Fish Fingers and Trying Fighting School Holiday Boredom....

This past school holidays were slowly driving me a bit mental. It rained. It was cold. There were next to no playgroups and it was too crappy to go out anyway. So what did we do?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Made Fish Fingers. 

I know. I know. 

Its the bane of so many mum's existence. But honestly, we never have them! So, it quite was a treat! 

We used about 400 grams of fish (I think it was groper) cut into easy to manage strips. 

Put it into a bag with 1/2 cup of flour. Shake it baby! (the boys loved this for about 5 seconds)

In a bowl, I combined equal parts shredded coconut and panko breadcrumbs with a little salt and pepper. Then (without egg, crazy I know!) put the coated fish into the coconut mixture. Press them in thoroughly and make sure it all sticks. It's easiest to do this in batches. Then in a shallow fry pan using grapeseed oil, fry them up until they are golden brown and cooked through. Drain on a towel and squeeze a bit of lime, good to go!

And while this was all going on, I was baking some chips in the oven and making some of my favourite tartar sauce via my childhood memory. I felt like a true mum (or Mom) when I made that. 

Mayo. Relish. Stir. 

It brought a tear to my eye and made desperately miss my Mom back in the states. 

It was a total 80's flashback lunch for me.

And the boys loved it. Especially the tartar sauce. 

Coconut Fish Fingers with Mom's Old School Tartar Sauce

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Ingredients

• 400 grams Groper (or any other hardy fish)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• approx 1/3 cup grapeseed oil for frying
• 2 tbsp mayonaisse
• 2 tbsp gherkin relish
• a squeeze of lime

Cooking Directions

1. Cut the fish into easy to manage strips.
2. Put the fish strips into a bag with 1/2 cup of flour. Shake shake shake!
3. In a bowl, combine the coconut and panko breadcrumbs with a little salt and pepper.
4. Then put the coated fish into the coconut mixture.
5. Press them in thoroughly and make sure it all sticks. It's easiest to do this in batches.
6. In a shallow fry pan using grapeseed oil, fry them up until they are golden brown and cooked through.
7. Drain on a towel and squeeze a bit of lime, good to go!
8. Mix the mayo and relish together and serve on the side for yummy dipping action.

xx

Aquaponics - Part 2

After seeing the Aquaponics system that was installed for a family on Costa's Garden Odyssey, Jacob has been enormously inspired to build his own.

He found some instructions online on how to build one using some new and recycled materials. Every weekend for about a month or so, he has been working like a mad scientist in our shed.

The start of the system

It's been, as he puts it, a lesson in trial and error. But it's in the testing phase finally! Testing in essence is the point where we've been dumping in water and just seeing if there are any leaks. And of course, there are some minor ones. But nothing massive which is a plus!

Getting there! About half way done at this point.

After a few trips to the random hydroponics places and the largest aquarium shop I've ever seen – the progress looks good!

So, Jacob's mad scientist skills are totally paying off! Soon we will have yummy plants and eventually yummy home grown fish!

*aquaponics

Has anyone else tried these out??

J and I were watching Costa's Garden last night,
and were completely amazed by these.

Aquaponics is based on productive systems as they are found in nature. It can be loosely described as the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics and this is where the name aqua-ponics originates.

Hydroponic systems rely heavily on the careful application of man-made nutrients for the optimum growth of plants. The nutrients are made from mixing together a concoction of chemicals, salts and trace elements to form the ‘perfect’ balance. Water in hydroponic systems needs to be discharged on periodically, as the salts and chemicals build up in the water which becomes toxic to the plants. Aquaculture systems focus on maximising growth of fish in tank or pond culture.

The fish are usually heavily stocked in the tanks often, 10kg in 100L of water. The high stocking rates often mean that the tank water becomes polluted with fish effluent which gives off high concentrations of Ammonia. Water has to be discharged at a rate of 10-20% of the total volume in the tank once a day, everyday. This water is often pumped into open streams where it pollutes and destroys waterways.
 
Aquaponics combines both systems, and in doing so cancels out the negative aspects of each. Instead of adding toxic chemical solutions to grow plants, aquaponics uses highly nutritious fish effluent that contains almost all the required nutrients for optimum growth. Instead of discharging water, aquaponics uses the plants and the media in which they grow to clean and purify the water, after which it is returned to the fish tank. This water can be reused indefinitely and will only need to be replaced when it is lost through transpiration and evaporation.

Check out the details via Backyard Aquaponics 

Loving it! We might try and set one up while we are still here in Australia, and then depending on how much room we actually have at the new house in NZ, we'd like to set one up there.

I love the thought of having fresh fish, fresh veggies - I could totally live off just that alone!! In addition to our normal veggies we grow, I think we'd be golden!

I'm really eager to hear if anyone else has this type of setup!!! Let me know!!!

By the way - Happy Friday! Have a good weekend!!

xo