I lost the food battle tonight. You know the argument that happens between husband and wife, partners, housemates etc, takeaway or cooked meal! I was going to make home-made pizzas and have them as the recipe of the day and it fitted in perfectly with the state of origin! My husband had other ideas, he wanted Thai. Though I must admit it didn't take much twisting of my arm to agree (and he managed to get me as I just pulled up outside the supermarket)!!
As I thought about what I was going to put up for my recipe of the day (we are still eating yesterdays cupcakes!) I thought why not make it on icing! Icing you say, WTF!! But though I've been making icing for many years I seem to stuff it up every time. I always ending up making way too much icing because I add too much milk! And there's only so much icing you can eat! (though a flashback from childhood my cousin is a bit of a chocoholic, if there was no chocolate she would actually make up chocolate icing and eat the whole lot!!!)
On a different tangent before I write the recipe, I am in the process of researching the impact the a gluten free diet has on children or adults who are in the autism spectrum. I've got two university degrees and several years teaching; the one thing this has taught me about research is that secondary sources (books, academic papers etc) are good but primary sources (first hand encounters etc) are what really provides you with the nuts and bolts, the real evidence of whatever it is you are researching. So although I will be reading academic papers, articles, websites, the most effective research will be from talking to parents and caregivers of children who are in the autism spectrum to find out if a gf diet has resulted in any behavioural changes in their child.
My blogging friends, I am asking you a big favour, if you know someone who is on the autism spectrum and has tried the gf diet, ask them if they have any success with it an email me or alternatively give them my email address I'd love to hear from all people. If you even have a question, no matter how silly it may sound, comment on the blog or email me, I'll respond as best as I can.
Without further ado here is the recipe......
Recipe of the Day
Icing
Ingredients
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon milk (have more milk aside as you may need to add more)
1 teaspoon cocoa (for chocolate icing)
Method
Place icing sugar, margarine, cocoa and milk into a bowl and mix well. You will probably need to add a bit more milk (this is the part I always stuff up, do it SLOWLY!!!), 1/2 tablespoon at a time. The best thing is with icing, if you add too much milk you can add more icing sugar and if you add too much icing sugar you can add more milk!!
1 cup of icing sugar may not be enough to cover a large cake, but a 1 cup basis is easiest to work with when making more or less icing!
If you want to make a vanilla icing, add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence. But if you fancy some lovely bright coloured icing, be very CAREFUL with how much food colouring you add, one extra drop can make icing look like play dough (trust me I've done it many times!)
Good luck with the icing and I hope this works for you (remember icing is meant to go on cakes!).
Enjoy
xxxx
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
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
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
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
Monday, 23 May 2011
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
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)
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
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