Macadamia & Chocolate Chunk

I had the chance to sample some Springhill Farm products this week.   I am already a huge fan of the Real Bread Mix and I have to fight off my son if I buy any of the Springhill gluten free rocky road.   I have tasted the Summer Fruit finger slice (see photo below) when I visited Starbucks for my coffee in Brisbane and was pleased as before Starbucks did not offer anything gluten free.   The biscuits are also delicious with my morning coffee, I really like the Lemon Lime & White Chocolate biscuit which had great texture and taste.   My only wish is that they were a bit smaller as watching my weight at they are bit too much for a morning snack.   Also it is good to know that all Springhill Farm biscuits are gluten free, even th0se that are not marketed as such.   Of course always make sure you read the ingredients label to feel reassured as I forgot when enjoyed the Macadamia & Chocolate Chunk and it was so good I became convinced it was not gluten free! Check out Springhill Farm here and lets hope more cafe’s and service stations stock their products soon!

Springhill Farm Summer Fruit Finger Slice

Lemon Lime & White Chocolate

• Dates: Saturday 18th June OR Friday 1st July 2011
• Time: 10:00 am – 2:30pm
• Location: Recreation Centre, South Western Hwy, Balingup
• Cost: $100

I had the chance to try this GF Sour Dough at The Happy Wife in Bunbury for breakfast. They got some loaves in for sale from down south in Denmark and I got my hands on one today. I tried the GF Sour Dough with seeds and it is delicious – start with the yeasty, sour dough smell and it is dense, heavy and crusty! The taste is fantastic with the seeds and it toasts up beautifully. Had a slice of toast with Margaret River Strawberry Jam for afternoon tea and was heaven! On the weekend when it was getting a little stale it made perfect french toast as did not collapse when soaked up the egg mixture. Whisk a couple of free range eggs with some vanilla essence, cinnamon and milk and then dip the bread in mix to soak. Cook in the frypan with a little butter and serve with maple syrup. Check out Serafine website here and while it is pricey loaf of bread in my mind it is well worth it. Try calling or visiting The Happy Wife on 9721 7706.

Check out the article in the Southwest Times that features their forward thinking!

My long wait to try the much anticipated WBC porridge is over! I made some for breakfast this morning adding some sultanas, almonds and dried apricots. To serve sliced some banana and added dollop of greek vanilla yoghurt. Was delicious with hint of vanilla and cinnamon and sweetened with rapadura sugar. Check out WBC website here to find a stockist.

WBC Porridge

I made my darling husband Aubrey some red velvet cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing for our 1st Anniversary and Valentines Day.   Thank you to Gluten Free Scallywag for the recipe which you can find here.

Red Velvet Cupcake

I have made this curry lots of times since the recipe was given to me at the Dru Yoga Spa at Gelorup and not sure where or who it came from so my apologies as can acknowledge the creator!

Curry in a hurry!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 brown onion peeled and chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1/2 cauliflower, chopped

Pumpkin (or sweet potato), chopped, 1 large cup

200g baby spinach

1 tin organic chopped tomatoes

2 tins organic chick peas, drained and rinsed

1 vegetable stock cube (ensure gluten free)

3 tablespoons rogan josh curry paste

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Sea salt & juice of 1 lime

Method:

Heat oil and add onion and garlic and saute.

Add vegetables including tinned tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes.

Add chickpeas stirring constantly for 1 minute.

Add stock cube, curry paste and tomato paste, stir well.

Add pinch of salt, juice of lime and add spinach.

Stir, put on low heat and simmer for about 15 minutes while cook some basmati or brown rice in the Thermomix.

Serve with rice and dollop of natural or greek yoghurt and sprinkle with pine nuts.

Went down south today for a day trip to take Kyle to Amaze’n, check out their website here.   They offered gluten free cakes and also gluten free bread for toasted sandwiches.   The use the lovely Five Senses coffee.

Coffee and Chocolate Ice Cream

On the way home we stopped at Miller’s Ice Creamery in Cowaramup, check out their website here.   They have a selection of ice creams and sorbets and can provide an allergen list for gluten and lactose free ice cream.   Yes dairy free ice cream, I had the 70% dark chocolate dairy free ice cream that was decadent and teamed this with a scoop of coffee ice cream.   Lovely playground and surrounding views of the dairy farm.

I decided to try making my own yoghurt as I eat a lot of it! Experimented with using the Thermomix and making from scratch with milk and yoghurt starter but all too much hassle! So have gone back to the Easiyo and made myself some vanilla yoghurt by adding 2 tablespoons of my vanilla sugar into the Easiyo mix. It set nice and firm and had a good blend of tang and sweetness. Had some for lunch with fresh Collie blueberries and a drizzle of pure, organic maple syrup, yum! I am going to try making Greek yoghurt next and try making it thicker by adding a tablespoon of milk powder to the Easiyo mix. Easiyo is available in Coles and other supermarkets or visit their website here.

Easiyo Vanilla Yoghurt with blueberries & maple syrup

Had a relaxing and rejuvenating weekend at Glenbrook in Margaret River for a Dru yoga retreat.   I find yoga and meditation really help with my digestion issues as sure they are stress related.   I urge you to check out the High Aspirations website here for Dru Yoga retreats or Dru Yoga Australia website for further information.

Yoga Art!

We also did some art with Chris Skeggs, check out her website here.   Some of my thyroid issues can be related to stifled creativity so the art work focusing on the throat chakra and colour blue were very releasing!

Gluten Free Lemon & Almond Cake

Thank you also to Nirala for the wonderful, nourishing gluten free food over the weekend.   Delicious Indian food, delectable Green Goddess salad dressing and my favourite a Lemon and Almond Cake which was delicious with a spoonful of greek yoghurt.   Visit Nirala’s blog “From Potions to Pesto” here for the recipe.   A wonderful blog that embraces all the philosophies that I would like to adopt for my health.

Yoga gals at Yahava!

On the way home from the retreat we stopped off for a coffee at Yahava in Margaret River and while there checked out Cookies Galore right next door.   I sampled some very delicious and crisp gluten free biscuits and by far my favourite were the lemon yo-yo’s.   Check out Cookies Galore website here.

I felt like a tart today!    Used the Pastry Pantry shortcrust gluten free pastry that you can buy at Coles.   Check out Pastry Pantry website here.

1 sheet of pastry (thawed)
1 bag baby spinach (washed & drained)
1 block fetta cheese (crumbled)
4 spring onions (sliced)
1 spanish onion (chopped finely)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
dill (snipped)
caramelised onion
salt & pepper to taste

Visit Pastry Pantry site here to learn how to blind bake the gluten free pastry.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
In frying pan melt butter and saute garlic, onion and spring onion.
Add baby spinach to pan till just wilted.
Stir through fetta cheese.
In separate bowl whisk eggs and milk together and season with salt and pepper.
Add baby spinach mixture to the pastry shell and top with egg/milk mixture. Top with dill and caramelised onion.
Bake tart for 20 minutes. Leave tart to cool slightly and set before serving with a garden salad.

Gluten Free Tart