Christmas Wrap Up

So its Xmas eve & the turkey is getting fat... well actually thawing to be truthful.  Today is mostly a cooking day as all pressies are bought & wrapped, food shopping all done & drinks chilling.

I'll make a few sugar-free deserts for the kids & I, which I'm sure others will enjoy.  We have an abundance of bananas, so will make some ice-cream & some muffins for sure.

Having just returned from camping with friends & their children I'm so proud of my kids for sticking to  sugar-free & failsafe diet so well.  There were a handful of marshmallows toasted on the camp fire, but only white ones & just one shortbread each - so that was it for sugar.  I remained sugar-free & didn't cave to the group pressure or even chocolate left open on the bench.  I just don't feel tempted these days, I'm so happy to eat foods I know will be good for me.  Staying on a farm we got to eat farm bacon (without nitrates) & fresh picked veggies.  I was even shown how to make sourdough bread & have come home & started my own culture... so watch this space for further disastrous bread attempts!! Clearly not my forte but no one could call me a quitter.

We were on a subsequent Amines & new Nitrates challenge which from sons perspectives would be be a pass, but after getting home & reaching day 4 once again my daughter clearly failed - I would say Amines only at this stage.  Its the 3rd Amines challenge we have done & each time she has gotten defiant, stroppy & unable to control her bladder - wet bed & couple of accidents in day time.  I appear to be ok on Amines, as any symptoms I got were from the salicylates in wine or sulphates :( (I wasn't technically challenging myself this week)

... Well Xmas Day is over for another year & a lot of fun was had by all.  The kids were made up with all their gifts & my super happy little man was just amazed at the whole event & so grateful, not one tear or wrong doing all day.  Madam on the other hand was a tad testy but enjoyed things when they were going her way.  Before they went to bed Xmas eve they left food out for Santa & his reindeers & it was magical to see their faces in the morning when just crumbs & carrot tops were left.  Mr.5 did question why we were leaving sugar biscuits out & a mince pie - which I explained away with that you don't get a tummy like Santa's unless you eat sugar.  He said he didn't want to get a tummy like that (I hope Santa was listening).  But given Mrs.Claus actually did all the hard yakka this year it might have been fairer to leave some sugar-free treats instead!!

Sugar-free sweet treats that I made for the big day were some Banana-Choc Muffins, Cheesecake & a Christmas Fruit Cake/Loaf.  A tradition for my family has always been to have shortbread in the morning & as I'd gone for the convenience of shop bought sugar ones for camping the kids had 2 each of those & I sampled one. In the grand scheme of things I would say 1 commercial biscuit for the year was acceptable.  Had I bought enough butter I could have made some myself with dextrose.

The Christmas cake turned out pretty good flavour-wise & substituted pudding for the 3 of us. It didn't rise quite as well as I'd hoped but texture-wise was dense & pudding-like.  The others actually didn't even eat their commercial pudding that they were insistent on buying.  But I can imagine that will get devoured after the cricket & beers tonight.  We had ours with fresh cream & was tasty enough to go back for a second helping & will be polished off again today.  I will post the recipe on my facebook page later.  It was one I conjured up to be sugar-free & semi-failsafe by bastardising a Christmas cake recipe from Sweet Poison Cook Book & a banana loaf recipe of mine.  It omitted spices, so no salicylates, & alcohol, so the kids could eat it.  Most of the sweetness comes from the banana, pear & swede (YES swede) so just a little dextrose & RMS is required.  In hindsight I should have added baking powder to assist rise.

All in all I would say we have had success in remaining sugar-free & failsafe over the lead-up & festivities.  Had we not been dealing with challenges & strict failsafe during this time I would have been more stalwart on sugar too for the kids but somethings gotta give when time is precious.   Below I'll list a few things we have done to limit sugar & take focus away from food, to share & record for next year.

1. Use an advent calendar in which you can put small novelties instead of chocolates.  I put in handmade hair ties, Trashies, erasers, costume jewellery & Christmas tree decorations.  Next year I might breakdown a Lego kit to be built each day for my son which I saw a friend had done & looked more exciting.
2. Provide kinder teachers with a small bag of alternative treats (marshmallows & caramels for Failsafe) to swap for candy canes given with cards (that I wasn't able to get to myself first & remove!).  This was to limit additives (colours), but in future I would provide stickers, pencils, small toys in lieu of food to avoid sugar.  
3. Provide/bake own Xmas party food.  This included Reindeer Gingerless Breads, Shortbread Stars/Trees & Carob cupcakes in green & red wrappers, with white dextrose icing. 
4. Give craft activities to do at Xmas parties to limit eating time e.g. Making reindeer food (decorate boxes, fill with oats & glitter), decorate a card, wooden tree ornament or christmas hat

Mostly though I'm happy to say this Christmas I did not go with gluttony.  I tried to limit what we bought, however the other half insisted on some "normal" Christmas food for him & visitors, which meant there was more than we really needed.  I did not however go to bed with an aching belly & exercised restraint myself when it came to indulging.  I ate extra food a little later in the evening than a normal day as drinking but I would hope the scales don't show that when I do my next weigh in.  I had bought a new pair of summer shorts just last week to replace the ones I bought last year - they are fitting very comfortably - happy to say they are the exact same brand & style, but a size less!  I'm probably only a couple of kilos less, but there's definitely been no gain in weight over the year.  

Due to Failsafe & Amines in particular I was conscious I didn't want too much excess food to be left over & devoured in the week proceeding.  Even with the smallest Turkey there's loads left.  So I've frozen some of it to prevent build up & same with muffins I made a full batch of.  The excess bananas from a double-up purchase, I've sliced up & frozen for use as ice-cream/cooking.  I will however be limiting Miss.3's intake of all that given her reaction. 

Now as ever in the post-Christmas wind-up its how to get creative with turkey & ham!  This morning we had Egg & Ham pies for brekkie.  For lunch cold turkey, potato & ham salad (with homemade garlic mayo - yum!!)  Tonight we had Spring Rolls from the Friendly Food recipe, but with turkey instead of veal.  They were a big winner, will be making that recipe again, but try chicken or add other veggies. 

So wrapping up this post, I trust you have all had a happy christmas time & wish you all a very merry new year.  Meanwhile if you have any suggestions for creative turkey recipes please comment below to share. 

Spread it!

There seems to be a steep rise in momentum on the Saturated Fat vs Sugar debate as the cause of obesity & increase of chronic diseases.  Whatever the reason, lets keep that train rolling.

I'm on the Sugar is evil side of the track & love my butter thickly spread!

A couple of recently aired doco's on Australian TV have most likely perpetuated the broadening to the greater general public & rise in interest.  The first is "The Men Who Made us Fat" a BBC series from the UK.  The second is ABC's Catalyst "Heart of the Matter Part 1 - Dietary Villains".  Both visualise & reinforce the reading matter I've been gripped by for almost 2 years now & advocate avoiding sugar & seed oils in favour of saturated fat, who until now has been widely dubbed the heart attacker.

Governments worldwide & the Heart Foundation villify Saturated Fat still as they have for many years, having ignored John Yudkins Sugar warnings & taken Ancel Keys flawed Fat theory as gospel. Generations have been eating Low Fat, Omega 6 rich, fructose sweetened & highly manufactured "foods" - creating an obesity epidemic & a haven for chronic diseases to exist.

If this makes your blood curl then get on board & sign the petition from Get a Fresh Start/The Big Fat Truth :

Heart Foundation: Stop giving advice and promoting food that causes heart disease!

If you simply just want to know more about this & eat healthier for life yourself then a good start is to read Sweet Poison, followed by Toxic Oil.  Both layout the information for the layperson, simplifying a lot of the scientific jargon.

We can't change the last 40 years, but lets change the next 40 years

40 is quite a significant number, for myself as that birthday looms & also for the 40 years of damage we have all been doing to our bodies.  Just watching The Men that Made us Fat - 1974 seemed a year of major change in the way my nation ate.  So consequently I knew nothing different, until I discovered Sweet Poison.  I grew up on those British ads like "a finger of Fudge is just enough" & "Milky Way, the snack to eat between meals", no wonder I was misled to believe it was ok to just have a bit of a sweet treat.  But its the addiction to sugar & our bodies inability to say no to more & more fructose that makes us fat (& sick).  And thanks to an abundance of the sweet stuff in our society & the food industries desire to get rich - we got fat.

The doco points the trigger finger to Earl Butz.  I ask - "Did this man make our Butz big?"

It appears he certainly made a BIG impact on the way Americans & consequently their foods spread into the worlds everyday food.  His slogan "Get Big or Get Out" to Farmers, should have simply just been "Get Big" to the rest of us.

A subsequent key turning point for the US & the other countries that followed suit was the 'Ancel Keys vs John Yudkin' debate of 'Fat vs Sugar' as the cause for weight gain.  The former over-ruled & discredited the British scientist... who had his finger on the pulse way ahead of his time.

We could wish if only that had been different maybe this obesity epidemic & subsequent "new" resulting illnesses would not be so endemic in our new world.  History is what it is however, so for the sake of our own health & that of our children lets not ignore Yudkin once more.  "Pure, White & Deadly" is an insightful read, add to your booklist this year.  Then lets look forward to the next 40 years being healthier & conscious.

Many will choose to continue the path they are on & many think that fat is only external & a measure of gut girth.  Whats clearly shown in the documentary that is worth for ALL to note is "internal fat".... fat that sits around your vital organs.  You can't see it, but if you've been eating sugar pure or hidden for most of your life you can bet its there.  I for one plan to continue reversing those effects... & preventing this happening to my children.  So all you potential TOFI^ wake up & smell the Coffee - straight black decaf probably safest for now!

On a lighter note - heres a yummy Fructose-free & Failsafe dish that I conjured up for lunch today:

ChiQuinoa Dish

Rinse 1 large cup of quinoa, cook in boiling water.  Meanwhile finely chop about 1-2 inch of leek, & crush a garlic clove.  Sauté both in butter until soft.  Add some finely chopped cooked chicken* & 1/2 cup of vegetable stock**.  Mix together well.  Add the drained quinoa, some chopped parley & toss together.  Serve warm.

This made a filling lunch for myself & 2 kidlets. You could also serve as a side dish.

Simple ingredients & very yummy.

*    I keep cooked roast chicken meat sliced up & frozen in ziplock bags for sandwiches.
     It makes Failsafe that little bit more convenient.
**  I boil up Failsafe veggies to make stock & freeze to use in other meals.
^   TOFI - Thin Outside, Fat Inside.

Save our children, and lead them not into temptation

Having just attended what must be the 7th party of the last 2 months, with yet another on the horizon I'm staggered by how much sugar is offered, let alone consumed, along with other foods that could affect sensitive/food intolerant kids.  I'm convinced most people are blissfully unaware what the fuel they are filling their kids with is doing to their developing little bodies.  Else surely they would not been filling them with such poor quality fuel, yet still expecting high performance results.  I see parents getting frustrated with their childrens behaviour & lack of skill or development compared to peers yet not linking the two.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm still on a journey of discovery myself & was squarely in this camp over a year ago.  Nor do I think food is the answer to everything & that environmental & hereditary factors do have a part to play.  But with the little in-roads I have made on this adventure I see improvements in my own health, my childrens behaviour, skills & health to believe I am on track & do not want to go 'home'.  'Home' was a place where sugar was comfort food, it was in abundance as it was also hidden... I was addicted, I realised that when I found myself pulling up the kitchen bar stool to reach the top shelf to nibble on the cooking chocolate to get my fix.  My kids were probably born addicted & I fuelled their addiction when they turned their button noses up at meat & veggies, by sweetening it with fruit!  I knew that the chocolate & gluten-free biscuits I consumed were no good for them, & didn't allow chocolate until their 2nd Easters but they certainly filled their booties on packets of raisins, honey sweetened muesli bars & kids veggie yogurts.  With education I realise these were all sugar in disguise.  They don't have them now & they don't miss them. Their taste buds have adjusted.

At yesterdays party I provided all their food - not because of sugar as I have said "sugar is for parties only", but because we are on a failsafe journey of determining food intolerances.  In doing so though I am able to provide some sugar-free replacements.  They had some chicken & cream cheese sandwiches, a packet of 'french fries', a cocoa & cashew brownie, a carob cupcake with dextrose butter icing ilo birthday cake, then marshmallows & caramels to replace the lollies in the pinata.  Not everyday food, save the sarnies, but safe from our perspective & awesome from my sugar-free point view.  I just asked my 5yo how he felt that he had different food to everyone else - he said "a bit sad", but that he knew "it was healthier than what they were eating".  So what were they eating that was so bad I had to avoid:

• First  up were party pies & sausage rolls - meat of unknown source, most probably pork, so contains Amines & most likely sulphates to preserve. The pastry would most likely have antioxidants in the oils...  also be vegetable/seed oil which I try to avoid. There was cheap tomato sauce in abundance so that also includes salicylates in tomatoes, lots of sugar & red artificial food colourings. 
• Next on offer was fairy bread - cheap white bread, most likely containing bread preservative 281 or 282, topped with 100's & 1000's of every artificial rainbow colour there is, not to mention 99% sugar.
• Bowls of coloured jelly sweets & marshmallows were laid out for all to devour at their own pace (which for some was like lightening!).  
• Bowls of crisps were also on display, these were 'Salt & Vinegar' or 'Chicken" - so artificial flavours & oils I wish to avoid.
• Then came the cake - a pink iced rainbow sponge - again colours, oils & sugar.
• Glad to say the only drink on offer to them was water.

For the adults the food selection was entirely different & served out of the party arena.  Plain rice crackers, water biscuits, hummus, cream cheese dip, carrot & celery sticks.  Funnily enough the majority of this was devoured by three pint-sizers who couldn't wait for the kids fayre, mine among them.

My aim is not to criticise what others choose, but I wish to enlighten them, this however I do not know how to do.  I feel I am being ostracised for my kookiness with food every time I discuss it, so now I just do my venue/host calls discreetly prior, take along my food substitutes, swap it quietly & feel gratified my children aren't making a fuss & accept that this is the way it is.

I've been an avid reader of Damon Gameau's blog following the journey of That Sugar Film he's making.  I was glad to see that for his last Sugar meal he chose the standard lunch/snack pack as provided to preschoolers.  I hope that when this film is released the masses will watch & see that 'hidden' sugar & perceived 'healthy' food is killing us, increasing waistlines, feeding addiction & creating unhealthy habits in our children.

The food in his pack is they typical food I see being fed to kids daily.  When I say daily this is a typical lunch pack for daycare, playgroup or kinder.... not even the obvious sugar that comes with weekly birthday parties, playdates & cafe pitstops.  The birthday parties I accept, although there are so goddam many of them, but they are special to the individual & should be celebrated.  The playdates & cafe pitstops are the killer.  To keep preschoolers entertained it is nice to go to a friends house or meet at a cafe, park, or even day trip or excursion but kids don't seem to be able to go anywhere without food being part of the deal.  Even if your own kids can hold out for a couple of hours normally between snacks/meals, once they see others they feign hunger & begin badgering for food.  I try to be prepared & take food thats suitable with us.  I do not want to miss out on socialising, so take this extra effort on board to be able to participate & offer alternatives, but do wish that our society catered for health & not death, just to make life more convenient.  

And in case anyones wondering... I'm ok with my son feeling a bit sad as I'd prefer that & he learn that its for his on good in time than being hindered by the fuel he eats & acting out accordingly, which believe me will make him feel a lot sadder in the long term if he is constantly being told off or simply in pain & discomfort.

I am finding the failsafe adventure very enlightening.  So far we have discovered that after being on elimination for 3 weeks the nervous tic disappearred.  It also leads to nice behaviour & any "naughtiness" is resolved with normal parenting, whereby I'm not exacerbated by kids continuing to act up & ignore me.  We are also having better inner health & in the case of my son he is more confident in dealing with his own business & showing independence finally.  Put us back on high Salicylates & the tic returns after 24hours & the unfavourable behaviours increase steadily.  We only lasted 4 days before I pulled the pin, given the tic was the main reason we are doing Failsafe.  During our holiday we maintained elimination then challenged a couple of standalone foods - hot chips, tomato sauce & ice-cream - all of which caused symptoms for him, thus will avoid for now & re-challenge properly when we've completed both Amines & Glutamates trials & determined a 'safe' Salicylate level.  We're on day 6 of Amines challenge & so far so good for the kids, but I think I'm feeling effects with headaches & reflux, but as I have the tail end of a head cold need to re-challenge in time.  I've been warned to watch out for the build up, so maybe when we increase amounts tomorrow as the Dietician recommended I will see issues (if any) with kids more clearly.  I am hopeful they pass as it will make meals a bit easier storing & cooking-wise for meats, but also add bananas (& ice-cream made solely from it) to our current fruit list of 1.  Better than that I can start using animal fats for cooking with again & some REAL homemade chips.  I'm salivating over the thought of a big juicy pork chop tonight.... yummmmm.

It was sugar awareness that led us down the Failsafe path & I do see the foods intrinsically linked (even though Failsafe still says its ok to have sugar) because in general to me sugar comes pre-made & packaged thereby it has all the other nasties like additives & chemicals with it.  By avoiding packaged foods & returning to a more wholesome & fresh diet we are eating better & benefiting from it.  This no-one can deny, even those most adverse to my kookiness.

Back to Baking Again

Got home from our weeks holiday to discover a power outage which meant 2 thawed fridge/freezers... & failure to record my soaps!  The latter I can catch up on via internet. The former was more frustrating as lost so much food & in particular some of my baking.  So its been all systems go in my kitchen again getting back to baking... & basics... been on Failsafe Elimination for 10 days trying to clear out some of the holiday food challenges... & subsequent symptoms.

Now the travel & birthdays are well & truly over, I'm baking with a vengeance.  So following this Failsafe Elimination since we returned from holidays means thats there been a lot of back to basics cooking, & with birthdays over the convenience go-to's which included sugar are O-U-T OUT!  For the first couple of weeks of Failsafe I relented a little on the sugar for the kids so I could grab a couple of packet items to help time-wise.  Now those are off limits & they are back to dextrose & RMS only added sweeteners.  The limited access to those two commodities in the UK left me a little rusty as I was hesitant to bake anything than my trusty oat bars or shortbread whilst there, but since back in Australia & even when away in Port Douglas I used RMS to make Oat Bars & Anzacs.  I have also adapted an old veggie muffin recipe & a cheesecake to be Failsafe, plus made some cup cakes for party replacements.  I've also experimented with natural food colourings for the birthday cake, & made it sugar-free.

I finally received my copy of Friendly Food so I'll be adapting by trial & error some sugar-free versions of any sweet dishes in there too.

I'm happy to see that Sweet Poison is now available in a UK version, which should mean on future visits glucose only sweeteners should be more readily available, well if the great British public take note of what David Gillespie has to say & stores come on board as they have in Australia.

Here is my Oat Bar recipe I'd like to share with you :

2 cups Rolled Oats
1 cup GF SR Flour
1/2 tsp Guar Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Poppy Seeds
2 tsp Psyllium Husk
60g Butter (Unsalted)
2 tbsp Rice Malt Syrup
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Mix together dry ingredients (except bicarb).  In a pan melt butter, add RMS, bring to boil, turn off, add bicarb, mix well till fizzes up.  Quickly add foam to to dry ingredients & mix well. Spread into a buttered baking tray. Press flat. Bake for 15min at 150C. 

Score when remove from the oven into bars. Leave in tray until cooled, then snap & store.  I find they last a couple of days in the cupboard or much longer if I freeze & the kids have no complaints eating them cold!