Fructose Friendly Party Food

I thought a follow up to my party rant was to post some useful types of party treats you could try to make more fructose friendly food to give guests, particularly mini(beast) guests.

These are some snaps of food from my kids last party which was bug themed:

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Snail Scrolls with Cheese & Marmite ;  *Spider Eggs (Olives)  ;  Cheese & Grape Butterflies

I know the grapes are probably high up there as fructose goes, but you could make more savoury with olives, or choose blueberries instead - even cheese balls crisps.

I also made ladybugs - some dextrose biscuits, which I topped green dextrose/coconut icing with 2 pieces of quartered strawberries as wings & a blueberry for head. These were devoured before I had chance to photograph. Another time I think I'd opt for a savoury version - crackers, cream cheese, cherry tomato, black olive & sprinkled chia seeds.

* Not my photo, but I did make some of these - just forgot to photograph!

Party On !!

Its been a long week & the next is looking even longer :( so I've baked a few treats for us to get me through it... I find the process therapeutic & when it involves the kids it can be fun too.  I like to see them enjoy the results & know its not doing them the harm that processed goods or those containing refined sugars can.

On days like those its good to see them accepting the sugar-free ways I've introduced to our home, however on days like today it becomes more apparent that kids just love treats & its down to me to be the moderator, they "like the old me" have no control over the sweet delights.

Today we had a toddler party to attend & fair play to my friend she eats very wholesome, from the land, far better than I so there were plenty of healthy options there, she'd catered for the gluten free & coeliacs .... but as ever a kids party is not a kids party without cake & sweets so where did my munchkins head first!! Jelly snakes, sweet arrow root biccies & choc topped caramel slice.  I guided them to make healthy choices - yummy homemade soup, corn chips, cheese, humous, olives, all of which they love (given no other options!) but not today with the lure of sugar in their sights.

I know! I try to think its only a day & parties are the exception I make, but this is the second party in a week, plus there was a kinder activity which, fair to say was just an excuse to eat more party food.

When it comes to "lolly-bags" which in my day were just called "party bags" I just can't see the need to put in more sugar to continue the party effects further.  For my own kids parties the most I've ever put in was one chocolate each, I scour dollar shops, Kmart & Coles for small booty & split-able multi-packs to make it appealing to them.  Usually balloons, pencils, notepads, curly straws, themed novelties & stickers.

Anyway ranting aside, I just hope the kids learn moderation & start making more healthier choices in future. I eeked out the lollies 1-a-day from last weeks bag (after I'd binned half of them).  The kids fully understood these were not to be eaten all at once & not the norm.

So back to baking, I gave the Anzacs another go - they tasted just as good but I'd used a new baking tray (bigger, but thinner) & they spread more & came out thinner.  The other thing I tried was the first thing from a new ebook I'm excited about that I bought this week - Hungry Tums...Sweet As.  It was a successful (taste-wise) attempt at the Orange & Almond Syrup Cake, it came out a little more dense than I expected, but I think that might have been the GF flour & silicon case into the mix.  I chose a square silicon & slightly larger mould rather than the suggested 22cm round tin.  I also added a small amount of Chia seeds to kind of create a citrus poppyseed look/taste, just for experimentations sake, unfortunately the slice I've pictured doesn't show them to their best effect.  I look forward to trying more recipes from the enticing book written by another fructose-free devotee, whose coincidentally also only been on it almost a year like myself.

Honey its Ironic

As I sit here dabbling with the format, I note my template is rather ironic... to the right is what appears to me, a honey-eater bird.... I chose the background for the colour, maybe I should rethink it.

Anzacs Revisited

Having just purchased a new recipe eBook this morning & begun perusing the TO recipe section I was starting to get a little peckish so once the kids were asleep hit the kitchen with a vengeance.  Using neither of the above resources(!)... I decided to give the Anzacs another go to test a combination of the recipes of previous attempts. (1. Sweet Poison, 2. This is Taryn, both sugar-free, but #2 is also gluten-free).  I'm only wheat-free & felt the latter lacked oats & sweetness, the former was too crispy & sweet.  I had used glucose syrup in both those recipes although #2 called for Rice Malt Syrup, which I didn't have at the time... I have lots now thanks to being on special at Coles. 

I kept closest to #2 but replaced 1 cup flaked almonds with rolled oats. For sweetness I used 4 Tbs of RMS & only 1/2 cup dextrose.  I believe the original recipes had similar quantities of butter & syrup, but stated them differently.  I found it easier to measure 4 tablespoons as opposed to 1/4 cup of the sticky stuff.  Not being an expert in the baking department I note #1 uses baking powder & #2 bicarbonate soda - I have no idea what the difference is & stuck to bicarb as it came to hand first.  The other compromise (& fair to say guesstimate) I made was to adjust the cooking temp to 140degC, because of the inclusion of dextrose but also as my oven seems to need less time otherwise.  

I also wanted to avoid using baking paper (considering the last batch with xanthum gum were hard to peel off) so used a silicon sheet to lay them on & ran out of space after 12, therefore greased a separate metal tray with butter for the remainder.  Now for some reason those on the metal tray browed quicker, even though the silicon sheet was laid on a metal tray.  I ended up having to cook those for a further 10mins to achieve same golden colour.  If anyone has thoughts or knowledge to why this would be I'd be keen to know.  I would have thought the overall temperature around & directly underneath would be the same ???

Both sheets were easy to remove the biscuits from & I transferred to a wire rack.  At this point the biscuits has some sponginess, but upon cooling increased crunch.  The aroma awoke the mini taste-testers & the returning biscuit expert.  All of which gave a big thumbs up verdict :)   So I am writing this one up for keeps!

Fructose-free Wheat-free Anzac Biscuits

The texture was awesome (if I do say so myself!) & the flavour just right.  The silicon tray batch which were cooked 10min longer did have a very slight bitter tinge, but not enough to put anyone off.

A few have gone down very well this afternoon with a nice cuppa coffee.  Some soda water would have also been refreshing, but alas the gas cylinder has just run out (first time) & upon trekking to both KMart & Woolies they were all out :(  

Heavyweight sales for diet books - Herald Sun Article

This is the outcome of the Herald Sun interview, in which my comments didn't feature :

After listening to her sister and housemate reel off its many health benefits, Philippa Hinton went out and bought herself a copy of I Quit Sugar, an eight-week detox program and recipe book written by media personality Sarah Wilson.

''They fuelled my curiosity and it had such a big presence in shops. I guess I just wanted to see what all the hype was about,'' Ms Hinton said.

She isn't the only one - the book is now in its 10th reprint since February. Precisely 2400 copies marched out the doors of Dymocks alone in the week ending April 27, helping put I Quit Sugar third on the chain's non-fiction best sellers list.

Of that list, 12 of the 15 books were food-centric titles, nine of them relating specifically to diet and nutrition (the others are cookbooks).

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The Fast Diet ranks No.2 - having sold 3000 copies in a single week - two months after its release.

Angus & Robertson's online store's weekly best seller list tells a similar tale. The Fast Diet tops the table, followed by The Sweet Poison Quit Plan. I Quit Sugar rounds out the top 10.

The figures confirm what dietician Naras Lapsys knows; given the number of Australian adults now classed as overweight or obese - 63.4 per cent according to the Bureau of Statistics - it's not surprising that those dissatisfied with their appearance have become a receptive audience.

''Being unhappy with how we look is ingrained in our society. Television, books and magazines all play on human insecurities,'' Dr Lapsys said. ''The latest diet books are no different.''

David Martus, a Dymocks store manager, said books relating to diet have an almost exclusive female following, although the anti-sugar titles seem to have wider appeal.

In the case of Ms Hinton, 26, the book was used to complement an already healthy lifestyle.

''I eat quite well, but there's so much more awareness now, the presence of natural foods and the whole 'super foods' movement.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/heavyweight-sales-for-diet-books-20130511-2jejg.html#ixzz2T2Uq9rJB

The interesting facts for me to take from this are that people are obviously increasingly interested in the food they eat & health associated risks, enough to read about it & that its a more popular topic than any other non-fiction at the moment. With regards to Sugar, interesting to note from the article that its not just women who are followers.

A shame its a small article & more interviewees comments were not featured.... but some press is better than none regards spreading the word.