It's been a glorious day in the Upper Highway and what better way to start Spring than a sunrise run (with the full moon slowly setting), followed by a trip to the Shongweni Farmers' Market. Seriously, if you live anywhere within 50km (or more if you're adventurous) of Hillcrest, just west of Durban, you really need to head out to The Market on Saturday mornings. Fresh organic produce, decadent desserts, happy dogs, adorable children, friends, and super finds. Not to mention a range of options for your steaming hot morning cup o' Joe. We love it!
Today's goodies included organic raw honey for use in chocolate cookies, biltong for snacks (oh I love biltong!), organic free range meat from Hope Meats, and a delicious selection of veggies. The gem squashes in particular were absolutely delicious! Even the kids enjoyed them.
To celebrate, when I got home I made Chocolate Covered Katie's 3 Ingredient Chocolate Bars. We used honey instead of stevia, and shape moulds instead of a simple plastic dish. I think the honey needs to be melted a little first, but the end result was certainly not unpleasant. Happy Days :)
Next up: crustless quiches for Tea Sunday at Church tomorrow. Excited!
Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
SCD, Here we Come!
Alright, we’re ready. On Saturday we went shopping and bought everything we need for the SCD Intro Diet. This is supposed to last for three days (give or take a day), and it cost us R164. That’s really, really good for three days for our family, so I think perhaps it won’t last as long as I’m hoping. But some of that stuff will last longer than three days, like the eggs, so we’ll see.
I spent most of Sunday (the bits where we weren’t at Church), preparing for the diet. I have given my family their “last meals.” (Pies and crisps. I know. Don’t judge me). I have cooked up a gigantic pot of chicken-and-carrot soup, 36 meatballs, 8 bowls of grape jelly and a dish of purèed carrots. I also have 40-odd eggs in the fridge, just waiting to be breakfast!
Now, I don’t know how long this lot is supposed to last, but it feels like about two days’ worth. Except the jelly – that’ll get us through today only. Again, we’ll see. The intro diet is supposed to take between two and five days, so we’ll re-evaluate on Tuesday night and decide what to do next. I foresee another full day of cooking in my future, though.
Here’s what I hope to achieve from all of this preparation:
When I list these like this they really don’t seem that serious. One might even wonder why we’re bothering with such a strict diet and lifestyle change. But the thing is that the headaches are really debilitating at times, leaving the girls in tears and me wishing I could get away with tears! The girls spend a lot of time doubled over in agony at their stomach cramps (and their relief is our demise as they expel the offending bubbles. Sorry to share but this journey is important to me and I need to remember as much of where we started as possible so that when I look back I can see real change).
My skin breaks out all the time. It’s painful and decidedly embarrassing, given that I really am too old for this kind of thing. I’ve even had to cancel client meetings because of my skin (or headaches, or tummy troubles). Papa Bear and Goldilocks battle to concentrate and often Papa Bear’s not even here, despite being physically present. He also battles terribly with hay fever, and his hay fever, tiredness and tummy troubles have kept him out of meetings and appointments, too. Not being able to concentrate affects us all and I imagine things can only improve if we have better moods and better focus.
My vision for the outcome of this new eating plan is that we will have energy, joy, focus, time (because of better sleep and better planning), success (because of more confidence and fewer canceled appointments), and all-round awesomeness. I know the beginning is very tough indeed, and I don’t expect it to be easy, but I am looking forward to the long term results. I’ll keep you posted.
I spent most of Sunday (the bits where we weren’t at Church), preparing for the diet. I have given my family their “last meals.” (Pies and crisps. I know. Don’t judge me). I have cooked up a gigantic pot of chicken-and-carrot soup, 36 meatballs, 8 bowls of grape jelly and a dish of purèed carrots. I also have 40-odd eggs in the fridge, just waiting to be breakfast!
Now, I don’t know how long this lot is supposed to last, but it feels like about two days’ worth. Except the jelly – that’ll get us through today only. Again, we’ll see. The intro diet is supposed to take between two and five days, so we’ll re-evaluate on Tuesday night and decide what to do next. I foresee another full day of cooking in my future, though.
Here’s what I hope to achieve from all of this preparation:
- Fewer headaches;
- Fewer stomach cramps;
- Better concentration;
- Fewer mood swings;
- Better skin;
- Fewer allergic reactions;
- Fewer nightmares;
- Better sleep;
- More energy; and
- Better focus.
When I list these like this they really don’t seem that serious. One might even wonder why we’re bothering with such a strict diet and lifestyle change. But the thing is that the headaches are really debilitating at times, leaving the girls in tears and me wishing I could get away with tears! The girls spend a lot of time doubled over in agony at their stomach cramps (and their relief is our demise as they expel the offending bubbles. Sorry to share but this journey is important to me and I need to remember as much of where we started as possible so that when I look back I can see real change).
My skin breaks out all the time. It’s painful and decidedly embarrassing, given that I really am too old for this kind of thing. I’ve even had to cancel client meetings because of my skin (or headaches, or tummy troubles). Papa Bear and Goldilocks battle to concentrate and often Papa Bear’s not even here, despite being physically present. He also battles terribly with hay fever, and his hay fever, tiredness and tummy troubles have kept him out of meetings and appointments, too. Not being able to concentrate affects us all and I imagine things can only improve if we have better moods and better focus.
My vision for the outcome of this new eating plan is that we will have energy, joy, focus, time (because of better sleep and better planning), success (because of more confidence and fewer canceled appointments), and all-round awesomeness. I know the beginning is very tough indeed, and I don’t expect it to be easy, but I am looking forward to the long term results. I’ll keep you posted.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
So, why the coconut?
Have I mentioned SCD? I’m sure I have and you’re probably like everyone else who knows me by now: over it! But whether or not you’re over it or you’ve never heard of it, it is fascinating and I can’t wait to get started. All I need to do is read the book, understand the book, and get started.
I have started reading the book, so I know that coconuts make up a big part of the diet. They are a good source of a lot of the things our bodies need, and easily digestible. Coconut milk can be used as a regular milk substitute. It can be turned into yoghurt, and used for smoothies and ice cream. The liquid inside the coconut is a valuable source of electrolytes and the flesh is delicious and multi-functional.
Empowered by all of this information and ready to act, I headed off to the green grocer and bought the first coconut I have ever personally owned. Nestled among the bananas (to make it feel at home), we admired it for a few days, then finally decided to depilate it on Monday morning. I had expected the process to take long, and I supposed it did, but not as long as anticipated. Removing the hairy husk was followed by driving a nail into the eyes to see if any liquid came out. It did not.
Next up was the extremely satisfactory process of hammering it open. I wrapped the coconut in a dish towel, took it outside, and holding it down firmly by the dish towel I hammered away with semi-gay abandon. It was fun. Highly recommended.
Once it was broken open, I faced the tedious task of scraping off the softish brown outside of the flesh with a sharp knife which, despite the element of danger, was rather dull. The blender served well to break the flesh into the recognisable consistency of dessicated coconut, though without so much of the dessicated. I really enjoyed discovering the thick, waxy white by product smeared on everything (not sarcastic, I promise), and used that to great effect in lieu of cooking oil for frying the onions I used for dinner.
Using the method I found here, on the wonderful Nourishing Gourmet blog, I made coconut milk. I thought it was delicious, and really enjoyed it in my coffee. It was a little thin, but I think that’s because of the ancientness of the coconut I’d bought, which had not even a drop of liquid inside.
Given the cost of the coconut, the labour involved, the sheer delight of hammering the thing open (which in my mind is worth the cost all by itself), the by products (“oil”, coconut pulp), and the health benefits of it all, I think this is a potentially worthwhile pursuit. I could have made more coconut milk by using more water. (I used two cups, then one cup, while the recipe suggests two cups, then two cups. That made 2.5 cups of coconut milk). I could also have squeezed the pulp harder to get more out, I later found, and I now know that I need cheesecloth. Is that stuff reusable? I should probably have let it stand in the water for longer too. Some people even simmer it gently, which I may try next time.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
لذيذ! (Delicious!)
I have no idea how to pronounce لذيذ but it is the Arabic translation of delicious (thanks, Google!). It’s appropriate for this post because it refers to the deliciousness of our Moroccan dinner this week. Enjoying cooking is a relatively new adventure for me, and thanks to the Internet, it’s possible – nay, easy! – to create virtually any concoction you can imagine. I had so much fun making delicious Moroccan Soup andHerby Flatbread. (Click on the links – they’re worth a look and there are loads of other yummy things there, too).
What made it even more entertaining was being assisted by DD#2 as she began the journey towards domestic mastery for herself. She’s so entertaining and uniquely, innocently wise. What a joy! We peeled and sliced and diced and chopped and mixed and stirred and then cleaned it all away. She also made me a miniature garden from roses and celery leaves, and populated it with a Lego village and Lego characters. Considering the available space in our cosy cottage kitchen, that is quite an achievement.
I so enjoyed the language style of the recipe writers: practical and unfussy and really doable. Of course, in true Me-style, I substituted what I needed with what I had. And garlic. In fact, I wrapped most of a bulb of garlic in foil, drizzled it in oil and herbs, and roasted it in the oven as an aperitif. *Sigh*. Perhaps next time DH will get some. I’m afraid this time (third night, third experiment, same outcome) I ate the lot. So much of hhmmm.
I managed to remember the camera before I had served the food, so here are some pics from the delicious event.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Cost-cutting cuisine
For as long as I can remember I have loved healthy food and been fanatical about nutrition. I think two key things contributed to this in my formative years. The first was that my brother has cystic fibrosis and so a lot of our early years revolved around what he could or couldn’t do or eat, where he could or couldn’t go, and so on. We knew a lot more about healthy nutrition at that age than any of our peers.
Secondly, our family has a colourful and diverse range of allergies and intolerances, so growing up involved a lot of careful juggling around what would fill us, taste good and not kill us! (That’s an exaggeration, you understand).
In my adult years I have become heavily dependent on truly brilliant supplementsthat keep us healthy and well (not just “not sick”). So much so, in fact, that I even share these great supplements with anyone who wants them, and after seeing the phenomenal turn around in our family’s health, that list includes pretty much most of the people we know.
Even so, however, good nutrition is about more than just popping pills. It’s also about what we do put into our bodies, and what we don’t. That’s why I try so hard to feed my family good, balanced, nutritious, low GI meals and healthy snacks as much as possible. We usually have masses of fruit in the house, and if there are biscuits I try to keep them low GI, gluten free, dairy free ones. Where possible I replace sugar with xylitol or honey.
The more I think about it, the more it seems like it would be a good idea to share some of my adventures here, on my blog. I am no Nigella, and not even much of a run-of-the-mill domestic goddess. Most of my meals fail on presentation, but at least they’re USUALLY delicious and almost always nutritious. Not to mention being super-affordable, which is key right now.
Here’s tonight’s offering:
Pasta with Lentil Mush (title needs work; suggestions welcome).
Slowly heat red lentils with salt and Italian herbs until very soft. Drain.
Cook gluten-free pasta to taste.
Roast some vegetables in the oven. Broccoli and courgettes work very well for this, as do carrots and beans.
Finely chop a large onion and braise until soft and transparent/golden, then add 2 chopped tomatoes, a coupe of peeled and chopped carrots, some ginger and some garlic (to taste).Add the lentils and mix well. Mix in the roasted veggies (try to get some of their “veggie juice”, too – yummy!).
When this mixture is thoroughly smooshy, add some good quality tomato sauce (rich in lycopene, an essential antioxidant).
You may want a little more tomato sauce for the colour.
Serve the lentil mixture on the pasta – hot!
We added Nando’s hot chilli sauce for the grown ups because a) Chillis are a good source of capsaicin, which is good for nasal and chest problems, and induces feelings of happiness as a result of the release of endorphines, and b) We love it! The girls had their’s neat.
Everyone said it tasted great. DH even had seconds … I don’t know if he actuallyrealised he was eating lentils!
I’d share a picture but we ate it all, sorry about that
.
The great thing about this meal is that it is full of goodness and low on cost. Seriously, we all have onions and lentils in the cupboard right? You can make anything with those two items alone. Kinda …
On a side note, don’t stint on tomato sauce. I know we’re all on budgets here, but a good tomato sauce is an awesome and worthwhile investment. The antioxidants are great for the whole family and many kids eat anything when it’s disguised in a tomato sauce super-hero cloak. The problem is that a cheap, synthetic tomato sauce is so bad for your family it would be better to feed the kids fries than to disguise broccoli in that swill. I’m just saying.
Secondly, our family has a colourful and diverse range of allergies and intolerances, so growing up involved a lot of careful juggling around what would fill us, taste good and not kill us! (That’s an exaggeration, you understand).
In my adult years I have become heavily dependent on truly brilliant supplementsthat keep us healthy and well (not just “not sick”). So much so, in fact, that I even share these great supplements with anyone who wants them, and after seeing the phenomenal turn around in our family’s health, that list includes pretty much most of the people we know.
Even so, however, good nutrition is about more than just popping pills. It’s also about what we do put into our bodies, and what we don’t. That’s why I try so hard to feed my family good, balanced, nutritious, low GI meals and healthy snacks as much as possible. We usually have masses of fruit in the house, and if there are biscuits I try to keep them low GI, gluten free, dairy free ones. Where possible I replace sugar with xylitol or honey.
The more I think about it, the more it seems like it would be a good idea to share some of my adventures here, on my blog. I am no Nigella, and not even much of a run-of-the-mill domestic goddess. Most of my meals fail on presentation, but at least they’re USUALLY delicious and almost always nutritious. Not to mention being super-affordable, which is key right now.
Here’s tonight’s offering:
Pasta with Lentil Mush (title needs work; suggestions welcome).
Slowly heat red lentils with salt and Italian herbs until very soft. Drain.
Cook gluten-free pasta to taste.
Roast some vegetables in the oven. Broccoli and courgettes work very well for this, as do carrots and beans.
Finely chop a large onion and braise until soft and transparent/golden, then add 2 chopped tomatoes, a coupe of peeled and chopped carrots, some ginger and some garlic (to taste).Add the lentils and mix well. Mix in the roasted veggies (try to get some of their “veggie juice”, too – yummy!).
When this mixture is thoroughly smooshy, add some good quality tomato sauce (rich in lycopene, an essential antioxidant).
You may want a little more tomato sauce for the colour.
Serve the lentil mixture on the pasta – hot!
We added Nando’s hot chilli sauce for the grown ups because a) Chillis are a good source of capsaicin, which is good for nasal and chest problems, and induces feelings of happiness as a result of the release of endorphines, and b) We love it! The girls had their’s neat.
Everyone said it tasted great. DH even had seconds … I don’t know if he actuallyrealised he was eating lentils!
I’d share a picture but we ate it all, sorry about that
.The great thing about this meal is that it is full of goodness and low on cost. Seriously, we all have onions and lentils in the cupboard right? You can make anything with those two items alone. Kinda …
On a side note, don’t stint on tomato sauce. I know we’re all on budgets here, but a good tomato sauce is an awesome and worthwhile investment. The antioxidants are great for the whole family and many kids eat anything when it’s disguised in a tomato sauce super-hero cloak. The problem is that a cheap, synthetic tomato sauce is so bad for your family it would be better to feed the kids fries than to disguise broccoli in that swill. I’m just saying.
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