FLOWER POT KITCHEN: BIG GIRLS DIET POT OODLE ON THE GO!

7 Jul 2014

BIG GIRLS DIET POT OODLE ON THE GO!

So in love with this creative gorgeous pot oodle this is so convenient to take to work, a friends or if you are out for the day, minutes to assemble the jar at home and you can do it a few days before you need it then all you need to turn this in to your oodle is a kettle of boiling water or a flask with hot chicken or vegetable stock, ta-da! Lots of different flavour combinations so you will never get bored of this super pot oodle.

INGREDIENTS

(makes one)

1 kilner jar

handful of peas

small handful beansprouts

little spinach

a few Julienne slices of carrot

a few slices of red cabbage

few slices of red peppers

1 red chilli sliced

1 spring onion sliced

3 mangetout sliced

1 radish julienne sliced

2 sprigs coriander

salt & black pepper

1/2 jelly stock pot in jar or

300ml hot chicken stock

The key to a quick assembly is in the preparation, if I am going to be slicing some vegetables I will slice around three times the amount I need, these I place in glass storage containers with a lid in the fridge and call my antioxidant boxes, in these containers as a rule, ready to go I have sliced peppers, onions, garlic, chilli, mangetout, carrot, cabbage and radish. I also blanch 2-3 portions of asparagus at a time so again they are ready to add to a salad or eggs.

Just fill your kilner jar with all the ingredients, adding or changing the ingredients to your own taste, for a successful pot oodle make sure all the ingredients are the sliced or julienned really thin, this is so they will cook in a couple of minutes in the hot stock.

Take your jar with you and when you are ready to eat, either pour over your hot stock from your flask or if you have added 1/2 a jelly stock to your pot oodle just add approx 300ml boiling water, close the lid and gently turn the jar a little to distribute the hot stock evenly and leave for a couple of minutes to cook the super thin vegetables then tuck in and enjoy.

Variations with this can be anything you like, for example I sometimes add Chinese five spice and a dash of paleo soy sauce, or sometimes a little chicken and some curry powder, I have also had this tom yum style with tom yum paste, tamarind, lemongrass, ginger and harissa paste, just start plain and then play.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.