G is for gluten.

Fruit mince! YUM!

2011-12-21T16:25:00.001+13:00

Firstly, I apologise for not posting this recipe earlier. I had all these hopes of posting lots of gluten-free Christmas recipes, but sometimes things never work according to plan. Just like yesterday, something that the media are calling a "swarm of earthquakes" happened. (Seriously? A SWARM?!) So for many people Christmas will be filled with joy, sadness and a little bit of fear again this year.

At least the weather is Christmassy! People can sleep outside on the trampoline and not worry about getting too cold. It is so warm and sunny, it feels like Christmas.

Hi norther-hemisphere people! To me Christmas wouldn't be right if I wasn't wearing a singlet and shorts.

So I give you Summer fresh fruit mince! Fruit mince pies are usually so heavy and dense that you can't stomach more than one. I changed that, with a lot of inspiration from Nigella Lawson. Below is the fruit mince recipe that I have tailored to New Zealand ingredients - feel free to add some fresh raspberries, currants or strawberries if you like. I would have, but I prefer to eat them fresh!

50ml cranberry juice
6 Tbsp brown sugar

495grams tin of dark pitted cherries (and juice from tin)

1/3 C dried currants
1/3 C raisins
2/3 C cranberries
1 tsp ground ginger
1 (scant) tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 medium lemon or orange (the rind of one fruit, but only juice of half)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp almond essence (I ran out, so left this out of my second batch)

Make this in a medium sized pot, with a wide enough base to help the mixture reduce quickly and high enough sides to protect your kitchen from boiling red missiles.

Dissolve 50ml cranberry juice and 6 Tbsp brown sugar over medium heat.

Add the tin of cherries, including all of the liquid from the tin. Crush the cherries gently with the back of your spoon and bring to the boil.

Add the dried fruit and spices. Let the mixture simmer, stir occasionally to smash up the fruit, for about 15 minutes. By then it should look like a lumpy red paste and the liquid should have evaporated, leaving a delicious looking thick sauce behind.

Now add the rind of one lemon/orange and the juice of half a lemon. Add the vanilla and almond essence.

Taste and check the texture. If it is still quite liquid, and less of a thick syrup with gleaming lumps of fruit - try adding some grated apple. The only reason I haven't included that in the recipe is that I didn't have any for my second batch and it worked out just as well. So this part is completely optional, same with the almond essence.

The pastry: I used the new Pavilion gluten-free pastry range. It comes pre-made and should be in most supermarket freezers. The short-crust and sweet pastries work great with this fruit mince.
OR: I recommend trying Bakels' pastry mix.
If you're not a pre-mix person, check out Karen Morgan's amazing book: Blackbird Bakery.

I only made little pies, using my mini muffin pans which turned out to be the perfect size for fruit mince pies.

Grease the muffin pans.
Roll out your pastry as normal and use a round cookie cutter to make shapes that are a little bit bigger than the circumference of the muffin size. Press the rounds into the holes, spoon the fruit mince to fill and place a little pastry star (or heart? awww!) on top.
Bake for about 10-15 minutes, depending on your pastry.

ENJOY!

Christmas time is here again....YUM!

2011-12-09T11:06:00.001+13:00

How do you know it's Christmas? What signs tell your brain that it's time to feel that Christmas joy?

Five things that make me feel Christmassy:

Lying in the sun. Forget jack frost, it's sunburn that nips at my nose at Christmas.

Flowers. My Grandma's peonies, roses and Christmas lilies come out in December. Filling the house with vases full of random flowers is part of our Christmas decorations.

Old decorations. I bet everyone feels this way when they see a hideous decoration from their childhood. And yes, they're always hideous but their nostalgic attributes outweigh that fact.

Christmas songs. We always listen to Glen Campbell's Christmas album. But we call him Den Dambell because my big sister couldn't pronounce his name when she was little.

The food. Pavalova, speculaas, Christmas mince pies, our Christmas spicy nibble, salads, fresh veggies, fruit cake, stollen, gingerbread houses. - All gluten-free of course! YUM!

I hope to post about all the above foods, I want to share the gluten-free Christmas joy with you.

What things show you that it's Christmastime? What makes you feel like Christmas?

Bliss yogurt = happiness

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000+13:00

You know when people say that to be healthier you should just eat yogurt for dessert, instead of ice cream?
I always laugh when I hear it. But I laugh discreetly.... inside my head.
But if you managed to get in there and listen, I would be doing one of those "Ha! You're insane! Yogurt is for breakfast and emergencies!" laughs, which smacks of ridicule.

But I have seen the light. I have to eat my words (or eat my thoughts?) - because this yogurt is so ridiculously delicious that I would happily eat it instead of ice cream.

Believe it.

This stuff really is "7 serves of happiness."
You MUST try the banana caramel flavour. It's amazing.
Bliss website.

Muffin break makes gluten-free muffins!

2011-11-14T10:06:00.001+13:00

Do you think there is a difference between bought and homemade muffins?
I do. I've always LOVED bought blueberry muffins.

When you're a little kid you often decide (rather strange) ways that you will spend your adult life. 'When I grow up...' seems so far away, and you know that you will be so rich (...ha!) that you will go around town wearing high heels, drinking coffee out of pretty cups, drive a lime green Lamborghini convertible and eat blueberry muffins to your heart's content. - Such was my dream when I was a little girl.

So guess what I did when I found these at the gluten-free food and allergy show?

It was pretty crowded and the muffin break girl was looking right at me, but I couldn't help doing a little jig on the spot.

At last! My blueberry muffin dreams are possible! Now I just need to find that Lamborghini.

Ok. They are a bit ugly, but they taste pretty good! Muffin-break website.

2011-11-02T15:00:00.001+13:00

I have two really awesome little sisters. The three of us really like cheesy grins, cheese, cheese cake and apparently have the same pose in photos:

The other day, we went to the Gluten-free food and allergy show! Choice as!
Do you ever doubt your taste buds? I do. That's why I brought the sisters along to the show, so that they can try things and tell me whether it actually tastes good.

Sometimes we do crazy things together. Over the past few months we've been supporting the All Blacks in such a way that made our friends wonder whether we were actually sane.
Two words: World Champions.* This winning feeling is going to last for ages.

Who knew you could do so much with a white board pen? This one is based on Piri Weepu's tattoo. Weird, I know, but it was fun.

We cringe whenever we drive past this sign. Now we can also laugh at the company by exposing them to ridicule online. In the words of the immortal Nelson: "HA-ha!"

My sisters are cool. I can always rely on them to tell me whether something tastes gross or delicious.
Do you have friends or family members who you can rely on to critique food? Do you have a little support crew to help you out with being gluten-free and life in general?

*Champions of the World. So: we have the best Rugby team in the world. Unlike the World Series, which I don't understand why 'World' is even in the title. Perhaps someone from the USA can explain it to me? Anyone?

Chicken liver pate! Gluten-free comfort food.

2011-10-17T16:29:00.000+13:00

Do you like chicken livers? Are you a fan of guts?

Photo credit.

I am. I love them. More precisely; I love liver pate.

This may not look like much, but believe me, it’s delicious!

Nana used to always have some ‘liverwurst’ or liver pate in her fridge. I have so many fond memories of sneaking into her kitchen and spreading a thick layer of the delicious pate over a piece of soft white bread. It was the perfect late night snack. So now, and probably for the rest of my life, I will always feel better if I can just eat some liver pate on toast.

Do you have memories like that? Do certain foods carry feelings of comfort and security with them?

I’m normally a chocolate and coffee girl. Who isn’t? They’re two of God’s greatest gifts, I think. But sometimes a little bit of liver pate helps to make the world right again. Currently, I’m in the middle of the three busiest weeks of this whole year. And I’m craving liver pate.

Are you getting squeamish yet? When I told the pharmacist my pate plans, she became all lily-livered (ha!) and turned green right before my eyes.

I hope you’re not like that. Why? Because you need to try this recipe. It’s delicious, trust me.

Chicken Liver pate:

Oil for frying
2 Big slices of bacon, chopped
½ an onion, roughly chopped
350g chicken livers
¼ tsp cumin
2 sparse tablespoons of Worcester sauce
250 g cream cheese
5 tablespoons of milk
½ - 1 tbsp salt (to taste)
50 g butter, in small cubes
pepper

Heat oil on medium/high and fry bacon, onion and chicken livers until the livers are almost cooked through. Stir occasionally.
Add the cumin and worcester sauce. Stir.
When the livers are cooked, turn the heat off and add the milk. This will help to pull all of that beautiful flavour off the bottom of the pan.
You can let the mixture cool, but if, like me, you are just too impatient; pour the mixture into a food processor while hot. Add the cream cheese and blitz until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I like to add lots of freshly ground pepper.) Add the cubes of butter and give it one last mix until the butter is incorporated into the delicious paste.
Pour into a jar or container and drizzle a bit of olive oil or melted butter overtop.

Yes, it’s ugly. But that means picky eaters will avoid it, so there will be more for you!
So much the better, right?

Enjoy!

Vogel's six seed bread

2011-10-03T22:23:00.000+13:00

It's a beautiful thing, this bread. I posted about Vogel's fruit and spice bread awhile back, but I just had to share this six seed bread with you. It's amazing.

Do you remember the taste of Vogel's? Of that moist nuttiness the seeds would give the bread? If you're a kiwi you'll probably know what I'm talking about. This new flavour of gluten-free bread contains the essence of Vogel's bread.

Without a doubt, this is my favourite gluten-free bread (that I've tasted so far, I'm still waiting to taste the legendary Udi's!)

Until now, I had never taste a GF bread that I would be happy eating without toasting it. Shocking, I know. How about you? Are you a 'must toast' person?

What's your favourite gluten-free bread? If your answer is 'homeade' - then please can I have your recipe!

2011-09-30T23:15:00.004+13:00

I'm an emotional eater. It's a fact that I've come to acknowledge, however I'm not going to try and stop the habit. I love chocolate too much to do that!

But emotional eating doesn't have to be about the sweet or unhealthy foods. Sometimes you just need a good green salad to make yourself feel refreshed and, well, ready to act like a human again.

So, I give you the latest result of emotional eating, my first ever tart!

I know, I know, how on earth had I never made a tart (or tarte?) before?! The thing is that I'm not particularly gifted in the 'rolling things out' department. It's hard enough rolling out a little bit of gingerbread. Gluten-free pastry? Fuggettaboutit!

I went to the Dr on Tuesday and it wasn't a normal check up. You've all had experiences like that, I'm sure. That time when you go to the Dr, worried about some creepy symptom or pain, then afterwards - no matter what the outcome (and because Dr's tend to suck the life out of you, don't ask me why)- you have a little break down after you get home.
Yup, that was me on Tuesday morning.

Why, oh why did I decide that making a tart would help to dull the pain? That duelling with some stubborn dough would actually comfort me? I'm insane.

But you know what? It worked. Even though the quiche mixture spilled out of the tin and all through the oven.
I think it was the simple fact that I was following a recipe and I didn't have to think about the ramifications of that Dr's visit. Or the stress of trying to do four huge assignments in three weeks. Or everything else that takes up my time and energy.

Baking can do that for you. It can be the balm for your sore little brain.

Eating doesn't hurt either. Actually, it helps... a lot.

I can hear you asking about the pastry, it's actually the Bakels pastry mix. This was the first time that I've ever used it. The verdict? I liked the convenience, however it was a bit tricky to maneuver into the tart tin so I had to patch the pastry up so much so that it looked like a quilt.
Also, it was very bland, dry and quite crumbly. My Mum, sisters and I all preferred the taste of these 'Meh' crackers, or so I have called them. (Which I had made out of some 'Whatever' pastry, dug out of the depths of the freezer.)

That being said, if I ever come back from the Dr craving tart again, I'll definitely be using the Bakels pastry mix. I like how it is so straight forward. Perfect for my emotional brain!

P.S. Don't worry, I'm ok. I just have bung knees and need to do a lot of work to sort them out.

Vogel's fruit & spice bread - the best GF bread EVER.

2011-09-15T13:28:00.000+12:00

Here in NZ we don't have the legendary Udi's Gluten-free bread. Although I'm dying to try some, I have to content myself with the bread available here.

So I'm pleased to announce that Vogel's has started making gluten-free bread! I think it's better than Burgen and pretty much every other gluten-free bread on the market.

Buy some. I'm serious.

This is what it looks like fresh from the packet. It's soft, delicious and lasts for about four days before falling apart.

But, as with all fruit breads, it's best when toasted. Delicious!

2011-09-07T00:04:00.000+12:00

This is what the sky looked like last year:

It looks the same this year too, not much has changed. The cherry tree in the picture is starting to blossom.

Oh, and it's one year since our earthquake.

This past year has been full of emotional eating. Seriously, what would you do if you were constantly plagued by earthquakes? Then your city is destroyed... so you make chocolate cake. Although cake always helps, it never fixes the problem. So you always need a stream of chocolaty goodness on hand, just in case.

We listened to the radio all day. I painted my nails because we didn't have electricity. Productive!

It still feels like 2010 to me, how could it be one year already?

Enjoy not getting typhoid!

Now that it's one year on, I just want to say thanks to all you blog readers who have been thinking and praying for us in Christchurch. So, thank you.

I've learned two big things over this year:
1) Anything could happen at any time. Be prepared.
2) I would be an emotional mess if it wasn't for my faith. God is in control and I can rest in that knowledge. This is part of being prepared, even if the building falls on top of me, I know where I'm going.

2011-09-06T23:30:00.000+12:00

Look at what I bought!

Yup, they're Ninjabread men cookie cutters! Thanks Fred and Friends! You're cool.

I've wanted to get these for ages now. When I first saw these online I sent a link to my nerdiest big brother, giving a very obvious hint that I would make him cookies if he bought these for me. It didn't happen, perhaps I need to be more blunt next time.

Anyway, I saw them on special somewhere and couldn't resist buying them!

Believe it or not, the above statement is true. They actually disappear! - Even if they're made out of gluten-free gingerbread, people absolutely love them.

This one looks like my Dad. He's got a moustache... see?

There are a myriad possibilities for decorating them. This one looks like it was modelled on a Jawa.

Deliciously awesome!

We made these the night before, let the icing set overnight and packed them up before bringing them to church. They were all eaten. Every last one. Nobody can resist a Ningabread man! (Or as some people persist in calling them: ginger-ninjas.)

Here's the Dad ninja again. He actually looks a bit like Dan McNinja. (see below.)

If you like things that are awesome, involve ninjas, giant gorillas and people who ride raptors, you'll love the Dr. McNinja webcomic.

But it's addictive. Don't say I didn't warn you.

What I've been up to:

2011-08-30T17:00:00.000+12:00

I've been studying. Thankfully all of my work is handed in online, so I don't have to show off my bad handwriting. Phew!

My little sister made a smiley Batman jersey for me! It's huge and ridiculously comfy. Plus, it has Batman on it and he's smiling! What more could I want?

This is supposed to be a heart, I'm not quite sure if it looks like one though. Regardless of that fact, you MUST try this if you ever get snow at your house!

It snowed again, this time it was a record breaking amount of snow. It was cold, windy and nasty outside. I was busy and slightly stressed, for several reasons. Then I remembered how, in the Little House books, Laura makes snow candy. We made a caramel (like for popcorn) with a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses in it for that rustic flavour, ran outside with the hot pot and made pretty pictures in the snow. It was so much fun!

Now, before you ask - this was the best photo my sister got of our chocolate Voldemort bust. Yes, you heard right. It's a solid chocolate Voldemort bust. How awesome is that?!

Now that I've fully established that I'm a fully fledged nerd, I can tell you that I hope to take up regular posting again. Yay!

2011-08-05T00:12:00.001+12:00

Because I've been ridiculously busy and reasonably sick lately, here is a quick post of what I've been up to recently, before we move on to greater things.

For those of you in up in the northern parts of this world this may sound weird, but it snowed here recently.

It was really cold too and no doubt contributed to the nasty head cold that I suffered afterwards.

But it was so pretty!

I got to try out my new camera and discovered that it's a pretty hardy wee-thing when it was hit by a snowball. Never play cricket with my youngest sister.

We watched lots of movies starring Frank Sinatra and ate lots and lots of chocolate while we waited for our fingers to thaw. Snow is cold, remember?

And then my brother went and put his face in it.

Don't worry, we made the most of this opportunity by making him do it several times "because we want to take a picture!" *snigger* - I'm such a great sister.

Coming soon: Quick but delicious fishy curry!

Slightly spicy egg and lentils.

2011-07-07T13:37:00.000+12:00

I always have such good intentions when it comes to food. I often go to bed after reading a cookbook and dream about the amazingly healthy and delicious food that I will make the next day. "Tomorrow will be different," I tell myself. "Tomorrow I will cook a healthy lunch for myself, do some baking and perhaps even change out of my PJ's before lunch."

But more often than not, this ideal day never happens.

However, today was different. There weren't any leftovers and I had the energy to resist pulling some gluten-free bread out of the freezer.

Here is what I cooked:

I got the idea out of a cookbook from the library a few weeks ago, but I can't remember which book it was! I call it slightly spicy egg and lentils. Yum!

Lentils are actually full of protein, fibre and iron, so this was quite a healthy lunch. Also, lentils are not only good for you but they're also really cheap. It's a win-win situation.

I don't have an official recipe as yet, but here is the general idea: (all measurements are approximate, have fun, throw things in - odds are that it'll taste good.)

If you're not using tinned lentils, make sure you start cooking your lentils early as they can take up to 30 minutes to cook properly. (I used half a cup of dried lentils, so I suppose it would be about 1 cup after cooking.)

Fry:

Half an onion, chopped, till soft.

Then add:

Two garlic cloves, finely chopped/crushed.

1tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp red curry paste, crushed chili or chili powder.

(plus any other flavours you like! - I'm going to try a more Mediterranean feel next time.)

When your garlic and spices have been fried with the onion, about 2 minutes, add the cooked and drained lentils.

Give it a good stir to combine the flavours.

Add:

A splash of soy sauce and lime/lemon juice.

A small handful of chopped herbs of choice: parsley, coriander or basil would work well.

Make sure the temperature is on medium/low before creating a well in the middle.

Now:

Crack an egg into the well

Put a lid on the frying pan and wait until the top of the egg is white, but still wobbly when you shake the pan slightly. This should take about one or two minutes.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper before serving.

Mmmm! Runny yolk!

Enjoy!

When cultural foods are full of gluten.

2011-07-05T15:01:00.000+12:00

Before I start, I just want to ask two questions:

1) Is onion dip a just Kiwi thing? Like the All Blacks, fush'n'chups, Hokey Pokey ice cream, the Edmonds cookbook and jandals?

2) Are there foods specific to your culture that are full of gluten, and therefore out of your reach? How do you deal with that?

I love watching travel cooking shows. A few months ago, Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey was on TV. As I watched him devour the diverse foods of East Asia, I realised that New Zealand doesn't have any national cuisine. I think that's why we unknowingly invented fusion cooking.

I think the lack of national, or traditional, cuisine makes little things like a simple onion dip become very special.

Maggi's onion dip has long been promoted as the Kiwi dip. It's like, if you don't like this dip you're not totally Kiwi. It's as shocking as if you didn't support the All Blacks in a World Cup year.

I already knew the Maggi's onion soup mix contained gluten. But when I first went gluten-free, Pam's was safe to eat! It was great!

But then, the other day I was about to buy some more dip *cue ominous sounding music*. I read the ingredients again, just in case.. *dun-duh!* they changed the recipe. Guess what: it now contains gluten.

Imagine my anger - and my sadness. It was as if a cultural icon (don't laugh, dip is important!) had been snatched away from me. Forever.

The other day Mum cleaned our pantry and discovered two packets of the old onion soup mix! Yay! So last night we made some up and snacked on celery, carrots and heaps of onion dip while watching Harry Potter #6.

See the old ingredients?* Why did they have to change the recipe to contain modified wheat starch and actual soy sauce? Don't they realise that they've destroyed a tiny bit of every gluten-free Kiwi's heart?

I don't like Pam's anymore.

So last night was the (possibly) second to last time I'll ever eat onion dip again. We've still got one packet stashed in the pantry. I don't know if I'll ever have the guts to eat it though.

I know that all you gluten-freesias out there will understand exactly what I mean. Saying goodbye to little things is hard, mainly because it seems to bring back the sadness you felt when you first turned your back on gluten.

Have you ever had moments like this?

* I know, the Modified Starch (1422, 1442) look dodgy as. We're super lucky in NZ, if a product says 'Modified starch' and does not specify that it is wheat, it is made from corn or tapioca.

2011-06-28T14:58:00.000+12:00

A few days ago I was happily eating potato patties.

It was unseasonably warm, for winter, so I made the most of it and lay in the sun outside.

Aww, that was nice.

But now? There are snow warnings and I feel sick. *waah!*

It seems that all I can talk about is how my body is doing funny things now I'm on roaccutane. I don't mind moisturising all the time, although it's freezing cold and gooey. Eesh. But it's the lethargy, slight nausea and loss of appetite which struck me last week that has totally thrown me off course.

So my Mum has instructed me to take Vitamin C and drink two cups of St John's Wort tea every day. Now it's up to me to figure out what to do with this lethargy and no appetite for the next three months.

Any ideas?

Rice bran muffins!

2011-06-13T12:30:00.000+12:00

I learned something recently: Rice Bran contains lots of fibre. Fibre, especially the soluble kind, helps to lower the bad cholesterol (LDL) in your blood. For a good article on cholesterol, see here.

Why do I care about all this? The medication that I'm currently taking for my skin can raise cholesterol and often does other nasty things to the body. When I started these meds, I asked my Dr what I could do to ensure that I stayed healthy; she said, "eat lots of veggies, fruit, wheat and oat bran." - I couldn't believe my ears. She is my favourite Dr (yes, I have favourites), but I couldn't help pointing out that I can't eat wheat... or oats for that matter. She said I'd be fine and ushered me out of the room. See? I annoy doctors. They don't like questions.

So I went home and did some nerdy research. It turns out that most medical professionals and many reliable websites say that if you want to either lower bad cholesterol or just be healthy, to eat oat or wheat bran every day.

So what's a gluten-free girl to do?!

I thought about my current diet. It consists of rice (white), potatoes, a little bit of meat and lots of vegetables. When I eat bread or baked foods they're full of starch. White starchy starches with hardly any nutritional value. I don't need to be a dietitian to realise that's not very good.

So what can I do? First up, I'm introducing rice bran. It's full of goodies like essential amino acids, omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, lots of antioxidants and heaps of dietary fibre. Yay!

Introducing Rice Bran Muffins!
I found this recipe on glutenfree4goofs.wordpress.com. My coeliac sister and I have made several batches of these in the past month. These muffins are seriously delicious and make a really healthy snack or breakfast if you're in a hurry. YUM!

Find the recipe here.

This recipe is really great because you can add any kind of flavourings you like. For example, the first time I made it I used dried cranberries. But the second time, my sister used raisins and they still tasted really great. Apple and cinnamon also works really well and I can't wait to try banana.

You can buy rice bran at the Binn Inn.

Enjoy!

Have you used rice bran before? What kind of stuff do you make with it?

Wheat-free ≠ gluten-free

2011-06-09T08:21:00.000+12:00

When I spied Simple Treats at my local library I thought; "Yay! Another gluten-free cookbook! Later that day I looked through it, with high expectations, but I was very disappointed. I felt cheated.

Have a guess why!

What comes to mind when you hear the words "wheat-free"?
I asked one of the brothers this very question, and even though he has two sisters with coeliacs he still answered "gluten-free!"

Seasoned coeliacs are unlikely to think that wheat-free = gluten-free, but they're still likely to imagine that there will be at least a few gluten-free recipes in the book.

One of the semi-GF recipes. See the barley malt syrup?

But no! I searched through every recipe and found that the only recipes that were gluten free were some of the icings and sauces. Everything had barley in it. To me, barley = evil, so I still can't understand why somebody would shun the wheat yet embrace barley.

My coeliac sister and I were talking about that very subject the other day. We can't understand why people voluntarily reject gluten (or just wheat) without any actual health reasons. You know the kind, those people who think that 'gluten-free' is a weight loss or super health thing to do. Meanwhile we would do anything to be able to eat some soft white bread again, without having side-effects.

But different people do different things. I mean, isn't it great that everyone isn't like me? What an awful world that would be.

Wheat-free ≠ gluten-free.

Just like the bread at our supermarket (in the gluten-free section!) that says: "wheat-free" yet is made out of gluten filled rye flour, the front page of this book is likely to dupe people into believing that it is in fact safe for coeliacs.

To many people wheat-free = gluten-free. Coeliacs have a hard enough time as it is, without this kind of confusion going on.

(Note: I understand that many people have to stop eating wheat for reasons that don't have anything to do with coeliacs or even gluten. Novak Djokovic is a great example of someone with a gluten allergy. I also understand that some people reject gluten because they believe it is a bad thing for humans to eat. That's ok. My only worry is when people get confused and give coeliacs barley.)

Now I've said my piece, what's your opinion on the whole wheat-free thing? Do you feel duped when wheat-free doesn't equal gluten-free? How do you educate your friends and family about this?

What's in my blood? Iron.

2011-06-08T14:31:00.081+12:00

Do you ever feel like a human pin-cushion?

If you're anything like me, you will. Blood tests are a regular thing for me, which is a pity because my veins are very rude and don't like to cooperate. Ouch!

I've had some trouble with my blood ferritin levels in the past, which are so fickle that they fluctuate like Marilyn Monroe's supposed dress-size.

This shouldn't be a surprise to you, if you're familiar with coeliacs and other autoimmune disorders. Gluten-freesias tend to have trouble absorbing nutrients, particularly before diagnosis and during the healing process. But we can also struggle with iron levels even if we're living a happy, healthy gluten-free lifestyle.

But how do you know if you've got good iron levels? After a few bad experiences with Doctors and blood test results, I decided to keep copies of my own. This way I can see my progress and pick up things that the Dr might miss.

I strongly suggest that you do the same. There is nothing like holding your own blood test results in your own little hands, perusing them and then dancing down the hallway when you realise that you've set a new iron record.

I'm not going to write about iron and how to ensure your diet is iron rich, I'll do that later. I want to show you how much my iron levels have changed over the years as a kind of example - I want you to have the same joy that I do when finding out for yourself (with the facts on paper, in your hands) that you must be doing something right because guess what: YOU'RE HEALTHY!

Haha, some people like to show their readers what's in their handbag or fridge. But me? I show you what's in my blood.

(Note: When reading iron blood tests the most important thing is to look at the ferritin levels. Ferritin is a protein that binds to iron in your blood, so measuring that tells you how much stored (and readily available) iron there is floating around in your body. The numbers in brackets (20-200) are the normal range of levels. If the number is within those two your levels are technically fine.)

Starting back in February 2007, way before I was diagnosed with coeliacs.

October 2007. I knew there was something wrong, I could see it. But it wasn't officially low so the Dr didn't think there was an issue. I felt faint and was often short of breath.

April 2008. So I started taking iron pills. They're nasty and (GROSS ALERT!) have a tendency to constipate. Eeesh!

August 2008. I didn't understand, but I knew this was better than 23ug/L. I kept taking iron pills.

November 2008. Woo! New record! But I didn't care about the iron results at the time because my coeliac ones were on the other page. They were positive. I said goodbye to bread and cried.

May 2009. No surprise, my iron went down because I stopped taking pills.

May 2010. One year later my iron had dropped significantly. I freaked out, why had it gone down when I was eating so healthy?!

December 2010. Although I had researched iron and tried to eat more of it (without taking the dreaded pills) my levels went down again. I felt terrible!

March 2011. I had caved and taken some iron pills, but I had also eaten lots of vegetables during the summer, concentrating on leafy greens.

June 2011. This is the test I got this morning. MAGIC! I couldn't believe it! And I hadn't taken any iron pills between the March test and now... strange. I can only attribute it to the medication I'm currently on and the stuff that it does to my body.

There you go. Now you know what's in my blood!

I have come to love reading blood test results and I really hope that you will too. Why? It's your blood, your body and your health. Take control and find out what's going on inside your body so that you can take preventative measures if you see things going down-hill.

So... how are your iron levels doing?

If I could eat gluten...

2011-06-02T16:26:00.000+12:00

A few days ago I was cleaning my room and discovered my old Beauty and the Beast notebook. It contained many lists, schedules and notes to self from several years ago.

Do you keep a diary? I do.

Whenever I read it I feel all nostalgic, sad and happy at the same time. Sad because of all the memories that are often not that great (ie, being sick) and happy because of all the nice memories and funny things that I wrote.

Well, I felt similar to that when I looked through my old notebook.

There are two things from the notebook that I want to share with you:

1) (This one isn't very exciting) I wrote "lampshade" on almost all of my "to do" lists - but 2 years later I still haven't finished it. Shame on me!

2) The list of gluten food that I wanted to eat.

When I got the results to my blood test, I went gluten-free straight away. I knew that I would have to binge on gluten before my small bowel biopsy, so I wrote a list of all the foods that I wanted to eat during that time. Here it is: ~~I didn't do the ones that are crossed out.~~

Crumbed fish
Tuna, lettuce and mayo on toast.
squiggles
Gingernuts
Liquorice
100's and 1,000's
McDonalds
~~Subway~~
Pizza
lots and lots of homemade bread.
~~Shrewsberry bickies.~~
Mum's baking.
~~Homemade pasta.~~
Pies. Lots of pies!
Cookies and cream ice cream.

It's quite a humble list ay? But it wasn't like that when I wrote it. Back then I thought that I would never eat a squiggle again and believed that gluten-free pizza was a lost cause. I feel sad now, because I remember that feeling. I couldn't fathom a life without liquorice.

But I also feel happy now, because I know that I have eaten almost all of the things on the list while I was gluten-free.

See here:

Crumbed fish

Tuna, lettuce and mayo on toast.

squiggles

Gingernuts (I'm saving that one for later!)
Liquorice (I plan to try the Molasses liquorice sometime when I feel extra depressed/need something awesome to eat. I'm also putting it off because it might taste gross, and then where would I be? A world without liquorice isn't much of a world.)

100's and 1,000's (some brands are now gluten-free!)

McDonalds (I like dunking the chips into the ice cream... yum.)
~~Subway~~ (Not happening. *sad face*)

Pizza

Lots and lots of homemade bread.

~~Shrewsberry bickies.~~ (I plan to make a gluten-free replica sometime.)
Mum's baking. (No photographic evidence, but I'm sure Mum has made something that's gluten-free!)
~~Homemade pasta.~~(I made some... of sorts.)

Pies. Lots of pies!

I think this sausage roll counts... right?

Then how about these? hahahaha! YUM!

Cookies and cream ice cream.

It feels really good to know that I can still eat all of my favourite foods. Crumbed fish is possible. My life is ok. But the other thing I realise from reading that list is that my food tastes have changed so much over the past few years. My horizons have widened a bit more. I look at adzuki beans and say "YUM!" when I never would have before. So, although I thought that being gluten-free would make my food world smaller, in many ways it's actually made it bigger. Heck, I eat quinoa now! Nuff said!

On the next page of the notebook I wrote a plan for a "gluten-free feast". It was my way of reminding myself that being gluten-free isn't that bad. First on the list was cake. Party!

If you had a chance to eat gluten again, what would you eat?

Pizza is a human right, in my house anyway.

2011-06-01T15:45:00.000+12:00

Any idea what this monstrosity is?

Nope?

This one should be easier:

That's right. They're both pizza bases.

It tastes great, really... if only I could get it off the paper!

I know what you're thinking. "How on earth did she manage to make such horrible looking pizza bases?"

Thanks for asking. If there was a special number of pizza disasters allotted to each person on the planet, I've totally used mine up now. Here are some things I've learned:

1) Always follow a recipe.

2) If you disregard tip #1 and make up a bread-like pizza dough thingy - ensure that it isn't really liquidy. The wetter/thinner the mixture is the more it will stick to your baking paper. (See above pictures.)

3) I will cry if I can't get pizza. Like my brother said, pizza is a basic human right. After considering that truth, the siblings gave me permission to go to the supermarket and spend their inheritance on some Venerdi pizza bases.

4) Shop bought pizza bases are really, really expensive. (See comment about inheritance.)

But you know what? They're really tasty too.

They're also what I like to call a "life-saver" - mainly because things could have become really ugly if I didn't get pizza that evening.

But, yes, they're expensive. I'm talking $7.50 for two bases. Don't tell Mum.

Because pizza is a human right, at least in my house, on a scale of alright-to-awful, how terrible is it that bases are so expensive?! I feel like gluten-free companies are ripping us off.

But on the other hand I'm also really glad that I have access to pizza bases at my local supermarket. While I'm being thankful: I'm also glad that I have a bed to sleep on, running water and a sewage system that works. Yay. But the pizza is still expensive.

What are your views on pizza? Are you a closet ninja turtle like me (I bags being Raphael) or can you take it or leave it?

That healthy challenge: an update.

2011-05-26T08:15:00.004+12:00

Remember this?
I've been trying to eat extra healthy recently, it's been great... but hard. My Nana is visiting and she always brings us chocolate, so I've been eating quite a bit of that... and chips. Yeah. Somehow I find it impossible to say 'No' to salted potato chips.

But apart from that?

I've been eating lots of veggies.

I've also had a head-cold for the past week, so the whole exercise thing has gone out the window. Obviously I'm not very determined. But honestly, if you were finding it hard enough to breathe all the time, why put yourself through the pain of exercise?! Am I right?

This is jasmine tea. It's healthy and I've been drinking it. (ok, ok, coffee too.)

Coming soon: How to use Rice Bran and Buckwheat!

Cookbook #2 Carol Fenster's Wheat Free Recipes & Menus.

2011-05-25T16:43:00.000+12:00

I know it's been ages since I posted about my forty-something cookbooks, sorry. The plan was to use the 45 weeks left in the year to cook one recipe from every single one of those books. How sad is it that I only got through one book?!

Well, telling you about Wheat Free Recipes & Menus might make make up for my lack of blogger-spirit.

Ever since I loaned 1,000 Gluten-free recipes from my local library, I've been a huge Carol Fenster fan. But now? Hey, I'm putting her book up in my "favourite gluten-free books of all time" list.

Strange, because if any book is going to look unpretentious and boring, this is it.

It's really flexible too, a fact that I actually find endearing... in books. This is the kind of book that you don't mind plonking on the bench and actually baking with. The occasional butter or egg splatter doesn't look out of place on these pages.

This book is usable. It might look boring... but the recipes work.

See? I used Carol Fenster's gingerbread recipe the other day. It was awesome, especially because it was shaped like a castle.

I scored this silicon castle mould for $5! And I can't believe how awesome it is. Nothing beats a castle cake... well, unless it's a BATMAN CAKE! (OOOh! That's now on my "must make one day" list.)

This gingerbread recipe allowed the detail (not very visible in the picture) given by the mould to actually stand out. No icing needed.

Back to the book!

There is an English muffin recipe.

And pretzels!

I'm super excited about using this book in the future, I think it might have a permanent home in the kitchen.

Note: This book also contains two of the best bread recipes I've ever used. For reals! I made some but then promptly ate it all before I could take pictures! Never fear, there will be a post about this amazing bread at some point in the future.

So in case I haven't hyped this book up enough, let me just say: if you don't buy this book, you should at least loan it from your local library. Give it a chance, read through the amazing recipes and try the gluten-free pumpernickel bread. Amazing, I tell ya.

Dovedale Rice Chia bread.

2011-05-16T15:15:00.001+12:00

I know this only illustrates my dorkyness, hip people would find something more awesome, and ultimately hipper to quote than the Incredibles. But here goes: "I'm not happy Bob... NOT HAPPY."

Why? Because I used my hard-earned money to buy a packet of Dovedale Rice Chia bread and only got to eat half of it.

But before I get all complainy, I just want to say that for the price (the cheapest in the shop at just over $6), the bread was quite nice. It had a more crumbly texture than many of the other breads I have tried, but I decided that I would buy it again whenever I craved a sandwich.

Well, that was until I saw this on the next piece of bread:

Upon peeling back the layers of bread I found that mould had spread right through the middle of the loaf! It had only been open for 2, maybe 3 days, in an air tight container on the bench.

I couldn't believe it. There were still 5 days to go until the best-before date.

So I decided to complain and emailed Dovedale. They sent me a reply today:

"If you had read the label you would have seen we state “ Refrigerate After Opening”. We are proud of the fact that unlike most bakeries we don’t use preservatives. Most of our customers appreciate this as many have multiple allergies & preservatives can have side effects.

So rather than being a sign of inferior quality as you imply, the fact that our bread went mouldy before the best before date is testament to it being a natural product. The extended shelf life we get for our breads is due to the Modified Atmosphere Packaging where the bread has oxygen removed from the pack & replaced with nitrogen & carbon di oxide. This provides an inert environment to inhibit mould growth. Once the pack is opened however, the bread should be refrigerated. This way, the bread will keep well beyond the best before date."

One thing I don't understand is how not meeting the best-before date can actually be a good thing?! The mind boggles. Also, I try not to keep my bread in the fridge because it becomes really dry and crumbly very quickly. But I had checked the label, because I hadn't tried this brand before, but I couldn't see a "refrigerate after opening" label. Perhaps I'm blind, or perhaps their labels need some work.

So there you go. I'm not about to buy Dovedale bread again and recommend that other people avoid it also, unless you're going to use the whole loaf immediately.

When I had short dark hair people often compared me to Edna (above). Glasses, short stature and blunt personality? Sure.

A random act of awesome

2011-05-12T14:22:00.000+12:00

Recognise these bickies?

The sprinkles are gluten-free too... yay!

The other day my friend surprised me by making a whole batch of them, especially gluten-free! I couldn't believe it, she's so nice!

If you don't live around here you might not understand the significance of these particular biscuits.

They're modelled on the Griffins Cookie Bear, Hundred's the Thousands bickies that we all ate as children, and which sadly, coeliacs all over NZ will never be able to eat again.

Yes, I'm wearing the one ring. Nerd much?

There's absolutely nothing like a gluten-free imitation of a long lost food. It brings hope that the world isn't pitted against coeliacs after all. And quite a bit of joy too, especially when a good mate bakes something especially for you.

So thanks Lydie, you made my week!

Question:

Do you have friends/family who are super sympathetic to your gluten-free situation? What's the most awesome thing that someone has made especially gluten-free?

On how to be healthy...

2011-05-11T13:57:00.000+12:00

For some reason the awesome song from Funny Face, on how to be lovely is now stuck in my head. Thanks for that, Gershwin brothers!

You remember how I'm trying to eat extra healthy at the moment? Today I was alerted to another kind of health, that doesn't necessarily stem from food. I was sent a link to The Fresh Air Fund and it made me sad that some kids grow up in claustrophobic cities without the joy of running around outside on a sunny day. In the fresh air. Click this link for more info. And then I realise that I'm fluffing about looking for healthy grains when there is so much that I should be thankful for.

Personally, I don't run, I lie around on sunny days. Ahh... vitamin D.

Thinking about this makes me really thankful for the place where I live and the country I grew up.
I used to play G.I. Joes with my brother in long grass that would be taller than me, if I sat down. It was fun and scratchy. Sometimes I had a tan (or dirt) to match Donatella Versace's. I'm sad that many children around the world don't have the same simple opportunities that I had. They don't have the opportunity to walk out the back and watch an awesome sunset, with only the neighbour's cow for company.

Grandma's peonies. They're legendary.

Thinking about the Fresh Air Fund made me remember what my Grandma grew up with. At the time, the health gurus said that fresh air was really important for health (which is true, I suppose). But they took it too far, suggesting that children and adults alike throw their windows open early in the morning and breathe deeply, whatever the weather. So my poor Grandma had to suffer rain, snow, frost, wind and anything else southern winters could throw at her. All in the name of health. But she's in her mid 90's now, so perhaps it worked?

Speaking of being healthy, this is what I ate for lunch today. Yes, all you see in front of you is corn and cabbage. Wow, I'm so healthy, right?

Alright, I only chose to eat that so I could have a big fat spoonful of salmon pate on top. But it was still really healthy and delicious.

Evil: 2
Theresa 1 1/2

I'm catching up! Woo!

Amaranth.

2011-05-10T14:15:00.001+12:00

Remember how I started this week on a mission to be super healthy? The plan was to eat brown rice, exercise and experiment with new healthy foods. It was going great, for a few hours, until I was confronted with some cold ham, polish sausage, twisties, salt and vinegar chips, chocolate and starch filled gluten-free bread.

People, I gave in.

Evil: 1

Theresa: 0

But good (aka, me) must always triumph over evil, or at least come a really close second. So without further ado, I give you amaranth! It is not only one of those super healthy things like quinoa, but is also really good for people who want to lower their cholesterol. See these links: Link 1. Link 2.

I think it looks more like fish eggs than a super healthy grain. I've never tried cooking amaranth seeds before, is this how they are supposed to look?

I thought they would puff up more... so lunch was small today. I should have done my research, some library student I am!

After cooking the amaranth, I realised that I didn't know what to put with it. So I combined it with my favourite salmon pate. It was yummy, but colourless.

Then I realised: the salmon pate has heaps of saturated fat filled margarine in it. And I turned down some mushrooms a moment before, because my sister had fried them in butter. No! What had I done! *falls to knees while yelling, head lifted to look at something mysterious in the sky*

Evil: 2

Theresa: 1/2 (that's for trying the amaranth. Hey, I might as well reward effort!)

Ok, next time I promise you, good will triumph!

Question:

Are you an amaranth fan? How do you eat yours? I need some help!

Challenging myself - four weeks of really healthy stuff.

2011-05-07T00:36:00.000+12:00

If you've read anything on this blog before, you'll probably know that I love coffee.

Look below, it's me... and I'm drinking coffee.

Notice anything strange? Yes, I have a Lord of the Rings poster and I also have a scary looking expression. Perhaps I spied someone wearing these outside my window and I'm trying not to shriek in disgust.

If those were your guesses, sorry, you're wrong. Take a look at another angle:

Acne. That's the answer. On my cheeks, see?

Now, before I start whinging let me point out that 1) I was wearing plenty of makeup at the time of this photo, so it looks heaps better than normal, plus the cup is in the way. I'm such a genius. 2) I had just stopped taking some evil medication, for various reasons, which actually cleared my skin up a little bit. 3) I understand that many other people have worse acne than me, please understand that I have lots of sympathy for them.

Now look at Audrey Hepburn. Her eyes are all glittery looking, but her face is free of zits. Lucky!

I've had pretty bad acne for several years now, and I'm sick and tired of looking at photos of other people, or of me three years ago, and wondering why they aren't jumping up and down for joy because their skin is clear.

It doesn't look like Jane Austen had acne either. Lucky!

My kind of pimples are called "adult acne" - so I get it in weird places and not in the classic T-zone. My Dr couldn't believe how clear my forehead is, but my cheeks are, well, munted.

I'm so sick of it that I'm going on the proper meds now. I tried all the other kinds, but they didn't work, so now it's time for the hard stuff.

Yup, roaccutane. Basically, it's like a synthetic overdose of Vitamin A, so the skin gets really dry and magically the acne disappears. Yay!

But it can also have other effects on the body... really bad ones. If you don't mind reading for ages, the list can be found here. (I promised the pharmacist that I wouldn't freak out about this.)

So why am I telling you all this? Because I'm worried about the bad things that could happen to my health while I'm on this drug - and I'm challenging myself to do as much as possible to stop that.

How?

1) Eat healthier.

2) Exercise more

3) Eat healthier

4) Drink more water

5) Eat healthier

Needless to say, I'm really pumped! I'm excited! See what a challenge does to me? *sigh* I'm a sad, sad and overly competitive girl. But if it makes me healthier, it's good ... right?

Stay tuned!

I'm gonna leave you with this picture of coffee.

This is one thing that I won't cut out to be healthier. I think. Actually, I'll justify my position on coffee later.

Question:

Have you ever had bad acne problems? What did you do about it?

Akaroa

2011-05-05T13:55:00.000+12:00

You probably won't have heard of Akaroa before, unless you're a Kiwi living near Christchurch. It's a cute little township on the coast, nestled on the side of Banks Peninsula which was founded by French settlers in 1840. France wanted to colonise New Zealand, but while the immigrant ships were still travelling here the British signed the Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand became a British colony. Too late, Frenchies!

But they left an awesome legacy, little Akaroa. We stayed there for a few days while the earthquake damage was being repaired on our house.

The view from my bedroom window.

Dad scored us this big villa, with an awesome view. If you're gonna get insurance to pay for something, you might as well do it in style.

And from the second bedroom window too.

It was nice, we just relaxed, sat in the sun and drank homemade lemony lime-onade.

I made some yummy lemony salmon pate...

It was chippy and dippy time! The house we were at had several lemon and lime trees, we capitalized on this and used lemons all the time.

And yeah... the view was pretty cool. My Grandma (who is in her late 90's, the reason why we evacuated our house) loved sitting on the deck and just watching the sea do it's thing.

We also went fishing on the pier.

And I wore a wooly grey hat and my sister caught a dogfish.

I'm not a very good fisher-woman, but I think I'm more dedicated that my sisters. Hey, I love eating fish!

The next day, I may or may not have caught the huge stingray that lives under the pier.

It was nice, and during all the busy times and stress of these past few weeks, I wanted to go back to the peace and slowness ofbeing on holiday in Akaroa. Heck, now I just want to go back!

Where I've been

2011-04-24T22:08:00.000+12:00

I've been drinking lots of coffee and painting my nails pretty colours.

I also grilled some veggies on the BBQ, threw over a bit of oil, salt, pepper, parmesan and balsamic vinegar. Magic!

I ate it outside. - But that was actually a while ago now, I feel like a real slacker - I haven't blogged in ages. Sorry guys!

I also went to Akaroa for a few days, it's the little seaside French settlement near Christchurch. But I can't share any other pictures (apart from the below) now because they're on a different computer.

When I saw that tea set in Stevens I thought "if I ever live in Akaroa, I'm buying that set." So, when I saw that very set sitting in the shelf at the rental house, I couldn't believe it. From that moment on, I liked whoever set up that house, and that was before I saw the heat pump in my bedroom. What can I say, I'm a sucker for anything that makes me warm.

I promise to share some more photos, that picture above is a teaser - it was taken while I sat on the porch. The view was awesome.
But you'll have to wait! Because I'm off to spend some time with my Nana and the beach.

So long, suckas!

(PS: it looks like I've been on holiday for several weeks ay? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I've been ridiculously busy and also feeling kind of sick. *sad face* Hopefully I'll be able to get back into regular blogging soon. I've been so busy, I had over 500 things on my google reader, insane!)

The gluten-free cookbook, for kids.

2011-03-31T14:43:00.000+13:00

This little girl loved fish fingers.

When I first saw The gluten-free cookbook, for kids sitting on the library shelf I thought, "Oh yay, like that's going to be useful to me. But I suppose I'd better get it out anyway, just to be sure."

But as I looked at the little girl's face on the front cover, I thought about how difficult it would be to raise gluten-free kids.

I became gluten-free when I was 19. Before that I had grown up on macaroni cheese, toast, MacDonald's Birthday parties, Georgie Pie treats (remember the playground?!) and the uninhibited freedom of scoffing my face at whatever function I was at.

Imagine growing up without those joys? Without that freedom? And, shock, without fish fingers or chicken nuggets?

The sad truth is that coeliacs isn't a fad diet, or something you can cheat on, sneaking a small bite of your friends birthday cake. It's for life, and starting that gluten-free life as a kid is really fraught with difficulties.

This book has the answers though, or at least some really great tips for parents and family members of GF kids. There is also a section about explaining the situation to family, friends, schools and play centres who might end up feeding your child.

Adriana Rabinovich (the AMAZING author) owned a prestigious bakery before her daughter was diagnosed with coeliacs. Now, she's on the same crusade as every other coeliac parent, to make her daughter's life healthy, happy and delicious.

Yes, there is such a thing as gluten-free playdough! I used to love eating playdough, it's so great that it's now safe for GF kiddies to eat it too...Mmmm, salty goodness!

There are also useful tips for coping with Birthday parties.

And of course, fish fingers. Woohoo!

Note: There is actually lots of healthy food in this book too, and it's not all aimed specifically at kids. I'd be quite happy eating most of the food in there.

Go to your nearest library and see for yourself! Or, buy it online here or here. I always recommend this book to parents or friends of kids with coeliacs. Amazing, I tell ya.

Cheer up, buttercup

2011-03-30T21:24:00.000+13:00

Sometimes it's hard, being gluten-free. I found it particularly difficult in the first few months, during that period when I didn't know what to eat or do... or anything! I found myself looking at everything that I couldn't eat, not at what I could eat. On particularly low days I'd walk past the crumbed fish in the supermarket and just sigh.

(The world is saved, I figured out how to crumb my own fish, gluten-free style!)

I still get days like that, who doesn't? Besides, I love crumbed fish.

But that's not the problem. The thing is that I'm not focusing on the positive things about being G-free, I'm thinking about all the wrong stuff. And that hurts.

So I devised a little exercise to remind all of us of how much scope we actually have with this seemingly restrictive diet. Look at what we can eat in this weeks supermarket mailer:

Apples, margarine, chicken breast and milk chocolate. Yum! Everything on this page!

Tomato sauce, cheese, water, tea and juice.

Coke, potato chips, reduced cream, sweetened condensed milk and cottage cheese.
I put question marks with V and the Onion soup mix because: 1) I'm not sure if the V is gluten-free, I think it's gross anyway. 2) the Maggie brand pictured contains gluten, but the Pams brand is gluten-free. Yay! Spread the word!

Ham (check the ingredients), salami (check the ingredients again), tarakihi fillets, red cod fillets and cold smoked salmon (ie, the best thing EVER)

We can eat EVERYTHING on this page, yay for meat! There is no way I'm going vegetarian.

I call the bread section of the supermarket "Glutenberg" because I want to escape whenever I'm near it, like escaping from a WWII prison camp. I'm the Cooler Queen.
The only things we can eat on this page are lollies (sigh, check the ingredients), crystallised ginger and pistachios.

But cheer up! We can eat ALL kinds of fresh fruit and veggies!... Apart from pre-packaged coleslaw, which is no big loss.

Eggs, juice, canned beetroot and canned soup (check the ingredients).

Coffee, laundry detergent, razors and tea. Plus all the other non-food items like soap, stockings and kitchen appliances. I'm so glad rice cookers don't automatically 'gluten' our food. Who knows, it could have become special feature?

Chicken, yoghurt, more yoghurt, margarine-esque spread, juice, cheese and ice cream.

Umm... all of this is gluten-free - hurrah!

Thankfully the toilet paper and washing powders are also gluten-free, not so sure about the pet food down the bottom though... but I don't plan on eating Purina One for lunch any time soon.

We can't drink beer, which is a bit strange in New Zealand...

But we can drink wine, if that's what you're into.

Canned fruit salad is G-free, but I circled Pantene shampoo... dun, dun, duh... I think it contains gluten. Gotta watch out for that shampoo. Did you know that it sometimes contains hydrolyzed wheat protein (aka, gluten)? Evil. I tell ya.

So, that's a little tour of my supermarket mailer. It was a really fun thing to do and made me remember how blessed I am to be able to eat dairy, meat and veggies.

Until next time, focus on what you can eat, not on what you can't.

Bubble wrap floor

2011-03-25T17:05:00.000+13:00

This morning I was woken up by my Dad saying "You have to be up in 15 minutes!" .... "What?!" I freaked out. Had I missed something? Was it Sunday? He explained that the plasterers were coming today to prepare the walls for the painters.

They didn't arrive till an hour after I got up. I was gutted and more than a little annoyed... hey, I like my sleep.

Now my wall looks like this.

I had to move all my cookbooks from this corner...

We are finally getting the earthquake damage repaired. The earthquake commission guy came in November to assess our place. He put yellow stickers on the walls that needed repairs or painting, but by the time he got to my room (which is bedroom number 7!) he was tired and becoming distracted by how much my Mum pays on groceries every week (don't ask). So he only put stickers on 3 of my walls, sadly missing out my ugliest wall.

Let me explain:

The ugly picture of the ugly wall.

This is the ugly wall. Not because of the pictures, which I think are rather pretty. But because my brother, who used to live in this room, used blu-tak which took chunks of paint away leaving holes like below all over the walls.

Blu-tak holes. Ugly.

So, it seems I'm either going to have to paint my own wall (shock!) or continue to cover it in pretty food pictures.

I think I'll go with the latter.

The plasterers stuck plastic to the floor of our gigantic hallway. Because of the air bubbles trapped under the plastic, it's like walking on bubble wrap!

It's also really noisy when you walk on it, which is a relief because my siblings have a thing for sneaking up on me. But no more! haha!

I've got a thing for popping the bubbles in bubble wrap, it's so fun and strangely satisfying. This floor is no different. It makes me smile and jump up and down every time I walk on it.

Then we discovered that it's a perfect surface for sliding down the hallway on.

We might have random painters and their drop cloths invading our home over the next few weeks, but at least there is a bright side to this: being towed down the hallway by brothers.

And then towing the brothers down the hall. Good fun!

Note: We feel kind of weird, getting all this minor cosmetic damage fixed when other people are without homes or living in places that have serious cracks all over them. My sister's house lost one of the outside walls and I know many other people who have suffered serious damage. They might not even get it fixed before winter sets in, New Zealand houses are cold enough already without this extra trouble. But EQC are moving slowly from suburb to suburb, can we help it that we're first? It just seems a bit lame, so please don't think that I'm really complaining about having all this work done, or really complaining about minor blu-tak holes in the wall. I do have perspective. I know our damage is very, very minor. We are super lucky and I really hope that others who are worse off can get their places fixed soon.

43 cookbooks #1 - Nigella Kitchen.

2011-03-23T20:42:00.002+13:00

Last week I decided to start working my way through all of my 43 cookbooks. The plan is to cook something from each cookbook, one cookbook per week.

But which book should I choose? It wasn't a very difficult decision and by that I don't mean any slight upon the other books or their authors. How could I pass up Nigella Lawson's devil's food cake?

Camouflage.

I bought Nigella Kitchen in November 2010 as a gift to myself, celebrating the end of my two and 1/2 years of study. I can't explain how ridiculously awesome it was to get this in the post. I jumped up and down. Then I squealed, even though I was feeling breathlessly excited. Then I clutched this book to myself, knowing that of all the cookbooks I own, this one is going to last me a lifetime.

See the embossed title?

Yup, I took the pretty dust cover off. It got in the way. Practical huh?

Now to the cake!

The icing was divine! But the cake turned out lighter than I expected for a devil's food cake, but it worked so well with the rich icing that I can see why Nigella decided to make it that way.

I iced it really quickly because I had to run out the door - that's why it's covered in happy looking sprinkles. That's also why the pictures are so ugly. Sorry.

Stupidly, I put the top layer on upside down. This is where you need to learn from my mistakes, cakes made this way look really ugly. Don't do it.

Although I adapted this cake to make it gluten-free, it received great comments from the gluten eaters who ate it! I think the icing is what really makes this cake, it is so delicious. Ultimately, it doesn't matter how ugly or thrown together a cake looks, it's about how it tastes. This cake is an instant classic, I'll definitely be making it again!

Link to the recipe on Nigella's website.

Link to the youtube video.

(To make it gluten-free: just substitute the flour for a gluten-free flour mix and make sure your cocoa, baking powder and chocolate are safe to eat too. Simple!)

Enjoy!

The crazy cookbook lady

2011-03-08T17:28:00.000+13:00

I've got a confession to make: I own 43 cookbooks.

That's right, FORTY-THREE. And I'm a single girl in my very early 20's who lives at home with the parents. That's why my cookbooks live on a little shelf at the end of my bed:

Don't hate, I'm allowed to like the Justice League ok!

I had a birthday recently, but I was still slightly surprised when my brother asked me: "what cookbook do you want for your birthday?" - he didn't say "what do you want..." or anything like that. He knows me well, I really wanted the Blackbird Bakery cookbook. Check it out, no library markings, it's mine... all mine! *evil laugh*:

Today, I had a scary premonition that one day I'll become "that crazy cookbook lady" with a house full of ceiling high shelves that are serious earthquake hazards even when screwed to the wall.

It was a disturbing thought, but after dwelling on it for half a day I realised that I don't care. I like cookbooks, thankyouverymuch.

Wanna see my collection?

Some of those "Dr Gluten" books don't count, because they're informational and don't contain recipes. Phew!

I'm collecting gluten-free cookbooks...

Heck, I'm collecting anything cookbooks! See that brown one? It's Nigella Lawson's latest: Kitchen. (amazing, by the way)

No, I didn't steal these from the library and I don't put Dewey numbers on my own books. I just love library sales. Sue me.

So what's the point of all this? I've decided to take the next 43 weeks to cook my way through these books. One recipe from each book a week.

Confession #2:
These are some of the cookbooks I've currently got on loan from the library:

*ahem* I returned heaps of books to the library this morning... and still had this huge stack! How lame am I?!

So, how many cookbooks do you own? Please say this isn't just me... being weird and stuff.

Putting the kitch back in kitchen

2011-03-08T00:13:00.000+13:00

I was just looking at one of my favourite homeware shop's website and saw these caravan salt and pepper shakers:

My first thought was "Mum would really like those!" - but then I realised how ridiculous they are. I kept browsing and couldn't help wonder why on earth someone would want to buy a banana slicer:

Come on, give me a reason why! The whole concept of this baffles me.What's wrong with a knife?

And this. Why, just why?

At least New Zealand is still part of the British Commonwealth and the Union Jack features on our flag... but still, why bring the flag into your kitchen? Or am I missing something, is this some way for ex-pat Poms to remember their homeland? I doubt it.

But, you know, some weird kitchen gadgets can be kind of awesome. Take this rubber duck:

Imagine that sitting in your tea cup, floating around... doing it's thing... it is potentially awesome, but I can't help wonder how embarrassed people who use this are when an unexpected visitor arrives.

I used to wonder why people bought bickie cutters* in the shapes of national emblems, but in the light of recent events I think it's a pretty cool idea. I want to make silver fern bickies now.

Links here and here.

They could also come in handy when making food for the rugby world cup that is to be held here in NZ later this year. I plan to make a delicious black cake** to serve at the final. Seriously.

But I'm not going to make cupcakes using a cupcake maker. Ever.

Whenever I see these in shops I can't help but snigger. What's wrong with an oven!? Again, this baffles me. If you're an avid banana cutter or cupcake machine user, please enlighten me: why?

Same with this slotless toaster:

And this tap drinking fountain attachment:

When I was a kid I would regularly just tilt my head and plunge my face into the cold water from the kitchen tap. Because of the water pressure, it was heaps of fun, but also cleaner than a drinking fountain which will inevitably wet your nose and chin.

So why invent this useless gadget?!

I assume someone thinks it's ridiculously cool, in the same way I appreciate this death star cookie jar:

Apart from the "nerd awesome" (the unfashionable cousin of geek chic) factor of the above, why would some people actually want to buy these things? Ideas?
Other useless gadgets that are good for a laugh?

* bickie = cookie.
**heard of the All Blacks? Yeah. That's why.

Giving you an idea of what it's like here...

2011-03-03T12:56:00.000+13:00

Nothing much inhabits my mind at the moment, apart from our earthquake, and being sick. Yup, I've been lying on the sofa recovering from the flu while my city is abuzz with people working. I feel useless, lying here, but at the same time really proud that my whole country and many people all over the world are helping recover Christchurch.

This sucks, not just because I'm sick and it's nasty, but because I end up watching lots of TV news and press conferences. It's all about Christchurch at the moment.

This is mayor Bob Parker and Prime Minister John Key during the two minutes silence on Tuesday. They're doing an awesome job.

In a strange and stupid way, it's tough sitting here in my comfortable and safe home with all the sewage, electricity and water connected, sipping coffee and viewing pictures of everyone else's suffering. These people are less than half an hour drive away from me and all I can do is sit here waiting to help...

Wellington during two minutes silence.

In 2001 after the Sept.11 attacks I was eleven. I remember going to the airport and seeing all the flags at half mast. To me, it was one of the saddest sights ever. And that hasn't changed.

But watching TV and seeing pictures of familiar buildings that have been destroyed is right up there in the sad stakes.

The Roman Catholic Basilica.

The Christchurch cathedral. There were several tourists in the spire (the bit that fell off) when the quake struck.

The death toll currently stands at 161 but is expected to rise to 240. In a city where there is two degrees of separation between everybody (I'm not joking) this is a really serious blow.

People from over 20 different countries have been killed, that gives you an idea of the number of tourists visiting our city every day. But it doesn't matter to us whether they're visiting or whatever, everyone here is family regardless of nationality. Your loss is our loss too.

I can't believe this is for real. Can things go back to normal? No.

I already know people who know people who are dead or missing and I dread hearing a name I recognize read out.

The other day I was thinking about it, I don't think I've ever been sadder than I am right now. Sure, I've been more depressed, years of coeliac and thyroid disease have taught me what that feels like. But sadness and depression are different. This kind of sadness is like the constant tiredness I felt before I became gluten-free. Deep, ever-present, dark and right in the depths of me. It's unshakable (NO pun intended).

A view of the city just after the quake. See the dust? That used to be buildings.

Seeing the list of people lost, hearing about the babies that were crushed by things in their home, makes most people want to cry. But we can't, because if we cry for one person we have to cry for everyone and then we'd be crying forever. It's not possible, so we suck it up.

But life goes on. We've got to rebuild and because I have been ridiculously un-effected (is that a word?) by this earthquake my job is to help people.

This is liquefaction, google it. Then imagine how gross it is when mixed with sewage. Eww!

The gross truth:
1) Because of damage to the sewage system it's being pumped into the rivers and sea - but it's also bubbling up in some suburbs with the liquefaction.
2) People have to dig holes in their back yards... you get the picture. One posh Auckland TV presenter seemed really shocked by this yesterday, "they have to go in their back yards.... LIKE CATS!" hahahaha!
3) Because of this, nobody is going to dig a hole and do a hangi for ages.
4) Water systems are also damaged, so everyone has to boil water three times and use bleach.

People are uploading pictures of their makeshift loos to facebook. This one looks like luxury (thanks cuz for the pic!)

People keep wondering what they can do to help. Firstly, you can donate to the red cross here.

But, actually the best thing you can do is pray. Why? Because God is everywhere, totally powerful, loving, in control and hears our prayers.

See this bus? My brother would have been on it, right where those bricks are, if an appointment he was going to hadn't been cancelled. We have to look at the small miracles amidst all this destruction. God preserved my brother's life, and countless other lives in similar ways.

As a Christchurch resident it is really nice to remember that I have a loving heavenly father who is totally powerful, totally loving, totally holy and has complete power to save. I know that everything happens with Him in control, no matter how awful, scary or whatever, I can rest on that. I want to share that peace with others.

See things from our eyes: before and after photos.

I hope to get back into blogging about food soon, but please bear with me as I deal with everything down here.

This is big, please pray.

2011-02-23T11:32:00.000+13:00

You might remember this. There was a huge, 7.1 earthquake where I live in Christchurch, New Zealand in September last year. Since then we have experienced thousands of aftershocks (earthquake that are like echos of the big one) of various magnitudes. But yesterday another one struck, but it was bigger than any other we've felt before. 6.3 on the richter scale. It was very close to the city and only 5kms deep, which meant that it felt much, much stronger than the numbers indicate.

While the September earthquake struck at 4:30am, while everyone was in bed (and nobody died, which was a miracle) - this one happened at 1pm, while everyone was on lunch break or working. Many buildings have collapsed, trapping people inside. Rubble, verandas and pieces of buildings have fallen, some crushing people who stood sheltering in the streets. So far the confirmed death toll is 55 (identified) people - but that is expected to rise, perhaps into the hundreds.

My family and I are ok. But we know that the likelihood of us knowing someone who is seriously injured or worse is really, really high. It's so hard, watching TV recognizing buildings and places that we know so well, utterly destroyed.

So please pray for Christchurch and New Zealand.
And, I don't want to preach, but please think about this: do you know where you're gonna go when you die? What if your building collapsed on top of you tomorrow?

Blackbird bakery, gluten-free - one of the coolest cookbooks of all time

2011-02-10T14:14:00.001+13:00

Have you heard about Blackbird Bakery? I must have switched off my gluten-free radar for awhile, because I didn't know about Karen Morgan, her amazing cookbook and blog until a few weeks ago.

My little sister just came in and asked me who my favourite cookbook authors are. After thinking about it for a minute, I realised that, after only a week with her book, Karen Morgan is sitting really close to the top of my "favourite cookbook authors of all time" list.
Check out her website here.

Basically, if there was a Blackbird Bakery tee shirt at The Warehouse, I would buy it - and then wear it proudly.

But all gushing aside, lets take a look at her cookbook!

It starts off with pretty pictures.

I love the style of pictures in this cookbook. I found this cookbook to be a really refreshing read, because the way the pictures, layout and most importantly; recipes were displayed was beautiful. It is neat, tidy and clear, it's easy to see why I love this cookbook so much.

Eeep! I can't get over how creepy, and yet awesome, this picture actually is. Take a closer look:

Disturbing much? "The recipes better be pretty amazing to make up for this picture!" I thought, as I read through the book.

They are. Can you see that? Profiteroles.

Did you hear me? PROFITEROLES! And these are eclairs.

CREAM PUFFS? I actually squealed when I saw this.

To tell the truth, just looking at these pictures now makes me want to dance for joy. Can this be true? Can n00bs like me actually successfully make amazing gluten-free things like in this book?!

Yes, yes we can. Although, I'm not so good at taking photos - especially because these cream puffs were so ridiculously delicious that I only took a few moments to take a photo before digging in.
Goodbye waistline!

I'm also really excited about these molasses spice bickies, because not only is molasses full of iron, but they look like gingernuts. Weee!

Some people might find the pictures in this book slightly disturbing, but I don't.

But, you know, that's coming form a girl who has a frog pillow and stuffed R2D2 toy on her bed.
Take my advice at your own risk: get out there and buy this book! Now!

Psst! Family and friends reading this: here is a link so you can buy it for me!

Nigella's coffee and walnut layer cake

2011-01-31T13:03:00.000+13:00

When I first tasted this cake, I couldn't believe how amazingly delicious it was, even though it was gluten-free. W00t!

The reason why this is so good is because there is 50grams of walnuts in it - which end up being ground up and acting a bit like flour while helping the cake stay moist. Also, the delightful coffee and walnut flavour combination manages to overcome any nasty gluten-free aftertaste that is so common in g-free cakes.

YUM! That's all I can say.

Here is the recipe:
From Nigella Kitchen.
For the sponge:
50g walnut pieces
225g caster sugar
225g unsalted butter, plus some for greasing
200g plain flour
4tsps instant espresso powder
2 1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 eggs
1-2 tbsp milk

For the Buttercream Frosting
350g icing sugar
175g soft unsalted butter
2 1/2tsp instant espresso powder, dissolved in 1 x 15 mls tablespoon boiling water
25g walnut halves to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/gas mark 4. Butter 2 sandwich tins (20cm) and line the bases with baking paper.

Put the walnut pieces and sugar into a food processor and blitz to a fine nutty powder. Add the 225g butter, flour, 4 teaspoons espresso powder, baking powder, bicarb and eggs and process to a smooth batter. Add the milk, pouring it down the funnel with the motor still running, or just pulsing, to loosen the cake mixture:it should be a soft dropping consistency, so add more milk if you need to (If you are making this by hand, bash the nuts to a rubbery powder with a rolling pin and mix with the dry ingredients; then cream the butter and sugar together, and beat in some dry ingredients and eggs alternately and, finally the milk).

Divide the mixture between the cake tins, and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the sponge has risen and feels springy to the touch.

Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, before turning them out onto the rack and peeling off the baking paper.

When the sponges are cool, you can make the buttercream, pulse the icing sugar in the food processor until it is lump free, then add the butter and process to make a smooth icing.

Dissolve the instant espresso powder in 1 tablespoon boiling water and add it while still hot to the processor, pulsing to blend into the buttercream.

(If you are doing this by hand sieve the icing sugar and beat it into the butter with a wooden spoon. Then beat in the hot coffee liquid.)

Place 1 sponge upside down on your serving plate. Spread with about half the icing, then place it on the second sponge, right side up (ie so the 2 flat sides of the sponge meet in the middle) and cover the top with the remaining icing in a ramshackle swirly pattern. This cake is all about old-fashioned, rustic charm, so don't worry unduly: however the frosting goes on is fine. Similarly, don't fret about some buttercream oozing out around the middle: that's what makes it look so inviting.

Gently press the walnut halves into the top of the icing all around the edge of the circle about 1cm apart.

Notes from me:
1) I made the butter cream in a Kenwood mixer, creaming the butter before adding the sugar etc.
2) We only have one 20cm tin, so I had to bake one cake at a time. It turned out really good.
3) This cake has quite a bit of coffee flavour in it (which I LOVE) but if you don't like it that strong or are seving kids too Nigella suggests you "replace the 4 teaspoons of instant espresso powder with 2 teaspoons of instant coffee granules dissolved in a tablespoonful of boiling water." - That's why I love Nigella Lawson's cookbooks so much, she helps the reader to realise that her recipes are flexible and about having a good time cooking and eating.

I'm an egg

2011-01-29T22:20:00.002+13:00

I had everything ready to go, the egg was freshly boiled, the toast had been buttered and I had nicely snuck in a nod to my grandparents. See that plate? It was my Grandma's. And my Grandad made those salt and pepper shakers, plus the egg cup (I think.)

I even cut my toast into soldiers and drew a self portrait on the egg.

"You're supposed to crack the top, right?" I asked my little sister. Why was I asking her for advice? Well, I had hated eggs my whole life, until two years ago when I went on a legendary camping trip where the only gluten-free thing to eat were eggs. So this was my first ever boiled egg breakfast, complete with egg cup and toast soldiers

It was so exciting!

The top came right off, I picked up a soldier and prepared to dunk.

Oh. It was a perfectly cooked egg for slicing up and putting in a salad. It seems I'm just too good at boiling eggs.

Damn, I hate being so talented.

Is there something so completely normal (like eating an egg out of an egg cup) that you've never done before? Have you never eaten a cheeseburger with the gherkin? Eaten raw bacon fresh from the packet? Seen the Sound of Music? Do tell!

I'm back!

2011-01-26T15:14:00.000+13:00

Because the camera is out of battery and I need an awesome picture, here is one that I poached somewhere off the Internet...

LOVE IT!

Ok, I'm not going to offer a list of excuses as to why I haven't posted recently, but I will say that excessive sunbathing, iced coffee, lots of movies and Agatha Christie may or may not have something to do with it.

In short, I'm sorry.

But I want to make it up to you! Here is a list of some things that I plan to post about over the next couple of weeks:

Walnut and coffee cake, gluten-free (from Nigella Lawson's new cookbook, Kitchen)
How a cookbook can have a really terrifying picture in it and still be ridiculously awesome
Why I think Rick Stein should be knighted
An update on my iron situation
Things I'm excited about in 2011
Becoming addicted to smoothies
Is it possible to eat dandelion and enjoy it? eeek!

Stay tuned!

How I deal with scary doctors visits - eat cheese!

2010-12-16T00:22:00.000+13:00

When I sat in the doctors waiting room today I knew that, whatever the result, I would need some kind of food encouragement afterwards.

It wasn't a big, special or overly nerve wracking visit to the doctor. Many of us have had those exciting ones, you know, those appointments when the Dr tells you that you probably have coeliacs or some other scary condition. It wasn't like that today. But as I sat in the waiting room, gulping down my nerves, I realised that the odds of me coming out of that little room as a happy, carefree girl were very slim. You see, I was going to mention my sore joints. I understand enough about auto-immune disorders, (of which I already have two) to know that rheumatoid arthritis is a very real threat.

Let me put this in perspective, not so that I can keep moaning, but so that you can have a bit of respect and sympathy for your friends and family when they have health issues. Pain and disease have implications when mixed with a person's habits or physical abilities.

I have been known to type 82 accurate words per minute - sometimes, but it often averages at about 70. I rely on this form of communication for most things and spend several hours on the computer each day.
I have been playing the piano for almost 12 years and am currently playing grade 8 stuff (I'm not bragging though.... ahem)
I'm a library student - the internet, information and research are huge elements of my life. I must be able to type fast, use a mouse well and all of those other librarianish things.
I'm a person and feel pain. I'd like to keep moving around the kitchen and bake 556 cupcakes again without suffering crippling pain, thankyouverymuch.

Do you see how all of those things, when words like "pain", "arthritis" or "disease" are mentioned, take on a whole new perspective?
On one hand I don't want to loose my ability to use my joints reasonably comfortably - but on the other hand I want to find out what's wrong with them so that I can hopefully fix the problem. It's a difficult mix.

Anyway, the Dr did some tests but overall tried not to freak me out. I have to wait a few days before the results come, I hate that part... I've had it before and if you're like me you'll know what I mean.

Something about waiting for blood test results like this sets me on edge and makes me feel tired and a bit miserable. I'm not freaking out though, I know that God is in control and I will do my best to accept His will joyfully throughout everything in my life.

But I still feel fragile.

So I crumbed and baked a whole mini brie! It was so delicious with a small rocket salad for lunch. Splurge much?!

Quick method: dip into beaten egg, crumb with polenta and bake on a greased tray for about 10 minutes until crispy on the outside and melted inside. Simple huh?

That's only some of the loot I got from the chemist on the way home... I love medicine. I love living in the 21st century.

So, I was just wondering if other people feel on edge and emotionally fragile while waiting for medical test results? What do you normally do when you get home from the Dr?

Free pizza!

2010-12-11T11:26:00.002+13:00

This is some of the best loot I've ever gained from winning a competition.
Actually, I hardly ever win competitions. When I was little I won a Charlotte's Web video, but until I won the Heroes season 1 dvds several years ago and a box of cereal (w00t!) a few months ago, nothing has topped the enjoyment I got from watching Charlotte's Web.

Now, though, I'm starting to think that free pizza comes in a close second in my "best things ever won" list. It's pretty much because I got three large pizzas all to myself.

Dominoes Pizza has recently started providing gluten-free pizza bases. When I heard about it I was really excited, but because I love making my own pizza I didn't get a chance to try them out until now. The toppings that are gluten-free are clearly labeled so there is little chance of getting confused. Chicken Italiano (above) was my favourite.

Creamy chicken and bacon was really nice too.

The Godfather. There is something about it that I couldn't refuse. (Sorry, that had to be said)

The crust was really nice, although a little bit too crunchy on the edges. But it held together nicely and didn't taste too gluten-free.

I really, really enjoyed eating these pizzas. I sat outside and listened to a little bit of Frank Sinatra playing in the background. The weather is getting hotter every day, I love it.

I can't begin to explain how awesome it is having a local pizza place providing gluten-free options. I mean, I'm not about to buy their pizzas regularly (these ones would have been $47.50 if I didn't get them for free), but it's really nice to have the option of shooting down there and grabbing a pizza if friends are getting pizza too, or if I suddenly have an extreme craving for pizza. (I'm not pregnant. Just thought I'd say that. It's just that sometimes gluten-free people get sudden cravings, especially when we're exhausted and just want to be allowed to eat gluten again. There is nothing like a good pizza to cheer you up.)

If you need pizza, I totally recommend Dominoes!

Why you should join the coeliac society

2010-11-26T23:40:00.000+13:00

I joined the Coeliac Society of New Zealand earlier this year and if you have coeliacs you should join too. Why? 'cause it's awesome! Here's why:

1. They send out magazines.

2. You get a huge information pack when you sign up.

3. There is heaps of useful information and support available, including this useful little booklet (pictured).

4. They let you know about new and exciting products.

5. Their website is a great place to send people if they have basic questions about coeliac disease.

6. They provide local support and information groups which, although I haven't yet been, seem like a really great way to encourage each other in the gluten-free community, share information and spread the word about our disease.

7. The people are lovely. I talked to some of them at the Gluten-free food and allergy show and they were really nice, helpful people. They also tried to recruit me to coordinate the youths with coeliacs community after talking to me for only a few minutes. They must think I'm hip and cool.... riiight!

8. Sometimes they run competitions. I often don't win stuff, but I love entering competitions because I've inherited a love of free stuff from my Mum.

When I got back from the gluten-free food and allergy show, the latest coeliac link magazine was waiting for me. I flipped through it, while participating in a bit of singstar with my sisters. Then I noticed something funny, startling and very, very strange.

Can you see it?

Look a bit closer:

I laughed so hard when I saw this! I only named it the "salad of glory" because I couldn't think of anything else, little did I know that someone would take it seriously. The recipe wasn't a joke though, it's a great salad, I love eating it. I also love that it scored me a free family pack of gluten-free pizzas from Dominoes! w00t!

Are you a member of the coeliac society? If not, you'd better have a good explanation!

My Gluten-Free jubilee!

2010-11-26T12:09:00.000+13:00

Yesterday marked my two year gluten-free-iversary. Two years ago I was excited, and struggling to come to terms with a life free of gluten.

On one hand it was exciting, I longed for the energy and health that I could see in others. But it was also really scary, I knew that I would never be able to eat like a normal person again. I was (or am) only young, there are some things that I will never, ever be able to taste.

Playing around with polenta

But when I became gluten-free a whole new world of food opened up to me. I started experimenting like crazy, not wanting to feel sad about my diet restrictions.
So I made things like the above, polenta wedges with fresh tomatoes and cheese. The theory was that if I add fresh tomatoes or cheese to something it will automatically be amazingly wonderful and tasty, thus rescuing me from my melancholy.

My first experience with tofu, I liked it.

I tried lots of different foods over the first few months of being gluten-free. After being a strict toast girl this was quite a change and I really enjoyed it.

Then after a camping trip where Mum forgot that I hated eggs (so provided little else that was gluten-free), I discovered that eggs are actually quite yummy, if you cook them right.

So I started experimenting with eggs too, quiche and omelettes became staples of my diet and helped me to remain healthy and nourished.
I felt amazingly healthy, it was so exciting because I couldn't remember feeling that good before. I was really excited... but I knew that one day I had to be officially diagnosed with coeliacs.

I started to feel invincible, like anything I chose to cook would be delicious. I made my first ever cheesecakes without using a recipe and they actually tasted really yummy! I thought about starting a gluten-free blog to document my progress with cooking.

Then I got the letter - my small bowel biopsy was scheduled for June the 19th. This is what I wrote in my diary: "I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad. Sure, it's progress - but heck I'm scared. This is going to be my last healthy day for over 3 weeks... (but) God will look after me. I know that for a fact."

The feast of gluten started off with a bang, I loved it! However, I felt terrible!

*Warning: here lies ugly symptoms.*
I got awful gas, my tummy felt like it was going to explode, but my main problems revolved around tiredness, emotions and extreme brain fuzz. I remember my shock when I couldn't spell something and when I just couldn't find simple words to say in my stupid, cloudy brain. I was totally spaced out.

Good Villi. This is what the lining of your small intestine should look like.

The problem was that I didn't eat gluten for long enough to show serious damage in my gut, so the biopsy was negative. They said I didn't have coeliacs. I was really shocked because I was so very sure that I had the disease, I was expecting a positive result.
Anyway, my Dr thinks I have coeliacs. The thing is that the damage to the gut is usually microscopic, which is why they have to take a few pieces out of your gut to look at. However, the damage can be sporadic, villous atrophy (seen below) might not be all over your intestine walls so the biopsy may have missed it.

If you've got coeliacs, this is what happens to your intestine lining when you eat gluten. Owch!

Anyway, after thinking about my negative result, my history with sickness, how healthy I had felt on the gluten-free diet and how sick I had been during those three weeks leading up to the endoscopy, I decided to live like a coeliac.

It took me ages to recover from those three weeks on gluten. But I had hope at the end of the tunnel, so I made cupcakes and started this blog.

If this was a movie, now is when you'd see a montage with happy music accompanying the smiling and laughing faces.

Oh man, that was good. Life gluten-free doesn't have to be that bad, you know? Delicious food is possible.

Yes, there have been several moments when I was "glutened" and they were awful. I discovered that I even react to malt vinegar. But instead of depressing me this just helps me stick to my diet and not be tempted to break it.

Do you get all sentimental like me, when you look back and read your old diaries?

Who needs lunch when you can go to the gluten-free food and allergy show?

2010-11-22T17:47:00.000+13:00

Me and Dr Gluten

My city's annual gluten-free food and allergy show was held on Saturday. I was so excited about it that my sisters decided to come along too, mainly for the legendary taste testers and the fact that I promised to get a photo with the illustrious Dr Gluten. (There was NO sarcasm in that last comment, seriously.)

I believe they thought they had to come and force me to get a photo, otherwise I'd wimp out, like at the A&P show where I didn't get a photo with Kelly Young (above). I ate an amazing burger though:

*sigh*

But I digress, I justified my sisters' gluten-eating presence at the show by saying that they were my tasters, they could tell me if the gluten-free imitations on show were yummy or not. You see, after two years of being gluten-free my taste is a bit out-of-whack.

In the above picture you can see half of my sister's awesome haircut and not much else.

I don't think I'm very good at taking photos of events. The girl at the Burgen stand was absolutely clueless but I won't hold that against them because the bread tasted great!

Yes, I got a photo with Dr Gluten! Success! - I need a haircut and my thumb looks weird! Fail!

When people ask me who Dr Gluten is, I usually explain it by saying that he's like Dr Death but for gluten-free people - which doesn't actually make sense, but people usually nod their head and move on as if it did.
What I should really say is this: He's pretty much a worldwide ambassador for Gluten-free awareness, challenging medical ideas, inspiring research and helping people everywhere through his influence. He also has a clinic in my city where he helps kids with allergies. Pretty much, he's awesome and I got a photo with him. Ha!

I also bought these books.

And got them signed... see?

I thought they'd be a great resource for my own knowledge and for lending out to friends.

I've just got to give a shout-out to Ceres Organics because the people on their stall were so nice, had a huge array of taste testers and gave us several copies of their cookbook.

How awesome is that?!

This year's loot - not much compared to last year's, but considering how many taste testers there were I can't complain!

2010-11-19T14:00:00.001+13:00

In my last blog post I said: "I haven't been blogging much lately because I've been really busy with my last few weeks of study. Come Friday though, I'll be freeeee! I'll also be ready to start on my nanowrimo rebel mission... to be revealed."

I've been eating salad almost every day, talk about healthy! (umm.. yes, that is fried sausage on top.)

Well, here I am, two weeks later and you are none the wiser. So let me start off by explaining my "mission". November is national novel writing month, but I'm bending the rules a bit and writing a cookbook instead. Actually, I should say "intending to write" because I've been so lazy that I haven't started yet. *gulp*

I was studying SO hard during October and the first week of November that I just couldn't bring myself to sit at my computer and do anything, be that reading blogs, emails, news, blogging or typing out recipes for my cookbook. The sunshine beckoned me, so I sat outside, closed my eyes and reveled in the fact that I didn't have to do anything.
Have you ever had moments like that? Moments when you just sit there for hours doing absolutely nothing at all? It's one of the nicest things to do on a sunny day, with your feet in a bucket of cold water. It's also probably the reason for my sun-burnt nose.

There are a cute bunch of ducklings that hang around our house, they think we are food machines so follow us around whenever we step outside! So cute, but they do remind me a bit of compies.

Now for the exciting news! Tomorrow is the gluten free food and allergy show! It's the second one held in my city and I'm so excited about going, last year's one was awesome!
Check out the website here.

It's also flower season! Whenever we can see roses on our table it is a signal that Christmas is coming, the weather is heating up and you probably need to buy some new jandals. Yay!

Fairy bread here I come!

2010-11-03T21:56:00.000+13:00

Can you remember what it was like, as a little kid, to stuff your face with white bread covered in colourful sprinkles? I used to LOVE fairy bread, probably because it consisted of my favourite things; bread, sugar and butter. But I also loved making it, spreading thick layers of butter onto the soft white bread and then spilling half the sprinkles on the floor as I tried to make them stick to the butter.
Those were the days. I don't think I'll ever grow out of fairy bread, there is something really nostalgic, and dare I say it, delicious, about it.

But, you know, life changes when you become gluten-free. I said a sad goodbye to sprinkles almost two years ago now.

But no more! Look what I spied in our pantry the other day:

Sitting innocently beside my sister's chicken salt (hate the stuff) was a box of sprinkles.

I looked a little closer...

Then I actually squealed with joy. (The above photo is blurry because I was shaking with excitement, by the way)

See that?! They're gluten-free!

My mind was blown - it was such an exciting discovery.

I managed to resist going on facebook and proclaiming that I could finally eat fairy-bread (of sorts) again. I know I'm weird... but I don't want to look that strange. So I danced around the house anyway, my family already know how strange I am.

Gluten eaters just don't understand what a momentous occasion this was for me. Stay tuned for more sprinkles, I'll be starting to put them on everything, cakes, sandwiches, omelettes, roast potatoes, my breakfast cereal. You name it, adding sprinkles makes any food more fun.

I haven't been blogging much lately because I've been really busy with my last few weeks of study. Come Friday though, I'll be freeeee! I'll also be ready to start on my nanowrimo rebel mission... to be revealed.

how to make a million cupcakes (and remain sane)

2010-10-27T23:16:00.000+13:00

Picture this: you've got an event coming up and need to make heaps of cupcakes for it. Who you gonna call? Well, not me, because I'm certainly not a cupcake queen. However, I have had a little bit of experience making lots of cupcakes.

This is what I do if I have to make lots of cupcakes:

I love recipe at the end of this post. Doubled it makes about 32 normal sized cupcakes.
Make myself a beautiful cup of coffee, turn some music on and start baking! It should only take you about an hour to make 100ish cupcakes.
Put a few chopping boards out for hot trays, cooling racks for warm cupcakes, bring out the cupcake papers and all your ingredients so you don't need to fuss about running around the kitchen.
Use an electric mixer, it'll save your arms lots of work.
With the help of a bowl or friend's hands, carefully pour all the batter into a zip-lock bag. This is the BEST THING EVER. Cut a hole a bit bigger than your little finger nail in the tip of the bag and start piping cupcake batter! It's quite runny so when the cupcake paper is full enough, put your finger over the end to stem the tide of chocolate while you move around. If you feel you have to push the batter out, cut a bigger hole. Gravity should do most of it for you.
Here comes the tricky bit, when you've squeezed all the batter out of the bag, fold the end over and either peg or tape it in position so that when you pour the next batch of batter in there will be less spillage. It's a little tricky, maneuvering the full bag, however with a bit of practise it's really easy!
Use a vivid to mark the bottom of your gluten-free cupcakes. I write a big G on mine.

Try this and you'll never go back to using a spoon. It's so simple.

Yes, it looks a bit gross (I didn't say anything!) but it is so effective and much less messy than using a spoon.

This recipe works really well gluten free, but if I'm making lots of cupcakes I usually just make a small batch of mine first and then make heaps with normal wheat flour. It also works great doubled, to make 32 large cupcakes.

With much thanks to www.thejoyofbaking.com for this recipe.

Chocolate cupcakes: [or sweet cuppin cakes]
1/2 cup of cocoa powder [read the back, some of them contain gluten]
1 cup of boiling hot water
1 1/3 cup of flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
113 grams of butter*
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

*to make them cheaper, I tried [instead of all that butter] replacing half of the butter with oil. So, if you want to do that just cancel out the 113 gms of butter and replace it with 50gms of butter and 1/4 cup of oil. It works really well.

Preheat oven to 190`C, line 16 large cupcake tins with papers or about 32 mini ones.
In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and cocoa powder. Let it cool to room temperature.

In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. [If you want, but I couldn't be bothered and they worked out good.]

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture [sift if it's G-free!] and beat until only incorporated. Add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each paper cup two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16-20 minutes or till risen, springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Ice when completely cool.

cold and short(ish) - that's me

2010-10-27T22:43:00.000+13:00

What's this? A blanket? A giant pillow snail? A bag that just looks like a roll? (wow, that would be cool)

Nope.

It's my cocoon. I made it last week out of my sister's old continental blankets (which is just another term for quilted duvet things).

Let me explain, I absolutely hate sleeping bags. They crackle whenever you breathe, are slippery, aren't that warm, smell like boys (because we have a stash of about 15 sleeping bags in the cupboard) whether you just washed it or not and it's hard to have your nose poking out of the blankets while your head is covered.

When we were camping in Summer I was cold. Yes, COLD. I get cold often. My duvet and a million blankets weren't sufficient on the freezing, but otherwise comfy airbed. I actually rolled myself up in all of the blankets, thus creating a cocoon that was very warm but extremely restricting.
While I was lying there, wondering whether it would be worth it to dismantle the cocoon so I could itch my nose the idea occurred to me. I could just sew two duvets together!

As you can see, my sewing isn't very good, but it worked really well! I was still cold at camp this weekend, but the cocoon was really cuddly and had great blanket stacking potential. Remember how it's almost impossible to keep a blanket from sliding off your sleeping bag? Not so with the cocoon!

I had a break in sewing and ate scrambled eggs, corn and cheese. Yum!

Then I set about hemming my new jeans.

Method: cut off a decent chunk of leg, overlock the seam, fold up to desired length and hand stitch along the bottom.
Easy, unless you're awful at sewing like me.

This is the ~~droid~~ overlocker, my sister loves it. She is actually good at sewing, where did those genes go?!

I'm not that short... just shorter than all my sisters and female relatives. 5.3 when last measured. I blame the thyroid condition. The only bad thing about being shortish is that I ALWAYS have to hem my trousers. It's already the bane of my life and I'm only young.

Note to self: always check whether there are those "wear" marks on the back of jeans! Note how they are so close to the hem? My legs aren't that short man, so those marks are sitting on my calf!

Hahahahaha, Theresa, you're so dumb.

Julie Le Clerc's chocolate swirl sliver cake! from "@ home with love."

2010-10-15T16:03:00.000+13:00

I talked about this amazing cake in my last post, it is so delicious that you should go and make it right now. Seriously.

Ok, it's not very photogenic, but who cares when it tastes this good!

"Eating this sliver cake will remain with you as one of those died-and-gone-to-heaven experiences." - Julie Le Clerc (in @ home with love, 2008)

Here is the recipe, with much thanks to Julie Le Clerc. From @ home with love.

250g cream cheese at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate batter:
150g butter, roughly cubed
300g quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
3 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon espresso coffee
pinch salt

1) preheat oven to fan-bake 150`C. Grease and line a 22cm spring form cake tin with non-stick baking paper.
2) Place the softened cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. add egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Remove to one side.
3) To make the batter, place the butter and chocolate in a medium-sized bowl and gently melt over a saucepan of simmering water, or microwave. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool a little.
4) Place the eggs, sugar, espresso and salt in another bowl and whisk with an electric mixer for 5 minutes or until very thick and pale. Gradually add the melted chocolate while continuing to whisk the mixture until combined.
5) Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared cake tin. dollop big spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture over the surface. Pus the tip of a blunt knife deep in the batter and swirl it around to form marble patterns on the surface. knock the cake tin with your hand to settle the batters.
6) bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out sticky but not liquid coated. leave to cool in the cake tin. When cool, carefully remove cake form tin and discard baking paper. This dessert cake lasts well if stored in the fridge.

Serves 16.
Use a hot knife to cut this cake, wiping the blade clean between slices and serve cut in slivers, as it is very rich.

I was lucky to buy this book on super-special recently and it has become one of my favourite cookbooks ever.

The photography is beautiful and appetizing.

And even though it's full of gluten-filled recipes it is still inspirational and makes me want to cook pretty food.

It's also useful, I just bought some puy lentils...

And it's delicious!

This is one of those cookbooks that are the epitome of a great cookbook. It displays exactly what cookbooks should be like, in every way. The recipes are easy to follow, taste great and have handy hints scatted all over the place. The photographs display the food in a really flattering (and appetizing) way, while not distracting from the clearly written text on the other page.

If you can get your hands on this book (buy/loan from the library), I highly recommend that you do. Also, make the chocolate swirl sliver cake! It's AMAZING.

3 months of health... yeah right!

2010-10-07T13:47:00.000+13:00

It's been a bit over a month now, since I declared these months as the "3 months of health". I know what you're thinking, "yeah right!* Theresa, you're so lame"
I mean, looking at what I've been doing and eating over the past month it would be quite easy to assume that I'd given up on being healthy.

Lets review it:

September started off with a bang, I was walking like I'd never walked before. Remember, I'm a confirmed lazy-bum, any walking is more than I normally do. For the first four days of September I was going great!
I ate quinoa, the Incan super food, or more affectionately known as "the mother grain."

But then this thing happened. I hate to keep moaning about it, but it really threw me off (no pun intended). Suddenly I didn't care about being healthy, all I was concerned about was clean water and having some gluten-free food available for coeliac sister and myself.

After realising that ours it the best stocked pantry in the country, we felt obliged to buy almost all the junk food from the supermarket, when it opened, and have a little celebration for surviving.

This is a photo of my local supermarket (stolen from here.)

You know what it's like when you're stressed and you just want chocolate? It was like that for about 3 weeks. Needless to say, they weren't a very healthy 3 weeks.

Mmm... natural disaster bacon burger!

Every time an aftershock hit, my heart would start thumping. I got a lot of cardio done in that time, but no real exercise.

Then, after being sick for about a week, I competed in Project Food Blog. This involved eating lots of deep-fried food.

In the last week of September I helped to run a local holiday programme. I used to get totally exhausted by this programme, (read: I either wouldn't make it through the week or would get really sick afterwards) but now that I'm gluten-free I find that I can last the whole week and come out strong. Yay!

I ate more Vietnamese spring rolls, but this time they were shallow fried.

Oh, and I also ate a whole block of chocolate... by myself.

Then, because I didn't make it into round 3 of Project Food Blog, I made a cake.

Before this I didn't realise that a cake could be so delicious and yet so un-photogenic.

My sister tried to help me by putting something white in the background, but I don't know if it helped.

It is one of the most delicious cakes I have ever eaten. Check back here later for the recipe.

Now it's the beginning of October and I haven't done any "real" (haha) exercise or thought about eating healthy since September 4. How lame am I?

But I have been lying in the sun.

To top it all off, I have another cold and am facing a month of four assignment to complete in 16 days. I feel like an athlete of the mind, bring on those assignments!

Speaking of athletes, the Commonwealth Games are on right now in Delhi. As per tradition my sisters and I got up at 2:30am to watch the opening ceremony on Monday morning.

These games are going to be really distracting for me these next few weeks. *sigh* I love watching the games.

Ah well, the aftershocks are still coming and I still feel like living off salted chips, iced coffee and dark chocolate. Hopefully I'll pick up my game this month and actually start living up the the "3 months of health" thing.

*is that kiwi slang? I don't know! It means: "whatever, I don't believe you." Example 1 & 2.

Blue sky, breakfast and my first sunburn of the season.

2010-10-01T23:53:00.001+13:00

My day started at 10am this morning, it was sunny and already really warm. I knew that today was going to be awesome so I wanted to get off to a good start by wearing a sleeveless top. Yes, it sounds strange, but there is a psychological thing going on, when you feel that first touch of summer weather. I often probably don't wear enough layers (aka, shorts and tee-shirt without a cardie -shock!) when I feel that tinge of warmness in the air, but for me it's best to embrace that warmth and go the "whole-hog".
I wasn't disappointed, today was beautiful.

So I made kedgeree for breakfast. It took me ages, but I wanted to make something yummy in celebration of completing a great holiday club without any problems this past week.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you'll know that I tend to reward myself with food. Pancakes are the norm, but in this occasion I needed something amazing.

The Kedgeree didn't let me down, it was delicious and perfect for brunch outside.

See that sky? The air was quite warm because there was only a touch of wind. Perfect!

So I lay under the cherry blossom tree and "studied".

It was pretty awesome.

The study was average, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do - so I ploughed through it, all the time wishing that I could go to sleep...

... or lie on my back and look at the tree above me.

So I did.

But then our ugly chimney caught my eye. That netting is to stop birds from falling down and getting stuck. I'm glad it's there because it's really annoying when birds get stuck. My sister closes every door but one, enforces a strict embargo around the room, opens the fireplace door and waits patently for the bird to escape to safety. It can take hours for the bird to gain enough courage to hop out of the fireplace to the open door, leaving it's sooty footprints behind.
I'm so glad we've got that netting, but it's still ugly.

I looked at my cup instead, somehow water in the sun makes me think of summer. Ahh...

It's Spring here! Yay! I could feel the sun starting to burn my shoulders, checked the time and rolled over to keep studying for another hour.

That wasn't a very smart thing to do. Now I've gained my first sunburn of the season. Oops!

These days

2010-09-27T21:55:00.000+13:00

When I wrote a post a few days ago, I was sick. All I wanted to do was get better so that I could do crazy things and enjoy the sunshine.

I'm now happy to announce that I'm better, yay! Here is a run-down of some of the stuff I've been doing over the past few days: (apart from Project Foodblog)

More rice paper spring rolls! They looked uninspiring, but tasted amazing.

I ate them outside while wearing Peruvian pants (poser brother brought them back from South America) and listening to Bob Marley. It was great!

Then I gutted a teddy and turned him into a puppet. His name is Hugo.

I watched the sun set on the blossom and wished that I was a better photographer - or had the patience to get the right shot.

I'm helping to run a holiday club this week, we are doing the story of Joesph from the Bible. The above is a picture of the evil wheat in Pharaoh's dream. I wonder if Pharaoh was a coeliac?

Then I sat in the sun again and read one of my favourite cookbooks while drinking iced coffee.

I can't wait till summer! These are my sister's Willy Wonka sunnies. Functional but dorky.

Iced coffee - my dreams have come true!

In the evening we had lots of fun sorting out the costumes. Tomorrow I'm going to apply thick eyeliner to several unsuspecting guys - it's going to be epic! (in the real sense of the word, not the geeky one)

Any tips for applying eyeliner to guys? I may need some help!

My oven didn't explode! Gluten-free naan bread. (The classics!)

2010-09-26T22:57:00.000+13:00

This post is my entry to Project Foodblog, challenge two. Voting starts on the 27th -vote for me! Visit my Project Foodblog profile here.

Remember my last Project Food Blog post? The title was "eat outside your comfort zone." The irony is that Challenge 2 is all about cooking a classic dish from another culture, or more plainly put: cooking outside your comfort zone.

Poppadoms are usually gluten-free!

Strictly speaking, Indian food is well inside my food comfort zone. I love making different curries and often fall back on my cheats butter chicken for shared meals or events.
But Indian flat bread? Nope. Last time I attempted making naan bread it was a dismal failure. That was about four years ago, back in my gluten days.

So what on earth makes me think that I can make it now? I'm trying to make gluten-free naan bread, for Spock's sake! Am I crazy? - Yes.

But I don't take risks in other areas of my life, (I don't even do roly-polys anymore) so I might as well risk things in the kitchen, which is of course a very safe and secure environment.

The oven didn't explode... phew!

In order to properly cook the naan bread, the oven has to be really hot, like a traditional Indian tandoor.
I didn't have the guts to go up to 250. - See? I don't take risks.

I used the naan recipe from I am Gluten Free. Click here for the recipe.

I made some changes though: I used brown rice flour, instead of white. After mixing, the dough felt like really thick icing, so I added 2/3 more brown rice flour. Another alteration was that I used two baking trays in the oven, one on top of each other (for thickness) instead of a pizza stone.

They're really good if you brush them with oil right after taking them out of the oven.

It's really hard to stay true to classic dishes if you're trying to make them gluten-free. Even supposedly simple things like pizza, English muffins or sponge cake become so complicated when the two words "gluten-free" are added. Sadly, the quality also diminishes. I honestly don't think it's possible for mere-mortals to make gluten-free naan bread that is as good as the traditional naan. It's just not going to happen.

So why did I choose to make something that had to be adapted to be gluten-free? Why didn't I make a naturally gluten-free dish, like Vietnamese spring rolls? The answer is: Comfort.

Don't get me wrong, I know that this post is about cooking outside my comfort zone. But when you're gluten-free, simple things like bread become special. Those deliciously chewy, varied and tasty morsels are usually out of our reach. When we can finally make things like naan for ourselves, a little party ensues. Many bloggers talk about how food brings joy into people's lives, but most often they're talking about impressive cakes, delicately cooked meat or interesting salads. But tell me, do you consider it a joy to eat cheese on toast? Sometimes other people are kind of jealous of the things that you take for granted.

The sun was setting while I waited for the naan to cook - it's Spring here!

I made naan bread because gluten-free people like me often need to be reminded that we're not missing out. We need that comfort, that imaginary hug from our food that says "nothing is impossible, it just tastes slightly different."

It's a bit ironic really, that we have to cook outside of our comfort zone to feel comfort from food. I'll never be able to go to an Indian restaurant and eat naan bread again. But I can sure make it at home! I find comfort in that.

I highly recommend the gluten-free naan bread recipe from I am Gluten Free. So I'd just like to thank Ellen for sharing the recipe, even though I don't know her and live on the other side of the world, she has shared the joy and comfort of being gluten-free with me, and hopefully with you too. :)

AAAAAA! I can't believe it! I'm into the next round!

2010-09-25T09:02:00.001+12:00

Oh wow! I was just checking my email before going out and saw this! I can't believe that I could actually get through to the next round! There were thousands of contestants and only just over 600 were picked to advance.

Wow. That's all I can say.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped (helping) me through my bloggy journey, you guys rock.

But now? Now I'm going gluten-free flour shopping, baby!

Question: The next blog should be about the classics. Any ideas? Is there anything "classic" that you'd like to see made gluten-free? I need ideas! :D

Sitting, waiting, wishing....

2010-09-22T11:53:00.000+12:00

These last few weeks have been a bit munted (excuse my New Zealand slang, you get the picture).

First up there was the earthquake that everyone keeps moaning about, then there was the tiredness from being continually set on edge by the aftershocks. Seriously, they're still happening almost three weeks later! Then, for me, there was this mysterious infection in my lip which meant I had to go on antibiotics... which had a worse effect on me than the infection had. (Again, you get the picture)

If that wasn't enough, I got a nasty bug the other day and am still trying to recover from that. Headaches, tummy aches, runny nose, seriously sore throat, fevers. Yeah, it's not pretty.

To top it all off I have an assignment due on Monday and the busiest week of this term (I'm helping run a holiday club) coming up next week! Good grief! Will this madness ever end?

Thanks Lydie for inspiring these. Aren't they pretty?!

So what's a girl to do? I'm just sitting here waiting to get better, wrapped up in a blanked with a laptop, listening to Stevie Wonder. The door is open and my sisters are painting on a huge piece of board outside.

I'm incapable of doing much in this condition. I mean, I'm not going to jump up and make muffins or anything. I don't have that kind of energy. All I can do is dream about what I will do when I have my energy back.

First of all, I'm going to make these:

I know, I've blabbed enough about them already, but seriously, they're yummy as!

And then I'm going to buy some fish and make Kedgeree.

And after that I want to buy these shoes. Aren't they just the cutest?!

Yeah. I don't know how often I'd wear them though...

I'm also going to sit in the sun, get a tan (but not skin cancer...) and drink espresso.

Then I'll go for a walk, like I said I was going to do lots over these next few months. I hope to take a camera so I can share with you the awesome view of the Southern Alps and Spring blossom on my walk. You'll love it, and I'll love being healthy again. It might take awhile, but I'll get there.