Took an Easter Sunday drive to Balingup to my favourite cafe which is 100% gluten free and healthy and delicious! Aubrey and I went for a long walk in the Golden Valley Tree Farm where I got attacked by ants in my pants and we saw a male mouse spider, apparently very venomous! For a well deserved lunch I had the pan fried prawns with potato cakes and creamy garlic sauce. Aubrey had the beef curry with papadums and rice. We then shared a delicious berry muffin with ice cream, this must be Rose’s trade secret how she gets the muffins so light and not at all like most gluten free cakes. Find out more about how to cook gluten free by visiting the Balingup Bronze Gallery website here as Rose is running gluten free workshops and cooking classes.

It is Aub’s birthday today so to celebrate we had lunch at Mash Brewery. I had cider and Aub can still have his beer! Lunch was crispy pan fried salmon with potatoes and vegetables.

When we got home had gluten free Torta Caprese the flourless almond cake from the Everyday Thermomix Cookbook. I made mine with hazlenuts insteads made a heavier and nuttier tasting cake.

Ingredients:
250g Dark Chocolate broken into pieces
250g Hazelnuts
150g Rapadura sugar (milled to caster sugar)
150g Butter, room temperature
6 eggs
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Cocoa
1 tbsp Amaretto

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
Place chocolate in TM bowl and grate for 5-10 seconds on speed 8. Set aside.
Place hazelnuts in TM bowl and mill for 4-6 seconds on speed 6. Add to chocolate.
Place remaining ingredients into TM bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 7.
Add chocolate and hazelnuts and continue to mix for 30 seconds on speed 6.
Put mixture into a lightly greased spring form pan lined with baking paper.
Bake in preheated oven for approximately 1 hour, if hot oven reduce to 160 degrees celsius.
Cool cake and ice with chocolate ganache icing made with melted dark chocolate and cream.
Delicious served warm or cold and serve with cream or ice cream.

Yet another gluten free dessert, I am doing Weight Watchers and losing weight as do eat healthily most of the time but would never guess that from my blog! The chocolate cake with cointreau ice cream and orange sauce was delicious and best to share as rich and decadent!

Checked out the new Ice Creamery in Bunbury today. Most of the ice creams and sorbets made in the store are gluten free and they have an allergen list. I had the gluten free chocolate pecan brownie with vanilla ice cream.

Made these delicious and easy cookies in the Thermomix for our afternoon tea at the yoga and drumming afternoon.   They don’t look perfect but taste fantastic!   Find the recipe at Quirky Cooking here

Headed to Mandurah to kayak and needed some lunch and had not planned ahead.   Was pleasantly surprised by the gluten free offerings at the Merchant Tea & Coffee Company.   I had a gluten free tuna pattie with salad and then coffee with orange and almond cake.

There might not be any gluten free beer yet at the Moody Cow but there is some gluten free options on the menu and Aubrey was happy to have his beer tasting.  I had a glass of Ferguson Hart Estate SSB to go with the polenta and vegetable stack with pesto made with herbs from the owner’s garden. It came with a generous side salad and the flavour was great!   Fantastic venue for a relaxing lunch and great spot for the whole family.

 

Aubrey and I had a night away at Peppermint Lane Lodge the delightfully relaxing place that we had our wedding. Kim did a wonderful job of looking after us and making us feel at home. The food as usual was delicious! The menu was:

Seared Haloumi

Portobello Mushroom with Blue Cheese Cream
Slow Roasted Stuffed Capsicum

Herb Crusted Lamb Rump
Steamed Gourmet Potatoes
Roasted Carrots in Elderberry Balsamic Glaze
Green Beans

Citrus Tart
Lemon Possett
Wine and Hibiscus Jelly

Breakfast at Peppermint Lane Lodge on the deck overlooking the trees is always relaxing start to the day. The breakfast table looks stunning and Kim made sure I did not miss out with gluten free muesli and bread.

 

I would certainly recommend Peppermint Lane Lodge to anyone who wants to relax and enjoys their food but Coeliac’s can be confident that they will get delicious gluten free food.   Book a couple of nights here.

Found this gluten free recipe in Healthy Food Guide and they are delicious especially if take two and make a sandwich with some gluten free vanilla ice cream! 3 Weight Watchers pro points per cookie.

1 cup light peanut butter (make sure GF)
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon GF baking powder
85g dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Combine peanut butter, egg, sugar and baking soda in bowl, mix well.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Line baking tray with baking paper.
Using your hands shape 24 teaspoonfuls of cookie  mixture into balls and place on tray about 5cm apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are lightly browned on top.
Remove and allow to cool on a tray  for at least 5 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Thanks to all that came along to the Coeliac Society morning tea today at Caf Fez.   Thank you to the staff at Caf Fez for ordering in the extra gluten free cakes and the excellent coffee.    Please let me know if you would like me to organise a dinner for an evening or maybe a get together at the park for children with a BYO GF morning tea!