Weight Loss and (too much?) Activity

So, posts have been a little thin on the ground, but then again so have I…

My diagnosis with Coeliac Disease around three years ago seemed to be the answer to my constant battle with maintaining a healthy weight. And for a while this was so, but 11 months after having my second baby, the weight is dropping off again, so my attentions have had to turn to calorie counting and extra protein, rather than the allotment and getting the seeds in in time!

I have an extremely healthy diet, and I have never had a really sweet tooth nor been a fan of convienience foods so I have always eaten quite alot to keep my calories up throughout the day, but right now I don’t think that that alone is enough so I have had to redouble the efforts to gain weight.

Now, this will sound terribly girly of me, but this summer I have two weddings to attend, and I would like to look ‘good’ not  ’skinny’ so let battle commence!

So while I’m busy eating myself into a stupor, rest assured that the allotment is now being set with beetroot and parsnips, the lettuces, calabrese, sweetcorn and peas are all growing good in the greenhouse and the other seeds are swelling nicely waiting to spring into germination.

A Mum friend actually suggested that I should do less (growing, digging etc) and then I could ‘focus’on my weight issues, she didn’t seem to acknowledge that if I didn’t ‘focus’on the growing then there wouldn’t be anything for me to eat! Nevermind, I’m sure someone will realise one day that we grow the food because we need to, not just because we feel like it and it’s a bit quaint!

Gluten Free Mince Pies

In an attempt to keep the Tallest on the go today in the hopes of a relatively trouble free bedtime (it worked!). I decided to revisit my mince pie recipe as the pastry in such small quantities just hasn’t been surviving in the oven. Since my diagnosis with Coeliac my pastry making has been the one area where I have struggled the most to make a passable end product, but today SUCCESS!

Et Viola!

To make 12 Mince Pies

8oz / 200g Gluten Free Plain Flour (I used Juvela Fibre Mix)

2oz / 50g Lard

2oz / 50g Butter or Margerine

Medium Egg

2tbsp Caster Sugar

Water (approx 3-4tbsp)

Jar Mincemeat

• In a mixing bowl, cut fats into small pieces and rub the Flour and Sugar into it using fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Gently stir in a beaten medium egg, and begin to bring the mixture together.
• You may need to add some water to clean bowl of  the dough, when the bowl is clean move the dough onto a suitable surface for kneading.
• The dough will still be quite crumbly and you need to knead for 2 minutes at least, so that the dough starts to smooth and become shiny.
• You do not have to prove gluten free dough but it will be easier to work if you place it in the fridge for around 20 minutes.
• Roll out, taking care to turn the pastry but not to turn it over (it will end in tears!) cut bases and place into prepared tins.
• Fill bases with mincemeat and place a dough star on top.
• Brush a little mix onto the stars to help prevent burning.

If you do not have bun tins, you can use a normal baking tray, line it with parchment, and cut rounds with a cookie cutter, place a blob of mincemeat into the middle and then cut a larger round and place it over the top, ‘gluing’ it with a little milk. You will have ‘upside -down’ mince pies, but they will still taste just as nice.

Quick and Simple Gluten Free Fruit Cake

Apologies for not having been around for the last few days, but I have been going through the controlled crying with the Smallest and it has taken up my time in the evenings when I would generally post…anyway, having decided that nobody in the family actually wants to eat a traditional iced Christmas Cake, I will instead make a normal fruit cake which I will just dust with icing and put appropriate decorations on. I made one this week to get the proportions right and here is the recipe.

You will need:

185g / 6oz Demerara Sugar

440g / 14oz Mixed Vine Fruit and Peel

300ml / 1/2 pt Water

90g / 3oz Glace Cherries

125g / 40z Butter

Pinch Salt

1 Beaten Egg

315g / 10oz Gluten Free Self Raising Flour

(Flaked Almonds and Glace Cherries to decorate the top if you wish)

• Preheat oven to 180*c GM4. This is for an 8″ cake Tin lined with parchement paper.
• Put in a saucepan the Water, Sugar, Fruit and Peel, cherries, butter and salt, bring this to the boil gently and then simmer for 20 minutes.
• Allow the mixture to cool.
• Add the beaten Egg to the mixture, then sift in the flour and mix thouroughly.
• Put the mixture into the prepared tin and make a small dent in the top of the mixture to aid a flat risen cake instead of a dome for easy decoration.
• Arrange the decorative fruit and nuts on top if you are having them.
• Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours or until golden brown. If the top is cooking to quickly put some parchment paper on top

This Fruit Cake really lends itself to gluten free baking, as there is not too much emphasis on the flour to rise, more for it to expand and fill the gaps between the fruit, this moist cake keeps well and could be made a few days before Christmas.

It is particulary enjoyable with a generous slice of hard mature cheese (my personal favourite!)

Enjoy!

Baking Day

Oh its good to be germ free again at last – I’ve had a hacking cough ever since, but managed to hold my breath long enough to do a bit of baking this week. Tallest lent me hand, as we needed to keep her entertained enough not to fall asleep after her first session back at nusery after two weeks away thanks to the nastiness!

The buns especially never last long – we made them into butterfly buns after this picture was taken. and that was their fate sealed it took all of 3 days for them to go!

Oh incidentally everything that you see here is Gluten Free, although the rest of the family don’t have Coeliac I am the one who bakes – and I’m not baking goodies that I can’t sample myself – perhaps a little selfish but there you go!

Basic Biscuits

These are some biscuits that we made in preparation for halloween callers;

You need:

100gms (4oz) Butter

100gms (4ozs) Sugar

200gms (8oz) Gluten Free Plain Flour

1tsp Vanilla Essence

1 Medium Egg

• Line baking trays with parchment paper
• Cream together the butter and sugar, and add the vanilla essence
• Beat in the egg and the flour bringing it together to form a smooth dough
• Knead lightly, and continue adding flour, as the gluten free mix is thristy, and needs to be smooth not sticky
• Roll out to about 3-4mm (1/4inch) thick and cut out your shapes.
• Place on baking tray, and bake in oven at 180* GM4 for around 15-20 minutes
• Keep an eye on them as there is a thin line between golden and burnt!
• Leave them to cool for a moment as the bottoms will still be stuck to the paper, and then lift when they have cooled a little

These are just the plain version, but you can add ginger, lemon, chocolate, whatever you like really just as long as you keep the dough smooth.

A nice addition to these as a real treat is to melt some chocolate and dip the fronts into it, this makes some really edible gluten free versions of a chocolate digestive.

Waste Free Week Begins

Today is the first day of Waste Free Week, I’m hoping to post things that we have done differently to usual, and make comments about whether or not I feel that the changes I make will be permanent or lasting, and whether they make a significant difference to our waste reduction.

I have already decided that one thing stands against me – my Coeliac Disease – as my special foods are invariably always packaged too much, I understand that alot of gluten free foods are more fragile than their gluten containing alternatives – but some things verge on the point of the ridiculous. Like biscuits that have a box, a sleeve and a tray. So I’m trying to make sure that the foods I get on perscription and buy are as good on the packaging front as they could be.

Watch this Space

Gluten Free Sausages

Not having any of my own livestock, I have to get my meat from other sources. Namely my village butcher who makes me up my gluten free bangers. I buy them in lots of 5lb, to make it worth his while doing them.

They are the most economical way of doing it. I don’t have to give my business to the nearest large supermarket – its impossible to find Gluten Free alternatives in our village shops!

He freezes them, and divides them into pairs (as I am the only one with Ceoliac in my house) and this means I can use only what I need when I need them.

This was just an opportunity to say, you can get your Gluten Free alternatives from other sources, and this way it is local meat, locally produced sausages, supporting local business, and free from any unneccessary rubbish. A bonus on all accounts. My 5lb of bangers just cost me a touch over £17, but when you divide the number by the amount of meals that it provides me with it makes good economic sense.

Coq Au Vin

This is just my Gluten Free variation on this classic dish.
Ingredients:

1 Chicken – divided into quarters or smaller

Chickens neck, heart and liver – if you have them

50g Butter

2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

4 Slices Bacon – chopped

2 Small Onion – peeled and chopped

50g Gluten Free plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper

500ml Red Wine

500ml Water or Stock

Bay, Parsley and Thyme

4 Garlic Clove – bruised, leave skins on

1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes

Salt and Pepper

• Melt Butter and Oil in heavy frying pan

• Fry Bacon umtil lightly browned, take out and put into flame proof casserole

• Fry Onions in same pan and add to casserole

• Dust the chicken pieces all over with the seasoned flour and brown in the pan, place these in the casserole

• Pour any juices remaining into the casserole as well

• Return pan to heat, pour in Wine and bring to the boil, scraping the bottom of the pan, pour this over the chicken

• Repeat with Stock or Water

• Add Herbs, Tinned Tomatoes and Garlic

• Cover and either gently simmer on hob, or place in a low oven (120c / GM1/2) until the meat is completely tender this could be for as long as 2 – 21/2 hours

• Take out Chicken pieces and boil cooking liquid until reduced to half the original volume, return chicken pieces and bring back to a gentle simmer ready to serve

Enjoy – hopefully more than DH did! We had ours with mash potatoes, but it up to you what you want to accompany it with.

A very versatile biscuit

This is one of a few posts that I had planned to enter before the Christmas holidays, but due to the vomitting virus – it just didn’t happen.

These are a gluten free version of Stonehead’s Buterscotch Biscuits

12oz Plain gluten free flour
2tsp gluten free baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4oz unsalted butter
8oz brown sugar
1 egg whisked
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180`c

Line two or three baking trays with parchment paper ( we only had two trays so had to do it in batches)

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl

Put butter, sugar and vanilla in a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted, stir frequently to avoid burning.

Remove pan from the heat and plunge into cold water to cool the mixture, when cooled whisk in the egg

Make a well in the dry mixture and pour the liquid into the centre

Work into a dough and knead until thouroghly mixed, this part if making gluten free version will need some added flour as the mixture will continue to get sticky as you knead it, but you must keep going until the dough has a sheen to it and it will be possible to roll out without it glueing itself onto the rolling pin!

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Roll out the dough (if you have added enough extra flour at the knead stage above, you shouldn’t need to use clingfilm of parchment to roll out between, as is common with some gluten free pastries) Then cut biscuits using a cutter, or suitable seasonal shapes (we did trees and stars for the Christmas Hols)

Place biscuits on the trays allowing room for them to spread during baking

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown – be aware that these biscuits are prone to burning right near the end so keep a watchful eye on them!

Enjoy, and lastly thank Stonehead for a very tasty biscuit the gluten free version has been gobbled up in this household without a battering of an eyelid so thats grand!