Fudge

Ain't this the truth. I've put on a good number of kilos recently.

Especially troublesome have been the little packets of homemade fudge I have been storing in the fridge to give as presents to our local friends.

I can't help eating way more of this stuff than I know is good for me, but it is like velvet for my tastebuds.

Also, tragically, it is extremely easy and quick to make.

If you're interested in the recipe I'll post it soon.

Trivial bits and pieces

1. My friend bought me a donut machine. They make great tasting little gluten free treats. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak some vegies or supplements into the batter without anyone seeing.

2. I'm 35 and I still bite my nails.

3. Dreams. Lately I've been having night-long sagas with quite good stories, and lots of emotional range. Interesting.

4. Bought a book for my mother in law's birthday, but I'm too tempted to read it myself in the non-creased page way before I give it to her. It's called the 19th wife - about polygamy in Utah. I'm so interested in that stuff.

5. Can't stop eating cake.

6. This year is the year of wearing summer skirts rather than cropped pants. Felt like a change.

7. I'm going to really really miss my little girl next year. We've decided it's probably best for her brother (and therefore for us all) if she goes back to school and we focus on his therapy. But I feel so so disappointed about it.

8. I'm daydreaming about getting a huge book contract from Zondervan in the US, selling up, buying an RV for a year and travelling the States promoting it and speaking.

9. The other daydream is moving to the bush, building my own house, getting a horse and working the vegie patch. I like the idea - just not the work involved!

10. Great Bible study on the Body of Christ and how people are necessary for growth. I love that God 'wears us as his clothes' as he dispenses grace.

Bread

I got really hungry for chappati bread (unleavened flat bread from Pakistan) the other day, so I decided to make some.

Unfortunately it turned out tough and burned. Not good enough by half. It certainly didn't measure up to my memories of eating our friend Izzat's chappatis in Rattanbad when we lived in Pakistan.

Thank goodness for the internet. I looked up how to make chappatis and came up with a few tips which made the following day's attempt a lot more acceptable.

Here's how I did it.

I mixed half wholemeal flour and half white flour with a little salt and enough water to make a soft, sticky dough. Apparently this makes a softer chappati. I kneaded it in my Whizz Power Mix for about five minutes and let it rest for half an hour.

Then I rolled out small balls nice and flat - the edges need to be flatter than the sides so that it helps the chappati puff up. Mine are not quite round. I wish I was more perfectionistic and could get them perfectly circular. Oh well. They all go down the same way.

I cooked them in my heavy wok - although it's not quite right. They would have done better over gas, but it was ok with an electric burner. The pan was pretty hot. I cooked one side and pressed down gently with a tea towel to help it puff up in the middle. Then cooked the other side.

Unfortunately I ate way way way too many of these. Then I did something even worse and deep fried them to make poori. Even more yummy, but bad for the waistband of my jeans...

Cake

Oh yes. It certainly has.

Take that Donna Hay!

Alright, I really am showing off, but I'm just so thrilled with my (asked for) birthday present from Mum and Dad which mixed these beautiful scones today.

It's the Breville equivalent of a mixmaster. Before I got it out of its box, my little boy pointed at it and said, "What is it a?"

I said, "It's a mixmaster."

He said, "No, it's a Whizz Power Mixer!" He was right. And, yes, he can read more than I thought he could.

Anyway, by some cosmic accident on the very day I wanted to test out my new Whizz Power Mixer, I happened to have in the fridge both lemonade and cream - the secret ingredients for perfect scones.

Try this: in a Breville Whizz Power Mixer with dough hooks, mix together on a low speed 1 cup lemonade, 1 cup cream, 1 egg and 3 cups SR flour. Roll out, cut out and bake in a hot oven (200C) for 20 minutes or until golden on top.

As for once in my life I didn't burn what I put into the oven, I gave some to the neighbours and their assessment was 'delicious'.

Candles

We got out some candles and wine glasses for our wedding anniversary earlier this month and the children loved it! They stayed at the table longer and we really had a fun mealtime. We've pulled them out a few more times since. It's a great incentive for the reluctant middle child to come to dinner and actually eat and we all have fun blowing them out afterwards.

Sausage rolls

This is to give the impression that I'm a better cook than I really am. I made an effort and pulled out the festering packet of puff pastry and the pork mince that was nearly going off in the freezer. They turned out pretty well thanks to Donna Hay's recipe. Too bad I don't like pork!

If only...

I was as disciplined in my eating habits as I am at doing this daily blog in May.

Kneading bread...

...can bring back RSI.

This is a brilliant cookbook! I bought it today and have been looking through at recipes like:-

-chocolate pudding with avocado in it

-muffins with pumpkin and cauliflower

-brownies with spinach!!! in them.

Jessica (yes, married to Jerry) has been learning to hide veggies in food for her fussy eaters for years, and shares her successes in this book. It's exactly what I've been looking for. None of my children eat anything healthy by choice. I'm looking forward to trying it all out.

Coconut kefir

I was completely and utterly delighted today to find in the supermarket a green drinking coconut.

I have been wanting to make young coconut kefir drink for some time. I tasted something like it at the Allergy show and was hooked!

What is it? Basically, a non-dairy, pro-biotic drink with lots of goodies hiding inside. It tastes fizzy and slightly sour.

You get the juice out of the coconut, add the kefir grain and let it sit for a day or two.

Hopefully the children will take to it. I'll add it to their juice!

Blog

This blog has been a little quiet this week because I've been tired tired tired, with a headache that is possibly connected to the ache in the hole where my wisdom tooth used to be. (Apparently this is not normal, and I have to go back to the dentist. Great!!)

With a dodgy body, I've had no thoughts beyond 'poor me' and 'how can I feel better' and 'how and what can I get my children to eat', all of which is a little dull to blog about. In order to feel better I've given up drinking tea and eating sugar (truly!)... it hasn't worked yet, but it may...

Salad for a month?

Would you eat salad greens that were a month old?

Soon you may be able to. And, in a scary twist, you may not be able to tell the difference between the old and fresh.

It's all because of an emerging technology based around something called 'nano-particles'. Nanotechnology will mean that food will be able to absorb chemicals from its packaging, keeping it from spoiling and giving it a longer shelf life.

Apparently, and thankfully, nanotechnology is not legal in Australia, but there is no law that says companies can't use current ingredients of food in a nano-particle form.

Some food technology spokesperson was on the radio this morning, when I heard this story. His comment was, "We don't know what the risks are, if indeed there are any risks..."

No risks? Come on! Food is good for us because it has been living. It is best when it is fresh. If chemicals can alter food, they are going to alter our bodies in some way. It's bad enough that the big chains spray their produce with preservative before putting it out on the shelves. If nanotechnology comes in, you won't find me shopping with the 'Fresh Food' people any more.

The average person eats a heck of a lot of preservatives every day, in every snack and in every meal. I wonder... do our bodies actually rot when we hit the grave, or have we discovered a new form of embalming?

Give me real food, not chemicals.

Gingerbread mania

Our daughter's birthday party was very successful. I judge success in the following ways.

- I had everything done before the party started.
- Children (and some parents) came.
- They ate and drank happily, with no cordial and only marshmallows as lollies on the table. Yes, there was other food...
- They made and decorated their cookies with enthusiasm and enjoyed the games.
- They went home.
- The house got cleaned up and I sat and watched a video for the rest of the evening.
- My daughter beamed the entire day.

One of our activities was making, baking and decorating gingerbread cookies. My sister-in-law, who is American, wanted to know the logic behind calling these 'cookies' when we call every other type of sugary/wheaty snack 'biscuits'. (I think it is to do with the idea of it being home-made, but my mother pointed to the ongoing Americanization of our language...) Sister-in-law has recently become an Australian citizen, but is yet to master the finer points of culture.

Today some parents of the party-goers complimented me on the taste of the cookies. They must have pinched them out of the children's bags when they were asleep. For the record, here's the recipe:

115g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
115/4oz brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
115/4oz golden syrup
400g/14oz self-raising flour
5ml/1 tsp ground ginger
2.5ml/1/2 tsp cinnamon
1.5ml/1/4 tsp chilli powder*

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and golden syrup. Soft in dry ingredients. Gradually mix to make a stiff paste. Turn out onto a board and knead gently until smooth. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Then bake at 180C for 10-15 mins until golden brown.


We're away for four days. See you all soon!


*The secret ingredient is the chilli. It adds a beautiful little bite to the ginger.

Mmmm

I have a new favourite snack now that I'm trying to avoid added sugar. I discovered that if you combine pecan nuts and sultanas, it tastes just like one of my favourite desserts - pecan pie!

I am also continuing to try to hide vegetables in food in creative ways. Today's recipe is a potato chocolate cake and it's absolutely smooth and gorgeous.

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar (I only put one in)
4 eggs
2 oz melted chocolate (I substituted 1/2 cup cocoa)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cold mashed potatoes (well mashed, no lumps)
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour milk or butter milk (or just add a dash of lemon juice to the milk)

Cream the butter and sugar, add in eggs, cocoa, vanilla and potatoes, beating as you go. Add in dry ingredients, alternating with the milk. Mix well. Bake at 180C for 45 mins.

Kefir

I would like to sing the praises of a wonderful pro-biotic my homeopath put me on to.

It's called kefir. It's made with a kefir 'grain' which is a little white clump of stuff that looks like a mini-cauliflower. You put the grain into milk and leave it on the shelf for a couple of days, whereupon, miraculously it turns into yoghurt-like curd.

You eat it, and it's full of good microbes which do really really good things for your gut!

I make plain kefir and mix it into my daily yoghurt, as well as strawberry flavoured kefir for my daughter. I also disguise a spoonful of it in my baby's jar of mushy food every day.

It's great for people with irritable bowel or digestive problems. I won't go into the details of how it has helped me because they aren't fit for publication, but suffice to say I won't go without it now.

The amazing thing is that with time and use, the grains actually grow. I've been able to break bits off and share them with friends. Kefir's taking off in Mittagong... if you want some, let me know!

Here's a site with more details about it. They claim, and I believe it, that,

"The effects of Kefir have been the secret of the people of Caucasus for a long time. From their early youth, they drink Kefir instead of water and eat Kefir thickened in place of dessert. Their life expectancy is between 110 to 150 years (the latter not being a rare occurrence). They do not have cancer, tuberculosis or digestive disorders."

Foodie frolics

I need some help in the kitchen.

What's the trick to getting potato fries nice and crispy? Mine were SOGGY yesterday. Yuck. The dog had them for breakfast.

Chocolate mousse

I had a successful morning. I managed to make a non-dairy, gluten-free chocolate mousse to bribe the children with. It was absolutely scrumptious.

The recipe came from the book 'French Women Don't Get Fat' which is making me realise how much standing up snacking I do. A good eating principle the author suggests is to only ever eat sitting down.

Here's how you do it.

Melt 125 grams of really good quality dark chocolate. Mix in 3 egg yolks and 1 tbsp of sugar. Beat 5 egg whites to form stiff shiny peaks and fold in the chocolate mix. Refrigerate overnight.

It's impossible to eat too much because it's just so rich!

Oh, and if you're wondering about the health kick - yes, I'm still on it. Turns out dark chocolate is very nutritious (in reasonable amounts obviously), eggs are a great source of protein and I use pure fructose in place of sugar. It works the same but it's easier to digest.

Vegie patch and good works

My wonderful Poppa, Aunt and Uncle made a visit the other day. It was a visit with a purpose. They came to build and dig a vegetable patch for me.

A month ago, I mentioned to Pop that I was thinking of maybe possibly getting a vegie patch to grow a few things in, sometime ready for next year. He took the idea, organised people and products, turned up to build and left me with a beautiful fertilised and mulched vegetable patch.

On Saturday I'll be heading out to the nursery for seedlings to plant.

Whereas before it was a 'good idea' to grow vegies, now I am extremely motivated. I will do this! I will water, I will weed, I will feed my worm farm. The reason? Because my pop, my aunt and my uncle did it for me. Their grace has left me in a position to have beautiful vegetables, if I care enough about it. If I take the patch for granted, ignore it and presume on their gift and their friendship, our relationship will eventually suffer.

My motivation for vegetable growing comes from gift and grace. It's a strong motivation.

Similarly my motivation for living the Christian life and doing good things comes from gift and grace. God, through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, has put me in a position to do good, if I care enough about it. If I take his gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit for granted, ignore it and presume on his gift and friendship, our relationship will eventually suffer.

The reality is that if they hadn't built that patch for me, it would take me three years to get around to it... And it would never be as good as the one they have made. If God hadn't saved me, I would never have gotten around to being good enough. And I couldn't be anyway.

I like the motivation of grace. It's a much better motivation than guilt, or trying hard.

Let food be your medicine...

"Let food be your medicine, not medicine your food."

This brilliant piece of wisdom came from the father of medicine, Hippocrates himself. But as medical science has advanced and modern life has progressed, we seem to have forgotten this very important principle.

My attitude to food has undergone a complete revolution in the past two months. Since I have been researching the links between diet and autism I have been absolutely amazed and appalled at what we rich, smart, western people are doing to ourselves.

First of all we add fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides in abundance to our crops to grow more, better produce. Then we process and refine that produce so that any goodness it had has all but disappeared. Because it then is lacking in vitamins and minerals we add extras, refine it some more, add sugar, preservatives and colourings so it 'looks' better, tastes sweeter and lasts longer, package it up in two or three bags, advertise it as '97% fat free' and sell it on as healthy and good for us.

I used to just ignore the lists of numbers after the main ingredients on the labels (if I ever read them at all). Now I look at them and realise that all of those things I eat are putting extra strain on my body, and my children's bodies.

That's not even mentioning the substances we inhale, rub on our skin, wash in, drink and spray insects with around the house.

I have just read an illuminating book called 'The Gut and Psychology Syndrome' by Dr Natasha McBride-Campbell (MD PhD etc etc). She argues very effectively that there is a strong link between our modern sugar-heavy, additive-laden, highly processed diet and all of these: ADD, ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, schizophrenia, depression.

Let's follow Hippocrates' advice. Treat food as medicine. Value it's life-sustaining properties, as God made it. Let's not just eat whatever rubbish we think we can indulge in and then medicate ourselves for the results with even more substances.