The power of the blog

I've had a crap day! (I'm not talking about being frustrated because I couldn't find somewhere I could eat gf food safely or having to deal with the puffer fish!) It all started literally a few minutes after I woke up and got a phone call with unexpected, unfair and unjust news (no one died and everyones' health is fine) but what I was told was ridiculous! The kind of news that makes you cry with anger and frustration as you begin to prepare yourself for yet another fight that you shouldn't have too.

You might be thinking what the hell does this have to do with gluten??? It doesn't directly but this post is about the power of the blogging community.

As I went through my day and numerous calls I had to make, I felt like just curling up on the lounge and watching a dvd, forgetting about the world (and I guess wallowing if only for a bit in my own self pity).

Then I realised I hadn't written a post for the blog and I hadn't cooked anything or taken a picture of the food to put on the blog! As you know I am posting a recipe of the day as well as writing about other things. You might think, who cares, it would have been fine but its what really lifted my mood (along with some support and love from some great friends and family).

You see I'm the kind of person who is there for friends and family no matter what time of the day or night, what I'm doing or how I'm feeling, if someone needs me I will be there, if I said that I will do something there has to be a pretty good reason for not doing it.

So knowing that I have a fantastic blogging community, people who I don't even know from all over the world read my blog daily and would be expecting for the latest post and recipe to be put up, got me off the lounge.

I knew what I was going to cook, I got the recipe book out, turned the oven on and got started. To focus on the cooking, making sure I didn't mess it up ,my mind started to tune off and the stress and anger started to ease. It was great to see the patty cakes rising and come out looking great, to make the icing and ice the cakes, to take a picture of the cakes for my readers (as I said I would), to make my husband and myself a cup of tea, to watch him enjoy eating what I cooked and to taste the nice fluffy cake and the sweet chocolate icing myself, washed down with a mouthful of hot tea.

Thank you to my readers, to the blogging community for giving me something that I have to do, no matter what (obviously there are a few exceptions), for making me focus on the smaller things and forget (if only for a while) about the bigger things.

If you or someone you care about is having a crap day, or a shit week, month or year, if you can go and see them, listen, but then take them out or give them something to do, even if its helping go grocery shopping or to walk the dog. It will allow them to focus on the smaller things in life, to forgot just a little about the bigger problems.

If you have a daily commitment to someone or something (aside from work), it could be walking your dog, writing a blog (didn't mean to rhyme), no matter whats happened in your day, try and carry through with that commitment. It will make you feel better, trust me.

Keep on reading xxxx

Recipe of the Day
Patty Cakes
Recipe is from the 'Gluten Free Bible', this recipe can be used for a plain cake, patty cake etc

Makes 12 Ingredients
125g butter (I softened and melted slightly in microwave)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup gf self raising flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup gf cornflour
11/2 teaspoons gf baking powder
3 tablespoons lukewarm milk

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celiscus. With a electric mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth and light. Add vanilla and an egg and beat well. Add the other egg and beat again.

Sift the flours into the butter mixture and mix, add milk to make a smooth, moist batter.

Spoon the mixture into creased patty cake tins, only 3/4 full. Bake for 12 minutes or until firm and golden. Place on a wire rack and cool, ice (frost) and eat!

Enjoy
xxxx
Thank you again

The nuts and bolts of gluten

I've had a few readers contact me and tell me that they have not only enjoyed reading the blog, but particularly learning about gluten and the impact it has on some people.  I was honoured to have such comments, this meant that my goal of reaching people through this blog is well on the way to being achieved.

When I reflect on the posts I have written, I haven't really given a description of what a coeliac is or the difference that and a gluten allergy/intolerance. This might help readers understand the puffer fish and why it is so important to follow the gf diet, we aren't being a pain in butt when we ask thousands of question when we eat out, its really important that we don't accidentally eat gluten.

The following information is from the Coeliac Society of Australia http://www.coeliac.org.au. I guess the first question is what is coeliac? Firstly it's an autoimmune disease which affects 1 in 100 people! "It is a permanent intestinal intolerance to dietary gluten". Left untreated the lining of the small bowel becomes damaged. Unfortunately coeliac isn't something that just happens you are born with a genetic predisposition to the disease, so thanks alot mum or dad!!! (in my case I think dad!!). Basically in coeliacs any consumption of gluten causes an abnormal reaction predominately inflammation and damage to the small bowel.

What are the symptoms? For those of you who have been reading my blog you will know that bloating (I describe it as the puffer fish) is one of the most obvious symptoms, ummmm wind (yuck and perhaps not polite to talk about but one of the symptoms, and I have to confess that I still find 'fart' humour rather funny!), anemia (I also suffered from rather severely), tired/lethargic (a side affect of anemia too), there are other symptoms (your bowel working too much or hardly at all) and some more serious ones left untreated can lead to miscarriage, infertility (both very scary for me as I have endometrosis which has its own horrible statistics for this), depression and cancer! Not very pleasant to say the least.

How do I find out if I have it? Unfortunately the only exact diagnosis is a endoscopy, a camera down the throat (I call in channel 9 camera crew doing some research, you have to make light of the situation). There are blood tests that can be done but they aren't conclusive.

Can it be cured? At this stage there are no cures, the science and medical world are in the trial process of developing a vaccine for gluten. The very good news is that it is very controllable, by following a strict diet, the symptoms disappear and you are able to live a happy regular life.

What's the difference between a gluten allergy/intolerance and coeliac disease? An allergy/intolerance to gluten gives a person similar symptoms to that of someone with coeliac disease but it doesn't have the same damaging affect on the small bowel and extreme health issues. Some people with an intolerance may choose to eat small amounts of gluten if it doesn't affect them or they may completely remove it from their diet. My advice would be if you are experiencing any of the symptoms check with your doctor, you need to ensure that you aren't a coeliac. There are lots of health benefits from gluten containing grains if you don't suffer from coeliac disease or have an allergy to gluten, so not always a good thing to remove completely from your diet if there isn't a medical need.

I hope that this information has been relatively helpful and given you an understanding of the nuts and bolts of coeliac disease and gluten. In future post this week I plan on writing about the pros, cons and success of a gluten free diet for autism and various behavioural problems (particularly in children, as I am a qualified, and experienced teacher I feel that my experience teaching students with various problems combined with research I will do, may be beneficial to parents and care givers).

Recipe of the Day
Stuffed Chicken Breast with handmade chips and vegetables
Serves 2 (double ingredients for 4)

Ingredients
1 large chicken breast (I used 2, 1 small and 1 medium, and there is half left for dinner tomorrow night!)
2 slices gf ham
Dijon mustard
2 pieces of swiss cheese
approx 1/4 cup white wine (I used a traminer riesling, it was what we had in the fridge, any white would work)
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
Olive oil
3 washed potatoes cut into eighths
Rosemary
Thyme
Sea Salt
Mixed vegetables (I used frozen vegetables that you steam in microwave for 3minutes, easier than chopping lots of vegetables or throwing away vegetables that have gone rotten)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Place cut potatoes into a baking dish lightly coat with olive oil (the less oil the more crispy the chips will be), sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary and place in the oven.

Flatten chicken with the back of a wooden spoon. Coat chicken with mustard add ham and cheese, fold the breast in half and place in a baking dish/tray. Lightly sprinkle rosemary and thyme on chicken breast. Put some oil over chicken and add wine and chicken stock (in liquid and on chicken). Put chicken in the oven for 25 minutes.

Put vegetables in microwave for 3 minutes or as specified.

Plate up chicken, potatoes and vegetables and lightly pour liquid over all.

Enjoy
xxxx

This is ridiculous!!!!

This is ridiculous!! The words my husband uttered after walking out of two restaurants because there was nothing that I could eat on the menu! It was lunch and we were having a nice meal out.  We weren't in our local area and we decided to go to one of the rather large clubs in western Sydney with numerous dining options.

The first choice only did fried seafood etc, they did provide an all you can eat buffet but as my husband reminded me how do you know there's not gluten in the satay???

Off we trotted to the second option, my first gripe isn't about the lack of gf food it's the advertising. There was a rather large sign out the front stating lunches for $15 with a soft drink, this was also at the table. But in very fine print was weekdays only!!! What a marketing ploy! Then we sat down, there was no little gf symbol on the menu but I asked if they did gf pizza bases, no they didn't. My second option was soup of the day, but that was minestrone, so full of pasta! There were a few options that I could have had, but I wasn't paying $30+ for a steak for lunch! Once we were informed of the food options, I said to the waitress we are going to have to go somewhere else!

Option three was back to place one to ask if they would do a grilled piece of fish for me, 'We only do fried food here, you will have to go to the other cafe for that!'!!!!

Now we are up to option four!!!, we went to the cafe, the prices were ridiculous for most things, but I did find a risotto on the menu. After the issues I've had in the past with risotto I went asked if there was gluten in the stock. The girl at the counter was rather polite and asked the chef, who was a cow (this would be the most polite way I could describe her)! I heard 'risotto? It's rice,why would it have gluten!!!' I had to explain to her that there is gluten in some stocks, she had no clue!!! Seriously love where are your manners!!! And your a chef, surely you should have some knowledge of whats in the food you cook!

We were running out of options, so I braved it and ordered the risotto. Thankfully the puffer fish didn't emerge, but we were both still annoyed at the lack of options and the attitude of the chef. On the way home I was already drafting a letter by telling my husband what I would say to them in an email if the puffer fish emerged!

Maybe I will write the email about the complete lack of gf options at the number of dining facilities at the club and we can't forgot the attitude of the chef!

On a different note I've set up a Facebook page for the blog, Its Mishaps and Mayhem of a Gluten Free Life
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mishaps-and-Mayhem-of-a-Gluten-Free-Life/227061153975947
have a look at the page and click on like.

Recipe of the Day
This is from the book Gluten Free Bible, I'm sorry there's not a picture of this recipe, I made these the other day and they were gone before I had a chance to take a picture. I will upload a picture later this week.

Coconut macaroons
Ingredients
2 large egg whites
1  cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons rice flour
2/3 cup caster sugar
Optional 1-2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I haven't cooked these with the zest)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks form (I use hand held electric mixer) and fold in coconut, flour and sugar, mix well.

Form little mounds of the batter on the tray and bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown (set timer for 18 minutes just to check).

Cool on a rack before storing

Enjoy xxx