{Recipe} ::: Grandma Zoe's Casserole

I've bee meaning to share this recipe with you all for awhile now. It has to be one of my favourite meals to make in our house, not only because it tastes AMAZING, but it is also packed full of vegetable goodness, and makes such a large quantity it easily feeds our family for lunch and dinner for 2 days, sometimes more!

My mother-in-law has been making this for a long time, and gave me the recipe a few years back now. It is one of those really hearty meals, and I remember being amazed when I saw the recipe was so simple, thinking how on earth can this taste SO flavoursome...but it just does. It does take a little while to prep it all, but once it is done, it will be so worth it!

Play around with the vegetables you put in, and the quantities too, until you get it just the way you like it. I love the pumpkin the most in this dish, so I tend to use more pumpkin than the other veggies!

The recipe is below - so have a try and let me know how you go with it! Hopefully it will become a family favourite for you too!

Grandma Zoe's Casserole

500-700g beef stewing steak, cut into chunks

2 Tbs plain flour

Salt & Pepper

2 x onions, chopped

4 x cloves garlic, peeled

4 x carrots, chopped in bite size pieces

3 x potatoes, chopped in bite size pieces

4 x sticks celery, chopped in bite size pieces

1/2 pumpkin, chopped in bite size pieces

2 Tbs vegetable stock paste (optional)

Herbamare salt (optional)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Place the steak in a plastic bag with the flour, salt and pepper and shake until well coated. Heat some oil in a large frying pan and cook the steak until browned through. Remove to a large casserole dish.

Put onions and garlic into the frying pan, and stir until soft, translucent and fragrant. Add in the rest of the vegetables and cook until all vegetables are well softened - don't skimp on this step. I let mine cook for a good 20 minutes or more, sitrring in between every so often. If you don't let them soften up as much as possible, they won't melt in your mouth at the end!
Add a little more oil if necessary.

Place the cooked vegetables on top of the meat in the casserole dish. Add a little water to your frypan along with the vegetable stock paste (if using) and rub the base of the frypan with a wooden spoon to release all the delicious juices and bits. Pour this liquid on top of the casserole, and top with a little more water if needed (until the liquid level is almost to the top of the dish). *The vegetable stock paste and herbamare are asbolutely optional. The dish still tastes fantastic without them.

Cover with foil (or a lid if you have one) and pop into the oven for 2 hours.

We find this quantity makes 8-10 serves, easily. If you aren't keen on eating it over the course of a couple of days, it freezes really well also.

xxx

(Recipe) ::: Chicken Bone Broth

On our journey to find lifestyle choices that will help support our kids health (prompted by the onset of eczema with DD2), we were introduced to the idea of using bone broths as a way to support healthy gut function and increase the productivity of the immune system. Research is showing more and more that gut health is the direct link for so many different ailments and illnesses, from eczema to depression and anxiety. It's exciting that we can start supporting ourselves more with something as simple as a broth!

Bone broths have been around for years...they are not a new concept. Your grandma most probably used to cook them all the time! They are super easy to make and the benefits they provide, and the ways in which you can use them, are endless! My beautiful friend, Stephanie Rayner, introduced them to me, and we have been making them since! If there is a cold or flu running its course, this stuff is liquid gold! I would heat some up in a coffee mug and drink it hot - so nourishing and delicious! 

The recipe I use is adapted from The Red Tent Health Centre. I slightly changed quantities to suit my massive 15 Litre pot I got from Kmart - which I use to make my broth! 

Whenever you cook up a roast chook (or buy a hot chook from the shops), instead of just chucking out the bones and carcass, pop them in the freezer until you are ready to make your broth. For the broth I made yesterday, I had 2 x carcasses and about 16 x leg bones and the more chicken you use, the richer your stock is. It is better to get organic chickens, as they are obviously free from any chemicals or hormones. We are very restricted with choice where we live, so I have been simply using Free Range chickens.

The same is true for the vegetables - the more organic produce you can use, the better. I used organic onion and carrot in my recipe - however we had no organic celery so just standard there. The apple cider vinegar is used to help bring out the calcium and other minerals in the broth.

I tend to prepare my stock after the kids have gone to bed, and leave it on a gentle simmer overnight - which works out to about 12 hours or so. If you have a slow cooker, you could also pop it in there for 10 hours. If you have only simmered yours for a short time, you may need to add salt to taste at the end. However, due to the length of time mine simmers, it never needs extra salt.

We use our broth in everything! Whenever a recipe calls for stock, we replace it with broth. I even replace recipes calling for water with the broth. For example, mashed potatoes in the thermie, i use the broth instead of milk (and if i dont have broth I use coconut milk and its divine!). Boiling rice in broth, adding it to spaghetti bolognaise mince, boiling vegetables in it. The limits are absolutely endless! One of our favourites is a dairy free potato bake recipe, which I will put the link up for on our facebook page!

So dont be afraid of the broth! It is really a simple, inexpensive addition to your meals which will continue to give back to you in health benefits!

Chicken Bone Broth Recipe

2-3 Chicken carcasses 

4 sticks celery, washed and cut into pieces

2 brown onions, skins left on, washed and cut

2 carrots, washed and cut

4Tbsp apple cider vinegar

First we need to clean the chicken by placing it into a pot and covering it with water. Bring it to the boil. Once boiling, discard the water and replace with fresh water. 

Place all other ingredients into the stockpot and fill it with water to 4/5 of capacity. Bring it to the boil then turn the heat down to a simmer. The longer you leave it to simmer, the richer it becomes. 

When complete, leave to cool and strain through a sieve using muslin cloth. Store in fridge or freezer. I tend to go through my stock very quickly so i keep mine in the fridge. Though if you prefer, you can freeze in ice cubes, or little ziplock bags ready to defrost and pop in your favourite meals!

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