Pumpkin Scones

This is a recipe I tried on the weekend. it is very tasty but a bit hard as a first time at trying to cook proper scones.
It is taken from Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen's Classic Country Collection.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2-2 1/4 cup of self raising flour
1 cup mashed pumpkin(cold), it also helps if the pumpkin has been roasted either the night before or earlier that morning, it is also a good excuse to have a roast dinner

Method

Beat together butter, sugar and salt using an electric mixer, a hand whisk will also get the job done. Add egg, then pumpkin. Finally stir in, by hand, sifted flour. Turn onto a floured board and cut. Place on a heated, floured tray and cook on the top shelf of a very hot oven(225° - 250°C), I had it on fan forced at 210°C, for 15-20 minutes.

I find they are nicer still slightly warm because the outside is still quite crunchy.  

fried chicken and bean salad

fried chicken and bean salad

Ingredients:

Bean salad;
1 tin of kidney beans, washed
1 tin of 5 bean mix, washed
1 tin of sweet corn, washed
1/4 red capsicum, diced
1 celery stick, sliced
 fetta cheese, crumbled
salad dressing of your choice

Chicken;
Chicken tenderloins
Ketchup manis
1 tbs freshly grated Ginger
1 tbs crushed garlic

Method:
Marinade;
Put the chicken, ginger and garlic in a container, shake well, and put in the fridge for 24 hours

The next day;
Cook the chicken in a hot pan and near the end of its cooking time add the marinade that is left in the container.

Bean salad;
Mix all legumes, cheese and vegetables together and add salad dressing of your choice

Fried Chicken and salad

Fried Chicken and salad

Ingredients:

Chicken tenderloins
Persian spices mix
salt and pepper


Salad;
1 celery stick, sliced
1 tomato, quartered
fetta cheese, cubed or crumbled
lettuce leaves, ripped
1/4 capsicum, strips
1/4 cucumber, sliced or quartered lengthways 
1 carrot, strips 
balsamic vinegar 


Method:
Salad;
Add all vegetables in the bowl and toss. Add cheese and balsamic vinegar.


Chicken;
Lay chicken out on chopping board sprinkle Persian spices over and rub into the chicken.

Scatter salt and pepper over the chicken. Add to a hot pan seasoned side down and rub more spice into the unseasoned side, which should be facing up. flip and cook the other side. Cook through and serve with salad

Fried Quinoa

Fried Quinoa

Ingredients:

1/3 Red capsicum, diced

3-4 rashers of bacon, diced

1-2 carrots, diced finely

2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed and sliced

1/2 onion, diced

1 1/2 cups peas, frozen or fresh

1-2 stalks of celery, sliced finely

1cup Quinoa, cooked in 2 cup of chicken stock

Ketchup Manis to your liking
2 eggs, whisked

Method:

Cooking the Quinoa;

Add 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cup of water or chicken stock. Bring to the boil then turn heat down and let simmer, checking occasionally to make sure it isn’t sticking to the bottom, until light and fluffy with no left over water

Cook in wok;

Make omelette and set it aside while you cook the garlic, onion and bacon then set them aside. Chop the omelette and fry of you vegetables. Once they are fried off add the onion, garlic, bacon, omelette pieces and cooked quinoa. Also add Ketchup Manis and cook for a further 2 minutes tossing the whole time. Once the Ketchup Manis is mixed through serve.

This can last up to 2 days in your fridge

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa Salad

Serves: 4 

Ingredients:

½ cup Quinoa, cooked in 1 cup of chicken stock

1 stick of celery, sliced

10 sun dried tomatoes, finely sliced

A handful of kalamata olives, halved

Half a 200g block of Danish feta, crumbled

1/3 red capsicum, diced

Salad dressing if wanted

Method:

Cooking the Quinoa;

Add ½ cup of quinoa to 1 cup of water or chicken stock. Bring to the boil then turn heat down and let simmer, checking occasionally to make sure it isn’t sticking to the bottom, until light and fluffy with no left over water

Salad;

Add all the ingredients into the same bowl as the Quinoa

Add a splash of salad dressing

This can last up to 2 days in your fridge

Barrelponics system

Aquaponics

Aquaponics is basically Aquaculture and Hydroponics combined.

The basic three things that plants need are water, nutrients and oxygen. Aquaponics is one of the most efficient systems that give the plants these three things; Aquaponics also uses one tenth of the water than normal gardens.

In our system, water is pumped up from the fish tank into the grow beds. The water then pools in the bottom of the grow beds and as the water rises it will touch the roots of the plants, where they will use the nutrient rich water created from the fish waste, before it reaches the top of the standpipe. Then a vacuum is made with the air in the bell siphon the water is then forced down the stand pipe and into the fish tank. While the water is refilling the bed, the roots have time to get oxygen. 

The cycle of the bacteria starts with the fish food, the fish eat the food then they produce Ammonia. The Ammonia is then turned into Nitrites. The Nitrites are converted to Nitrates. The Plants absorb the Nitrates and then the fish, after their next feeding, will produce more Ammonia and the cycle will re-start.

What Are Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates???

Ammonia as I said is produced by the fish, in other words it is found in their waste. Ammonia is a colourless gas with a pungent smell. It dissolves in water to give a strong alkaline solution.

Nitrites are salt or an organic compound of nitrous acid, containing nitrogen dioxide.

Nitrates are salt or an organic compound of nitric acid, containing nitrate ion or a type of fertiliser.

On Monday we started building the frame, it was made of recycled timber and metal.   

The next day we prepared the drums. In one 44 gallon drum, 200L if you want to get picky, we cut a small rectangle, 41cm by 31cm, on the side. This will be the fish tank. The other drum was cut lengthwise and all holes filled with a clear gap sealer. These will be the grow beds.

PLEASE NOTE; the barrels we are using had bulk soft drink or soap in them. THEY WERE WASHED OUT BEFORE USE!!!

Next we secured the drums in place. The fish tank inside the frame and the grow beds on top of the frame. The grow beds are held in place by wire and garden string.

On Thursday we did the plumbing. We drilled holes in the bottom of the grow beds for the auto-siphon. 
 
There was also holes drilled in the back of the grow beds for an overflow pipe. There is a pump in the bottom of the fish tank with a pipe going up into the beds to fill them. The overflow pipes bend, if there is a heavy rain or the siphon is blocked and it rises to overflowing point it will drain back down into the fish tank. Where the siphon is placed in the beds underneath will have a return pipe, where as the siphon kicks in, it will return the water from the beds into the fish tank.

Next we added our medium. We used clay balls from our local hydroponics centre. We used 5½ bags to fill both beds. We washed the clay balls to get the dust off them but some of the dirty water got in the fish tank

Two days later we added our fist lot of fish, 5 ordinary gold goldfish, but the water was so murky that it suffocated 4 of the 5 fish. So we let the water sit until it was clear before adding more fish.

Once the water was clear we added 5 ordinary gold goldfish and 5 feeder goldfish. We also added, when he was well enough, the 5^th gold goldfish from our first lot of fish. We also added 6 crayfish.

Unfortunately 2-4 weeks later one fish and one crayfish died due to either fungus in the water or a lack of/ too much Nitrates.

5.8.11

We added another 4 crayfish and are treating the fish, with a salt bath, for the fungus and if that doesn’t work we will try an anti-fungal treatment from a local fish supplier.

We feed the fish every couple of days to keep the ammonia level. We also feed the beds chelated iron and sea sol or seaweed extract because the pH being so high it has blocked the plants ability to soak up the iron they need.

At the moment we are feeding the beds chelated iron once a week and sea sol twice a week until he pH and everything returns to normal.

We were recently warned that crayfish will eat the goldfish when they sleep, so we will be keeping the goldfish in the hospital tank until we finish the larger Aquaponics system out of IBCs. The crayfish will now have the barrelponics system all to their selves. 

Two days later we added our fist lot of fish, 5 ordinary gold goldfish, but the water was so murky that it suffocated 4 of the 5 fish. So we let the water sit until it was clear before adding more fish.

Once the water was clear we added 5 ordinary gold goldfish and 5 feeder goldfish. We also added, when he was well enough, the 5^th gold goldfish from our first lot of fish. We also added 6 crayfish.

Unfortunately 2-4 weeks later one fish and one crayfish died due to either fungus in the water or a lack of/ too much Nitrates.

5.8.11

We added another 4 crayfish and are treating the fish, with a salt bath, for the fungus and if that doesn’t work we will try an anti-fungal treatment from a local fish supplier.

We feed the fish every couple of days to keep the ammonia level. We also feed the beds chelated iron and sea sol or seaweed extract because the ph being so high it has blocked the plants ability to soak up the iron they need.

At the moment we are feeding the beds chelated iron once a week and sea sol twice a week until he pH and everything returns to normal.

We were recently warned that crayfish will eat the goldfish when they sleep, so we will be keeping the goldfish in the hospital tank until we finish the larger Aquaponics system out of IBCs. The crayfish will now have the barrelponics system all to their selves. 

Thanks

Maya 01 :)