin to talk about all the ways that that statistic is just unfathomable.

To put it simply, I was recently reading about a theory that instructs people to keep their fridges empty, so people don’t create waste. I wondered if that was just perpetuating the problem of food waste? Shouldn’t we all look in our fridges, learn to cook with what is in our fridge and preserve what we can’t eat?
 

Call it oversimplifying, but to me, that right there is the answer. Especially at this time of year, when your fridge may be overabundant and you have formed a love-hate-relationship with the overabundance of food in the fridge.

So we want to make it a routine, that you make an everything-in-the-fridge meal on boxing day. We actually do this weekly, clear our fridge out on a Sunday - and we have a few meals on rotation that we make with all the bits and pieces. This is one of them.

So this pie is inspired by our fridge. It is DELICIOUS and easy. It’s like a puffy quiche I guess, with heaps of filling. It’s really good cold, with cold and fresh salads on the side. I could eat it everyday (I am actually eating a piece as I write this).

Click here to see the full post and get the recipe.
 

Ultimate spring salad + info on growing / picking spring veg.

The ultimate spring salad

This salad just makes me feel all warm in my bones like sun on my skin. Spring come at me. 

Spring is often an overwhelming and beautiful time all at once for us. Everything wakes up after Winter, it's cold, it's hot and sometimes Summer feels as though it's just so close that you can reach out and touch it. And then it's gone again, with another frost. 

I am just waiting, to put those tomatoes in the ground. One more week until the risk of frost passes.

But then when you make a salad like this, from all the beautiful Spring things, it reminds me to wait. To hang out here, in Spring. To keep eating everything green, for a little longer.

This salad stands alone. It's literally inspired by walking through the garden at this time of year. It's super fresh, full of herby flavours and sweetness from the young shoots, asparagus and peas. And the edible flowers are just for fun, because they are one of our favourite things about Spring - they are so abundant in Spring, as everything wakes up and then shoots to flower.

To read the full post and get the recipe click here.
 

Leek & spinach fritters + how to grow leeks at home

Leek & spinach fritters

It is safe to say that fritters might be the most versatile and homely meal ever. We have eaten these hot, cold, had for lunch, dinner, breakfast and snacks. They have been to a 6-year-old birthday party and a picnic. 

Maybe 2 weeks ago now, we mentioned on Instagram that we had an abundance of leeks ready to harvest, enough to “feed a village” were my exact words, and that we needed to use them up yesterday.

In my opinion, leeks are a too often forgotten about and under-celebrated vegetable, and I got the sense many of you agreed! The popular opinion seemed to be that leek fritters are the way to go, so we thought we would take your suggestion and run with it. 

Matt describes these as having "a pretty texture”. And he is right. They are light in texture, super vegetables heavy, and the combination doesn't overpower the flavour of the humble leek! They are full of protein, gluten-free and vegetarian. 

To read the full post (including how to grow leeks at home) and get the recipe click here.
 

Wholegrain dunking biscuits

Wholegrain dunking biscuits

This is all about home. Chocolate coated wholegrain spelt and oat biscuits, that are the best for dunking into any form of beverage – tea, coffee, milk, or even wine. Breakfast, a snack, or dessert.

As you may know, we have officially moved into our new home. To be honest, it is still half unpacked, and there is an air of chaos as we renovate. But it’s the best. We absolutely love it – we have an office, a studio, a home, and a farm. And in the past weeks, we have found that it only takes a batch of cookies to make it feel like home.
 

I have based this recipe on the traditional digestive cookie, and was originally inspired by a recipe in our friend Julia Ostro's new cook book (We had a sneak peak – you can pre-order now!) that includes a recipe called “an oat biscuit for dunking”. And it resonated. Because it is no secret that like many Mediterranean traditional cultures – we are all about the dunking biscuit in the morning's tea or coffee.

To put it simply, these are just good. I feel like it’s something my mum would have made – because they're delicious, but secretly healthy – wholegrain, minimal sugar, and full of good butter (go make your own right now!) which we are also all about: Don’t ever let anyone tell you butter is “bad” for you.

In short, we are all about the dunking biscuit. Enjoy.

Click here to get the recipe.
 

The importance of being human + a split pea dip / salad bowl to share

Split pea dip & salad bowl

Today, we are flicking back to Greece. The end of our travels. I am sharing thoughts that our time there inspired, things that have been on our mind. Actually, thoughts that we have touched on in our book. In short, it’s about being human.

No one is perfect, because we are all human. And as we've said before, we are all more similar than we are different. To put it simply, as we travelled we were welcomed with so much love. We were absolutely amazed and humbled by the generosity of people. We were welcomed into people's homes, offered things to have or try from complete strangers, were taken places, if we had no money we were given things with trust that we could leave and pay later, or, most simply, when we would go out for a walk in the evening almost every person we pass would say “evening”.

And then, on return we have had friends who's businesses have been broken into, have seen people just being horrible to each other on social media and have seen so many people without family to support them and invite them into their homes for dinner. And we just wanted to remind everyone, that we are all human, we are all here to support each other, we are all more similar than we are different. And to embrace family, to embrace friends, to share, to celebrate, to love.
 

This dish is totally inspired by Greece, where there are many versions of "fava dip" (a strange name to us given we've only ever heard 'fava' used to describe broad beans before!). And this is ours. It's super refreshing and best served cold or at room temperature. So great if you feel like something fresh tasting in winter or for those in Europe currently, this is amazing for your hot summer days.

We would like to dedicate this weeks post to all of the people who gave to us so generously throughout our travels. A dip and salad bowl, to be served as an entree or snack, to be shared in good company with bread, good olive oil and a glass of wine.

Click here to read the full post and get the recipe.
 

White pizza recipe + italian stories

White pizza (cauliflower, fennel & ricotta) + Italian stories

We have just left, what feels like our favourite place on earth. And it’s impossible to summarise our experience in Italy into a blog post, but I’ll try.

It’s our kind of place. We drove over 5,500 kilometres, met the most amazing people, ate so much food, learnt about so many traditional foods, caught trains and boats, hiked mountains, foraged food, went to too many markets to count…
 

It’s a place where people are generous and loving. If you are poor, you are rich, because you always have family and always have food. It functions in a style of organised chaos, and everything it does, it does with passion.

This recipe, is inspired by all of our many diverse Italian experiences, from the Southern food vendors of Puglia, to the charismatic cheese-makers of the North. It is full of bold flavours like caper, fennel and anchovies, subtle, sweet ricotta and bright, ever-present lemon. An awesome, balanced meal, full of vegetables, so quick and simple, and one of the tastiest pizzas we've ever eaten.

To read the full post and get the recipe, click here.
 

Minestrone with vegetables, white beans and rabbit

Minestrone with vegetables, white beans and rabbit

In the last few days we have driven from one side of Sardinia to the other, been on an 8 hour boat journey back to the mainland, stayed in 4 different villages, had terrible internet reception, and driven some more. So sending this blog post out to you all, is a little delayed. We wrote and developed this recipe about a week ago, when we were still in Sardinia!
 

It’s amazing here. It’s wild. It’s free. And it’s traditional. The food is seasonal, just by default. You don’t make a big deal of it. It just is what it is. And everything tastes so good.

We are staying in a little town, about half way down Sardinia. It’s in the hills and is super Mediterranean. They call Matt “Jayzeus” (Jesus) and me Mary Poppins. I like their sense of humour.

Overwhelmingly, everything is as you would expect. It’s like stepping back in time. Into a traditional village. Something we have been writing, learning, researching and talking about for years. As you may know, it is what our last book is based on.

And here, they truly live it. They live the good life. And again, it’s no big deal. It’s just the way it is.
 

The other night we went out to eat at a local restaurant, and had honestly one of the best meals we have ever eaten in our lives. And it was so simple.

It was fresh pasta, with a minced wild rabbit and white wine sauce. They call it ragu bianca - white ragu. So simple, but so tasty.

And that meal inspired this soup.

To read the full post and get the recipe click here!
 

Apple & fig breakfast loaf: Better than a 'shake and bake'

Apple & fig breakfast loaf

As you read this, we are most likely to be just landing in Italy.

So this is one last homage to our home and the season of Autumn. The Autumn that’s so deeply imbedded into my mind, as over the past weeks I have dreamed almost exclusively of wild mushrooms, figs, apples, walnuts, persimmons through the night, as they are so prevalent in my days.
 

Matt calls this one “the shake and bake”. Which makes me laugh. We aren’t exactly “Shake and Bake” people, so I’m not 100% sure how long one takes – but I am pretty sure this loaf probably takes less time to put together than a standard “Shake and Bake”. Ha.

This loaf really does taste like breakfast – it’s dense, fruity and slightly sweet. It’s GF, refined-sugar-free and can be made dairy-free, and the lemon and apple create an environment where the grains are quickly soured. It’s a super healthy alternative to toast. And is all the things I always want for breakfast, combined into one.

Click here to read the full post and get the recipe.
 

Marjoram, pumpkin & chickpea salad

Marjoram, pumpkin & chickpea salad

Often we get sent things in the mail; letters from people, boxes of awesome things, whatever people want to send us (and this is so awesome btw, thank you to everyone who writes!).

But life gets busy, we travel, we farm, we really love and prioritise seeing our families (and there are a lot of them, that live all over the world – so this takes up a lot of time! ha) and sometimes we don’t get around to saying thank you to each person that sends us something or sends a letter. And we also realise we don’t write on this (our “journal” if you will) enough.

And recently, we received something in the mail that was a reminder, to be a bit more present. I think I mentioned it before, but this year for us is about being more present in all we do, slowing down a little. And this was our reminder. To pay attention.
 

Recently we received some bottles of wine in the mail. Truthfully, they just looked like any other bottle of conventional wine. But, as we looked into them, we realised they weren’t. In fact, it was a very special kind of winery, doing things in a really creative and sustainable way – Yealands.

Then we read Peter Yealands words, and we realised they are so much in line with ours.

“[Sustainability]: Let’s not be afraid to fail and let’s celebrate our successes, let’s applaud our young innovators, let’s be courageous and bold and let’s look after our path as best we can.” (page 18 “A bloke for all seasons, the Peter Yealands Story”, by Tom Percy).

Sustainability, is truly something that we see as forever expanding, something that requires new inspiration, new ideas, new concepts. And we can see how this winery has inspired many other wineries to follow in their footsteps, that otherwise wouldn’t have walked down the sustainability path.

And they have inspired us.

The Yealands team are also running a giveaway right now of cases of their sauvignon blanc! So we agreed not only to share with you some of their sustainable farming ideas, but additionally, to make a seasonal salad for the blog with a splash of their Sauvignon Blanc to get you all excited for that.

Normally we just drink wine, but this time we decided to explore the flavours, and include it in the dish – a super seasonal salad, with all the Autumn vegetables! It’s full of sweet, toasty, nutty and honey flavours. The wine is a bit fruity, especially passion fruity and peachy, and a little minerally, so flavours that are sweet, toasty and nutty go really well.

It’s a salad, but it’s as filling as a meal, and super wholesome. To read the full post and get the recipe head here.

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PS. Win one of 90(!) Cellar Door Packs of Peter Yealands sauvingon blanc with 6 bottles! To enter and for T&C’s head here.

Additionally, if you love wine, you can get involved in International Sauv Blanc day by posting pictures with the #ExpressYourSauv.
 

Spiced fig marmalade

Spiced fig marmalade

Every year, around this time of year, there are figs and apples out of control. We talk about preserving, and how you just have so much of everything. It sometimes feels like a mountain that you can’t climb.

So this year we decide to just make enough, not to harvest and preserve every last bit. Just make enough.

And the experience feels nice. We have enough to give and enough to keep.

This will be our last batch of jam from this farm, as we move on. Many people have asked where we are going next, and what we are doing. And at last we are excited to tell you. We are travelling for a little while longer, in May we are off to Italy for 2 ½ months, where we hope to eat all of the food and see lots of Mediterranean growing/produce! And then, when we get back to Australia, we will start a new little farm on the other side of Victoria, where we will make our new home. It will be a smaller space, a humbler space, but we hope even more bountiful. We are super excited for all of the experiences ahead, to learn more, to grow more (no pun intended) and live more.

And it feels fitting to make one last jam here, a recipe we have made in this house so many times - adapted time and time again (you can find the original/base recipe and preserving instructions in our book).
 

We played around with it a bit this year, specifically for figs – and this is our best fig-jam combination yet. We also altered the cooking times a little, as it seems figs just get better with time – a longer, slower cook, makes it “jammier” and more flavoursome. The key is the orange, as we aren’t into the super/hyper sweetness of the figs and it just adds a little bit of bitterness that balances the whole thing out. And the spices add warmth.

For Easter, we will be having this on toast (or maybe on hot cross buns) with a cup of tea – we like to keep it simple. We know this post isn’t all chocolate Easter eggs and hot cross buns, but for us, this is what this time of year is all about – harvesting and preserving. Happy Easter.

Click here to read the full post and get the recipe.
 

Win: Double pass to Fancy Hanks x Grown & Gathered dinner!

Don't forget to enter!

This Melbourne Food and Wine Festival we are throwing a super fun Fancy Hanks x Grown & Gathered dinner on Monday 3rd April 6-10pm and we are giving away one double pass worth $226!

TO WIN: Simply share on Instagram a photo of you with / reading / using / growing from / eating from / making something from the Grown & Gathered book! Share the photo, along with @grownandgathered #gandgliving to be in the running!*

It will be an epic feast, including sustainable meats, salads from our book and wild ferment wine by us! Matt (G&G) and Mikey (Fancy Hanks) will be chatting about what sustainable meat really means.

ALTERNATIVELY, just grab your ticket here right now, the old fashioned way :)

*T&C's: Entries close Friday 31st March at 4pm. Winner drawn (at random from all valid entries) and announced (notified via instagram messenger, so keep an eye out!) the same day by 8pm. 

Miso roasted whole vegetables + giveaway + autumn gardening tips

Miso roasted zucchini, squash & pumpkin

Something that has been coming up in our conversations a lot is generosity. While we travel it’s amazing the generosity you see – and conversely, the lack of generosity you see (one woman made us pay $4 to fill our water up from her outdoor tap hahah). And there is an absolute passion, love and kindness from those who are generous – it’s universal.

As we always talk about with trade, when you trade, or when you share your abundance, it really opens you up to the world – you exchange ideas, you share. And that is what being human is about.

For much of this post, the vegetables were supplied by this amazing older man selling his organic produce on the side of the road. We only had $4 cash, but wanted to spend it on what he had grown. We talked and talked and he was insistent that we left with almost half the shop! Handfuls of organic apples, squash, potatoes, plums, pumpkin…

And he has no idea how he not only made our day, but our month, our trip. He has no idea we are writing about him. And that’s the beauty of it.

So this post is inspired by him. Not only the vegetables, but the idea of sharing. This is a side dish, to be shared with other food, to be shared with those you love.
 

This recipe uses the pumpkins that are just being harvested (eating a new season vegetable that you haven’t had fresh for a while is always exciting!) and helps to savour the last of the zucchinis and squash of the season. It’s also super great for everyone, as it’s gluten free, vegetarian and can be adapted to be vegan and dairy-free also (simple omit the parmesan cheese). It is super quick and easy, and super rewarding as it’s a deliciously umami and warming dish.

P.S. Upcoming event! This Melbourne Food and Wine Festival we are throwing a super fun Fancy Hanks x Grown and Gathered dinner on Monday 3rd April 6-10pm!

It will be an epic feast, including sustainable meats, salads from our book and wild ferment wine by us! Matt (G&G) and Mikey (Fancy Hanks) will be chatting about what sustainable meat really means.

TICKETS: Grab a ticket here or enter our competition to win a double pass worth $226. 

Read the full post, get the recipe and find out how to win here.

Easiest cake in the world! Simple red bean cake.

Simple red bean cake

This cake is a creation from the road, inspired by having few ingredients and minimal equipment. So it's really easy. Literally you just mix ingredients together and bake! It's also great for kids lunch boxes and is dairy-free, gluten-free, and refined-sugar-free. It's a winner.

We have been on the road for a little over a month now, and it's inspiring us in a whole new way. Just being inspired by the food we find, that's local and what we have at any given time, is making us create things we wouldn't normally at home. We made this cake while we were staying in this little cabin in the bush, just before we hit the road again - so we could have an on-road snack! To be honest, I wasn't 100% sure if it would work seeing as we had so few ingredients, we didn't even have a baking tin, and we were working with a wood-fired oven, with no temperature gauge, but surprisingly, we came up with a pretty fool-proof and delicious cake.
 

To be honest, I wasn't sure whether to call it a cake, pudding, or brownie (and I'm still feeling conflicted ha). In essence it's a little bit like a pudding in flavour and texture - but a little more cake-like as an experience! 

We used red beans (adzuki beans), which makes a very specific flavour. We also recipe tested it with black beans, which worked just as well, it just had a slightly different flavour and was a much darker coloured cake. We have had it hot and cold and have put it in our nieces and nephews lunch boxes, and it's been a winner all round. Let us know your favourite version!

Click here to read the full post and get the recipe.
 

Be inspired - competition reminder

Competition reminder

Want to be inspired to live a little? Or live a little more?

Well don't forget we are giving away 5 x DVD's of the brilliant film "Captain Fantastic", which we guarantee will do just that. Check out the trailer here.

All you have to do to enter is head to the shop, add an "I want to win a Captain Fantastic DVD!" to your cart and check out. That simple.

Good luck x
 

Vegetable & fish curry, a giveaway, and pictures from the road

Vegetable & fish curry

As I write this, I am sitting on the banks of a river (terrified I am going to get sand in my computer, not going to lie). It's just us (Matt, me and Pepper), a fire-pit and our little van behind me.

We hit the road a week or two ago, as a part of our plan for 2017 to start to take things a bit slower, to be more present and make sure we are only doing things we care about everyday. 

Since being on the road it's taken me 3 hours to make and eat breakfast + coffee daily, and I have realised that I am not a morning person - and I don't care. We have also taken up playing squash (you know, that game from the 80's where you hit a small not-so-bouncy ball against a wall?), I have started taking photos with my film camera again, swimming often, and our meals have been increasingly inventive based on what we have at the time. Turns out these are the things I care about.
 

At any one time in the car, our food consists of a mixture of: food from the farm (preserves, ferments, and other stable foods such as - potatoes, pumpkins etc); vegetables/fruit/eggs from the roadside, a local market we pass by or a friends garden; and local/seasonal foods from wherever we are (if we are at the ocean, we eat fish, in the tropics, we eat coconuts - you catch the drift).

We just hit the northern coast of NSW, and it's all about oysters, fish and sub-tropical fruits. It's hot, and perfectly, this is what our bodies are craving. So we got some fish, coconut (not quite that far north but this is about as close as we're gonna get this trip!) and limes (turns out there really aren't lemons around here, it's all about the limes!) locally, we had some pumpkin and spices from the farm, our friends gave us loads of tomatoes and chillies from their garden - and we used it all to make this simple curry. We have made many things on the road, but this is the favourite dish so far.

Click here to see the full post and get the recipe.
 

P.S. This week we are giving away 5 DVD's of the movie "Captain Fantastic" which may in fact be our favourite movie ever made! It is about living life, living it well, and living off the land. 

All you have to do is head TO THE SHOP PAGE, add an entry to your shopping cart and when you're done shopping, head to the check-out! Easy as. 

Movie details: A father devoted to teaching his six kids how to live off-the-grid in the forests of America is forced to bring his family back into mainstream society, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent. Viggo Mortensen stars in the hilarious and heartfelt Captain Fantastic.

You can watch the trailer/read more about the movie here. Good luck!
 

Summer Bloody Mary + music!

Summer Bloody Mary + music!

This is a blog post, to remind you to have fun these holidays.

Christmas tension can get high and it's so easy to forget that the reason we have these holidays is to relax, celebrate, and share with each other.

To remind you, we have put together a Summertime Bloody Mary recipe - because let's be honest, you can drink this cocktail at any time of the day and it has all the vegetables in it, so it's basically a healthy way to drink this holiday season... right? (#drinkresponsibly). We have also included a little playlist for the holiday season of some songs on repeat at our house. Enjoy this with your Christmas cooking or Bloody Mary drinking!

And for extra fun this week, the lovely Kelsey Hutchinson illustrated the recipe for you. What a legend :-) Thanks Kelsey & Merry Christmas everyone.

Read the full post & get the recipe here!
 

Free shipping + thank you

Thanks so much for being a part of our community! 

To say thanks, we are giving you a $13 discount on shipping (which for most of you means free standard shipping!) on all items where shipping applies in our store until the end of December!  

Just use the coupon SUBSCRIBER 144029 at the checkout! 

P.S. In case you missed it, we not only have the book and our seasonal charts in our store, we now have oat rollers, greeting cards, Stanley flasks and gift vouchers!
 

Want your items to arrive in time for Christmas?

Within Australia: Please order before the 20th (standard shipping) or 22nd (express shipping) of December.
International: Please use the postage calculator here: https://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/calculate-postage-delivery-times/#/