20
May

Gluten in Beer

Went for a walk late yesterday to check if a local restaurant would be open for dinner, didn’t realise the walk was longer than anticipated, sun was going down and the evening chill starting to set in,  but the view when crossing the Prosser River was just breathtaking.    Yes they would be open and the other yes was that there was plenty on their menu that we could choose from.  Had a fabulous meal with husband and youngest son, just hope that the restaurant survives the winter in our quiet country seaside town.

A frequently asked question by most men when discussing gluten is - can I still drink beer??   :(    My answer has always been no as there would be gluten from barley in beer.  On talking about it to my husband this morning we were wondering if maybe it would be ok.  Knowing that our oldest son drinks beer sometimes, but is otherwise gluten free, what are his reactions to beer when he has it.  So I just rang him (woke him from Sunday snooze) and he said that after enjoying a night of beer drinking, the following day if out and about he is frantically looking for the loo.  So my answer re: can I still drink beer??  sorry guys its still a big NO……..

There is gluten free beers available, which I did purchase a couple of cartons online many years ago from “O’Briens” which hung around for ages,  our youngest daughter cleaned them up eventually.  The only reason that they hung around was that my husband now very aware of his weight (and the simple fact that the beer belly had gone) didn’t want to consume it because of the extra carbohydrates, there was nothing wrong with the product itself, very palatable.

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23
April

Gluten Free Recipes

Had an old school friend recently ask me “Remember that Cheese Cake your mother used to make, have you still got the recipe?” and yes I sure have!  I wrote out my mothers cheese cake recipe when we got married in 1975 and as you can see it has been much loved.  I purchase gluten free biscuits to crumb in place of the glutenous ones, I have made the recipe with chocolate or plain biscuits.

As I explain to many people you do not need to go out and purchase gluten free cook books, you can adapt the many recipes that you have grown up with and love.  Unfortunately I can’t eat the cheese cake as I am intolerant to dairy, but it is certainly a winner with my husband, family and friends.

Once you have your basic gluten free pantry needs you can adapt most recipes that you love to suit.

 

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17
April

Maria Island bike riding

For a few years we have been thinking how great if we took our bikes over to Maria Island and went for a ride.  Well last Saturday on a gloriously sunny day we put our bikes and kayaks on our boat and headed off for Encampment Cove on Maria Island for the start of our small adventure.

Had a fish on the way and caught a dozen and a half flathead.  Dinner for Sunday night I made Thai fish cakes -

450g skinned firm white fish fillets (roughly chop into chunks then process in food processor for 20 seconds until smooth)

45g rice flour

1tblspn fish sauce

1 egg lightly beaten

3 tblspn coriander leaves chopped

1 tblspn red curry paste

1-2 teaspoons chopped red chillies or 1 teaspoon of Sambal OeLek

100g green beans thinly sliced

2 spring onions finely chopped

Mix ingredients together. Form 2 tblspn mixture into patties and shallow or deep fry in oil.  Drain on paper towel and serve with Vietnamese dipping sauce or sauce of your choice.

Any leftover patties are great cold for lunches/snacks.

From Encampment Cove we decided to ride to the left, first experience was stones on the track like cobblestones, it got marginally better and we went quite a distance to the convict ruins of the womens prison.  Looking down on it and deciding not to actually ride down I took the picture above of my husband with the background of Marion Bay and Hellfire Bluff.

A comment that my husband made was “We wouldn’t have been able to do this 10 years ago”.  Wow! he was so right, because it would have been prior to us going gluten free and we were just so unhealthy.

We rode back to Encampment Cove and then rode in the other direction, the track was much better and much easier riding.  We ended up at French’s farm, which is now a camp site.  We have plans next time to go a lot further and will bring a packed lunch and ride for a full day.  It certainly wetted our appetite to discover so much more about an island that we usually only fish around and don’t investigate much more than the beaches.

 

 

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9
April

Spinach Soup

Mentioned to my husband that I was going to make some Spinach Soup, his nexts words were “you can leave home now!!”  I have been growing spinach for some time just near the steps to our deck at the front of our house, together with a few flowers, lettuce leaves and spring bulbs.  It is usually given away as we have not been great consumers of it, apart from baby spinach in salad mixes.

I went ahead anyway and made some soup (with the risk of having to leave home looming over me) -

I fried together 3 rashes of bacon and 1 large diced onion then added approximately 2 litres of chicken stock (gluten free) and 4 diced medium potatoes, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and cracked pepper.  Once potato was soft I added about 10 diced leaves of spinach and cooked for a further few minutes.

Well my husband was surprised how nice it was and actually asked for 2nds.   I think I will make my little plot of spinach a little bigger as this will be a great easy soup for the coming winter.

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2
April

Gluten free dips

Not only can you make your own gluten free dips, but to buy them now is just so easy.  Many  advertise on their labels as being gluten free and the ones that don’t it is very easy to read their ingredients as allergins are highlighted.

For value I find it is much better to make my own.  One of our favourites at the moment is avocado dip.  In my food processor I  wizz together 3 avocados, 2 garlic cloves, juice of 1 lemon, 1 dessert spoon of sambal oeleck (fresh chilli can be used instead if available) salt and pepper to taste, served with our favourite gluten free crackers and veggie sticks.

Dinner tonight for me was just avocado dip and carrot sticks.  For my husband he had avocado dip and crackers, pumpkin soup (recipe in my book) and a banana split.  Am wondering how he will survive on a vegetarian meal as we usually eat quite high protein!!

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27
March

Psyllium Husk

Psyllium husk has often been called “Nature’s broomstick” as it cleans/sweeps out your gut.  It is gluten free and when mixed with water in a glass will go to a gel type consistancy.  We find this is a gentle soluble fibre to keep the body functioning.  I really miss it if I haven’t had it of an evening.

It is also claimed that it will help reduce cholesterol and slows the rate of carbohydrate absorption.  Had a friend who was looking at a diet product that was quite expensive,  on looking at the ingredients the main one was psyllium!!!  it will give you a feeling of fullness.

Psyllium husk can also be added to smoothies and sprinkled on cereals.  We have about 1 tablespoon per day mixed in a glass of water, it is quite flavourless.

Once speaking to a pharmacist and mentioning that we ate gluten free (it can be in some medications) he made the comment that it would be highly unlikely that we would ever get bowel cancer, maybe now with the psyllium husk it is like a bit of insurance.

Psyllium husk can be purchased in the health section of supermarkets, health food stores or online.

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12
March

Digestive Problems

All the problems in the above advertisement we cured for ourselves with a gluten free diet (and more)!!!  I would suggest to anyone if they have any of the above to just try a strict gluten free diet for a few days and see if their symptoms amazingly disappear!

If your not putting in the right fuel, you don’t get the right performance.

Unfortunately there is not any emphasis on a gluten free diet unless you are a celiac.  We just feel so lucky to have worked out for ourselves that all our minor/major problems stemmed from gluten.

“Treat the source not the symptom”

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10
March

Readers Digest

I have been a subscriber to Reader’s Digest for many years, over this time there has been numerous articles on gluten, gluten intolerance and celiac disease.  I am puzzled to know why it is called a disease when all it is, is an intolerance to a protein in a food group??

In the May 2010 edition “2010 Medical Breakthroughs” Professor Jennie Brand-Miller (Dr Brand-Miller revolutionised our understanding of carbohydrates and food with her work on the glycemic index) was asked “The most exciting medical breakthrough of the past 12-18 months?” – The discovery that “irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)” can be traced to gluten intolerance in people who don’t have celiac disease.

We have been eating gluten free now for 10 years, my husband had IBS and a gluten free diet was the answer.  If it had been left to the doctors he would still have problems, just so lucky we realised that a gluten free diet was our answer.  An article in our local newspaper “The Mercury” 18/6/07 “Bowel disease bill in the billions” – Inflammatory bowel disease costs Australia $2.7 billion a year, as Access Economics study shows.  The conditions affect about 61,000 Australians, who typically suffer stomach pain, fever, fatigue and other complications requiring drug treatment and care.  I wonder how many of these folk have been offered the alternative of a gluten free diet? Saving the odd billion or two would be handy for the country!!

Now in the March 2012 edition there is an article “Is gluten your enemy?”  the article goes through the many symptoms, also the foods that gluten is in.  They make mention that in the latest research that they will be developing a vaccine so that “patients” will be able to ingest gluten safely.  Would you bother? For some reason so many people think that to follow a gluten free diet is too hard.  We have found it quite easy, there is always an option, plus the best outcome was improved health.

Unfortunately they (medics) are not finding the problems with gluten in so many people including the obese as gluten intolerance/celiac has mainly been associated with thin/undernourished people.  It was certainly the key to all of our problems, including obesity.

In the above published articles that I have referred to, not once was it mentioned that gluten is an “insoluble” protein.  Remember when we were kids we used to make glue out of flour and water?  It is for this reason (insoluble) that it wreaks havoc in our bodies.

“Wheat impairs the absorption of other nutrients”

 

 

 

 

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3
March

Wedding Cake

Have just had a huge couple of busy weeks for our youngest daughters wedding.  150 guests and to top it off one of the hottest February days ever, topping out at 40C.  But certainly a most memorable day and life is now returning back to normal.

After informing the caterers that there were quite a few people that were gluten intolerant, they made all the food gluten free.  It was so easy for them to do this just by purchasing gluten free flour and bread crumbs.

My sister made the top layer of the wedding cake, a traditional fruit cake which was not gluten free.  Our eldest daughter and myself made the other two layers, the middle one being orange almond cake (gluten and dairy free) and the bottom layer being chocolate mud (gluten free). Both the recipes for these I found on the web…..what would you do without it.  For the chocolate mud cake there was even quantities for different sized tins!

 

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22
February

Mal de mer

 

Unfortunately I get a little seasick when we go out in our boat.  The first sign of it is that I start yawning, second sign is nausea.  It usually only happens when we are fishing in the swell, certainly knocks the system around.  Often a few sips of a fizzy drink will help it a little.  Every time I go out I think maybe I’ll be okay today!

Another great feed of flathead.  Combine curry powder with gluten free flour in a plastic bag, dry fillets of fish on paper towel and checked that all bones had been removed, then put fish fillets into the bag with the flour mixture and shake.

Next with a little oil, cook on the bbq hotplate.  Just great served with sweet chilli sauce and a little kewpie mayo.

My husband and two of our children and a couple of their mates went out fishing, I was quite happy this time to stay at home, weather wasn’t that great, I would normally offer to help clean the catch but didn’t fancy standing on the end of the jetty in the rain.  They caught a lovely lot of fish, enough for several meals.

 

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