Fantastic Fruit Sorbet!

Look what I found! A really simple recipe for the most amazing sorbet (courtesy of Taste.com.au)!

I know, I know, sorbet isn't traditionally thought of as good for you food - more often if fits only in the "easy" food category, being full of added sugar, preservatives, additives, and questionable emulsifiers with very low nutrient density. As long as you don't have allergies to the fruits in the ingredient list of this fantastic recipe, I highly recommend that that you try out this delicious 100% fruit sorbet: Mango and Lime Sorbet.

This Sorbet is different. It meets all our criteria for good-for-you-food.
It's a fabulous marriage of "Nature's Sweeties" that will leave you truly satisfied without aggravating your sugar cravings - that's right - 100% Fruit sorbet! Why have we put it in the good-for-you food category as opposed to the 'easy' food category? Read on!

1. 100% fresh fruit and Whole-fruit ingredients
2. No added sugar and No sugar substitutes
   
3. No preservatives, additives or emulsifiers that you'd find in a shop-bought sorbet
4. An exotic Icy treat whether you're sweltering Australia or experiencing a very chilly winter around the world
5. Stacked full of great-for-you, energy-providing and recovery vitamins and minerals served in their natural states: a real, whole-food supply of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorous and Magnesium (Source: http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/fruit-nutrition-chart.html )
6. Natural fruit sugars the way we were meant to consume them - sweetness along with loads of nutrients and fibre - so you'll feel satisfied with one sensible sized serving.
7. REALLY quick and easy to make!

Try it out and let us know what you think: Mango and Lime Sorbet

Gluten Free Sourdough!

It's been a while since I've been here! For anyone wondering, I did manage to create a very tasty Gluten Free Sourdough loaf. It didn't rise the way I'd hoped, even though I was aware of it's very delicate nature and of course didn't knead it a second time as that would have completely knocked the 'stuffing' out of it. At the time I suspected it had something to do with the fact that without the gluten, there is very little structure to hold the 'rise' in the loaf (not sure if "rise" is really a noun, but it if not before , it is now). I resolved to try again with more loaf mixture and a greater percentage of Starter, but the weather got colder again and I didn't move forward with it. And then Summer was just crazy, so here I am, nearly a year later, and no further GF Sourdough advancements, but at least with intention to not let the warmth, and therfore natural sourdough generating conditions, get away from me this year.

Now, despite my disappointment with the rise of the loaf, the taste was SENSATIONAL. It was very full flavoured with a great sourness: much to my delight, and that of my partner. The taste might be a bit strong in all applications, but for the point of Sourdough, it excelled and I'm putting it down to the Amaranth, which did do a fake rise (the one referred to in my last post), scared me for a while with no further activity (thought I'd killed it) and then later on developed well. So that's the debrief of the great Gluten Free Sourdough experiment of 2007 and the answer to "Can you make Gluten Free Sourdough?" is most emphatically "Yes!" - as long as you can accept the lack of rise for now. There will be further development in my kitchen and I'll pass on the news.

Sourdough Starters and cook ups

Sourdough Day 6... the initial starter is less active on the diet of gluten free flours - reasonably interesting...but perhaps more interesting is that when I replaced the starter that had to be terminated, I decided to start it with some organic Amaranth flour, and on the second day of it's life it is positively bouncing along...

Tomorrow I'm having a cook-up with Kath's sister, Mia, firstly because Kathy has relocated to the beautiful Sunshine Coast and it's not so easy to do with her at the moment, and secondly it's time to get come creativity flowing - it should be a good afternoon and evening and we'll let you know what comes of it.

I had my second Allergy clearing today and the "check" testing demonstrated what I was pretty sure was going on in that the salycilate balance has held beautifully. It is so exciting to realise that I'm soon going to be able to open up my food options... woo hoooo!

Sourdough Day 4

Well, it's day four and I've discovered mould in one of my new sourdough starters, so I've thrown it out and started again. On the up side of that small disappointment is that the mouldy one was the less active of the two (because of the mould, I wonder??), and the healthier and more active of the two is now feeding happily (as far as I can tell) on a mixture of besan, potato and tapioca flours - this is my standard all purpose flour mix and one that I've found to have the best qualities for baking. It keeps it's form well and isn't crumbly when cooked - a common failure that I've experienced with the commercial all purpose flour mixes I've used previously. Stay tuned for more sourdough starter updates.

In the mean time: On my 'To Do' list for the revamp of this site (Coming SOON) are

1. A list of articles I've written on good nutrition and cleaning up your diet by cleaning out your pantry
2. Information on Food Allergies and Intolerances
3. Resources (online and physical) for Nutrition and Dietary Advice and services
4. Recipes! (We'd love you to rate them, and add your own if you'd like)
5. Cooking and Nutrition Tips
6. Feedback pages - Tell us what you want to hear about and we'll find out for you!

Cheers!

PS. Food Allergy Clearing Session number 2 for me is on Thursday! Not sure what will get cleared, but the last balance for Salicylates seems to have held very well and I'm excited to see what else is possible. I'm lucky in that none of my allergies are anaphylactic, and I'm looking forward to being free of the allergic symptoms I do get. The intolerances I have will no doubt still exist, but at least I won't get wiped out by nearly everything I eat. LOVING that concept! : )

Gluten Free Sourdough experiment

In keeping with my 'back to basics' practice for nutrition, and the fact that I'd really like to find some bread I can eat every now and then that's gluten free AND without preservatives, I've started a sourdough experiment.

Why Sourdough, you ask? Firstly, it's Interesting: a real sourdough loaf lasts for seemingly ever in relation to 'standard' breads found in packaging at Coles and Woolworths, and most bakeries. Case in point was the Bills Organic Sourdough loaf I purchased when a friend of mine came to visit recently. Apart from the fact that it didn't have any sugar or other preservatives in it, my friend commented on how delicious it was. She only stayed for a couple of days, so the bread then sat in my fridge for about 2 weeks before I rediscovered it. Funny thing was, it was in fantastic 'nick' and didn't have of the mould I had expected to find. That was the interesting thing: no preservatives and no mould - go figure. So I did some research about sourdough and I'm pretty sure I've blogged that experience at some point so won't repeat myself here. In short sourdough has some great natural qualities that are borne of it's extra preparation time (the way bread used to be made) including ease of digestion and spoil resistance.

I'm not brave enough to try the "more easily digestible" gluten containing varieties, but I like the taste and the sourdough principles, so I'm having a go at making my own.

At present, on day three, two starters of organic flour and water are being cultured in my kitchen and it seems the natural fermentation process has started. All the info I have suggests that it will take up to two weeks to create the starter and THEN I'll have a chance to bake my very own sourdough..stay tuned to see whether it works out or not...

Balancing your Nutrition

Recently I discovered a free web-based calorie-counter while I was searching for some information on dietary requirements and balancing macronutrients (Carbs, Proteins and Fats) for humans. Being curious, I thought I'd take a look - even though I have a natural aversion to 'counting calories' as I've found that it can really put a big mental strain on clients who already have a poor relationship with food and nutrition and it can then have the effect of putting the focus right back on quantity rather than quality of nutrition.

From the home page of My Calorie Counter you can sign sign up for a free calorie counter and nutrition and exercise journal; link to the community they have developed and get all sorts of great information. For a small price you can subscibe to a premium membership and have access to some extra features and services that allow you to determine your own targets with regard to macronutrients and track how your intake compares to those targets.

I've been using it for the last week and half and have found it especially useful to help me spot where my nutrition is lacking and how to boost it. For those of you who are vegetarian, or have food allergies or intolerances, I'd highly recommend you pay a visit and make sure you're getting enough proteins, carbs and fats to allow your body to maintain good health. Although I thought I was eating a good balanced and varied diet, what I found was that with my all my food intolerances including the impaired ability to ingest and digest meats, dairy and gluten containing foods, my nutrition was sorely lacking on the protein count.

With a bit of fiddling and experimenting, this week I've learned just HOW important legumes and spinach are in the diet of non-meat eaters and have managed to tip the balance more in favour of proteins.

I'm going to keep tracking my nutrition for a while yet as I have some more learning to do. For anyone else who's keen to take a look at their nutrition balance, or simply keep a food and exercise journal in the one place, I highly recommend "my calorie counter".

What is a Natural Diet for Human Beings?

This is the title of an artice I've just been reading. It was written by a gentleman called Mike Kinnaird, who has studied health and nutrition for over 20 years, and it seems that he's among the growing number of people who are doing their best to educate people how to look after themselves. Mike's Passion for Health web site is clearly demonstrative of his personal passion for health and I highly recommend you visit it. As for what's a natural diet for human beings: "The simple answer is fruit, vegetable matter (leaves, roots, shoots, flowers and other edible parts), nuts, seeds, and animal foods"...and go easy on the grains and dairys - we just didn't evolve to eat them. To read the whole article, click here, and enjoy. To visit Passion for Health, (and get some of Mike's, and others') Click the following Link - passionforhealth.org

Have a great day!