Colourful Chicken, Quinoa, Amaranth and Rice Risotto

After a visit to the organics store to stock up on flour, I bought a bunch of different coloured quinoa and some amaranth to have a play with.  While I've used quinoa before, I'd never had amaranth, but I figured it'd be similar enough that I could figure something out (I also discovered that you can pop amaranth like popcorn!).  My first experiment was to make up a mix of equal parts red, black and white quinoa and amaranth.  It's very pretty.

I used this mix to make a risotto that was half quinoa, half rice and very colourful.


Colourful Chicken, Quinoa, Amaranth and Rice Risotto

200 g Chicken thigh, cut into chunks
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup quinoa/amaranth mix
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
~ 1 Tsp dried rosemary
~ 1 tsp dried parsley
a sprinkle of chilli or pepper to taste
1 flat brown mushroom, diced
~1/4 of a yellow capsicum, sliced
1 tomato, diced
generous handful of fresh spinach leaves

• In a medium saucepan, cook chicken in oil until cooked
• Add rice and quinoa and cook until rice begins to stick
• Add half a cup of stock, herbs, chilli and mushroom and cook with stirring until all liquid is absorbed
• Add stock in 1/2 cup lots, allowing to absorb and stirring frequently
• Add capsicum and tomato with last lot of stock to allow to warm through
• Add spinach leaves at the end and stir through

This recipe is even more delicious if a cup of cheese is added with the spinach, or maybe some garlic added with the rice, or a few rashers of bacon with the chicken.  The possibilities for adaptation are only limited by what you have in the house, or what you are able to eat.

Stripey Yellow and Black Sleeves/Armwarmers (Crochet)

As I mentioned in my last post, for Halloween last year I made a hat and sleeve set for my Bee Girl costume.  The last post had the hat patten, now here's the pattern for the sleeves.

Sleeve Pattern

Pattern uses:
5.5 mm crochet hook
~100 g 8 ply yellow wool
~100 g 8 ply black wool

In yellow wool:
r1    ch4, 24 foundation dc, join with a sc in 3rd ch (24 dc)
r2    sc over the top of the joining sc, ch2, dc in the spaces between dc around, join with a sc in 2nd ch
r3    change colour by incorporating the black thread in the last loop of the joining sc (don't cut yellow), sc over top of join, ch2, dc in spaces, join with a sc
r4    repeat r2


Repeat rows 3 and 4 alternating yellow and black until have 12 stripes (6 yellow, 6 black).  In order to keep the seam straight, it'll be necessary to join the occasional rows with a sl st, sl st in the space between the ch2 and first dc, sc over the top of the sl st.  This puts the join on the opposite side of the ch2, which makes the join line reasonably straight. I did this about every 5th row.


r25  change to yellow. Sc over top of join, dc around, add an extra dc into same space as first sc, ch2. (25 sc)
r26  repeat r2
r27  repeat r3
r28  sc over top of join, dc around, add an extra dc into sc space (26 sc)


Repeat rows 27 and 28 four more times until there are 30 stitches.  Add 5 more stripes, ending on yellow.


You can easily adapt this pattern to suit different sized arms by using a different number of stitches and making the increases happen earlier or later.  Also, I have long arms because I'm 175 cm (5' 9"), and the sleeves fit comfortably from the base of my thumb to my elbow.  If you have shorter arms, you'll probably be wanting to take out some of the stripes.  It's all easy to do if you measure it as you go and just start to increase as your arm gets wider.   

Stripey Yellow and Black Hat (Crochet)

For Halloween last year I dressed up as the Bee Girl from the Blind Melon No Rain video clip:

As part of my costume, I crocheted a stripey yellow and black hat and some sleeves to match.  I'll put up the patterns for both, starting with the hat.

Hat Pattern

Pattern uses:
5.5 mm crochet hook
~30 g 8 ply yellow wool
~50 g 8 ply black wool

In black wool:
r1    ch4, 63 foundation dc, join with a sc in 3rd ch (64 dc)
r2    sc over the top of the joining sc, ch2, dc in the spaces between dc around, join with a sc in 2nd ch
r3    change colour by incorporating the yellow thread in the last loop of the joining sc (don't cut black), sc over top of join, ch2,  dc in spaces, join with a sc
r4    repeat r2

Repeat rows 3 and 4 alternating yellow and black until have 8 stripes.  On rows 7 and 11, join with a sl st, sl st in the space between the ch2 and first dc, sc over the top of the sl st.  This puts the join on the opposite side of the ch2, which makes the join line reasonably straight.

r17  repeat r3 (64 dc)
r18  sc over top of join, ch2, dec, 5dc, dec, *6dc, dec* x6, 6dc, join with sc (56 dc)
r19  change to yellow.  Sc over top of join, ch2, dc, dec, 4dc, dec, *5dc, dec* x6, 4dc, join with sc (48 dc)
r20  sc over top of join, ch2, 2dc, dec, 3dc, dec, *4dc, dec* x6, 2dc, join with sc (40 dc)
r21  change to black. sc over top of join, ch2, 3dc, dec, 2dc, dec, *3dc, dec* x5, 4dc, join with sc (32 dc)
r22  ch3, dec starting in the same gap (the two 'feet' of the dec should be on either side of the sc, ch2 from the previous row), *2dc, dec* x7, 2dc, join with sc (24 dc)
r23  change to yellow. sc over top of join, ch2, dec, *dc, dec* x7, join with sc (16 dc)
r24  sc over top of join, ch2,  dec x8, join with sc (9 dc)
r25  change to black.  sc over top of join, ch2, dec x4, join with sc.  Fasten off and stitch tail though tops of stitches to close hole.

I have a reasonably large head (59 cm), and I made the hat to be a bit loose so it would breathe, so bear that in mind when making this pattern.  It should be easy enough to lose a few stitches here and there, or to use a smaller hook - just remember that because of the looseness of the stitch, it's necessary to do two rounds to get an accurate idea of the size.

Cabled Crochet Fingerless Gloves

I made myself a cabled crochet hat following this pattern, and I wanted to make some fingerless gloves to match.  However, there weren't any patterns that I could find even remotely close to what I wanted, so I came up with one myself.  If you get lost in the cabling instructions, the hat pattern has some very good pictures detailing the steps.

Pattern uses:
fpdc, bpdc, fptc
4 mm crochet hook
~100 g 8 ply wool

In all rows, begin on a ch2.  This counts as the first bpdc in the repeated pattern

r1   32 foundation dc.  Join with sl st
r2   *bpdc, fpdc* repeat around x16.  Join
r3   *bpdc, fpdc* repeat around x16.  Join
r4   *bpdc, 2fpdc, bpdc, 4fpdc* repeat around x4.  Join
r5   *bpdc, 2fpdc, bpdc, 4fpdc* repeat around x4.  Join
r6   *bpdc, 2fpdc, bpdc, fptc in 3rd fpdc, fptc in 4th fpdc, fptc in 1st fpdt, fptc in 2nd fpdc* repeat around x4.  Join
In r7, it's important that you crochet into the fptc in the same order that you crocheted them.
r7   *bpdc, 2fpdc, bpdc, 4fpdc* repeat around x4.  Join

Repeat rows 5-7 until work reaches the desired length between knuckles and thumb.  Stop on any row.

sl st across top of 1st fpdc ch2, fpdc on next stitch and repeat cabling pattern until get to beginning ch2 from previous round.  Bpdc in that ch2, fpdc in same fpdc as sl st from start of round, dc in gap before ch2.  Fasten off. **Reattach yarn into top of first fpdc, ch2, fpdc in same stitch, repeat pattern around ending with a fpdc in the final dc, fasten off** Repeat between **  ** the appropriate amount of times until work reaches the base of your thumb just above your wrist.

Return to repeating rows 5-7.  On the first row after finishing the thumb hole, join the extra dc/ch2 between the first 2 fpdc together by doing a fpdc across the two of them.  Continue until desired length up the arm is reached.  Finish on row 5.

Repeat rows 2 and 3  six times for a ribbed cuff.  Fasten off, then tuck in ends.  You'll have a bunch of ends from the thumb holes.  I find it best to tuck them down the backs of the two fpdc lines on either side, that way the slight thickening is less noticeable.


Thumb:

Dc around the ch2/dc circle that makes the edge of the thumb hole, starting from the bottom (wrist end) and averaging 1 dc per stitch.  *Don't join, and work a dc dec in every stitch until about halfway up the thumb hole.  Dc until the top (finger end) of the hole, then work a single dec at the corner.  Continue dc until halfway down the hole, then dec every stitch back to the start of the round*.  Work * * to make a third row, sl st then fasten off and tuck in ends.

The pattern can be adjusted for smaller or larger hands by extending the 8 stitch motif to 10 stitches by adding additional bpdc to the two bpdc spaces and using more or less pattern repeats.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake or Muffins Recipe

It came as a bit of a surprise when I realised that I've never actually baked a carrot cake before, considering that it's my most favourite cake ever.  I spent a bunch of time trying to find a recipe that didn't have nuts or dried fruit, as I'm on a low FODMAP diet so dried fruit is not allowed, and currently not eating nuts as they're a potential migraine trigger.  Also, I don't like walnuts.  But after half an hour of searching, I kept finding recipes contaminated with sultanas and nuts, or worse still, coconut and pineapple (not a dietary issue, just a grossness thing).  So I decided to try my hand at adapting one to my needs.  I started from this one, as it looked the most tasty and I had all the other ingredients in the cupboard.   Conveniently, it's also dairy-free, as most carrot cakes tend to be.

Also, I was given a bug-shaped muffin tray for Christmas which I was itching to try and this recipe seemed a good one to try given the large egg content for extra gluey-ness.  I also added extra guar gum in the hopes that the cake would stick to itself, rather than the tray or crumble everywhere.



Carrot Cake

2 cups gf flour mix*
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated carrot

• Preheat oven to 180°C.  Grease a 20 cm round baking tin
• Sift flour, spices and soda together.  Make sure they're well mixed
• Add all the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined
• Cook for 55-60 min (Or if making muffins 20-25 min)

* I make my own flour mix from 2 parts rice flour, 1 part corn flour and 1 part tapioca flour.  I also add 1/2-1 tsp guar gum per cup of flour.  For this particular recipe I added 2 tsp due to the muffin tray.
Other flour mixes should be fine, just make sure they have guar or xanthan gum in them.

Ice with cream cheese icing:



Cream Cheese Icing

250 g cream cheese, softened
3 Tsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tsp lemon juice
2 cups icing sugar

• Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and lemon together until smooth
• Add icing sugar and mix

As you can see from the picture, the muffin tray was a success!  They slid right out with no casualties, and were delicious.

First Post!

I like to crochet.  And I like to bake.  And while for the most part, I can find recipes that suit my needs for both of my habits, I also have a compulsive urge to adapt things.  I've been thinking about actually writing down some of my adaptations and originals for a while now, and it looks like I'm finally making a start.  So I'm going to write things down as I get around to it, and see how it goes....