Chocolate Pick Me Up

Had my first chocolate yesterday for a while, not really by choice, but necessity... the kids kindly brought home something from kinder which meant we needed to 'treat' the whole family...

You can pick up some great things at kinder other than just your kids, like colourful artwork (lots of), funny anecdotes of their conversations which brighten your day, new friendships & even gossip.  But your kids pick up far more... knowledge, independence, bad behaviours, swear words, appauling table manners & dislikes to food they've never even tried because little johnny doesn't like it, but even better than those - gastroenteritis, headlice & now pinworms. Oh what a fun year its been!  So yes our 'reward' for making it this far were worming tablets - which come in the form of chocolate squares... Now if I wasn't already adverse enough to chocolate due to its fructose content the reminder of this now helps me more!!

Also yesterday Dextrose sold out in my local Big W, so when the helpful assistant asked if I wanted it because of the sugar-free books, I said hell yeah!  She then got a 10min reasoning to why they are so good, my successful weight-loss & improved health due to them.

It seems changes are afoot, people are showing this feet first with their shopping habits.  Not only has dextrose been running out of the door, but the sugar-free books are among the bestsellers & I was unable to renew Toxic Oil at the library as there's a queue for it... & I had been the first to order it in.  I'm now hooked on it anyway so I've bought my own copy, along with the new Sweet Poison Quit Plan Cookbook.  So much for saving my money until I get back from holiday... ahh well at least I can just tell more people the otherside of the world about all of them now & test out some recipes before I go to bake there too. 

Given the taste for chocolate, I fancied baking something chocolatey today (with cocoa), but with limited dextrose left I chose a recipe that used very little & halved it to make a small batch of Choc-Nana Muffins from Hungry Tums recipe book.  The kids were in heaven as I rarely make icing, but these cute mini muffins deserved the added extra.  The recipe was quick & easy, even making the icing sugar (dextrose).  As I was using mini cases I also reduced the cooking time (a lesson learned from previous downsizing of recipes!)

My Kinda Knowledge

My reading up on sugar, namely from Sweet Poison, enabled me to know the answer to a trivia question last night at the pub!  "What gland produces insulin?" - the Pancreas was my answer, my team mates however disagreed so I was overruled 2:1 & I was damn right. Thankfully they didn't have views on the Queens of the Stone Age, as that was my other correct contribution to the evening.  Next time I shall have to be more persuasive about my knowledge on bodily functions...

I do feel I've been doing a lot of reading lately & quite overwhelmed by the newfound knowledge, Toxic Oil in particular.  I do, however, remember feeling this way a year ago when I read Sweet Poison, but now most of that comes as second nature.

As ever a little knowledge raises more questions & a thirst for answers.  So I'm keen to find more sources & explanations:  mostly about sugar, more about oil, what they do to us & definitely more about homemade GF bread.  Good books, good blogs, good recipes & good breadmaker reviews!  Suggestions welcome.

Just be mindful my reading platter is pretty full already with Toxic Oil, Fat Chance, Fed Up plus The Failsafe Cookbook... & for desert Keith Richards biography!

And as I type, I'm proving out some of that newly read material, there's a trial dinner experiment going on the oven right now... cooking chips with Supafry, yes animal fat... I have never done this in my life!  I'm sure its what I grew up on, before vegetable oil became the norm, but have never used it myself.  Sure I've eaten both lard & dripping at my Nans house way back, but this is a whole new adventure.  Although I've been partial to buying oven chips from the freezer section & just whacking them in the oven at times, mostly the last few years I like to make wedges or chip shapes cut myself & have just used olive oil, occasionally seasoned with herbs & salt.  So to go the whole hog of a deep fat fryer, the smell & danger that brings to my house is off limits right now.  My normal method is to pre-nuke spuds anyway once chipped before sticking in oven, so this is what I'm trying hoping that will soften them enough to soak up the fat & give the desired flavour.  I'll venture into limiting microwave use another time... too many new things on the go right now, its hard to quit every convenience factor of the 21st century.

The Verdict:  Exterior crunch & interior softness perfect, taste...ok, but for the grown-ups in the house a little greasy.  I think akin to adjusting back to full-fat milk at first.  Maybe I just used too much fat or perhaps I could combine with olive oil to be nearer the taste we are used to.  They certainly crisped up better than with straight olive oil.  The kids took to them fine. Chips are just chips to the non-decerning palette!  The roasting pan was easy to clean & the oven didn't smoke as I feared it might, so all-in-all a successful attempt.

The Process:  Peel & slice spuds.  Rinse & microwave for 8mins.  Add 5mm slither of Supafry to roasting pan, heat in oven.  Drain spuds & add to roasting pan, turn to coat in oil.  Cook for approx 30mins at 200C or until golden (turning halfway).

Chop Pot Choc Top Treat

Nearing the end of a week where I'm flying solo, more treats were in order.  I was also in a very efficiency minded mode today trying to pack as much in as could like dog walking, food shopping, multi cooking, kid napping & house cleaning, not to mention a playdate with a top treat.

Todays experiments were the No-Knead Bread, from Toxic Oil & modified Chocolate Brownie, from Sweet Poison Quit Plan.

The latter I've tried numerous times, both in a tin & individual muffin cases.  It has to be my favourite recipe from the book, not only because its so yummy & satisfies the chocolate fix, but because its so quick (about 20min all up!).  There have been some flops along the way, but I think I've nutted out the process & today felt game enough to add some Macadamias.  I substitute with gluten-free flour, & now add the magic xanthum gum for that bit of extra of "normalcy".  If you melt the butter first its easier to mix with just a hand blender & save getting out a food processor, thus avoiding all the extra clean up - especially as my hand blender attachments all fit nicely in the dishwasher.  Its quite a stiff mix, so liquifying the butter puts less stress on the blender (mine tends to stop if it works too hard).  I now reduce the amount of cocoa to about 1/3 cup as found it too intense for my adapted palette.

The engineer in me is always trying to tweak & streamline the process - not just from a taste perspective, as I'm no chef, but more from a ease of making or remembering point of view.  So reducing equipment & simplifying measurements was the name of the game today.  My blender has the "chopping pots" for want of a better description, in 2 sizes, I used the larger one & a glass pyrex jug.  I melted the butter in the jug, poured into the "chop pot" & added the dextrose, mixed, added eggs, mixed, added flour, xanthum gum, cocoa, mixed, added whole macadamias & mixed just a very wee bit more.  "Spoonulaed" into buttered tin, baked for 12mins (then another 5 as still really gooey).  Job done.  Had I used the silicon case I could have gotten away with the suggested 12mins (muffins take no more than 10).  During the cooking time, I quickly washed up the chopping pot, blade, cup, spatula & jug I'd used.  Thinking about that now I could have meted the butter in the cup, which just necessitates a quick clean & dry before using it to measure the dry ingredients, but maybe 1 cup is also the same amount of melted butter required - will check next time!  See, ever the engineer looking for process improvements.

The equipment

The cooking

The result

The pleasure

The No-Knead Bread is still in progress as its now set aside for 12 hours.  I'll cook that in the morning & report back later.  I have high hopes as I also slow cooked a lamb casserole which I plan to have again tomorrow, but with the bread.

Pesto Prompt

Perusing the facebook posts I see I've omitted to follow-up with my homemade Pesto outcome.  My memory really is shocking at the moment!  Today I left the house in my usual mad dash, trying to wrangle a toddler or two, to make an appointment.  After said appointment, I nipped to the bank, or shop as I told my daughter to get money, as it was a hole in their wall, she interpreted that as we'd been to buy money... anyway I digress.... so I thought I have time to pop back home & walk with the dog to kinder instead of driving there & waiting in the car.  I opened the door to the smell of rather yummy, but very strong scent of Bolognese cooking on the hob.  Yes it was still sat there simmering away, reducing as I would like but had not intended at that time when not present.  Ooops!!  So had I not given pooch a thought & driven straight to kinder instead the whole house would have probably been reduced to ashes.  My memory, you'll please have to excuse, is not what it was.  Distraction has become my middle name.

So to the Basil Pesto - I followed the recipe straight from Toxic Oil.  For convenience I used pre-grated parmesan.  The recipe produced just the right amount to fit in an empty Sacla jar.  It tasted more garlicky than the shop bought one & not as oily.  It was so quick to make, much quicker than checking ingredients list whilst shopping.  The kids loved helping, but didn't even question the switch when it was served up on their pasta the next day.  The other half however said it was nicer & had great texture, I have to agree. Yummy!

Each time I've used some I just add a little more Olive Oil to cover the top.  I'm hoping it will last a week sealed in the jar if kept refrigerated.  That's about the norm for us to get through that amount.  David says it freezes well, so I will make a bigger batch next time & do that.

Affiliation Awareness

I’m so happy that I’ve quit sugar & proud of myself in being able to do so.  Part of the support in doing so comes in the knowledge sharing for me & I hope that being able to impart that helps others discover better inner health. 

The blogging process helps me share my journey & experiences, I hope you find it interesting & even fun sometimes.  I write as I feel & speak openly, for that I could apologise, but I mean no offence, so please don’t take any.

I Blog, I Facebook, I Pinterest, I Make – as part of that I like to share things I Love.  As a result I have chosen to join affiliate programs for Sarah Wilson & Book Depository to share my interest in quitting sugar & other books I enjoy.  If you are hungry for more too & support me in my adventures, then please consider clicking on hyper links & images that I share to them.  For those two sources I receive commission on sales made, not very much but it all goes into the piggy bank towards more FF GF recipe trials & experimental handicrafts for my Made ‘Em hobby shop.  Other links within my pages are simply just things I’ve discovered, like, wish to share & for which I get no commission.

Sarah Wilson quit sugar & also happens to be gluten-free so I love her recipes & follow her blog avidly.

Book Depository is a great source for all books.  They are based in UK, provide good value for money & offer free worldwide delivery.   

August 2014 update:

As part of my discovery journey into food & health we have moved away from many processed foods & to make like simpler bought a Thermomix.  I totally am in love with this clever piece of technology, from my engineering head perspective, as well as my heart & love for good food.  I'd hankered after one for a while, but once I realised the savings I would make, in monetary terms due to its milling capabilities of ingredients like rice & buckwheat to flour, & also time due to its speed & multi-functioning ability.  I knew once I had it that I would enthuse about it so the natural step was to become an independent consultant, which would also give me that chance to meet with other people interested in real food, thus create an income & business interest to get my teeth into that I am passionate about.