WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST

Breakfast for Gluten Free persons can be a bit predictable.

Yes, there is always the eggs and bacon alternative, and nothing is more wonderful than buckwheat pancakes and maple syrup with a poached egg - a Canadian breakfast.  But, if you like a cereal to start the day, then the choice of a pre-packaged cereal can be very expensive - or what I think of as expensive.

For ages I ate rice cereal, sometimes with pre-soaked buckwheat, or steel cut oats.  All very healthy, all good especially with added berries, but sometimes you just want something fast.

Then I discovered puffed corn.  A big bag from Coles costs about $3.25. To this I sometimes add a gluten free cereal which are sometimes $7 a packet.  I wait for specials and recently bought a box of a carob rice bubble cereal for $2.75 on special.  This combination (as in the photo) is quick, and reasonably nourishing when you add milk, fruit juice and/or fruit and a dob of yoghurt.  Not too bad in the taste department either.   Not as balanced as rice cereal, with buckweat, oats and fruit with a dob of natural yoghurt, especially as I cook this in water not milk - a whole lot less in calorie count.

SPEAKING OF NUTRITION>  Elle Macpherson has just launched what she calls THE SUPER ELIXER which she claims "will beautify the whole you".  This is actually a green powder and costs $49 for 100 grams in a fancy glass container designed by a famous glass artist.  The cost of the third of a page advert which appeared in the Body and Soul section of the Sunday Sun alone would have allowed us to give a scholarship to a couple of needy students.  

The point is that we have been marketing our own "Super Elixer"  for about half the price for a number of years.   You can buy this through our web site, or I can send you a pack of your very own powder if you email me yogafirst@netcon.net.au.  The cost? Including postage in Australia $18.50 per 100grams (not $49).   No glass jar, no Elle MacPherson, no big advertising budget.

Our powder (like hers) is derived from whole foods and is easily absorbed on a cellular level as she says.  Hers has been scientifically balanced.  Ours is "organically balanced" by nature.  We don't add chemicals so we don't have to work on the scientifc side.  Nature has optimised the right balance of nutrition which impacts and supports the body.

Our MAGIC GREEN POWDER (our students call it that)..
*is free from gluten, preservatives and dairy
*suitable for vegans, and those gluten and lactose intolerant
*derived from natural organic ingredients
………..and is designed to support your healthy nutrition and the optimum function of all systems of the human body.

Nutritional Information per 100g.
Boron 4mg, Calcium 1,100mg, Carotene 2.5mg, Iron 7mg, Magnesium 270mg, Manganese 2mg, Phosperous 233mg, Potassium 2,500mg, Sodium 190mg, Sulphur 353mg, Vitamin E 22mg.

Energy 990kj, Moisture 5mg, Protein 33g, Cholophyll 51mg, Cabohydrates total 48g, Sugars 1.4g, Dietary Fibre 32g, Fats 4.8g

SWEET LITTLE THINGS

I have a sweet tooth.  Not an easy thing to satisfy if you are gluten free.  I have found a beautiful, easy, economical little nibble… a Spanish not too-sweet sweet called "Pantelles".

Ingredients: (makes approx. 15)
*500 grams of (real) Marzipan.  You can make your own or buy.  Do not buy almond icing evn though it may sound the same and be cheaper, it is not marzipan, plus it has more chemicals for a start.
*One third cup of almond, hazlenut or walnut meal.
*Castor sugar.

How-To:
Pre-heat oven to 200C
Cover a tray with baking paper

1. Cut the marzipan into small pieces and knead with the almond meal until you have a rought crumble.

2. Mould into 15g balls and push down onto the lined tray and sprinkle with castor sugar.

3. Bake for 10 minutes in a conventional oven until they brown slightly.

4. Cool and serve.  They will last for weeks in covered box or tin.  They don't last that long around here.  If they get a bit dry,  warm them in the microwave and serve right away.  Great as an after coffee treat.

SARDINE HUMMUS

What an evening I have had. Tonite I was all ready to go to yoga hopped into the car, flat battery.  No time for RACV.   Went to the neighbour his rego was overdue so he was reluctant, went to the next neighbour who thankfully had a car, and time,  and he drove me there.  Got there only to find a "NO-SHOW".  It has been an age since I had one of those.   We have moved the Yoga centre to a wonderful old country house called THE BENTINCK, and trying to get people to come out in the freezing cold to a new venue is so hard.

Long short, got home early and decided to make some hummus whilst I waited for the RACV.  So here we go.  I should have made a chocolate cake!  Comfort food, but I didn't..

This is an easy peasy recipe and always popular.  Adding the sardines not only makes it taste very mediterranean, and add calcium and omega 3 - a nutritional boost.  Chickpeas alone have as much calcium as milk.

Ingredients:
1 tin of chick peas drained, 2 or so cloves of garlic peeled, half a teas. of ground cummin, 1 dessertspoon of sweet paprika, juice of 2 lemons (I only use one if they are soft and juicy), 1 tin of sardines, a few shakes of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of tahini and some sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Method:
Easy peasy,  Just throw it all in the blender and puree to the consistency which appeals to you.  If it is too think add some olive oil.
Serve with dipping vegetables, gluten free toast or crackers, rice cakes - it is up to you.  In the photo I have added it to a salad.

WHAT IS THE STUFF CALLED GLUTEN?

Gluten is a glue like protein which is found IN MANY GRAINS, but especially in wheat, rye and barley.   It is the stuff that holds the bread together when the yeast has expanded.  It is what makes our bread and cakes light and fluffy.  Therefore the more "glue" you have the more the product holds together, as opposed to the various cardboard pretend-to-be-breads and cakes that we GF people have had to endure.

For years farmers have been encouraged to breed and grow wheat with higher and higher gluten levels and food manufacturers have used higher and higher gluten levels in their products.

These increasing levels of gluten "glue" up your system and result in reactions triggered by over consumption.

The problem that both Gluten allergic and Coeliac sufferers have is that dairy, wheat or gluten are the most commonly used ingredients in food manufacture.  The situation is hugely better than it was even three years ago.  Genuinly gluten free products are easily available.  You will howeer still need to be an avid reader of food labels.

PLUS, and this is a big plus for those who like to cook and bake - it is possible now to purchase xanthan gum in powdered form.  This is a natural gum which, added in small quantities to flour for bread and pastry making makes a reasonable substitute for gluten.

WHAT GLUTEN INTOLERANTS SHOULD NOT EAT
Products made from refined white wheat flour.  Try substituting gluten-free grain flours or older more ancient varieties of wheat such as spelt or kamut which are much lower in gluten (but they do contain gluten)

FLYING GLUTEN FREE

I have to say that I have never felt better in my life since going GLUTEN FREE.  I love it.  However,   I don't like some of the foods that are served in restaurants as gluten free, so mostly I stay home and experiment on my own.

Yesterday I went to one of the best little eateries in my town famous for gourmet foods.  I was surprised when they had gluten free toast, and even more surprised when it came and it was wonderful.  However, I think that the chef must have dusted the board with flour.  In some way flour came into contact with my toast.  How do I know? I know because the rest of the day I felt like the blimp.  I felt HUGE.  I know that feeling having battled it for years.

I think that chefs gould be given a set of rules to adhere to if they are going to sell under the "gluten free" label.  It is not just something that I thought up, I am not being "fashionable", I really have a problem…..  and flour is part of the problem.  A big, big part.  Even the tiniest dusting of flour.  They don't need to cook with it.  Just dusting the board is enough to ruin at least one day for me.  The last time I came into contact with gluten it took me three days to recover.

Gluten Free foods are expensive because they have to be made in special kitchens.  There can be NO FLOUR ANYWHERE - EVEN IN THE AIR!  How many chefs in your town do you know who advertise gluten free have a totally gluten free kitchen?  I would say, NONE.  Before you eat gluten free, make sure that the chef does know what "gluten FREE" actually means.