3 Ways to Honour Mother Earth this Mother’s Day

by Liz Child

Mother’s Day is coming up and I’m very excited to receive my homemade cards, breakfast in bed and I’ve got my fingers crossed for some of these Booja Booja chocolates! Mother’s Day is all about saying ‘thank you’ to the people that nurture us and take care of us, be they our biological mothers or not. So the one mother we shouldn’t forget to show some love and appreciation to is, of course, Mother Earth. So here are some ways to honour our mothers and our incredible planet at the same time this year.

Plant Trees

Buy your mother some native trees or hedgerow to plant this year. If she doesn’t have her own garden why not donate to a native tree planting scheme in her name or get involved in a tree planting event? It is national tree week 20th-26th March and the Tree Council have organised a nationwide program of events here. Is there one near you? We plant native trees every year on our organic farm in Galway and are raising money to donate to tree planting charities too. Here is a list of Irish tree planting charities in Ireland:

Eat Green

Make a home-cooked meal to celebrate Mothers Day and Mother Earth. Include lots of locally grown, in-season vegetables and buy organic and plastic free. Our 100% Irish box ticks all the boxes. Click on the photo to see what is included this week. What could you make from all that Irish produce? We have lots of ideas here on the blog. Here’s a menu idea for you:

Clean Up

Don’t leave the cleaning to your mum! Get involved and think about Mother Earth at the same time. Use eco-cleaning products to clean up inside then how about a lovely walk in your local woodland or at the beach? Take a bag and some gloves and pick up litter as you go. Here are some of our favourite green cleaning products from our online shop. You can add them to your next fruit and veg order along with lots of other organic groceries.

Spring Sunday Roast

by Liz Child

A roast on Sunday doesn’t have to be a big faff. Here’s a quick and easy recipe for a delicious beetroot and butterbean loaf with lemon and herb roast veg, spring greens and gravy. Liz x

*You can get all the ingredients from our online shop delivered straight to your door. Just click on any bold words to be taken to the item to add to your cart. We deliver to every address in Ireland.

Ingredients (serves 6)

Method

Turn your oven to 200C. Find your biggest roasting dish and put it in the oven to heat up too.

Peel the potatoes and carrot, cut them into large chunks and just cover them with water in a big pot. Put the lid on the pot and get them on the stove to boil.

Meanwhile make the beetroot and butterbean loaf:

Toast the sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan and add them to a blender with the linseeds and oats. Pulse until coarsely combined, but still with some texture.

Grate the beetroots into a mixing bowl on the fine side of the grater. Add the drained tin of butterbeans to the bowl too.

Add the oat, sunflower seed and linseed mixture to the bowl, season well with salt and pepper (you could also add additional flavourings here like lemon zest, crushed garlic, herbs).

Using one hand, squish the mixture together into a stuffing-like mixture. You may need to add more oats as you go if your mixture is too wet. When you are at stuffing texture taste the mix for seasoning ad adjust as needed.

Then put the mixture into a baking dish or loaf tin lined with baking paper. Top with slices of mushroom a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Then pop the dish in the oven to bake.

By now the potatoes and carrots will be par boiled so move them off the heat. Finely chop a generous couple of handfuls of herbs and put them into a bowl with the zest of a lemon, 3 crushed garlic cloves, salt, pepper and enough sunflower oil to bring it into a loose sauce.

Remove the hot, large roasting dish from the oven and drizzle it with sunflower oil. Use a slotted spoon to move the potatoes and carrots onto the hot tray and keep all the water in the pot (you’ll need this to cook the cabbage and make gravy with later).

Add the garlic/lemon/herb oil to the roasting dish of potatoes and carrots and stir to coat the veg in the mixture. Cut the zested lemon in half and add it to the roasting tray. Return the dish to the oven and get on with the greens and gravy.

Add a stock cube to the water that the carrots and potatoes were cooked in. Then rinse and chop the cabbage and add it to the pot to poach in the stocky water. When it is still slightly undercooked, use the slotted spoon to pull out the cabbage and keep it in the pan you used earlier to toast the sunflower seeds (you’ll use this to re-heat and finish cooking the cabbage when the beetroot loaf and roast veg are nearly done).

Then make the gravy. Put a tsp of dried mushrooms into the stock and bring it to the boil. You can also dip the bowl that you mixed the lemon/garlic/herb oil for the roast veg in and get all those flavours added to the gravy.

Mix the cornflour with a little cold water into a smooth paste in a cup. Then add that to the stock and simmer and stir until it has thickened into a gravy. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. I like to add a couple of tbsp of soy sauce to add a punchy umami flavour. You may wish to add a splash of wine or a spoon of recurrent jelly to your gravy. When you are happy with the flavour and texture of your gravy you can pour it into a jug through a sieve and keep it warm.

The beetroot and butterbean loaf and roast veg should be ready after about 40-60 minutes in the oven. Just keep an eye on them. Then re-heat the cabbage and gravy and serve!

Fruity Chia and Oat Pots

by Liz Child

These little chia and oat pots are perfect for breakfast (and they make a fabulous healthy pudding too)! You can prepare the two layers in separate bowls the night before, then just put it together in the morning with some crunchy granola, juicy fruit and silky curd (find the recipe for my favourite kumquat curd here). If you don’t have curd you could use a dollop of yogurt instead.

Chia seeds are a powerhouse of nutrients. Packed full of fibre, antioxidants, minerals and heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids. Oats are brilliant too of course! This humble grain is one of the most nutrient dense foods you can eat and can lower cholesterol levels, improve blood sugar control and contains a powerful soluble fibre which is great for your digestive system!

I love this combination of berry chia, turmeric oats, zingy sweet citrus and toasty granola. But of course you can tweak the recipe to use your favourite fruit or flavours. How about rhubarb compote in the chia layer and making the creamy oat layer taste like custard with some vanilla? Then top with yogurt, granola and more rhubarb? Or do you like tropical flavours? How about a passionfruit chia layer, coconut milk in the oats and top with mango slices and toasted coconut flakes? Are you a chocoholic? Raspberries in the chia layer, cacao powder in with the oats then top with pieces of dark chocolate, fresh raspberries and toasted hazelnuts? The possibilities are endless.

Let us know your favourite chia and oat pot flavour combos in the comments. Liz x

*as always, bold words are clickable and will take you to the product or recipe on our website so that you can easily add ingredients to your order or find the recipe I refer to

Ingredients (makes 2 pots)

Method

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl, leave to stand for a few minutes and mix again. Then cover and refrigerate (or use right away if you are making this in the morning).

Mix the next 4 ingredients in a separate bowl, cover and refrigerate over night to allow it to thicken (or you can serve it after a quick 10 minute soak if you are making this in the morning).

Serve in a couple of simple glasses. Divide the chia and berry mixture between two glasses, then add the turmeric porridge mixture. Top with a tbsp of kumquat curd, peeled slices of blood orange and a couple of tbsp of granola.

Kumquat Curd

by Liz Child

Well here’s a tongue twister if ever I did see one. Kumquat Curd. Try say that ten times in a row without messing up! Have you ever eaten a kumquat? They have very sweet skins and very sour middles. I love using them for curd rather than lemons because all you need to do is remove the seeds, the rest of the fruit can be blended up and simmered into this perfect preserve. No need for zesting and juicing.

This stunning little curd is delightfully sweet and tangy and so simple to make. The perfect use for this tiny citrus. I love curd on toast as an alternative to jam but it also makes the best filling for a cake or topping for a tart. Curd is great sandwiched between shortbread biscuits or rolled up in pancakes. I think a sunny jar of kumquat curd makes the perfect Mother’s Day gift, especially if accompanied by a stack of pancakes in bed and a vase of daffodils!

How do you use curd? Let us know in the comments.

Liz x

Ingredients

Method

Rinse the kumquats then cut them into quarters and remove any seeds.

Blend the kumquats in a high speed blender until smooth.

Then add the sugar, coconut oil, corn flour, salt and oat milk and blend again into a smooth sauce.

Pour the sauce into a small pot and simmer, constantly stirring, until thick.

Taste the curd and add more milk or sugar if needed and simmer and stir again to cook in the added ingredients.

Pour into a clean jar whilst still hot. Put the lid on and allow it to cool. Keep in the refrigerator and use within a week.

Here’s a video on how to make classic shortbread biscuits using the perfect 1:2:3 sugar:butter:flour ratio. Perfect with a dollop of kumquat curd.