#3 Angel Munro – Melbourne, Australia

Mutual friends led me to Angel. She has such a great reputation for simple, rustic cooking generously loaded with flavour and colour. She used to run a super blog called The Vegetarian. These days, she’s a qualified nutritionist and an educator with the wonderful Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program. She’s living the ultimate food paradise where kids and health intersect.

I could have asked Angel a million more questions about her studies and her future goals, as well as the unique position of raising two kids a decade apart in age. But, heck, I had to leave her house eventually.

Enjoy these beautiful snaps from Kelli Morris and definitely dig into Angel’s recipe for Fluffy Buckwheat Pancakes with homemade cinnamon & honey labne.

Name Angel Munro
Occupation SAKG Kitchen Specialist and SAKG program coordinator at Murrumbeena Primary School and I recently finished a bachelor’s degree in clinical nutrition
Location Fitzroy, Melbourne
Family members Angel & Ben, Titian (22 yo), Lili (11 yo)

In our home, there is Ben, Lili, myself and our two dogs, Yoko & Boati. Titian moved out last year. Thankfully we live in a very central area so he is always dropping in to use our parking pass (hehe). We also make an effort to spend time regularly with the four of us, this always includes a meal. Weekends are packed with socialising with friends and family. My favourite Saturday nights involve being outside around the fire with friends, kids, good food and wine. The ceremony and reverence around sharing a meal with family and friends is something I’d like to pass on to my kids.

Ben and I have always made sure our work lives are somewhat flexible so one of us has been around for the kids. We are all quite close and like spending a lot of time together. The downside of that is that we both always feel like we’re not getting enough done personally/professionally but having a child that is already 22, I really know how fast it goes and I want to continue to be present for Lili.

We have a no tv/screen policy for Lili on the weekdays. Afternoons and evenings include cooking and eating all together at the dining table and activities like dog walking, listening to music/music practice, card games, reading, homework, drawing etc. I know that sounds extreme to lots of people but in a world where technology is so pervasive, I have tried to give my kids the space from technology that we had the luxury of having when we were growing up. Lili goes to a Steiner school, so the weekly rhythm and values that we live by is conducive to the community that we are a part of. That being said Lili always hassles us into numerous episodes of Full House as soon as 3:45pm on a Friday hits.

At the moment, I’m working on developing the services that I’ll offer as a nutritionist. I’m also doing a short, esoteric course on sacred space and the energetics of the plant kingdom. It’s really interesting and complementary to my work. It’s also the perfect antidote to just finishing a health science degree.

Early on in my degree I decided that I wanted to work with different communities in the area of health promotion via food education. Preventable diseases like obesity, cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes are on the rise in Australia, not to mention worldwide. Programs that promote preventative health measures make sense to me, especially programs for children. Habits can be difficult to change even when someone’s life or quality of life depends on it, which is why I believe that instilling healthy eating habits in children is so important.

I fell pregnant with Titian when I was eighteen and still at home. I moved out just a month before he was born, so my cooking style as an individual really started to develop from that point, I learnt on the job so to speak. I have loved cooking since I was a child and loved being in the kitchen with my mum when I was a kid. I was brought up vegetarian, both my parents were really into macrobiotics in the 70’s and 80’s. However, the 90’s were far more influenced by European food. Those themes informed my style when I moved out of home and still do.

As a parent, I have always tried to make as much as possible from scratch. When Lili was a toddler and I was at home with her I was making my own bread, cheese, butter etc. Now that I am working that is not happening. I still make sure that we are eating whole food but meals during the week are quick and simple and I leave more complicated things to the weekend and I am now just buying the bread, haha. Life is always changing, I try not to take things too seriously, I just adapt our routine around food depending on what else is going on in our world.

Both my kids love cooking. Titian did an apprenticeship at Supernormal while he was doing year 12 VCAL and he is about to open his own café with a couple of friends. I think he is a better cook that I am. He has that formal training that I don’t have and his family on his father’s side are Vietnamese and they are all great cooks, he has this whole other gamete of influences that I haven’t had. He, like me loves cooking for his family and friends, it makes me really happy to know that I have contributed to that love. We are also so lucky that all of our family and friends are excellent cooks, both children have been influenced by so many people in regard to food. I am very grateful for that. Lili loves cooking too and at the moment she wants to be a pastry chef. She has a very sweet tooth and if you’re not careful she’ll coerce you into several sweets over the course of the day without you noticing. In fact, she spent an hour hassling me today that it would be ok for her to make truffles for when you come around to take photos.

I’m lucky my kids have always been good at entertaining themselves (for the most part), otherwise I get them to help me in the kitchen. There have been times where I have been at my wits end. At those times I just turn everything off, go to my room and gather myself and then comeback and start again. The biggest problem at meal times is probably me, I get hangry very easily. Having a stash of nuts in the cupboard helps, haha.

I had been a fan of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program before I started my degree. I coordinate the program with a garden specialist, Jac Semmler. I deliver the kitchen classes and my colleague delivers the garden classes. The program is delivered to 6 grade 3 and 4 classes, with each class doing a kitchen session and a garden session every week.The children will harvest the food in the garden class (as well as other garden tasks) and I’ll develop a menu around the harvest list. Under supervision by a volunteer, each group will make a different dish from the menu then we all come together into the dining room and share everything that was made. They then clean up afterwards. It can be pretty hectic, but I am always constantly impressed by the food they produce and by their enthusiasm and love for the program. It’s a very fulfilling job.

The slogan of the foundation is “pleasurable food education” and it couldn’t be truer. The simple act of the children growing, preparing and sharing food in and enjoyable and warm environment has a huge impact on children, their relationship to food and their eating habits. I have seen huge changes in children’s cooking abilities and palates just weeks into commencing the program. It is really quite amazing. The programs growth into a hugely popular national program is a testament to that.

I’ve always dragged my children around with me while shopping, because mostly there is no other option! but I do think that it is a very important part of developing a strong and healthy relationship with food. Lili and I go and do a big shop at the very busy Terra Madre once a fortnight. We live in Fitzroy so for day to day shopping we walk down to Smith street, there are a couple of organic shops there and a really great Middle eastern Supermarket called Sonsa. We go to Meatsmiths when I’m getting meat for the family or guests and Alimentari for bread, coffee, pastries and other deli goods……we are in there a lot. We also have a small veggie patch in our front yard, I mostly get Lili to help with harvesting.

We’ve been getting organic mixed boxes for the last 7 years. I get a mixed box of seasonal, organic fruit and veg delivered to our hose from Ceres Fair Food. It’s a very affordable way to eat organic and it keeps you eating seasonally. Not everyone likes not choosing their produce, but I quite like the surprise and the produce is always extremely fresh. Everyone in the house like opening up the box and seeing what’s in there for that week.

Olive oil goes on everything in this house. It provides healthy fats and of course it is delicious and contrary to popular belief, it actually has a high smoke point. Brown rice, dried pasta, some traditional, some chickpea flour or quinoa flour. Lentils, canned tomatoes and legumes, corn tortillas, spices, nuts. Basically, anything that I can produce a quick and nutritious weeknight meal with. Also, maple syrup, it’s my favourite sweetener, I put in everything including some savory food and salad dressing. Plus, I always have a variety of flours on hand as I bake a lot, buckwheat flour, wheat flour and spelt are the ones I use the most. And I can’t live without eggs, goats cheese and parmesan.

I‘m a bit of a mean mum when it comes to food dislikes. I have always said that they at least have to have a bit. I always come back to, we are really lucky to eat such beautiful organic food, I’ve always tried to remind them to be grateful. It hasn’t always worked, but mostly. They are also both pretty great eaters. I’m lucky. At work I am much more empathic, I have a lot of kids that have allergies and intolerances and I always make them versions of what we are cooking so they feel included and have a positive experience in the kitchen. This consideration is also extended to children with ethical or religious dietary restrictions. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s with a strange name (back then) and as a vegetarian, I think it has made me conscious of those situations. I understand that for some children their diets are very different to what we are cooking in the kitchen. I never make a big deal out of food with them or pressure them into trying things, but I always offer new foods and over time even the fussiest of eaters try new foods. It’s quite remarkable.

Most dog-eared cookbook pre and post parenthood: I still have a dog-eared cookbook that was my mum and dads. It’s called Natural tucker, Traditional Eastern and Wholefood Cooking for Australians. It has an illustration on the front with a guy in a kitchen with an apron on and what appears to be nothing else. In the background there is a baby in a t-shirt and a nappy. It contains recipes like tofu cheesecake, chapatti and hijiki rice balls (hijiki is a type of seaweed). The book and the recipes remind me of my childhood. Post-parenthood would have to be The Cooks Companion by Stephanie Alexander. My friends Beci and Raph gave it to Ben and I as a wedding present 13 years ago. It’s stained and the spine has fallen off. It really is such a comprehensive book. Cooking is a creative expression for me, and I like to develop my own recipes so having a book that covers basics is the most valuable.

Time-saving tip or food hack: Soaking Legumes and grains. It makes them easier to digest and frees the nutrients, making them easier to absorb. If I think in the morning that we’ll have something like lentils, quinoa or brown rice for dinner, I’ll put them into a bowl of water to soak. When I cook them in the evening the cooking time is at least halved, it’s a win-win situation.

Favourite local kid-friendly restaurants: It has always been important to me that the kids learn how to eat, converse and engage properly around mealtime. When the kids were younger, I would take some paper and pencils and to any restaurant, including fine dining. Obviously now they are older now so it’s easier but in saying that… sometimes the menus at some restaurants can be a bit more complicated than Lili would like. At the moment I’m loving The Builders Arms. The food is amazing, the fit-out is beautiful and they have a great kid’s menu, we’re all happy there. We also love The Standard Hotel. The food is great there and there are always lots of other families around.

Fluffy Buckwheat Pancakes

We always eat dinner together, but we don’t often have the luxury to share breakfast together during the week. I love the slower mornings that the weekends bring, and I love the opportunity to share it with my family. When I make these, I cook up the whole batch and keep them warm in the oven, so when they are all cooked we can sit around the dining table and eat them together. On the table is always a wide range of toppings so everyone can do their own thing, there is always a pot of coffee and occasionally the newspapers.

I love cooking and experimenting with recipes, so I am always cooking different things. But I have always consistently eaten buckwheat pancakes. I prefer them to wheat pancakes and as a child it’s what my mother made me (although I think hers were made using the buckwheat pancake mix that you buy from the health food store). My version has evolved over time. A few years ago, Titian informed me that the only correct way to make pancakes was to whip the egg whites separately. I have now obliged, he was right.This recipe makes about 8 medium sized pancakes.

2 cups of Buckwheat flour
3 tsp of baking soda
2 tbsp of rapudura sugar
10g of butter, melted and cooled + extra for cooking
1 tsp of vanilla essence
2 eggs separated
2 cups of full cream milk
Juice of half a lemon

For the cinnamon & honey labne:

500g of yogurt
Pinch of salt
Tbsp of runny honey + extra to serve
¼ tsp of cinnamon

For the vanilla strawberries:

½ vanilla bean seeds scraped
1 punnet of strawberries hulled and halved.
1 tbsp of maple syrup

To make the labne, stir a pinch of salt into yogurt and place into a colander lined with muslin, tie muslin to contain yogurt and place a plate on top, this will help push the liquid out of the yogurt (make sure you leave the colander in the sink or over a bowl as lots of liquid will be released). Leave in the fridge or at room temperature for 6-24 hrs.

Remove labne from muslin and place in bowl with cinnamon and honey. Stir well and serve with a drizzle of extra honey on top.

For the pancakes, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Set aside.

Add lemon juice to milk (this will make the milk curdle a bit, don’t worry, it will make it act similar to buttermilk and will result in fluffy pancakes), set aside.

Sift buckwheat flour and baking powder into a bowl. Make a well and add melted butter, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla essence and milk. Beat with wooden spoon until smooth. Fold in egg whites.

Cook in heavy based frypan (cast iron is ideal) with a small knob of butter on medium heat until bubbles start to form around the edge and the bottom is golden brown. Flip with a spatula and cook until golden on both sides. Keep covered in a warm oven and repeat until all pancakes are cooked.

Meanwhile mix all of the ingredients for the vanilla strawberries together.

Serve pancakes topped with labne and strawberries and extra maple syrup.