sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 11:43 am
Adapted from this recipe (which is perfectly nice but not my thing) That page has some other great advice for making bread maker bread without soy and dairy.

Put into breadmaker:

1 1/4 cup warm water or milk
1 tablespoon oil
1.5 tablespoons treacle
1 egg
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
150g rye flour
450g bread flour
1 crushed Vitamin C tablet
2 teaspoons carraway seeds
2 teaspoons yeast

Cook using "whole wheat" setting. (This gives fluffy but overly big bread)

OR

Use "dough" setting on breadmaker.
Put into bread tin. Leave for an hour, covered, in a warm place.
Preheat oven to 220C then put in bread and turn down temperature, bake for 30 mins at 180C.

You can apparently buy unflavoured vitamin C, but as it happens we have a lot of half empty packets around the house and you really can't taste it.

And now I am done recipe wise :)
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 11:21 am
This came out so tasty I had beat [livejournal.com profile] distantcam off with a stick even though he can eat "real" icecream :)
Read more... )
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Monday, February 16th, 2009 10:39 am
Making icecream has left me with lots of leftover egg whites. Being gluten free for a bit has left me with lots of left over gluten free flours.

So today I thought "Stuff it, I'll just chuck some of them together" and made a bodgy version of these Hazelnut macaroons.

I had (very roughly measured): 180g hazelnut and almond meal (about a 2:1 ratio I'd say), 150g caster sugar, 3 semi frozen egg whites, about a tablespoon of sultanas.

And they're DELICIOUS. The mixture of nuts works really well.

Must. Not. Eat. All. The. Biscuits.
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Monday, January 12th, 2009 06:57 am
I've been asked to buy someone japanese incense for their birthday. Anyone know where I could find such stuff?

Also: thankyou all for your advice on icecream makers! We bought a Sunbeam Snowy ($50 from Retravision) and made some tasty, tasty banana ice cream.
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Friday, January 2nd, 2009 05:55 pm
I wasn't aiming for gluten free, but that's what I got EDIT: Kind of :) (apart from the pudding, which I bought. Insert your own pudding)
I made these recipes up off the top of my head based on other recipes I have seen/done, there's almost certainly better versions of both but I wanted to record this. Nb not vegan.
Potato salad )
custard )
I haven't made milk-free custard before, I was worried it wouldn't work so am very happy it did. I was looking up soy-and-dairy free icecream today, part of me is seriously considering an icecream maker.
sqbr: pretty purple pi (Default)
Saturday, December 20th, 2008 01:30 pm
Updated version

I thought about doing a poll (and may later) but people are so complicated decided it was easier just to ask. Partly out of curiousity, partly because having such extreme restrictions myself has made me want to be aware of other people's issues and cater to them where possible.

So: what can't you eat? I'm including moral choices and extreme taste preferences (ie you can't stand chili), but not anything where you'd rather not eat it but can put up with it if you have to, the operative word is can't.

So, mine:
I've gone back onto gluten (THANK GOD) but am otherwise being quite picky. So this is just where I'm at for now.

dairy eg milk, cheese, butter
coconut
soy protein or tofu, soy sauce and miso are ok
chili, paprika, red capsicum
alcohol
cocoa or cocoa butter, tea/coffee
artificial sweetners
too much acid (egfruits like plums and citrus, most fruit juices, salad dressing, preserved veggies and pickles, soft drink, vinegar)
spring onions/leek/watercress/chives
peppermint
too much fat (ie deepfried stuff)
mustard
kidney beans
raw apple/pear
most raw or undercooked vegetables except cucumber or lettuce
pine nuts
asparagus
xanthum gum or guar gum

Also some artificial chemicals disagree with me but apart from artificial sweetners I haven't been able to pin down which exactly, so I just avoid overly processed foods. Gluten free flour mixes are definitely all bad, I think it may be the xanthum gum.

The usual disclaimers apply.
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Monday, December 15th, 2008 07:32 pm
Cam bought some Chambord while we were away, and today I experimented with it in cooking. IT TASTES LIKE DELICIOUS LOLLIES

What it reminds me of most is redskins(*), obviously they also have a mix of rasberry and blackcurrent flavours.

I had a Chambord&Mozart dark chocolate liqueur(**) almond milk hot chocolate, which was OMG yum, and then red wine + Chambord spiced poached pears, which were also delicious (once I let them cool a little) and then I realised I was perhaps a little tipsy from sugar and inhaled alcohol (I boiled it all off since it upsets my tummy) and stopped. But..So Tasty. Mm.

(*)In retrospect, a very racist lolly
(**)Also tasty. And gluten, wheat, and dairy free!
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 06:26 pm
[livejournal.com profile] seaya suggested I try soft tortilla tacos, and I just made them and they were tasty. They were even bordering on authentic (for me) if you ignore the lack of chili and cheese :)

I found this site with lots of promising looking recipes but ended up making the traditional "mince +cumin" sort (plus green capsicum, coriander, onion, oregano, and cornflour) with lettuce, tomato, avacado, and left over Doritos mild salsa. (Which I really shouldn't eat since it sets off my reflux, but it was there) I've yet to try the "boil the ingredients without browning" cooking technique though, it goes too much against the grain.

The trick with soft corn tortillas I've found is to never eat them cold and fresh. Either eat them warmed up, or toasted/fried etc to crispiness.

Now I'm all inspired to try other foods from countries-in-the-americas-south-of-the-US, including making my own tortillas (they're expensive!). I think I need to track down some masa flour. A brief google implies it's not really available in australia :(
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 05:21 pm
Very approximately:
2 tablespoons white wine (I usually use red, but this worked really well)
2 large dashes soy sauce
several (much smaller) dashes of fish sauce
lots of salt & pepper
half a handful diced red onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
pinch of fresh parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Marinate for a day. Yum :)

The fish sauce+pepper is a gluten free substitute for Worcestershire sauce. Normally I'd also add some brown sugar (these ingredients being based off the ingredients on the back of the Worcestershire sauce bottle), I don't think I did this time but maybe I did.

I made two, and I'm a curious to know how the second will go sautéed with potato, spinach, and pasta sauce. My brain tells me it will be tasty, but we shall see once it's done cooking :)
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Monday, December 1st, 2008 08:13 pm
Almond roulade. I made this hazelnut roulade recipe using almond meal and Orgran chocolate mousse and it was tasty. I intend on making it with hazelnuts when my family comes over this weekend. This recipe uses the egg yolk too which could be interesting.

And again, that's a soy and dairy and egg free chocolate mousse mix from Orgran. It's basically cocoa, sugar, and vegetable gum and tasted kind of funny by itself, but made a nice cake filling. Obviously it's not vegan once you put it inside meringue but there's other options :) I could only find this is health food stores.

The soy&dairy free almond dark chocolate from the Woolworths health food section, it has a name like "Artisan". One of the nicer dark chocolates I've eaten.

Corn tortillas from Coles. They're small and dry and crack fairly easily so don't suit burritos, but make a nice toasted sandwich with chicken and avocado. Searching online they're often used in a kind of mexican lasagna which could be interesting. Would probably be much tastier with cheese :/

The gluten free muesli from "Food for health life foods", bought from coles. A bit over sweet, but nice mixed with more plain cereals like Amaranth, and unlike a lot of mueslis doesn't have coconut.

Also I just encountered the idea of tamales and am intrigued.
sqbr: me in a graduation outfit. Trust me, I'm a doctor (of maths) (doctor!)
Sunday, November 16th, 2008 10:55 am
Since I've been making all these changes to my diet etc, I thought I should record how I feel.

For reference, here is the baseline. Now I have good days and bad days, and psychology plays a lot into that (unfortunately, it's not so much that positive thinking makes me feel better so much that being motivated by something makes my body repress how crap I feel until it is done. I crashed a fair bit after Wastelands, for example) so it's hard to say for certain what long term effect this is having until it's ben a few weeks.

But so far, I actually feel pretty good. For me.
Read more... )
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Sunday, November 16th, 2008 10:03 am
I thought I'd record my hits and misses going gluten free, both for personal records and anyone else who might find it useful. All foods are gluten, soy, and dairy free. (Also coconut etc)
Read more... )
sqbr: pretty purple pi (default icon)
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 05:28 pm
So I FINALLY got to a recommended chronic fatigue specialising GP today. He started by asking what the "Dr" was for, and then when I said maths his whole face lit up and he started fanboying maths (apparently he seriously considered majoring) which was a nice start. He took my history and unlike all the vague handwaving I've gotten from other doctors was all "Ah, I know what's wrong with and how we can fix it" which was both encouraging and discouraging (I'm not sure anyone can be that sure with chronic fatigue)
Nooooo! Don't take away my cakes! )
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 07:08 pm
Over the holidays I decided to try out a bunch of foods, especially once the local asian supermarket/vegetable shop started stocking a bunch of interesting looking stuff I can actually eat.

Quinoa(pronounced keen-wah) from Kakulas brothers
This is a protein rich grain which is very popular amongst the vegetarians and the gluten intolerant on my flist. I first saw it for $8 a packet at the nedlands IGA which I decided was a bit much for a rice substitute, but then found it for $7.50 a kilo at Kakulas brothers in the city (which is still pretty pricy but at least I could buy a small amount)

Cooks and tastes like a cross between cous-cous and rice. Quite nice, works really well with a little stock added.

Buckwheat Pancakes From the nedlands IGA
Also gluten free. Ok, but in my opinion not as nice as these

Dutch Cocoa from Kakulas brothers
Mmm. Nice.

Taro (frozen) from local asian supermarket
Just cooked it up with some chicken, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and chicken stock. Quite tasty, a bit like a potato. After some googling I realised what it reminds me of is taro cake from yum cha.

Jackfruit (frozen) from local asian supermarket
I miss the stalls selling fresh tropical fruit that were everywhere in singapore and malaysia. Anyway, this stuff makes for a nice jackfruit milkshake (Cam loves these, and I am always sad that I can't have them since they're made with full fat milk)

Takoyaki (octopus balls) from local asian supermarket
Like little tasty balls of chico roll mixed with octopus! So tasty!

Plus of course hazelnut macaroons.

The asian supermarket also has a bunch of other interesting looking veggies: manioc, purple yam, and lotus root
Anyone who's familiar with them got any cooking suggestions?
I'm not going to make frozen imported fruits and vegetables a staple of my diet since it's both expensive and environmentally unfriendly, but it's nice to try them out.

Other things I haven't tried yet are the red bean and lotus paste seed buns, and some nice looking chocolate mantou (which I've never tried, but they look nice, and are dairy and cocoa butter free!) Plus a bunch of savoury yum-cha-esque dumplings etc, with the ingredients conveniently listed on the side so I can see which ones are safe. I pass this place every day on the way home from work! I'm dooomed!
sqbr: A cartoon cat saying Ham! (ham!)
Friday, July 25th, 2008 11:11 am
So I was planning on making these macarons but on rereading the recipe realised that it actually listed two types of sugar, which taken together were more than twice the amount of all the other ingredients put together. This was not the sort of biscuit I had in mind.

Some brief googling got me this recipe for hazelnut macaroons which pretty much reverses the sugar:hazelnut meal ratio, and OMG SO TASTY. Gluten free too, afaict! I didn't add the chocolate, btw, but I can see that being tasty.

I tried sandwiching two together with nutella and..yum. Mmm.

The plan was to bring them to Margaret's tomorrow, but uh..they may not survive :)

We got the hazelnut meal for free from some of Cam's friends who moved over east and were emptying their pantry, I have a nasty feeling that when I see how much it costs I shall not make these again :(
sqbr: pretty purple pi (Default)
Friday, June 25th, 2004 04:30 pm
(Originally from my blog)

Ingredients

One Egg
1/4 Cup Caster Sugar
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Essence (Or other sponge flavouring ie citrus rind)
2 Tbsp Self-raising flour

Method

Break egg into 2 cup capacity microwave proof cup. Beat with fork/hand-whisk etc, slowly add sugar, essence. Fold in flour. Microwave for around 1.5 minutes. Eat immediately.

Also nice if you add a bit of jam and use less sugar.

Adapted from an oven-bake 6 serve apple-sponge cake recipe from the back of the CSR caster sugar packet. I have been looking for a one-person lowish fat (ie not 25% butter!) microwave pudding for years! So now I share it with you :) The texture is a little wierd but it tastes ok.
Note that self-raising can very easily be made from plain flour and baking powder.