GF Golden Syrup Sauce

I was excited by this month's theme of 'Feeling Saucy', many an idea has ticked through my brain of what delicious saucy dish I could come up with. Initially I thought I would base my sauce around fruits, to fit in with spring.


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But then..........................

I had a chocolate craving and nothing but my favourite GF Chocolate Fudge Brownie's would suffice(this recipe can be found in the Sweet Things tab at the top of the screen). Now it was a sauce to go with my delicious brownies, something nice and sweet with a hint of caramel/toffee flavour.

I didn't want something heavy, a light drizzly sauce to compliment the delicious gooey chocolate fudge brownies.

The recipe that I used was one that my Gran used to make golden syrup dumplings, one of my childhood favourites. I only used the sauce recipe and added a tablespoon of cornflour to thicken the sauce slightly.

Poured over warm Chocolate Fudge Brownies it was a taste bud delight, my friend and I both went back for seconds, it was just too delicious too pass up.

The best thing about this sauce is that is not only simple but gluten free! Quite often pre made sauces are filled with gluten, leaving us coeliacs and those on a gluten free diet to eat plain food and not try delicious sauces.

This sauce only takes 5- 10 minutes to cook and is so delicious no one will have to miss out on a tasty sauce again!

GF Golden Syrup Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 desertspoon butter
1 desertspoon golden syrup
1 desertspoon cornflour (mix in 1 desertspoon of water to make a paste)

Method:
Place water, sugar, butter and golden syrup into a saucepan on low heat, stir until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly. Bring to the boil, add cornflour mix to thicken sauce and mix through. Pour into a gravy jug and pour the sauce over your Chocolate Fudge Brownies.

I hope you enjoy this sauce as much as I did.

Missing Chocolate Bars!!

One of the frustrating things about being a coeliac is having to read labels every time you eat, looking for anything that contains wheat; specifically wheat startch or wheat flour (I have been told by a nutritionist that glucose from wheat is okay).

A large majority of chocolate bars contain wheat or gluten based products, making the number of chocolate bars that are okay to eat very minimal. Plain chocolate is gluten free but it doesnt have the same appeal as does the flavoured chocolate bars. Don't be fooled by the GF chocolate as it is more of a marketing ploy as plain chocolate doesn't contain gluten as does a small variety of flavoured chocolate. I have often selected a chocolate bar to eat and it is only after I have finished eating the bar that I read the ingredients and realise that it contains gluten. Then there is the side effects of eating gluten that don't nearly compensate for eating the chocolate!

What chocolate bars do you miss? I miss Frys Turkish Delight, Mars Bars, the chocolate bars that contain biscuits like Kit Kats, Violet Crumbles, the list goes on and on and on. I would really like to be able to go to the chocolate section in the supermarket and be able to pick whatever I was craving at the time, not what my coeliac disease dictated I can or more to the point cannot eat!

I would love for you to share your favourite chocolate or sweets that you miss eating, that has gluten and you can no longer eat.

GF Delicious Beef Slow Cooker Meal

This is the first post I have written in a while, unfortunately I have not been hit with the lucky stick of late and have had the wonder of experiencing some time in hospital recently and am still recovering from the ailments. Unfortunately this prevented me from going to the Gluten Free Expo,which I was looking forward to for weeks, months, really since last year! So if you were fortunate enough to attend the expo this year, please comment and let me know how it was, was it better or the same as last years? What were the stalls like? Did you get the opportunity to buy lots of gf food? What were the speakers like? Did you learn anything about coeliac disease or gluten intolerance that you didn't know? I would honestly appreciate any feedback on the expo!

I thought although it is spring in Australia, the nights still get cold, I would share  a slow cooker recipe that I made up, it's delightful and tastier when made with cheaper cuts of meat (even better for the budget)! I hope you and your family enjoy this delighful meal as much as mine did, make sure you take that extra time and cook the food before putting in the slow cooker, it seals the flavours, perfecting this  delicious dish!

GF Delicious Beef Slow Cooker Meal

Ingredients:
600g diced gravy beef
4 pieces middle bacon
4-5 pieces whole peeled garlic
1 red onion sliced
4 tablespoons cornflour
3 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 can tomatoes
Olive oil
2 gf beef stock cubes
2 washed potatoes
Oregano
Parsley
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

Method: Place chopped meat in a freezer bag, add cornflour and paprika, shake well. brown meat, add diced bacon, garlic, sliced onion into the pan. Add tomatoes, stock, herbs to your liking. Place all the cooked ingredients in a slow cooker on low. Dice potatoes, place in slow cooker a few hours before the meal is ready, slice the mushrooms and add to the slow cooker at the same time as the potatoes. Serve on a bed of rice.

Enjoy this hearty meal, it will have you wanting more.

Please feel free to email me on mmoagflife@gmail.com. Keep your eyes on this blog as I plan on updating the restaurant section, adding all new restaurants that sell great gf food, so if you know of a restaurant just let me know and I can add it too.

You can also follow me on Twitter @MMOAGFL I haven't been around much but will be around more as I start to improve.

Hope to chat to you soon. Take care

What do you miss eating?

 Over the past 2 years of being a coeliac and following the diet, I feel comfortable with it and how it works for me.  No matter how much I tell myself I am ok with my diet, there are times when I just wish I could eat a normal diet, to pick something delicious without thinking about it.

It got me thinking what gluten filled food do you miss the most? Lately Ive been looking at my husband eating some delicious cake or pastery or even a pie from the bakery and I miss that.  I live in a relative small semi rural town where the bakeries don't make gf cakes. I decided the other day while buying my husband a apple tart, that I would get a meringue, the only gf item in the bakery. I was most disappointed to discover that this rather sweet treat is targeted to children who love the blue sugary texture, not my cup of tea.

I was talking to a friend who had recently travelled to France and was listening to all the beautiful pastries and cakes he and his family had eaten. It got me thinking how would I go travelling overseas as a coeliac, to be in France and not to eat a crossiant! To travel to Italy and not to sample the famous pasta and pizza!

It is one of those times when you  wish that a cure for this autoimmune disease comes about, just imagine what our life's would be like!

My question to you my readers is what food do you miss the most? If there was a cure tomorrow what would you eat? If you have travelled overseas on a gluten free diet let me know how hard it was for you.

Keeping your stash of gluten free food!

Going to an event, a party, wedding, even a funeral as a coeliac, you always have the dreaded thought of will there be something I can eat?

After going hungry and having to leave parties early so that I could eat some dinner, I soon learnt to have a stash of gf bars in my handbag. I have a stash of sesame snaps, and various gf health bars. So while everyone else is eating a scone or some delicious snack, I'm eating my gf snacks. The hostess always feels guilty when they see me eating my bars but there are some events in life, like a wake, where food allergies are the farthiest thing from anyone's mind.

My lovely readers, who are coeliac or who suffer from an allergy of any type know too well what I'm talking about. It's being invited to an event and having to contact the restaurant to ensure that they provide some gluten free food, before you can say if your coming or not.

It's being invited to a barbecue and bringing your own meats that are gluten free or telling your friends that you are gluten free. It makes everything harder from finding a gf pizza place, to trying to remember which Asian dishes are ok to take the risk and order.

A lot of entrees particularly at Thai restaurants are full of gluten, it's hard sitting and watching everyone else eat the lovely entrees that you can no longer eat. Some restaurants have a gf labeling system, making ordering, eating and the after effects so much more pleasant.

What many coeliacs of all ages find difficult is going to that conference, the weekend away, a bus trip, you have to declare that you are a coeliac very early on, this is so the chefs and other people involved in food preparation can organise our food. Unfortunately if we don't fill those forms in in the required time, or sometimes they just get lost, it's a scramble trying to find something safe that you can eat.

If you are lucky enough to own a caravan and be taking a trip around Austrslia or another country, my advice would be to stock up on your gf cereals, some easy meals, snacks, biscuits etc. when you come across very small towns they aren't going to have a huge supply of gluten free food, but if you have your stash you know you won't go hungry.

Happy shopping for your vital stash of gf goodies that will now take proud place in your handbag, your saviour from going hungry again!

For any more information just comment or email me.

GF 80s Marble Cake

I was asked to do this post featuring a favourite cake or desert from the 1980s. I love the 80s, it was the decade I was born in, although it supports some of the most horrendous fashion trends, some of the best and most fun sing along party tunes originated from this decade!

My mind went wild with ideas, but I was restricted to a 20cm cake tin, which Baker's Secret kindly sent me. I was transported to my childhood and my mind went to marble cakes, the amazing three colour swirl cake, which fit with the Neapolitan ice cream. In the 80s in Australia, the ice cream choice was pretty much restricted to vanilla and Neapolitans, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, well that's what our parents led us to believe was available at the supermarkets. chocolate and vanilla were always the favourite and strawberry was left high up in the container!

Marble cake was made with the same flavours, it's a plain cake, divided into 3 bowls, one bowl you add 1 tablespoon of cocoa, the other a few drops of pink food colouring, the third bowl is left as the vanilla mixture. The trick is when you put in in the greased and baking paper lined tin, is you spoon tablespoons of each flavour into the tin and alternate until the mixture is all in the tin, swirl the mixture in and bang the tin on a hard surface to mix together.

Although marble cake was a hit in the 80s, it is still a hit now and I think will continue being a hit, children will still be marvelled at the blend of colours and flavours, something which takes a little extra time but is certainly worth the results.

The marble cake my mum made wasn't gluten free and there weren't many people diagnosed with coeliac disease in the 80s, I have provided you with a gf recipe. As soon as you get this cake out of the oven, turn in onto a cooling rack and cover with a tea towel, as gf cakes have a tendency to collapse I'm the middle, a handy hint to know when making future cakes.

I hope you have as much fun making your marble cake as I did making mine! Happy baking!

GF Marble Cake

Ingredients200g butter (softened)
1 cup caster sugar
4 large eggs
x2 3/4 cup gf self raising flour
2/3 cup rice flour
2/3 cup f corn flour
2 teaspoons gf baking powder
6 tablespoons lukewarm milk
2 tablespoons vanilla essence
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 drops pink food colouring
Icing:
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 tablespoon cocoa

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. With electric mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth and light. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well. Sift the flours and baking powder into the butter mixture and mix, add milk to make a smooth, moist batter. Spoon the mixture evenly into three bowls, add cocoa to one bowl and pink food colouring to the other bowl, leave the third bowl as is. Grease a 20cm tin and line with baking paper. Spoon tablespoons of each mixture into the bowl, taking turns at each flavour to ensure and even colour mix. Swirl the mixture at the end and bang down on the bench. Bake in the over for 30-40 minutes (check with a skewer in the centre after 30 minutes), you may need the 40 minutes depending on your oven. To make the icing add the ingredients to a bowl and mix well, if the ingredients is too wet, add some more icing sugar and if the mixture is too thick, add more milk. Ice the top of the cake with the icing, leave the icing for at least 20 minutes allowing it to set.

If you would like additional information about Bakers Secret who where the brains behind this marvellous challenge here is there website www.worldkitchen.com.au/brands/brands-bakerssecret.html
Thank you to these lovely people for giving me the opportunity to participate in this challenge.

GF Caramel Strawberry Delight Pie

When I first heard of the Pie guideline for the #SABH blog hop, my original thought was a Banoffee Pie, but there are plenty of other people who had the same idea. I was still sticking to the delicious homemade caramel sauce and my eye was caught by some delicious strawberries sitting there whispering my name. I soon changed my mind and went from a Banoffee pie to a Caramel and Strawberry and Cream Pie. It looks simply devine!


http://www.thekitchencrusader.com/

The base is a biscuit and butter base, you simply blend the plain (I used arrowroot biscuits 205g) and melt the butter, mix together and push together in a pie dish and place in the fridge. This is the tastiest GF base I have ever tried and the best, so simple.

The caramel mixture is the most complicated step in this pie, it is my mum's special caramel pie recipe. I know you can buy caramel in a can but take the time and your taste buds will be rewarded! You first cream the butter brown sugar and flour, then add milk and two egg yolks, that's when it can become a bit tiresome; you pour the mixture into a saucepan on low heat and stir, stir, stir, stir, until it thickens and starts to bubble (make sure it is quite thick), then add vanilla and pour into the pie base.

If decorating is your forte then this step you will love cut the top off each strawberry and cut into quarters, place in a formation around the outside of the pie. I will pass on a tip I heard, prior to whipping cream place the bowl and beaters into the fridge, it makes the whipping process easier and quicker. Again an old family tradition is to add icing sugar and vanilla essence to the cream, it makes it that bit sweeter! Yummy! Carefully place the whipped cream in the centre of the pie, not over the strawberries (don't pile the cream up too high though) the caramel is very rich and you will make the pie too overwhelming.

I hope you enjoy this new creation of mine as much as myself and my family has. Although the washing up isn't the fun part!

GF Caramel Strawberry Delight Pie

Ingredients

1 packet arrowroot GF biscuits
120g melted butter
1 large cup brown sugar
2 heaped tablespoons of rice flour
60g butter
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cartoon of thickened cream
2-3 tablespoons of icing sugar
Few drops of vanilla essence
Several strawberries

Method
Break biscuits in half and place in blender until mixed into a fine powder. Melt the butter Arne add to the bisuit mixture, place in a pie dish and push down evenly and place in the fridge. Cream the butter and sugar add flour. Mix milk and egg yolk together add butter and sugar. Cook in saucepan until very thick (about 10-15mins), add vanilla. Stir contanstantly, place in the pie base, leave in fridge to set. Place thickened cream, bowl and beaters in the fridge until cold, whip cream, add icing sugar and vanilla, beat again. Cut strawberries into quarters and place around the outside of the pie, decorate the centre of the pie with the whipped cream, return to fridge to set. Cut into wedges and serve.

Competition thank you's

My 1st Birthday competition is now over and the four wonderful winners have been drawn! I'm pleased to announce that the winners spread throughout this wonderful country with 1st prize being awarded to an amazing lady in Brisbane Queensland. 2nd prize was awarded to another fantastic women, this time a fellow New South Wales women. 3rd prize was awarded to yet another wonderful women in Victoria. Finally 4th prize was awarded to a great women who lives in Perth. The last three winners are fellow bloggers', I will first seek permission from these women, who all write wonderful blogs, to publish a direct link to their blogs here, and on my soon to be established blog roll.

There weren't only women who entered the competition, many men entered the competition, as did many others. I would like to thank you all for your support, particularly to the readers overseas who RT on Twitter even though they couldn't enter the competition, just to help me out! An extra big thanks to you, this shows how much support I have.

Without the wonderful sponsors this great competition would not have been possible. Once again I will give you the websites of the sponsors, so that you do can see what great products they have to offer. A big thank you to Mamee , Basco , Candy Brokers , Bounce Bars , The lost cereal Amarantha and quinoa , Tasty Bites .

Even if you didn't win any of the prizes, have a good look at the websites provided and try some of the products next time you go shopping. I give full credit to the companies for making gluten free products tasty and not bland and boring. I actually went out and brought a GF Basco Mac and Cheese the other night and from memory it tasted a thousand times better then the traditional gluten filled packet mix pasta. It's nice to know that we can have quick alternative meals on hand that are tasty and easy to make.

I have some delightful winter warming recipes coming up and brilliant reviews of the best takeaway and byo pizza restaurant I have been too. Keep your eyes peeled for these latest additions to my blog. The best thing about this pizza place is they actually make their very own GF dough on the spot! It's delicious and I've never ever had a reaction! I won't tempt you anymore I will save it for the review complete with pictures and all, we just need smell a vision!

Have a great and safe weekend. xx

Googey Eggs

In my previous post I told you about the quinoa bread and the quinoa that my friend 'The Chef' as he will now be called, introduced me too. I have provided you with a recipe using the gorgeous quinoa grain and this time I thought I would stick with the breakfast theme, and give you an age old classic what I like to call Googey Eggs On Toast. They somehow reach new heights, a new level of class with this delicious bread.

You might be wondering why I would be providing you with such an easy recipe, but it is actually these basic recipes that are generally the hardest to master. Everyone has an old wife's tale about how to cook the eggs to make them perfect and more often then not they will turn out not so perfect.

So here is how I cook my

Googey Eggs:

Ingredients:
(for 1 person)
2 eggs at room temperature (or hold in hands to warm up eggs)
water

Method:
Place the eggs in the saucepan and cover with cold to lukewarm water (if the water is hot it will crack the eggs). Place the saucepan on a medium to high heat, once the water comes to a boil reduce heat slightly and time the eggs, from boiling time, 3 minutes will give you a perfect egg with a delicious runny centre but cooked white bits. If you prefer your eggs to not be so runny allow to cook for a minute longer.

Enjoy this simple but delicious breakfast!

You have 3 days left to enter the amazing competition to win one of 4 GF hampers filled with great GF food. Make sure you enter today. To get the most points write a comment about how this blog has helped you and why you would like to win one of the prizes, pretty simple way to earn so many points! You can follow us on Facebook, like the post, follow on Twitter or tweet about the giveway. Good luck to you all!

Breakfast Quinoa with Apple Juice & Cinnamon

My first introduction to Quinoa prounced (Kin-wa), was at the Gluten Free Expo in 2011 at the Gluten Grain Free stand www.glutengrainfree.com . I purchased a packet of the ancient grain and have already provided recipes for you, cooking the grain with stock, using in replace of rice. It has a slightly nutty texture.

I'm fortunate enough to have a friend who is a talented chef, one morning he came over for me to cook him breakfast! I was nervous, even though we had been friends for years, I was cooking for a chef! He came with Quinoa bread and Quinoa. He told me that Quinoa can be used as a breakfast cereal, to do this you cook it in apple juice and add a cinnamon stick. Although,the trick he told me, with quinoa is to soak it the night before, I had heard of this but had never actually done it, but this time I tried it and the difference was amazing!

This sounded delicious! A change to the usual rice porridge or gf muesli.  I won't give away too much more as I will tell you in the method but I will say the fresher the producer, the nicer the end result will be. I used a locally made apple juice that is preservative free and the taste was divine, definitely worth that extra effort to get fresh produce.

The quinoa cooking

Breakfast Quinoa with Apple Juice & Cinnamon

Ingredients:
1/2 cup quinoa
Apple juice (enough to cover quinoa with about a thumb nail over, this helps if you are using more or less quinoa)
1 cinnamon stick

Method:
Place the quionoa in a bowl cover with water and leave to soak overnight. In the morning drain and place in a small to medium pan cover with apple juice leaving about a thumb nail of juice over the quinoa and add the cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil and let simmer for approximately 10 minutes or until small little tails begin to form on the quinoa and the apple juice begins to reduce. When the apple juice has reduce significantly taste the quinoa, it shouldn't be crunchy (if it is, it needs a few more minutes). You don't want all the apple juice to reduce into the qunioa, you want to be able to serve some of the juice up with the quinoa. You can leave the cinnamon stick in the bowl for presentation and continued flavour and eat around it.

This is honestly the most nutritious and wholesome breakfast that I have tasted, I would have to say that it is my favourite. You can order quinoa online for the gluten grain free website I provided, most health food shops sell them and even the major shopping centres are selling them, you will find them in the health food aisle.

Don't forget me amazing 1st Birthday Competition filled with fantastic GF prizes still has another week to go, you can find how to enter in the post underneath this one. It's easy you can make a comment (that's worth the most points, like my Facebook page, like the post, follow me on twitter, RT the competition post). Will you win? Remember open only to Australian residents due to Australian law as the prizes are food.

1st Birthday Competition

I'm so ridiculously excited to announce that it has been 12 months since I started writing this blog! To celebrate I have this amazing competition which I'm over the moon about!!!! First I would like to  mention to the wonderful Emma from What's in Emma's Brain , she gave me that final push, that extra encouragement to start writing this blog and she's also a great friend who continues to answer my blogging questions.
I had no idea how much this blog would flourish, the people that it would reach, the pleasure that I would gain from it. For those of you who have been following me throughout the year I haven't had the best of health and I haven't been able to blog as much as I wanted to. But it's my blog and my readers that have pulled me through some hard times. To have an outlet, a purpose, to know that I'm helping others has been amazing.
My plans for the next 12 months are even bigger and better than the first and I hope that you stay along and bring your friends to travel this journey with me.

Drum roll please....... Here's the announcement of my Fantastic 1st Birthday Competition. I would like to give a big special thanks to the lovely people at:
 Mamee www.mamee.com.au
Basco www.basco.com.au
Candy Brokers www.candybrokers.com.au
Bounce www.bouncefoods.com
Gluten Grain Free www.glutengrainfree.com
Tasty Bites www.tastybites.com.au
(There may be some modifications to the prizes as I may still be receiving some more fantastic gluten free goods to add to the already amazing prizes)
Please visit the links I have provided as the gf food that these companies provide are wonderful, with each website giving you an opportunity to view the products they have on offer.

If you note the Tasty Bite prizes have a separate photo, there prizes arrived the day that I posted all the other pictures, this is why they have their own individual picture. I have eaten these meals many times with rice, they are a great quick meal, a quick healthy alternative, something great to always have in your cupboard. You can find these in the Indian/Asian section of most supermarkets or alternatively check out there amazing website, thanks again Tasty Bites for your sponsorship.

I have divided the prizes up into four amazing prizes as you can see below. Unfortunately this competition is only available to Australian residents due to the customs laws as the prizes are all food.

Here is the wonderful 1st Prize

Consists of 4 Basco Cake mixes, Basco preheat pasta mix, Basco soup, Bounce bars, Basco Pancake mix, x4 tubes of Mamee Rice Chips, x 4 snack size Mamee Rice Sticks, Basco Apricot & Apple Muesli , x 3 boxes of Tasty Bite meals.             
                                 2nd Prize

    Consists of x3 Basco Cake mixes,  Basco preheat pasta, Basco soup, Bounce Bars, Basco Pancake mix, x 4 Mamee Rice chips, x4 snack size rick sticks, The Lost Cereal, x 3 boxes of Tasty Bite meals

           3rd Prize
          

   Consists of x2 Basco cake mixes, Basco preheat pasta, Bounce bars, x 4 Mamee Rice Chips, x 2 snack size Mamee Rice sticks, Florida Natural Nuggets, x 3 boxes of Tasty Bite Meals
                 4th Prize

   Consist of x2 Basco cake mixes, Basco preheat pasta, x4 Mamee Rice chips, x2 Mamee snack size rice sticks, Bounce Bars, Florida Natural Nuggets, x 3 boxes of Tasty Bite meals.

There are several ways to enter this competition, the entry that will gain you the most points is to tell me how this blog has helped you and how one of these prizes will be of benefit to you. Some of the other ways you can enter are follow me on twitter @MMOAGFL, tweet daily about the competition, like my Facebook page, like the competition. The specific point details are listed in the competition list.

I would once again like to thank the sponsors of this competition, without them this competition would not have been possible. Their generosity has enabled me to provide four prizes for my lovely readers. If you have not tried the gluten free products that are displayed, I suggested visiting the website of the various goods and looking at the wide variety of products they have to offer. All the food is not only gf but healthy so be assured if you win, it's something you can stock up the lunchboxes with guilt free.

If you have any questions about this competition or in general please feel free to email, tweet me, or message me on Facebook on Mishaps and Mayhem of a Gluten Free Life.

Good luck everyone and the competition runs for two weeks, closing Monday 11th June 2012. Keep up with those entries I wish I could win, believe me it's taken some pretty strong will power having all that delicious gf food in the house and not touching it. But knowing it was for my readers was motivation enough.

Happy 1st Birthday to you all!!! Good luck all with the competition!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GF Choc Mint Tea Infused Cake UK Blog Hop

I am very excited to be joining my first international blog hop! Thank you for the personal invitation to join this fantastic themed blog hop. What a great variety of dishes and blogs that I didn't know existed. That's the best thing about blog hops, meeting other like minded bloggers'!.


http://www.meandmysweets.blogspot.co.uk/

Since I was a little girl I have loved peppermint, I always sifted through chocolate boxes looking for the peppermint ones. Now, as an adult I love to drink peppermint tea, particularly after a heavy meal, I find it quick refreshing and cleansing. I was fortunate enough to have a sample mix of Cool Mint Green Tea from A Touch of Tea in Bowral www.atouchoftea.com.au, I decided that instead of adding warm milk as the recipe called for, I added warm Cool Mint Green Tea. The original recipe called for 3 tablespoons of warm milk, I added 6 tablespoons of Cool Mint Green Tea, to ensure the cake was moist and not dry, like alot of gluten free cakes.

The consistency of the cake was like a thick fudge, don't worry this is how it is meant to be. The cake takes 20 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius, I made sure that I took the cake out when some of the crumbs were clinging to the skewer, this ensured that the cake was moist and stayed moist for more than one day.

I have to be honest and say that this was the most moist gluten free cake I have made since I have been baking gluten free! This is definitely a cake I recommend that you make, if you don't have access to the tea, I'm sure peppermint tea would make a nice mix.

GF Chocolate Mint Tea Infused Cake

Ingredients:
125g butter (softened)
1/2 cup caster
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup gf self raising flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup gf cornflour
1 1/2 teaspoons gf baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa
6 tablespoons Cool Mint Green Tea

Method:
Preheat over to 180 degree Celsius. With electric mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth and light. Add eggs individually and beat well. Sift the flours, cocoa and baking powder into the butter mixture and mix, add tea to make a thick batter (the consistency of brownies, fairly thick). Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined 20cm tin. Bake for 20 minutes, until skewer comes out with cake clinging onto it, this means that it will be moist and delicious. Place on a wire rack, cool and ice.

Icing:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon sifted cocoa
2 tablespoons milk

Method:
With butter softened mix all the ingredients in a bowl, add icing sugar or milk if needed. Using a spoon and knife ice over the top and side of the cake. Leave to set and eat.

GF Chocolate Mint Tea Infused Cake

I have been participating in the SABH Blog Hop for as long as I can remember, I think my first entry might have been the chocolate Pavlova recipe, with Pavlova being the theme. I was so excited to find other like minded food bloggers' and a place to share my passion/love of food. The monthly blog hop with a specific topic has at times challenged me, got my creative juices flowing. The third week of every month is definitely something that I look forward to every month.


http://84thand3rd.com/2012/05/21/macha-green-tea-cupcakes/
This month when JJ announced that the theme was tea, I have to admit I was a bit unsure, where to start, this wasn't your traditional ingredients in a cake. But I was excited it pushed me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to extend myself with my cooking abilities. When I came to the conclusion of what I was cooking and shared the decision with one of my good friends, who is a chef, he was very impressed, it was then that I knew that I was onto a good thing, the flavour combination would work wonderful, a perfect marriage.
I had already settled on making a chocolate cake, this was not a recipe that I had made before I was adapting it from a plain cake recipe I had made previously, instead of adding vanilla I added 1/3 cup of sifted cocoa to the cake to make it chocolate.

Since I was a little girl I have loved peppermint, I always sifted through chocolate boxes looking for the peppermint ones. Now, as an adult I love to drink peppermint tea, particularly after a heavy meal, I find it quick refreshing and cleansing. I was fortunate enough to have a sample mix of Cool Mint Green Tea from A Touch of Tea in Bowral www.atouchoftea.com.au, I decided that instead of adding warm milk as the recipe called for, I added warm Cool Mint Green Tea. The original recipe called for 3 tablespoons of warm milk, I added 6 tablespoons of Cool Mint Green Tea, to ensure the cake was moist and not dry, like alot of gluten free cakes.

The consistency of the cake was like a thick fudge, don't worry this is how it is meant to be. The cake takes 20 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius, I made sure that I took the cake out when some of the crumbs were clinging to the skewer, this ensured that the cake was moist and stayed moist for more than one day.

I have to be honest and say that this was the most moist gluten free cake I have made since I have been baking gluten free! This is definitely a cake I recommend that you make, if you don't have access to the tea, I'm sure peppermint tea would make a nice mix.

GF Chocolate Mint Tea Infused Cake

Ingredients:
125g butter (softened)
1/2 cup caster
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup gf self raising flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup gf cornflour
1 1/2 teaspoons gf baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa
6 tablespoons Cool Mint Green Tea

Method:
Preheat over to 180 degree Celsius. With electric mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth and light. Add eggs individually and beat well. Sift the flours, cocoa and baking powder into the butter mixture and mix, add tea to make a thick batter (the consistency of brownies, fairly thick). Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined 20cm tin. Bake for 20 minutes, until skewer comes out with cake clinging onto it, this means that it will be moist and delicious. Place on a wire rack, cool and ice.

Icing:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon sifted cocoa
2 tablespoons milk

Method:
With butter softened mix all the ingredients in a bowl, add icing sugar or milk if needed. Using a spoon and knife ice over the top and side of the cake. Leave to set and eat.

The lovely Jennifer at Delicieux is running a great comp to win a free stand mixer valued at $749, see her blog for details.

I am very excited to announce that in the next few days I will be running my 1st Birthday competition. Thanks to some amazing GF Food companies including Mammee, Basco, Bounce Bars, Florida's Natural Fruit Nuggets, Amaranth and Quinoa The Lost Cereal, and more I have a mammoth amount of food to give away. Unfortunately as it is food and due to custom laws it will only be available to my Australian readers, sorry to all my international readers. I wish that I was a reader of my blog so I could enter, it has taken temptation not to eat all the wonderful food that I have in my house for some very lucky readers!

Our Food Allergies Food Allergies Blog Hop!

Welcome to our very first Our Food Challenges Blog Hop. (This page won't officially open until 9am, so please don't try and post anything until then).With this month's focus being Food Allergies. Please follow the list of instructions to enter in our Blog Hop. This month's Blog Hop coincides with Australia's Allergies Awareness Week, so spread the word, share your allergy stories, pass on the link to this Blog Hop, create more awareness to allergies in Australia, this is also our mission. The Blog Hop will be happening monthly with a different focus each month, to cover all our various food challenges. Although this is not the first Blog Hop I'm participating in, it's the first that I'm running so please be patient with me, if I miss an instruction or a point here or there, just send me an email mmoagflife@gmail.com and I will endeavour to amend it asap. I cannot credit this Blog Hop without the wonderful support from Suzie from AusAllergy, who will be one of your host's in the upcoming months', the list of future host will be updated on Wednesday AEST. Please feel free to join us on AEST 8.30pm Tuesday nights to chat on Twitter, simply use the #ausallergy tag to join, we love new people and everyone is very friendly and caring.

Without further ado here is my story, dedicated to my oldest and dear friend;

I met my friend when we were just 8 years old, young children in primary school. I was drawn to her, her slight English accent and we just bonded as children do. It wasn't long into our friendship that I discovered that my friend had a severe anphylaxis reaction to peanuts.
So I was only young when I learnt just how dangerous food allergies could be, in the late 1980s, this was something that wasn't as common knowledge as it is today's society. I still recall going out to dinner and my friend eating a lolly (candy) which obviously contained some degree of peanuts or peanut oil in it. I sat there watching, as her face began to become blotchy and puffy, her lips swelled as did her eyes, and it was all from just one lolly.

Throughout primary and high school my friend was very cautious of what those around her ate and had to ensure to stay well away from anyone consuming peanut butter, at risk of cross contamination.

Thankfully in 2012, peanut allergies are taken very seriously and the organisation that my friend works for has taken on board a no peanut policy in the office, there is a no tolerance policy of staff bringing in peanuts, the government work place has taken this stance because if she digests peanuts it could be life threatening! There is an epi- pen not only in my friend's bag but at the office, this is so important because any accidental digestion of nuts could lead to a life threatening situation, and the epi- pen may very well save her life. She has pictures around her office stating that she cannot have peanuts. This visual approach has been supported by group memos that have been sent around to all staff informing them of my friends condition.

Please take all allergies seriously, particularly if you are a chef or in the industry. A slight cross contamination even on the smallest level can be result in death to a person and recent cases overseas at schools and in the public have. People death in anaphylaxis can literally occur in minutes!
For all those people who have anaphylaxis reactions please make sure you carry your epi-pen, and that it is in date, this could one day save your life. Also please contemplate wearing a medi- bracelet that informs people of your condition, in case of an extreme reaction; you may not have the opportunity to tell people what you are allergic too, this could again save your life.
I hope that you enjoy our first blog hop for Our Food Challenges; remember to participate all you need is a blog and a food allergy story to share.

Steps to participate (please be kind if I miss some I will fix them straight away!)

1. Copy and paste OFC  logo that appears before my story, our a link to my page, and paste it on your post so that your post will be able to link back to mine.
2. Grab the linky code,(in red at the bottom of the screen it will say get code here) and put your blog into edit HTML mode and put the code at the bottom of your post, once your click off HTML, you won't be able to see the code but it will allow all the other post from the Blog Hop to appear on your screen.
3. Enter your details into the Linky Tools Screen, your name is the name of your Blog, and your link is to copy and paste your blog.
4. The message will come to me for approval and I as soon as I click ok, you will be able to see your post come up with the other stories (I will endeavour to get to the computer as often as possible but please don't fret, your story will be published or if there is a problem I will be in contact with you).
5. The steps in Linky Tools are pretty much self explanatory, even for a beginner, when I did my first Blog Hop I managed to fill everything out without too much problem. But please remember I am an email away.

Let the Blog Hop begin. Happy Allergy Week, may everyone have an allergy/reaction free week!

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The celebrity GF Diet Fad my thoughts

If you are like me and have watched the news today, you would be aware that reality TV star Kim Kardaishan has today claimed a dramatic weight loss to a GF diet!

No Kim is not suffering from Coeliac disease, or gluten intolerance, she has deemed like a small group of USA and UK celebrity's that going gluten free is the quickest way to weight loss.

Apart from my links to the diet and the postitive benefits of autism, I and most other GF Food bloggers that will not support the recent dietery claims by this branch of celebritys that a GF diet is the best way to loose weight.

Sure I lost a little bit of weight when I went on the diet, I thought mainly I lost the bloating that was happening from constantly eating gluten. Honestly I think that celebrity's putting light on such a serious diet and an autoimmunue disease make the general public take the disease and the diet less seriously.

There are lots of benefits in eating gluten, in the grain, in the fibre and other great dietary things that you benefit from while eating gluten. Not something that I would choose to remove from my diet.

Would I choose to sit hungry at parties as the finger food does not contain anything I can eat, whould I choose a diet, that makes me walk out of restaurants as there is nothing that I can eat.

I guess the benfeit these celebrities who choose a gf diet as a diet not due to a disease or intolerance, is they can honestly eat whatever they feel like eating, without suffering from a crippling reaction which can last up to days. At most they may feel a little bloated.

But as you can see this new diet fad has made me outraged, that such shallow people would put real diseases like coeliac disease and gluten intolerance as something that is not to be given any real stance, but a focus of a fad diet,not an autoimmune disease.



Grow up celebebrity dieters, think about the real people you are affecting, think that GF is related to an actually autoimmune diease

GF Gran's Cinnamon Sponge Cake

My gran passed away from bowel and liver cancer in 2007 too quickly at 73, too young and with far too much life left in her.
I have many fond memories of baking with her, helping her bake, tasting her baking, it was always a treat. My grandparents were farmers and moved to a more suburban rural area in their retirement. They didn't have much money and for as long as I can remember birthday presents, where we got to pick our favourite cake that Gran made and that was our present, it was always delightful.

My last birthday that Gran was alive was my 25th and she made at my request her famous Cinnamon Sponge. It has taken me 5 years to even build up the courage to make this dish, my favourite, and it held so many memories, thus the reason why it's taken so long for me to even try and make this cake.
Since Gran had made my cake I had been diagnosed with Coeliac disease, and I changed the flour consistency in the original recipe, so I really had no idea how this recipe would turn out. I tried to get into my Gran's head when I was baking this cake, it was for my sister's birthday lunch. I had the eggs and butter at room temperature, I sifted the flour three times so they were in a fine consistency, not required in the recipe but something that I knew was common in that era.

There were tears when I was making this cake it held such important meaning to me, mum was helping me and we greased the tin and added flour, thinking that this would be enough for the cake. When we turned them out they stuck a little bit, there were tears, this cake meant so much too me, it had taken me five years to make this cake, to live in my Gran's big cooking footsteps. There were tears when it didn't turn out quite perfect. I highly recommend when baking any gluten free cake, particularly sponges, make sure you use baking paper. It saves any tears.

                                                    This is the height the butter and sugar should be
In the middle of the cake was mock cream. The first attempt was not a success, Gran had said to add the syrup, she forget to add gradually, knowing Gran she would have assumed that we just knew to add the syrup gradually. There was a curdled mess to start with, round two worked much better, I waited until the syrup really cooled and added very slowly. This time we had success.

                                                      Mock Cream consistency
Gran always had a chocolate icing to the top, after discussion with my sister and my mother we decided to add cinnamon to the icing. Gran did not write this down in her recipe but we decided she would have added it.

                                                    Cinnamon Cake after coming out of oven
The first bite was perfect, the mixture was an explosion of flavours of memories, it was as close to perfect as I could get. I got the approval from Grandpa, which meant so much too me, particularly when I spoke to my Aunty who he had already spoke to about the cake. I had obviously done a good job to make such an impression.

It gave me a new appreciation for Gran, this is a cake that you don't make every day it's a special occasion cake and I cherish each memory I have of her making this cake for me. I will make a pledge to continue on with this tradition of making this lovely cake on special occasions. It's not easy but well worth every effort. For the first time I have take pictures of the various steps in making this cake, I hope this helps you. Please email me on mmoagflife@gmail.com for any questions or help.

Do you have a family recipe that you would love to share, that it took you a while to make, for whatever reasons, I would love to share your story.

Without further ado here is the recipe:

GF Cinnamon Sponge Cake

Ingredients:
4 eggs (room temperature)
1 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup gf self raising flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup gf corn flour
6 tablespoons boiling milk
57g butter or 2ozs
2tps cinnamon
1 tsps cocoa

Mock Cream:
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup caster sugar
113g butter or 4ozs
1/2 tsps vanilla

Icing:
2 tbls butter
2 tbls milk
1 tbls cocoa
1tps cinnamon 1 cup icing sugar
Add more milk or icing sugar if needed.

Method:
Once the cakes are cool spread the mock cream onto one of the cakes and spread evenly then place the other cake on top. Now it's time to make your icing. Mix all the ingredients for the icing together, ensure the butter is soft, even if you zap it in the microwave for 10 seconds, start with a cup of icing and if you need more milk or icing sugar add it. Once it is made up and all lumps have been mixed out, spread evenly over the top of the cake. You sponge cake is now complete. Don't worry if the texture of the cake becomes a little firmer around the cream, I think it's just the reaction.

I hope that this cake will become as special to you as it has to me and my family. I encourage you if there is a special dish that your mother, grandmother or aunty made and they are no longer with us, do build up that courage to make it. The memories that first mouthful brought back almost made me cry. It wasn't Gran's cake but it was a close gluten free effort that made me proud and I know that she was there in spirit helping me.

Don't forget you still have a few days to vote for my blog in the People's Choice Awards, I would really appreciate all your votes. Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @MMOAGFL where I'm running a competition to get 1.5k followers, there are 3 pieces of custom made and designed jewelry to win, to enter follow me on twitter, follow me on my blog, Re tweet daily. I also appreciate you to like us on Facebook, that's extra bonus points.
I hope you enjoy this GF Cinnamon Sponge Cake as much as we did, if you don't need to make this cake GF just use 1 1/4 cups SR flour instead of the flour combination I have used.
Please share your stories of beloved recipes with me, I can't wait to hear from you.

The meaning of ANZAC DAy

This post has nothing to do with food, gluten free or autism in any way, sorry to my regular readers it has something to do with a national event of remembrance, of commemoration of our army, navy and airforce men and women. It's about ANZAC Day 25th April 1915, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Every country matter what side of the war your country fought on has a national day of remembrance. I'm writing this post to create awareness of what happened why we still remember and why it's important to me. I had 2 great grandfathers and a great uncle fight in WW1, 1 for Australia, the other for Britain. Australia was a young country we had only just become a federation in 1901, WW1 was the first time the world and Australia saw the country as a nation, not just states! Young men, some as young as 15 changed their age to follow the war propaganda and fight for the mother country, they weren't trained soldiers and had no idea what awaited for them on the other side! The war at Anzac cove was to fight for the Dardnelle Straights, a great shipping source for the Turks and the British and allied forces wanted to gain this for themselves. There was a massive mistake made by British generals in getting the correct coordinates for the Australian and New Zealand Forces to begin their dawn attack. It was only when they landed and were showered by machine gun fire did they realise something was a miss. These young men landed on that beach facing soaring cliffs with the Turks sitting on top of the hill heavily armed. The British generals were unwilling to admit a mistake had been made and the men fought on side by side being fired on, digging trenches, to gain some form of protection. The powers to be kept on ordering these men to go over the top to gain more enemy ground, the odds of returning after going over the top were very low! This campaign continued for many months! This is where the Australian spirit was born, in times of adversity we stand beside our brother, we hold him up, we keep on going, we become each others family. News started to get back home about the horrendous conditions that the ANZAC men were enduring. Australian women began making care packages to send to the soldiers, including a Biscuits made of oats that would last a long time, too still be resonably fresh by the time it reached the shores of Gallipoli. This is where the ANZAZ biscuit was born (in the next week I'll made gf ANZAC using quinoa flakes). These biscuits still remain a very popular biscuit nearly 100 years on. The ANZACS had a game they played, a gambling game called two up. Two men would play for an agreed price another would call and judge, they would toss a coin and call either heads up or tails up, the winner won the money. In Australia after ANZAC services people generally flock to pubs and Returned Servicemens Clubs to have a drink, catch up with mates and play two up. It's the only time of the year the game is permitted. Yet another tradition nearly 100 years old that still continues today! Today is not about glorifying war, it is about remembering the sacrifice that put ancestors gave for the freedom we have today. Australian men and women are still fighting today for our freedom for peace. I would like to acknowledge all the massive sacrifices of life on both sides. If these men would have meant in different circumstances they would probably be sitting down over a beer and a chat. Loss is felt on both sides and we acknowledge those losses too! So if your children are from year 1 about 7 explain to them about ANZAC day, about Galliopoli and the coming of a nation, the international acknowledgment of Australians and why it is important to remember what happened and not let history repeat itself! At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them Lest we forget. Please share with me the date of your countries national day of rememberance and why it is so important. It would be amazing if we could create an international list of days of remberance. Thankyou to all the servicemen men, women and dogs who continue to do an amazing job in all your postings over the world. Enjoy your ANZAC day Xx

GF Lemon and Passionfruit Meringue Pie

Firstly a big shout out to Jennifer from LeDelicieux for hosting this months SABS post, it's become a monthly rituatly and I greatly appreciate the work these girls put in behind the scences! Thankyou. I've meant so many food bloggers from this blog hop I look forward to it every month!

http://www.ledelicieux.com/2012/04/16/lemon-meringue-cupcakes/

Lately I've been addicted to the USA TV show Mad Men, for those of you who don't know it's set in the Advertising world in the early 1960s, it's filled with all 2012 politically and socially inappropriate things. They start drinking at 9am, sexism is rife as are affairs, smoking is a necessity, at work, at dinner, in trains, planes, hospitals, while your pregnant, the works. Of course the majority of married women are house wifes and there is the gossip and bitchiness that goes with that. My lovely friend L has leant me the seasons and I'm currently on the last disc of the 3rd seasons, I don't know what I'll do when it's finished!

Why you may be thinking am I sharing my TV viewing with you, well a recipe I found in my mothers old handwritten cookbook that is older then me (I'm 30!), that was a recipe handed down from my grandma. In a time when people drank and smoke and where all women were housewives and baked and looked pretty! Quite ironic considering the TV series I have become slightly addicted too, I had visions of my grandma quickly whipping this dish up for an unexpected dinner party. The delightful recipe I found was an almost too good to be true Lemon Meringue Pie.
Why you ask? There was no arduous stirring to make up the lemon curd, there wasn't even any requirement to use a saucepan! I was liking this recipe even more, not even for the base! Lemon isn't my favourite dessert and I wanted to wanted to add a little twist apart from it being GF, so I added a passionfruit. It was the best decision that I have ever made! The taste was nothing but divine!
The base called for 180g of plain biscuits crushed (now in the 60s, it would have been in a bag run over with a wooden spoon, sweat dripping from your forehead until the job was done). Thankfully now we have inventions like mix masters, and the gf biscuits I brought came in 2 sealed bags, I placed both bags into the mixer and mixed on medium until the were in fine pieces. I then added the additional bag. Not I used Freelicious GF biscuits which taste great but you will have to buy 2 packets as there size is 125g. The original recipe also calls for 90g of melted butter, but the base crumbled in my pie so I am going to recommend using 100g just to make sure it binds together. You then press the mixture into a pie dish and place in the fridge.

Without further ado here is the recipe:

GF Lemon and Passionfruit Meringue Pie

Ingredients:
180g plain biscuits
100g melted butter
400g can condensed milk
4 lemons
Rind 1 lemon
3 slightly beaten egg yolks
1 large or 2 small passionfruits
4 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar (just under)

Method:Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Break biscuits and place in a mix master, mix into a fine pieces. Melt 100g melted butter, add to biscuits, mix together. In a pie dish using a wooden spoon push out the biscuits mixture to all edges so it is equal and there are no bumps. When completed place in the fridge to cool. Combine the condensed milk, juice of 4 lemons, the lemon rind, passionfruit and egg yolks. Place this mixture into the biscuit mixture in the pie dish. Using a hand held or free standing mixer, mix beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, add the sugar slowly (don't use the whole 1/2 cup just under is plenty). Once beaten you can pipe, but I simply used the spoon and went around the edge of the pie first with heaped tablespoons of meringue and then added to the centre of the pie.

Enjoy
xx

If you make this dish I would love to hear how what you think of it or do you have a recipe handed down from your grandma in a handwritten cookbook, theres something so precious about it. If you would like to chat to me on Twitter my name is @MMOAGFL, I'd love to hear from you.

Link with Kitchen Capers

I am pleased to announce to my readers that I will be doing a monthly guest post for the amazing blog Kitchen Capers! The first post is an introduction to myself, my experiences and my philosophy as a coeliac. Here is the link where you can find this post: http://mykitchencapers.com/thriving-as-celiac/ . Just a side note there is a slight variation in spelling of Coeliac between Australia and America but it is the same disease. Don't forget the Peoples Choice Awards are still open for voting until the 9th May 2012, just click on the vote for me badge on the right side of the blog if you would like to vote for my blog! All votes are greatly appreciated! I'm also running a competition on twitter to reach 1500 followers. To get points to enter, you can follow me on twitter, follow my blog (please Direct Message me on twitter to let me know) or re tweet about the competition! There are three pieces of custom made and designed jewelry. See if you can win these prizes! Don't forget you can follow us on Facebook under Mishaps and Mayhem of a Gluten Free Life, please like our page! I love to hear from my readers so please comment on here or on twitter or email me on mmoagflife@gmail.com Keep a close eye on this page for a delicious lemon based #SABH entry dessert! Take care Xx

Peoples Choice Awards

I'm very excited to announce that the Peoples Choice Awards for The Best Australian Blog Competition are now opened! It's an overwhelming feeling to have your blog entered into such a prestigious award.

The judges have voted and now it's your turn! Have your say, this is your chance to shout out for the blogs you love (hopefully mine, I can make you laugh, cry, give you information on the disease and help you cook!, what more can you ask for)! If my blog has helped you or a family member in any way, if you have used one of my recipes, if you can relate to some of my stories, please take a few moments and vote! I would be so grateful to my lovely readers who voted for me, you will make my day! Just click on the badge to vote, the badge underneath or to the side of the page. Voting closes on the 9th May 2012 at 5pm, the badge to vote will be at the side of my blog until voting stops. Unfortunately it is only open to Australian residents, I'm very sorry for my international readers!

I have a consolation for you, I'm currently running two competitions on Twitter. The 1st is to get to 500 followers, the 500th and a random follower win a custom designed and made piece of jewelry. The 2nd competition is related to the 1st and the person who re tweets the competition details the most wins a pair of custom designed and made earrings! I'm up to 445 followers, nearly there. Also you can chat to me on Twitter, I love tweeting to my readers! Any questions just email me the address is on the top of the page!

Guest post for Madam Bipolar on PTSD

I am very excited to announce that I have participated in a guest for Madam Bipolar, my post is on PTSD which I have written about briefly on here in the past. Here is the link to her post, please forward on to anyone you know who is suffering from PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

I hope that by me sharing my story, I will help someone else who is suffering from the same condition. Please remember you can email me and share your story or ask questions privately on mmoagflife@gmail.com. I'm also on Twitter under @MMOAGFL, I'm running a competition to get to 500 followers with three pieces of jewelry the winning prices.

Here is the link for the post http://www.madambipolar.com/

Eating at functions as a Coeliac and with allergies

Going to functions, party's baby showers etc, as a coeliac isn't always as fun as it is to many other people. Of course it's lovely to be there sharing whatever the special occassion is with your friends or family. But....

When it comes to the food, if your lucky you might just get some plain chips, a few lollies too! I always bring my good old faithful Brownies and generally something else too. I've actually been to parties where I forget to bring a dinner option, not realising it was finger food and eating fruit, cheese and GF  Birthday cake I cooked! I had a toasted sandwhich when we came home, I needed to eat something more.

If I'm feeling this as an adult, I thought how hard must it be for the kids with coeliac disease or allergies. Knowing that there is all this yummy food coming around and you have to poliety say no every time you get offered something delicious. I generally tell people why so they don't think I'm being rude, and people nod with half understanding looks. Sometimes you even get the clever duck who likes to tell you everything about your disease, most of its wrong. Even if you are in the worst pms mood, you have to refrain and nod you head and walk away.

But honestly what do you say to your child who can't eat all the fun food at parties. Do you have to do what I do know, but on a larger scale and bring a plate of gf or whatever their allergy is free food so they too can splerge and have a bit of fun.

It's not the hosts fault, nor responsibility to provide food for you when you have allergies or a disease. I offer and ensure people have food due to personal experience.

But parents what do you do when your child gets the invite for a party? a Maccas party? Do you take a plate of food but with more goodies, do you fill them up before or do you decline the invite?

Adults, what is your strategy do you take a plate of food like me, or do you fill up before??

I can't wait to hear everyone's tips and what they do! It's hard enough as an adult, never lone a child!

Writers choice nomination award

It's nearly been a year since I started writing this blog and I have come along way. I have improved in my blogging skills. Through twitter and Facebook I've been able to come into direct contact with my readers.
I have also entered food blog hops #SABH monthly, which has broadened my contact with other food bloggers, who have given me tips of what to do. Each month I enjoy creating a delicious dessert, showing that GF doesn't have to be tasteless to numerous readers from around the world.
When I joined Twitter I came in contact with many bloggers, food and non food who have complimented me on my blog and I have worked with them, received tips, pointers etc from them. I even participate in a chat forumn called #ausallergery which takes places every Tuesday nights 8.30pm AEST, we chat about allergies, where to buy products from, reactions, just living with allergies in general. Please feel free to come and join us, they are a lovely bunch of people.

For those of you who regularly read my blog (from countries all around the world), you know that I haven't had the easiest of times. This blog provides, me with an outlet and allows me to research new things about the disease and forward this information to my readers.

When I heard about the competition, my first thought was that someone else, a reader should
nominate me. But then I heard my grans voice in my head saying, 'you have to be in it to win
it'!

So I thought why not and I entered my humble blog into a big competition. My readership is wide, across many countries as is my twitter followers, it's just yet to show on my individual followers on my blog. It would mean so much to me if you could take the time and fill in the nomination form. It is the ultimate way that you can show your support for reading my blog. The competition is yet to open, it opens Friday the 13th April, this is just to remind you, get it in your head, then I will write another blog closer to the date reminding people how to vote.

So my lovely readers who have kept my blog going, I'm ever grateful too. I have one thing to ask you, the voting for this competition starts on the 13th April, you can enter my blog in this competition. Details or voting lines aren't open before then but I wanted to put the idea in your mind first.

As my readers I feel it is my duty to let you know I'm going to revamp this site, at the top of the site will be some of the lovely pictures from the dishes I have cooked, there will be more tabs, making it easier to navigate the recipes. Overall the site will look more pleasing to the eye, and easier to navigate! I hope to have all this done before judging time begins.

If you are anything like me, life can get so busy and you mean to vote for someone in a contest and you just forget the date, so although it is a little early now, I'm putting this out there to get you thinking about voting for me. I will also in the week leading up to the special day, if your not superstitious date of Friday the 13th, to remind people about the award and how to vote for me.

I appreciate your support and look forward to giving you more details about how to vote, just leave a comment if you have any questions and I can ensure I get directly to you once I have the information.

GF Layered Pear Crumble Cake

Coeliac Awareness Week

This week is Coeliac Awareness Week in Australia. Unfortunately there is not alot of information out there to promote this. This leaves it up to us bloggers to promote this debalitating and at times life threatening illness.

Sorry for those of you who have read this before, but I'm going to provide you with the basic information about the disease. Firstly Coeliac Disease is not an intolerance but an actually autoimmune disease. The immune system reacts abnormally to gluten (a protenin found in wheat, barley, rye, an oats). In America they have declared some oats to be gluten free, but it is essential to follow the guidelines set by Australian organisations. When gluten containing products are digested, damage is done to the small bowel. In technical terms when gluten is digested, the villi which line the small bowel, become inflamed and flattened. When this occurs the surface of the bowel available for nutrient absorption is significantly reduced, which can lead to various gastrionitenstional and malabsorptive symptoms. A number of serious health conditions can arise from this diesase, if this condition is not diagnosed and treated properly and efficently.

To have this disease, you must have these genes HLA DQ2 and HLA DQ8, thus it is a heredity condition. However it is important to note that only 1 in 30 people with these genes will develop the genes. If one of your parents has the disease, I would strongly suggest seeing the doctor and getting tested yourself as you have a higher chance than others of having the disease

At present in Australia there are 1 in 100 Australians are diagnosed with this disease, however approximately 160,000 Australians remain undiagnosed!

The symptoms of Coeliac Disease are very similar to that of IBS, and often many people including myself are diagnosed with IBS for many years prior to receiving a diagnosis. The symptoms include; bloating, abdominal cramps, fatigue, constipation, dirroeha, flatulence, low iron levels or anemia (I had severe anemia). If left untreated the disease can lead to cancer and severe illness as extreme malabsorption is occuring, thus you aren't receiving the goodness in food etc.

The good news is that this disease can be controlled by diet. Simply removing gluten from your diet, can change the damage to your small bowel and reduce the symptoms that you have been suffering from for many years. It is very common for people to be diagnosed later in life with this disease. At present scientist are in the process of developing a vaccine for coeliac disease, thus allowing us to eat gluten! Sounds exciting.

If you suffer from some of the symptoms for this disease, it is important not to self diagnose or remove gluten from your diet. If you suspect you have this disease, make an appointement with your gp, exlpain your concerns and ask for a refferal to a gastro specialist. If this diease is in your family, your chance of having the disease is raised significantly. The only way to officially diagnose this disease is by an endoscopy where there is a biopsy taken of the small bowel, this will give a positive or negative diagnosis of the disease.

More awareness of the disease is occuring now then 10 years ago, at most supermarkets, generally in the health food aisle, there is about 1/4 of an aisle dedicated to gluten free foods. There are also a number of restaurants which show a greater understanding of the disease and identify their gf products with the gf symbol. I have to advise that it is essential to check to ingredients, even if it says it is gf, ask if the stock or sauce is gf. If in doubt, opt for a different meal (its not worth the horrible side effects, and the damage to the small bowel).

Please forward this blog post to your friends, the more people who read about this disease, may just reduce the number of undigangosed people. This might just be the prompting someone needs to go to the doctor to get tested.

I would like to acknowledge that there is gluten intolerance, where people have an allergy to gluten, they often experience the same symptoms as a coeliac. However no damage is occuring to the small bowel and they can tolerate a small amout of gluten. Once again don't just assume you have one of these problems, please go to your doctor and get reffered to the appropriate specialist.

Many people are choosing to remove gluten from their diet. Unless you are a coeliac or have a gluten intolerance, you should not remove gluten at all. There are many great health benefits in wheat, barley, rye and oats. People often complain about eating too much bread, you can reduce your bread intake, or replace sandwiches with rice crackers or salads, but don't ever remove gluten totally from your diet.

I would like to mention and thank the Coeliac Organisation of Australia for a vast majority of this information http://www.coeliac.org.au/coeliac-disease/index.html. An excellent website for any queries you have and you can also join the organisation, you need a form completed by your gp and you are provided with a variety of information, there is a cost involved for membership.

In August the Gluten Free Expo Sydney is on on Friday the 24th and Saturday 25th August 2012. I went for the first time last year and was amazed! There were so many exibits selling a variety of gf products. People came armed with massive bags, coolers, eskys etc. They stocked up on the products that were available. They were also experts talking about the disease, to give you a break from all the exhibits. This is a fantastic expo that I encourage everyone to go to. Here is the website to get further information http://www.glutenfreeexpo.com.au/.

I will be re posting some of my gluten free recipes this week and providing you with more information about this disease. Please remember to forward on to as many people as possible, hopefully someone will go to their doctor after reading this blog.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me on mmoagflife@gmail.com or chat to me on Twitter @MMOAGFL or Facebook under the page Mishaps and Mayhem of A Gluten Free Lie.