Coconut cream based ice creams have become very popular over the past few years. There are variety of recipes and flavours but my favourite is definitely green tea. In this recipe, I use matcha green tea.  Matcha is a japanese green tea that is grown in the shade to increase the chlorophyll content and has loads of health benefits. This sorbet is probably better suited for adults but the amount of green tea powder can be adjusted to suit your families needs. The wafers are a perfect  accompaniment to the sorbet but can also be used as a healthier alternative to icecream cones for children.

Green Tea Sorbet
1 can of good quality coconut cream (reserve 1 tablespoon for wafers)
1/2- 1 tablespoon of matcha green tea powder ( adjust to your liking)
1-2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of agave syrup

Mix green tea powder and water in a small dish. Blend the green tea paste, coconut cream, vanilla extract and agave syrup until well mixed. Adjust the flavours to your taste by adding more green tea powder or agave. Pour into a bowl, ice trays or cake tray and free for 2-3 hours or until hard. Blend the sorbet well with a blender or thermomix. At this stage you can eat it as soft serve or return it to the freezer to harden. If you would like a more airier sorbet, remove from freezer every hour to blend.

Coconut Wafers
3 egg whites
3 tablespoons of plain spelt flour
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of coconut cream
1 tablespoon of coconut oil (soft or melted)
1/2 cup coconut toasted until golden

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and line two large trays with baking paper. Use a thermomix or a whisk attachment on a blender to beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Place in a seperate bowl and mix other ingredients together until combined. Fold through egg whites on low speed until well combined. Spread a tablespoon onto the baking tray and use the back of the spoon to make them as thin as possible. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden. When cooked, remove from paper and cool on a wire rack.

Nic's planting on the farm so Henry and I decided to make some chai spiced honey and spelt shortbread cookies to drop down to the tractor. These are Henry's favourite cookies and I put this recipe together last winter as I tend to go a bit chai crazy every winter. These are so lovely with a cup of tea and a good book.

Chai Spiced Honey Cookies
125 grams of butter
1/3 cup honey
2 cups of plain spelt flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder or bicarb soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cardamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Beat the honey and butter together until soft and well combined. Sift in dry ingredients and add vanilla extract. Continue to blend or stir until the mixture forms a soft dough. Roll into balls, flatten and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Last night we were eating parsnip mash and I suddenly recalled a conversation with a friend about Jamie Oliver using parsnip in his lemon curd in addition to the tradional ingredients such as eggs, sugar, butter ect. Whilst eating my mash, I realised that the texture would definitely work but whether or not I could make it taste right was the challenge. After a little research I finely came across a recipe that used parsnip in lemon curd but it was still full of sugar so I decided to have a play and this is the result. Please don't be put-off by the parsnips, it really does work. There's also not a lot of honey in the recipe but a lot of the sweetness comes from the parsnip. You can however, add a little more if you like. My husband loved this lemon curd and said he preferred it to the traditional curd. I too, really enjoyed this recipe and love that it's vegetable based. This would be great in tarts, as a icing for cakes or as a sauce for desserts. I have also included the recipe for my nut and grain free tart shell below. I will definitely be serving these at my little boys 2nd birthday as he was a big fan. The recipe for an egg based curd can also be found  here.

Egg Free Lemon Curd
250 grams Parsnips
1/4 cup lemon juice + 1 tablespoon extra 
1 1/2 tablespoon honey (or coconut syrup or agave for vegan)
Rind of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon of butter or nuttelex

Boil parsnips until very soft (approx 10min) or cook in the thermomix. Strain parsnips and blend well until smooth. Add the the 1/4 cup of lemon juice, honey, lemon rind and butter and continue to whisk or blend until well combine. Pour mixture into a saucepan and stir over medium/high heat for 3 minutes until mixture thickens and becomes glossy (this can also be done in the thermomix). Stir through extra tablespoon of lemon juice and allow to cool.

Coconut Crust
2 Tablespoons Coconut oil
2 Tablespoons butter
2 cups desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons honey
Rind of 1/2 of a lemon

Coconut Crust
Preheat oven to 150 Degrees Celcius. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or thermomix and blend until well combined. Press into 1 large or 4 small pie tarts. Bake in the oven for approx 10 minutes

Who are we?
Jane...a stay at home mum. I have a bachelor in education and a diploma in yoga teaching and am passionate about cooking and nutrition. 
Nic...farmer and my amazing husband who looks after the Marinya Cottage kitchen garden and assists with photography.
Henry....our gorgeous little boy who we love dearly.

Why do we eat and cook like this? What diet do we follow?
We eat a variety of food and don't follow a specific diet. On the blog you will find raw, cooked, grainfree, gluten free, foods with gluten, wholegrain, vegetarian, vegan, fermented and meat dishes. We try to eat food that makes us feel good, gives us energy and allows our bodies to function in the best way they can. 

Are there foods you don't eat?
The only food that we strictly avoid in Marinya Cottage is nuts. I developed a severe allergy about five years ago and since then, the cottage has been a nut free house. In saying this, you probably won't find a lot of wheat, refined sugars and oils, artificial sweeteners or processed foods on the blog.

Where does the cooking inspiration come from?
I love to make food to share and wanted to create recipes that not only taste and look good but are also kind to the body. I often use traditional recipes and replace refined sugars, oils, flours, numbers and chemicals with healthy and natural alternatives. I have learnt a lot through studying nutrition and  ayurvedic diet during my yoga studies and meeting some amazing vegetarian cooks whilst working in democratic/alternative education.  Family, friends and fellow bloggers have also played a huge role in developing many of the recipes on this blog.

Chickpea Free Falafels 
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
100 grams Broccoli
100 grams Cauliflower
100 grams Zucchini (grated and excess juice squeezed out)
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 small onion
1 tablespoon oil
5 leaves of mint
small handful of parsly (approx 2 or 3 tablespoons chopped)
5 coriander leaves

Falafels
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius . Place pumpkin seeds in the grill or oven to toast lightly. Grind in a food processor or thermomix until chopped finely. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until mixture is well combined and starting to stick together. Remove from blender or thermomix and squeeze out excess liquid using a fine strainer, muslin cloth or a tea towel. Roll mixture into small balls and place on baking paper and cook in the oven for 20 minutes before flipping over and cooking for a further 10 minutes. (this will vary slightly depending on how much moisture is in the falafels) 

Serving
These falafels can be served alone, on wraps or with a variety of salads and sauces. We make a mint yoghurt and serve ours in cabbage wraps.

Cabbage Wraps
Chop the end off the cabbage and peel away the leaves. Wash under cold water, pat dry with paper towel and fill with falafels, salads and sauce ect. 

Mint Yoghurt Sauce
Place 1/2 cup of yoghurt in a bowl. Stir through 3 finely chopped mint leaves and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin.

This is my absolute favourite!! Crunchy coconut crust, topped with velvety lemon curd and honey sweetened meringue. Perfect comfort food. I've been working on each element of this lemon meringue for quite some time. The lemon curd is based on a wonderful recipe from the British Larder which I have adapted to make sugar free and the honey meringue was based on honey meringues from Against All Grain. The coconut crust however, is my recipe that came together after having no luck finding a grain free sweet tart shell that isn't almond meal based. (I have a severe nut allergy) Each one of these elements can be put together to form this lovely lemon meringue tart or can be used for other desserts. The tart shell can be used for various baked tarts and I've used the lemon curd for mini tarts, topping for meringues and have even bottled it in jars for gifts.

Coconut Crust
2 Tablespoons Coconut oil
2 Tablespoons butter
2 cups desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons honey
Rind of 1/2 of a lemon

Lemon Curd Filling
120ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
80g honey
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
125g unsalted butter

Honey Meringue
5 egg whites
3 tablespoons of honey

Coconut Crust
Preheat oven to 150 Degrees Celcius. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or thermomix and blend until well combined. Press into 1 large or 4 small pie tarts. Bake in the oven for approx 10 minutes

Lemon Curd 
(Stove top)
Create a double boiler by filling  a medium saucepan with water to the half way point and placing a metal mixing bowl on top. (make sure it can't fall in) Whisk the eggs, lemon juice and honey well to combine before stirring with a wooden spoon over the simmering water. Once the curd has thickened, continue to stir for a further 5 minutes. At this stage the curd should be thick and velvety. Remove the curd from the heat and quickly whisk the cold butter into the curd until it's completely dissolved. (See note)

(Thermomix version)
Insert butterfly and weigh the freshly squeezes lemon juice, honey,  egg yolks and whole eggs directly into the Thermomix bowl. Blend together on speed 6 for 10 seconds to combine ingredients. Cook at 70 degrees celcius, speed 4 for 5 minutes. Cut the cold butter into small pieces. Set the timer for 2 minutes at 70 degrees celcuis on speed 2 and gradually drop the butter into the lemon mixture. Scrape down the sides, remove the whisk and blend for 10 seconds on speed 8.

Honey Meringue
Pour 5 centimeters of water in a saucepan and place a metal bowl on top. (ensure bowl isn't touching the water) Whisk the egg whites and honey over medium heat for 5 minutes or until warm to touch. Remove from heat and beat with an electric mixer or whisk until it becomes thick and holds its shape.

Thermomix version
Ensure that the TM bowl is very clean and dry and insert butterfly. Pour egg whites into bowl and beat at 50 degrees celcius on speed 4 until thick and meringue like. Add honey and continue to beat at speed 4 for another 20 seconds.

Assembling Pie
Turn oven up to 180 degrees celcius. Place lemon curd into cooked coconut crust and top with honey meringue. PLace in oven for 5-10 minutes or until it is a light golden brown on top. Refrigerate the pie for a couple of hours to thicken the lemon curd or if you don't mind the curd being runny, it can be served straight away.

Note: You may have extra lemon curd depending on the size of your pie dish. If you have extra curd, you can be halve the recipe in future or the curd can be stored in the fridge for 3 days and used to top other desserts, pikelets ect.

One of the wonderful things about a roast dinner is that there is often leftover meat.  Tuesday nights at Marinya Cottage are always roast dinner nights so tonight I made a leftover roast pie with cauliflower mash. This recipe is based on a shepherds pie and is topped with a cauliflower and garlic mash. Although this isn't overly fancy, it is simple and hearty. Perfect for a wet winters day.

Ingredients
Left over meat from roast (approx 2-3 cups chopped)
1 half of a cauliflower
1 clove of garlic
1 onion chopped
2 carrots diced
1 medium zucchini diced
1/2 cup of frozen peas
4 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of meat or vegetable stock (preferably homemade)
1/2 cup grated cheese

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Steam cauliflower until tender. Whilst the cauliflower is cooking, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and saute the onion, carrots and zucchini until soft. Add the frozen peas, chopped meat and vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Place the steamed caulifower, garlic and 2 tablespoons of butter in a food processor and blend until it looks like mashed potato. Pour meat and vegetabes in a dish, top with cauliflower mash and sprinkle with cheese. Place in the oven for 40 minutes until crisp and golden on top.

Warm Chickpea Salad
2 tablespoons of butter or oil
1 x 400g can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
1 clove of garlic
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
4 large silverbeet leaves (spinach)
1/2 ripe avacado sliced
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons of fresh coriander

Heat butter or oil in a heavy based frypan and add the chickpeas and garlic. Stir over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add spices and continue to stir until fragrant. Stir through silverbeet, avocado and the juice of half of the lemon and allow the silverbeet to wilt before serving and topping with fresh coriander. (serves 2)

Panna Cotta is a delicious Italian dessert that l absolutely adore. I recently came across this delicious coconut milk version from the amazing Empowered Sustenance and made a few changes to the recipe to create a chai pannacotta. This non-dairy recipe, creates a creamy, light and delicate dessert that everyone  will enjoy. I used gelatin in this recipe due to its health benefits but I've also included a vegan option for those who prefer to use agar agar.

Chai Panna Cotta
1 X 400g tin of Coconut Milk
3  organic and grassfed gelatine leaves OR 2 teaspoons of Agar Agar (vegan option)
1 cinnamon stick 
4 cloves
4 cardomon pods 
6 fennel seeds
1 x 2cm piece of fresh ginger
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pour 1/4 of a cup of coconut milk into a bowl and add gelatine leaves to soak. Place all of the spices in a small bowl and gently but firmly press them a couple of times with a pestle or end of a wooden spoon. (they should stay whole but this will just help to release the flavours).  Place the rest of the coconut milk, ginger and spices in a small saucepan and bring to a very gentle simmer for 10 minutes or if you are using a thermomix, heat to 90 degrees celcius on speed 1 for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave to sit for 5 minutes. Gently whisk the coconut gelatin mixture, honey and vanilla extract into the warm coconut milk. Strain and pour into ramekins and place in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.

Choc-mint slice is one of my all time favourite slices and for some time, I have been working on putting together a wholefoods version that isn't full of nasty ingredients and is suitable for allergy sufferers. Like most of my recipes, this is a base recipe that you can change or adjust to your likings or dietary needs. I have a severe almond allergy so avoid all tree nuts but you could easily replace the seeds with nuts however seeds still taste great and keep it suitable for lunch boxes. This healthier version of an old classic is great for parties, special occasions, an after dinner sweet and lunch box treats.

Ingredients
Base
1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds (toasted tastes great but left plain is fine)
1 cup coconut
1 1/2 cups dates 
2 tablespoons cocao (available at healthfood stores) or carob (Cocao is much healthier than cocoa and isn't over processed or full of nasty ingredients and fillers)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon coconut oil
Top
2 cups sunflower seeds
1/4 cup coconut cream  (use homemade for raw version)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla been
2 teaspoons of peppermint essence (adjust to taste) (try and get a pure version from the health store or use fresh peppermint)
1/4 cup cocao powder or carob (adjust to taste)
2-3 tablespoons of honey (use agave or maple syrup for vegan)
Base
Soak the dates in hot water for 5 minutes to soften. Strain dates and combine all of the base ingredients in the food processor or thermomix and blend until well chopped and mixed. Press into a lined tray or if you are making it in a  tart case, sprinkle some coconut on the bottom to stop it from sticking. Place in fridge while working on the top layer.

Top Layer.
Blend the sunflower seeds in a food processor or thermomix until ground finely (similar consistency to almond meal). Add  the rest of the ingredients and blend together well. At this stage, taste test the mixture and add more cocao, honey or peppermint oil to suit your taste. Spread mixture over the base and sprinkle with coconut. Refrigerate for 20 minutes before slicing.