3 top tips for going gluten free (and my favourite gluten free flour recipe)

Let me say up front that I love bread. Like really LOVE it.

To me the aroma of freshly baked bread is one of the best smells in the world, so the thought of not being able to indulge in a piece, warm from the oven and smeared with butter was ... upsetting.

But after years of ill-health and lots of niggly issues that just wouldn't go away, it was time to bite the bullet and cut out gluten.

Now if you listen to mainstream media you will probably hear that going gluten-free is a fad, that there's no benefit in doing so and that it may even be harmful. I think that's rubbish personally, and naturopath Jules Galloway sums it up perfectly here.

So while I don't have coeliac disease, since going gluten free I have noticed:

- less brain fog
- more energy
- no more constant runny nose
- fewer headaches
- less bloating

Doesn't sound like a harmful fad to me!

I made the decision to go gluten-free back in July and haven't looked back.

As I was already eating a wholefoods type of diet I was expecting it to be relatively painless but I definitely got hit with withdrawal symptoms. It was fascinating to see just how much my body craved carbs and how often I would normally reach for 'a little something', a biscuit or piece of toast, something to keep me going until the next meal.

So based on my experience with going gluten free, here are my top 3 tips:

(And I just have to preface this by saying if you suspect you have coeliac disease, please seek medical advice before cutting out gluten. You need gluten in your system for the testing to be accurate so please see your doctor! For everybody else who suspects gluten may not be the best thing for you, read on).

1. Approach this as an experiment.

Going gluten free is entirely your choice, and for now, you are choosing not to eat gluten. Take each day as it comes and really listen to your body.

Keeping a journal is a great idea. Keep track of what you are eating and how you feel afterwards. For me, eating traditional wheat-based pancakes for breakfast practically sends me into a coma and makes me feel bloated and lethargic for the rest of the day. But I can eat gluten free pancakes and feel great. Seems obvious when you think about it!

2. Focus on foods that are naturally gluten-free.

We are really lucky these days to have access to gluten free products in the supermarket. You can buy gluten-free bread, pasta, crackers, cakes ... you name it. But gluten free bread is definitely not the same as wheat bread. It won't taste the same, look the same and may not work in the same way. I am yet to find a gluten-free bread that is good for sandwiches although most make great toast.  Most brands are also full of additives and preservatives which is not what I want.

So instead of focusing on all the foods you can't eat (because let's face it, gluten is hiding almost everywhere), think about everything you CAN eat. Meat, fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, dairy products ... all of these are naturally gluten free, nourishing and delicious.

3. Plan an alternative so you don't feel deprived

If the rest of your family is having pizza, one of 2 things will happen. You will either feel angry and deprived, or you'll give in and have some. So plan ahead. Make sure you have a gluten free base on hand ready to go, or a recipe to make your own. Make a batch of muffins or bliss balls and stash them in the freezer so you have a sweet treat to have while your coworkers are gobbling down birthday cake. Feeling deprived will make you miserable, even if you're feeling better in other ways.

Now I love baking and am pretty experienced, but even I have had some gluten-free disasters. I'm talking muffins like bricks, and pizza base so tough we couldn't even break it!

The Orgran brand plain and self-raising flours at the supermarket are great, but I've also come up with my own recipe that I keep on hand. And if that's too much, a simple 50:50 blend of buckwheat and rice flours also works well for most recipes like biscuits and muffins.

My favourite gluten-free flour mix

200g sorghum flour
200g buckwheat flour
200g white rice flour
100g brown rice flour
300g potato starch
1 tbs psyllium powder

Place all ingredients into a very large bowl and use a whisk to mix well together.

Store in an airtight container.

If I was to add a top tip #4 it would be to choose your start date carefully - don't make things harder on yourself by quitting gluten a week before your birthday or Christmas or some other normally gluten-free celebration.

To help you on your gluten-free journey I've done up a handy printable showing 10 of my favourite gluten-free grains, their health benefits and how to use them. Just click on the image below to grab your copy now!

Have you gone gluten free? Did you notice any great improvements? How has it changed the way you cook and eat?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Susan

What I learnt about self-care this Winter ...

So things have been a little quiet on the blog front this past month or so.

I haven't spoken about it much but my health hasn't been great this Winter - I've been really run down and catching every bug going around. When you add that onto looking after 3 kids and studying well, things have definitely gotten on top of me.

I may have mentioned before that I've also been having some thyroid problems. Now I never had even an inkling of a thyroid issue until after having baby number 3. Post-partum thyroiditis is apparently really common but it's been tricky for me to manage.

I've been absolutely freezing this Winter (feeling cold is one of the symptoms) and have piled on about 6kg which is incredibly frustrating as I'm eating well and haven't had to think about my weight at all for a couple of years.

Hypothyroidism (or underactive thyroid) which is what I have, can also greatly impact on mood and anxiety levels so on top of feeling cold and fat I've also been feeling pretty down. Sounds like fun hey?

After hibernating for a while, I decided I had to make some changes.

Clearly what I was doing wasn't working.

And isn't that the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

You may have heard the phrase 'self-care' bandied about a lot recently. For me it used to conjure up images of going to a spa for a massage or lighting candles. All good things but nothing I have the time for. Nothing that lights me up, so to speak.

A few months ago I stumbled across a book by Doreen Virtue called 'Don't Let Anything Dull Your Sparkle' and I read it, captivated. Because that is exactly what I have lost - sparkle. I have been feeling dulled down, tired, overwhelmed and uninspired. No wonder my health has been slowly going down the toilet.

Reading that book made me aware of all the drama I was allowing in my life. So getting rid of that was the first step I took.

1. Drama detox

Now anyone who knows me might be surprised that I consider myself addicted to drama. Outwardly I'm a pretty calm and quiet person. But my god, the drama that goes on in my head sometimes!

After taking a good hard look at just where my energy goes I could instantly see how much time and energy I was wasting on drama - the shows I watched on TV were full of crime, violence and stressful situations, reading the news online, getting caught up in the rush and busy-ness of life and allowing all of that to affect my mood and my sleep.

What I did - switched off the TV, removed all the programs I had set to record on the DVR, removed the bookmarks to news sites on my laptop, removed Facebook from my phone, found a classical music station on the car radio.

How I felt - removing all these stressful influences has had a major impact on my mood. I feel lighter and happier and, bonus, I have so much more time. Extra bonus the kids have been really enjoying listening to classical music!

2. Meditation

I've always been so resistant to meditation. But as they say, the things we resist the most, are usually the things we need the most. And so it was here too.

Meditation has been absolutely the greatest gift to myself these past few months. Setting aside just a little bit of time each day to relax, be still and clear my mind. Forget sitting cross-legged on the side of a mountain and chanting - meditation can be as simple as closing your eyes and focusing on your breath for a few seconds ... and instantly reaping the benefits.

My favourite tool for meditation is the Insight Timer app. It is completely free and gives you access to thousands of guided meditations. You can also meditate to music or just choose some background music and set the timer. Try a few and you will find the style that suits you best. I do a quick 5-minute meditation as soon as I wake up to set the tone for the day and then as soon as Mr 2 goes down for his nap in the middle of the day, I lie down too and take 20 minutes for myself. And no matter how tempting it is to rush around and get a few things done as soon as he goes to bed, I've learnt from experience that if I don't take the time straight away, it may not happen.

What I did - committed to least 5 minutes of meditation every day

How I felt - AMAZING. I now crave that peace and stillness and I can draw on those feelings when things get crazy. Which, with 3 young kids, is pretty often!

3. Diet

Ok so I can't talk about improving my health without talking about diet.

As you know I am all about whole foods so I didn't have to cut out any junk, I just had to become more mindful with my eating and do some experimenting.

Some big triggers for thyroid health seem to be gluten, dairy and sugar. Which makes sense as they are all inflammatory and can impact on gut health.

The dairy and sugar were easy (ish) to remove but after 6 weeks now without gluten, I can say with absolute certainty that it's helping. I actually felt positive changes within a few days - more energy, less brain fog, less bloating.

So while I don't have celiac (I've had both blood tests and a biopsy to rule it out) it seems my body simply works better without gluten. I will be writing a post about going gluten free soon so I won't go into too much detail here.

The other side to diet is mindfulness - actually listening to what your body needs and then thinking about what to eat.

What I did - eating 3 proper meals each day rather than grazing or finishing the kids leftovers. Increasing the amount of veggies, especially greens. Sticking to 2 pieces of fruit per day. Drinking lots of water and herbal tea throughout the day.

How I felt - unsurprisingly I am feeling a bit better!

4. Sleep

I am not someone who functions well without sleep. Luckily I was blessed with kids that are good sleepers (please don't hate me!) and we are well past the baby stage anyway.

I need 8 hours sleep every night without fail. The easiest way to work out the right bedtime is to simply count back 8 hours from when your alarm goes off. Mine goes off at 5.30am which means lights out at 9.30pm.

The next thing is to think about how you are spending that last hour before bed and avoiding screen time if you can.

My night time ritual always includes a cup of tea, washing my face and putting on some beautiful smelling moisturiser and reading in bed for about half an hour before I turn out the light. If I do all these things then it is much easier to fall asleep and I don't feel like a total zombie the next day.

What I did - committed to a night time ritual and a set bedtime.

How I felt - While I still have some days when I need a nap in the afternoon (fatigue goes hand in hand with a dodgy thyroid), getting enough sleep at night makes everything feel easier.

5. Personal growth

Removing some negative stressful influences in my life has freed up some time and some space - which I have filled with books, music and podcasts. I am completely addicted to podcasts!

My favourites at the moment are:

• Happy Mama with Amy Taylor-Kabbaz
• How She Really Does It with Koren Motekaitis
• Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert

My favourite times to listen to podcasts and audio books are when I'm cleaning, or stacking the dishwasher or parked waiting to pick up the kids from school. Basically anytime I have a few minutes. I've subscribed to them through the podcasts app on my ipad so they are loaded up and always ready to go.

What I did - filled my free time with positive, informative and uplifting books, music and podcasts.

How I felt - inspired to do more, learn more, create more and connect more

So after all that, what did I learn about self-care this Winter?

It's essential. It makes a massive difference. And there's no one right way to do it.

What does self-care mean to you?

~ Susan

Spicy Carrot Loaf Cake and some news

Oh it feels like ages since I've been here! The last month or so has been a bit of a blur of phone calls and emails but it feels like the right time now to share our news ... we bought a house!!! After being in a rented townhouse for the past 5 years we are thrilled that soon we will have a house of our own. We are moving in the middle of September and have already started packing. We've accumulated a lot of stuff as well as had 2 more children since we moved in here and there is a lot of sort out. I'm loving the chance for a clear out though and we have passed on bags and bags of stuff to the Salvos already.

In all the busyness my diet has slipped a little and my health started suffering as a result. Nothing major but constant colds and the stress of studying for exams and house-hunting took their toll on my thyroid and I've been feeling exhausted. After trip to the naturopath I am back on the right path and taking the time to cook and bake for all of us properly.

I'm really loving my spices at the moment. Not sure whether it's just my body's way of wanting to warm up this winter but whatever the reason, I can't get enough! I needed to make something for afternoon tea and decided to use up some veggies at the same time. This cake used 4 medium carrots but you could use pumpkin, zucchini or even parsnips for this recipe or even a combination of these.

This was an easy and absolutely delicious cake. My boys loved it and Oscar told me it was the best cake I'd ever made! I of course loved that it go some extra carrot into them along with the amazing health benefits of cinnamon, ginger and turmeric in winter.

I left the walnuts out of this batch but if you don't have littlies add them in for some yummy crunch.

Spicy Carrot Loaf Cake

250g grated carrot
2 large eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup rice malt syrup
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
1 ts baking powder
1/4 ts bicarb soda
2 ts cinnamon
1 ts turmeric
1 ts ginger
1/4 ts ground cloves
pinch salt
1/2 cup natural raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius / 150 degrees fan-forced. Grease and line an 8 inch loaf pan (mine was pyrex).

Place the carrot, eggs, oil, syrup and raisins in a large bowl and mix well. Sift the flour and spices together and then add to the wet mix, folding through until only just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top.

Bake for approximately 1 hour. It will be golden brown and fragrant and the middle will spring back when pressed lightly. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for half an hour before turning out onto a wire rack.

Slice and serve with butter (if not dairy free).

Sticky Date Muffins for my mum

So today would have been my mum's 64th birthday and it also marks 7 years to the day since her funeral. With each anniversary I think maybe it will get a little easier ... but it never does. I had some fun with my boys today but I was also snappy and exhausted and tears were always just under the surface.

Mum and I didn't always see eye to eye, especially when I was a teenager but she was always my confidante, the one person in the world I could guarantee would be on my side. She would literally drop everything if I needed her. That's what mums are for right?

I have loved baking since I was little and mum and I spent many hours in the kitchen together. I think she was relieved though when I got older and wanted to take over more of the cooking duties as I don't she really enjoyed it all that much. She loved tasting everything I baked and she would have loved these sticky date muffins which I made today in her memory. They are pure comfort food, like a big warm hug, and I was comforted enjoying them with my boys this afternoon.

"Life has to end" she said. "Love doesn't."

-Mitch Albom

Sticky Date Muffins 

250g dried pitted dates
400mls water
2 tbs brandy
1 tbs bicarb soda
100g butter
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
1 ts vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
2 ts cinnamon
2 ts dried ginger
3 eggs
250g white spelt flour, sifted with 3 ts baking powder
6 extra dates, split in half

Line a 12 cup muffin tray and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, place the dates, water and brandy. Bring to the simmer for 5 minutes then add the bicarb and stir well. It will foam and froth up. Add the orange zest and vanilla then remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

In a stand mixer or a large bowl with electric beaters, cream the butter and add the syrup a splodge at a time, until well incorporated.

Next add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Fold through half the flour together with the cinnamon and ginger, then half the cooled date mixture and repeat with the remainder.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tray and top each with half a dried date.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and springing back in the middle (mine were done at 18 mins but it depends on your oven so check once they start to smell amazing). Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tray before turning out. Enjoy warm for dessert with ice-cream (if you're not dairy free) or at room temperature with a cup of tea or coffee for afternoon tea.

Makes 12. Suitable to freeze.

Wordless Wednesday

Our new arrival

We are thrilled to announce the birth of our healthy son Oscar Theodore on Monday 20th April at 10.20am - 3.6kg/7lbs 9oz, 51cm/20 in. More details to come but here is one of my favourite pics, taken at 5 days old ...

Blogging may be a little sparse for the next few weeks but I will be back!

Giving Thanks

Hmmm about 6 days ago I said this post would be coming 'tomorrow'. Woops!

Even though Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Australia we decided to have a special dinner, and of course we had Thanksgiving Twofer Pie for dessert. It obviously wasn't a holiday here so 'special' in this case meant a lovely roast chicken (which I never do midweek), real gravy (which I hardly ever do) and stuffing (which I only ever make for Christmas). It was really nice to sit down together and enjoy a meal a like this, for no real reason ... just to be together. Which is, I think, the point of Thanksgiving??

Despite a difficult year we do have a lot to be thankful for. Not the least of which being that after our 19 week scan last Wednesday we now know that we are having a healthy baby! Everything looked perfect and we could even count the little fingers on each hand.

We also know the gender because curiosity got the better of us and ...
Back to food for a moment seeing as this is a food blog. This is my recipe for Cranberry and Macadamia Stuffing (which never actually got stuffed anywhere but you can if you want to).

Cranberry and Macadamia Stuffing
a Food.Baby original

approx 200g day old bread, preferably sourdough
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup macadamias, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1 red onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 rashers of bacon, diced
a few good pinches of dried thyme and any other herbs you like
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs

Tear the bread into large pieces then pulse in a food processor to form large crumbs. Set aside.

Heat a frypan over medium heat and fry the bacon until it starts to crisp, add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent. You shouldn't need to add any oil as the fat will render from the bacon.

Add the remaining ingredients (except the egg) and check for seasoning.

Add as much egg as you need to bind the mixture. It should hold together but not be stodgy.

Pour the mix onto a large piece of alfoil lined with baking paper. Shape into a rough log, roll up and twist the ends to seal.

Bake at 180 degrees C for approx 45 minutes.

Dinners

Despite the lack of posts over the past week or so I have actually been cooking. And I've managed to make some pretty tasty dinners despite the recent development of light headedness practically every evening. Blah.

So in no particular order (and without recipes because to be honest I just made this stuff up) ...

Chicken Caesar Salad with giant homemade croutons, bacon and lots of crispy cos lettuce

Quick ham and asparagus macaroni cheese

Herb and mustard marinated pork steaks with herbed couscous and greek yoghurt

Chargrilled greek style chicken with rice and coleslaw

Quick vegetable fried rice with bbq pork belly

Yummy!

TWD: Pumpkin Muffins & an Announcement!

You may have noticed posting has become a little scarce of late. This has been partly the result of blog fatigue but mostly because there has been something much bigger and much more exciting happening ... i'm pregnant! N and I are thrilled to be able to announce that come April we will be parents.

I've been very lucky not to have had any morning sickness but my tastes have definitely changed and I haven't been cooking much lately, at least nothing blogworthy anyway. I'm planning on remedying that starting this week.

I had to sit out last week's TWD. Apologies to Gretchen of Canela & Comino, the biscotti looked great but I just didn't have the time or energy. I did however, get to this week's recipe for Pumpkin Muffins chosen by Kelly of Sounding My Barbaric Gulp.

Whenever I hear pumpkin in a recipe it sounds very American (with the exception of our very Australian pumpkin scones of course!). You can't buy canned pumpkin in Australia so I steamed and mashed my own.

I decided to follow the recipe exactly as I am one of the seemingly rare TWDers who actually like raisins! They came together easily but I generally prefer the melt and mix type muffins where you simply add the liquid to the dry ingredients. Creaming butter and sugar is what you do for cupcakes in my opinion.

The taste test ...
I really enjoyed these though I have to say they smelt divine while baking but weren't as fragrant in the mouth. Next time I would increase the spices considerably. I ate mine warm out of the oven with butter and marmalade and it was the perfect morning tea. Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding the rest of the batch got left out on the bench overnight and weren't edible the next day. Boo. N hates pumpkin so it was doubly disappointing because he was actually going to try these! Oh well. I'm sure there will be a next time.

Next week we have the scrumptious sounding Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Birthday cake instead of cookies!

It was my birthday on Saturday and I turned the big 3-0. Being somewhat contrary I am actually excited about entering my 30s and can't wait to see what they bring! I also share my birthday with my husband which makes it a pretty special day :-)

As a result of overindulging all weekend though I decided to sit out TWD this time around. There's only so much sugar, butter and chocolate a girl can take. First there were the mountains of profiteroles with leftover chocolate pastry cream and sauce. Then for our birthday we made the mother of all cakes ... Dorie's Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday Cake!

I know it's a bit sad making your own birthday cake but this was totally worth it and was surprisingly little effort for a big result. I'm also pretty fussy and would never want a mass produced, artificially flavoured cake, particularly for such a special occasion.

This cake was so impressive but a lot bigger than I expected. I couldn't actually get the lid on the cake container so it ended up in the fridge naked (so to speak).

The cake was rich, chocolatey and almost fudgy while still being perfectly cooked and somehow light at the same time. I love yoghurt in cakes and the buttermilk gives the same effect. The chocolate malt buttercream came together easily and was absolutely divine. I could eat it with a spoon! And did in fact as we had a bit left over. We topped it with a swirl of malteasers which was the perfect accompaniment.

I am leaving for a week in Sydney on Sunday but am looking forward to making next week's recipe, Chocolate Whopper Malted Drops, ahead of time and eating them on the plane!

Beginnings

This is my first post and I'm not quite sure how to begin. Basically this blog will be a place for me to record my recipes and my thoughts, both mundane and momentous, in what is already a pretty significant year (more on that later). So without any fanfare, welcome to food.baby!

As today is Bastille Day, here is my take on Palmiers which are flaky and delicious French pastries.

Palmiers

2 sheets ready made Puff Pastry (I may progess to homemade at some point but not today!)
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 ts cinnamon

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl then sprinkle a quarter of the mixture on a chopping board or bench roughly in the shape of the puff pastry. Place 1 sheet of the pastry on top and press to make the sugar mixture stick. Sprinkle another quarter of the sugar mix on top and coat thoroughly.

Now to shape them. Starting with the left hand side, gently roll up the pastry into a log but only as far as the middle. Then roll the right hand side in towards the middle. Using a sharp knife cut the log into 12 even pieces. Turn each individual piece on its side (cut side facing up) and flatten slightly. Repeat with the other sheet of pastry.

Arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 deg C for 15 minutes, turning each one half way through.

Golden puff pastry with caramelised sugar and cinnamon ... what could be better!