Guest Blog "The Whimsical Wife"

Hi everyone – thank you to Collette for allowing me to write a guest post here at Cut out the Crap.

I came across Collette’s first book Cut out the Crap a few years ago and have followed her journey from her first book Cut out the Crap to her current book she is writing. It has been wonderful to watch her readership grow and also see all the gorgeous healthy recipes she posts here.

Who am I you may ask? My name is Melissa and I write a blog called The Whimsical Wife. I am a wife and mummy to a cute 5 ½ month old baby whom I refer to as J.D.  He is our miracle baby and I can only describe the 4 ½ year long journey to conceive him as the hardest thing I have ever experienced!  You can read about my fertility journey here. We live in Toowoomba, Queensland on an acre block with a dog called Abby and five chooks, two of which like to fly to coup everyday – must get their wings clipped! My passions in life are baking, creating and decorating – and food photography! On my blog I write about furniture and house renovations, craft and decorating ideas and my favourite subject of all cooking!

I am dairy intolerant which is why I love Collette’s blog so much. I was diagnosed with dairy intolerance at the age of 23 so I knew what I was missing out on when I had to stop eating all those good things that contain dairy – ice-cream, chocolate, yoghurt, cheesecake just to name a few. After slowly learning different dairy alternatives I started creating dishes that I could eat again although lasagne and pizza will never be the same.

I try to eat as healthy as possible and my approach to eating is a wholefoods, unprocessed, natural way. We have a large vegetable patch and mini orchard which we love to grow a lot of our own fruit and vegetables in. This saves us a lot of money on our grocery bill and we also know that it is home grown, organic and freshly picked that afternoon when it lands on our plates. I love growing heirloom varieties of vegetables such as purple carrots or golden beetroot. I try to create recipes from this fresh seasonal produce to feature on my blog. I include a variety of recipes on my blog ranging from super dooper healthy to downright naughty. Not all are allergy friendly though.

That being said I still LOVE my treats on occasions and I try to “healthify” the naughtiest ones in my own way. The recipe I am sharing with you today is my “No Ordinary Brownie”. This dazzling chocolate brownie contains no refined sugars and is dairy and gluten free. It has all the qualities that a good brownie should have – fudgy and chocolaty with a smattering of nuts throughout it, without the nasties!

No Ordinary Chocolate Brownie

By The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Ingredients (15 pieces)

Wet ingredients:

1 cups dates, roughly chopped

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp Bicarb soda

2 cup pumpkin puree (approx 600g pumpkin boiled, cooled, mashed)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup almond milk (or normal milk)

1/2 cup agave syrup (or honey, melted)

2 tsp vanilla extract

125g sugar free, dairy free chocolate, melted – optional if you can find it I didn’t use it in my second batch and it tasted fine. Just less chocolaty!

Dry ingredients

2/3 cup coconut flour

3/4 cup baking cocoa (I use nestle)

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (or macadamias could be used instead)

1/2 cup stevia powder (or any other sweetener alternative)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 175 degrees

Grease and line a lamington slice tray.

In an electric blender place the chopped dates, boiling water and Bicarb soda. Let this sit for 5 minutes to soften. Blend into a puree and place into a small bowl.

In the same small bowl place in the remaining wet ingredients and mix to combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift the cocoa, coconut flour, salt and baking powder. Place the stevia and walnuts into the bowl along with the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Place mixture into the slice tin and smooth down the surface.

Place in oven for 30 minutes and remove. Cool completely before slicing.

Serve with a sprinkling of cocoa and a dollop of natural yoghurt (or ice cream if you feel naughty)

For a really quick healthy chocolate sauce recipe see below:

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil, melted
2 ½ – 3Tbsp Cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 Tbsp Agave syrup

Mix it all together in a bowl and spoon over warmed brownie! Delicious!

I hope you brownie lovers out there will give it a go and claim back your favourite dessert! Thanks again to Collette for allowing me to post here and I hope that you all will pop in and say Hi at The Whimsical Wife.

https://www.facebook.com/thewhimsicalwife

Love, Melissa x

Guest Blog "The Whimsical Wife"

In my pantry....Rice and Pasta

Good Evening! Thank you for stopping by to read todays blog….what is in my Gluten, Dairy and Preservative Free Pantry part 3 … 

Rice and Pasta

One of the most common things I hear when people find out that they are Coeliac is that they are bummed because they can no longer have Pasta. Whilst its going to be difficult to go to a restaurant and order a pasta (unless they have a Gluten Free option and you trust them) its not difficult to find pasta to cook at home. 

Pasta: In my pantry I have Rice Pasta, Rice and Quinoa Pasta and Buckwheat Pasta (remembering that buckwheat IS gluten and wheat free) I also have Rice Vermicelli noodles, Rice Spaghetti and Rice Paper Rolls (not sure if they are best in the pasta or rice section! so thought I would add them in here!)

The Rice and Quinoa Pasta I buy in bulk from Santos Trading online.

In my cupboard, Buckwheat Pasta, Rice Vermicelli noodles, rice paper rolls, Rice Spaghetti – all purchased from Supermarkets, Green Grocers and Health Food Stores

You can buy ‘Gluten Free’ Pasta but it has corn in and I am allergic to that. Be careful (as always) when buying anything in a packet that ‘extras’ (additives) are not added and read the ingredients, don’t assume from the marketing on the front of the packet that they will be ok.

I love Rice Vermicelli noodles, they are so very useful to use at the end of a week when you only had a few random bits of vegetables left, they will bulk up your vegetables to make a meal, and I would also throw in a handful of chia seeds and fresh herbs or lemon zest too. Yum!

My biggest tip when starting out your cooking with Rice Pasta is follow the instructions perfectly! It goes from being undercooked to mush in minutes! So watch it carefully and you will be able to enjoy pasta still!

Rice: I have brown, basmati, sushi, arborio and wild rice

I use Basmati as my ‘plain white rice’ instead of ‘plain white rice’ – it is high in iron and low in fat. Brown rice  is my ‘rice of choice’ which I use the majority of the time, although it does take half an hour to cook, so not great if you are time poor. Brown rice is high in magnesium and fibre and many other minerals. It is far better nutritionally for you then white rice. 
Sushi rice – well, I use that in Sushi (funny enough) …. Arborio rice – is the ‘risotto’ rice.

“Wild Rice”

 

Wild rice, as expensive as it is I love it! It adds a slightly nutty flavour to the rice and a crunch also, anyone that follows my blog regularly knows that I am a fan of ‘texture’ – so it would make sense that I love adding wild rice to my rice dishes. Wild rice is high in antioxidants and fibre and has twice as much protein as brown rice. 

Here are some photos of meals from my books where I have included these different Pastas and Rices. 

Brown Rice Salad – from book “Cut out the Crap’

Seafood Risotto from book ‘Cut out the Crap’

Pistachio and Coriander Pasta from book ‘Cut out the Crap’

I hope this has helped you in some way! Have you tried all these different versions of rice and pasta? Why not try something different this week?

Wishing you a wonderful evening and rest of the week!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

 www.facebook.com/cutoutthecrap

www.instagram.com/collette_cutoutthecrap

www.twitter.com/cutoutthecrap

 

 

 

In my pantry....Rice and Pasta

The Chemical Maze "Bookshelf Companion"

The Chemical Maze Bookshelf Companion, written by Bill Statham and Lindy Schneider, is designed as a home reference guide to the chemicals in processed foods as food additives and the ingredients in personal care and cosmetic products

The Bookshelf Companion includes a bonus section on household products from air fresheners to window cleaners, highlighting the toxic chemicals used in commercial brands.

Everything that the “Shopping Guide” has PLUS more! A must have for your additive free journey!

The Chemical Maze "Bookshelf Companion"

The Chemical Maze "Shopping Companion"

The Chemical Maze book was written by Bill Statham to make it simpler and easier to recognize food additives and cosmetic ingredients having the potential to cause discomfort and ill-health. With this recognition comes freedom of choice and for many a new lease on life.

This perfect handbag size book allows you to search for food additives by name or INS number.

A must have on your journey of Additive Free living.

 

The Chemical Maze "Shopping Companion"

1 x BOX Berry Choc Chunk Lunch Box Bars

1 x box of 16 bars

My entire family LOVE these bars! A must have in any lunch box, hand bag and sports bag!

Ingredients: Organic Rice Malt, Dark Chocolate Cacao, Pea Protein Isolate, Whole Cranberries, Organic Coconut, Sultanas, Water Hulled Tahini, Organic Cocoa, Flaxmeal, Sunflower Seeds, Certified Organic Cacao, Organic Cacao butter, Organic Agave Syrup, Organic Vanilla Beans, Himalayan Crystal Salt, Certified Organic Acai Berries, Blueberry, Blackberry, Raspberry, Cranberry, Gojiberry, Mango, Beetroot, Calcium Citrate, Fruit Trim, Chia Seeds, Fructoolgosaccharides (Prebiotic).

Allergen Warning: This product is manufactured on equipment which processes products which may contain nuts.

1 x BOX Berry Choc Chunk Lunch Box Bars

And the winner of the Springhill farm bread give-away is....

Good Morning! I massive THANK YOU to all who entered into the Spring Hill farm bread give-away and once again a massive THANK YOU to Spring Hill Farm…I could not do these give-aways without these wonderful companies wanting to share their awesome products with you!

The winner is…. JODIE…. with the comment of : would love to win this because i would love for my nephew to have some gluten free bread the poor lil man misses his bread and i would love for me to cook it and present him with some bread he would love. Good Luck Everyone!

It was SO hard choosing a winner…I really wanted to give something to all of you!!!! But sadly I couldn’t!!!!!!

Jodie – if you could please email me your postal address to info@cutoutthecrap.com.au

www.springhillfarm.com.au

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! It is cold and miserable and simply yucky weather here…I am off to make some more bread and scrumptious Pumpkin Soup from Cut out the Crap (and using Pumpkin my sister grew!) 

Take Care of You,

Collette x

And the winner of the Springhill farm bread give-away is....

And the winner of the Springhill farm bread give-away is....

Good Morning! I massive THANK YOU to all who entered into the Spring Hill farm bread give-away and once again a massive THANK YOU to Spring Hill Farm…I could not do these give-aways without these wonderful companies wanting to share their awesome products with you!

The winner is…. JODIE…. with the comment of : would love to win this because i would love for my nephew to have some gluten free bread the poor lil man misses his bread and i would love for me to cook it and present him with some bread he would love. Good Luck Everyone!

It was SO hard choosing a winner…I really wanted to give something to all of you!!!! But sadly I couldn’t!!!!!!

Jodie – if you could please email me your postal address to info@cutoutthecrap.com.au

www.springhillfarm.com.au

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! It is cold and miserable and simply yucky weather here…I am off to make some more bread and scrumptious Pumpkin Soup from Cut out the Crap (and using Pumpkin my sister grew!) 

Take Care of You,

Collette x

And the winner of the Springhill farm bread give-away is....

Conscious Chocolate - Mint

Conscious Chocolate 60% Cacao.  Raw, Organic, Handmade, Low GI, No Dairy, No Soy, Gluten Free, No added sugar. 45g

Quite possibly the most delicious chocolate I have ever tried!

Raw Organic Ingredients: Cacao Solids 60% min, cacao butter, agave nectar, cacao powder, coconut oil, wild carob, cinnamon. Pure ingredients: Himalayan crystal salt & pure essential peppermint oil.

Conscious Chocolate - Mint

In my pantry....SUGAR!

Good afternoon! I hope this finds you all well. I am a day late with my next part of “What is in my Gluten, Dairy and Preservative Free Pantry” as the the office of COTC has been hectic (Thanks for everyones support and love of my books!) I have to say also a massive Thank you to my sister Jes who has been on call to help me with orders when I have needed it too! I am thrilled to have just added to my ‘shopping cart’ the ADDITIVE FREE SHOPPING GUIDE by Tanya Winfield! Just another tool I love to be able to offer to help you in your journey of healthy additive free eating.

COTC Additive Free Pack now on available for sale!

I am taking a huge deep breath as I uncover what is in my Pantry for ‘Sugar’ this week….Now, I am just going to put it out there….both my books are Gluten Dairy and Preservative Free ….NOT sugar free. In my books I use ‘plain’ sugars like white, castor and brown as I did a heap of research from my family and friends and their family and friends and found out that this is what most people want….easy simple recipes with ingredients you can get from the local Supermarkets….and if you don’t use these sugars, you can simply swap it for sweetener of your choice….there are SO many out there….there are pro’s and con’s for them all and as I say with everything in life, you need to make the decision that is right for you and your family.

This is what is right for me…..I am going to add a little extra bit to that and say “at the moment” as my learning of healthy eating is an ongoing journey still and I hope it always will be.

SUGAR

In my pantry:

White Sugar, Castor Sugar, Brown Sugar, Icing Sugar, Agave Nectar, Coconut Sugar, Rapadura and Natvia

 

White, Castor, Brown and Icing : the most common sugars bought. I have heard these sugars be called “empty sugars”  and white sugar be called “white poison” as they have no nutritional value and are simply there for taste. The point of this blog isn’t to persuade you to choose one sugar over another and there are MANY websites  and books out there that can give you more information on this sugar debate. 
I use white, castor and brown sugars for cakes and muffins when cooking and testing for COTC books and recipes. I use icing sugar simply only for icing cakes. This is what you will find in both my books. 

Agave Syrup: I love this stuff! For me it is a cheaper version of Maple Syrup. If I need a comforting cuppa, I love nothing more than a Rooibus tea with a splash of rice milk and 1/2 tspn agave. We use this on pancakes and I have been experimenting on using this in cakes instead of the ‘standard’ sugars – but like anything when swapping textures it takes a bit of experimenting. You can find out a more information on Agave at www.lovingearth.net - I buy mine from either Loving Earth or Santos Trading (both online) and you can get it in some health food sections of Supermarkets or Health food stores. The “light” agave is milder in flavour than the “dark”.

Coconut Sugar: It is almost toffee like and I use it mostly to replace brown sugar but have used it to replace white also. Once again you can find out more at Loving Earth. I personally think it is sweeter then brown and white sugar. I have used this to replace the brown sugar in my Carrot Cake recipe in COTC. 

Carrot Cake from COTC recipe book

Rapadura: I buy this in the bulk section of a local health food store. I use this to replace brown sugar. It is more expensive yet much better for you as it has vitamins and minerals. 

Natvia: I have heard people raving about this natural sweetener. The packaging it comes in says it has 0.6 calories per 3g teaspoon compared to white sugar which has 16 calories per 4g teaspoon. I personally dont like the taste. It reminds me of being a kid and nicking my Nans “fake sugar” tablets …. I have tried it in tea and cakes and just can’t take to the taste at all. Its here in my cupboard now but I won’t replace it – if it ever runs out!

So thats it for whats in my cupboard for Sugar…as I say there are so many options out there….Good Luck finding whats right for you….or if you are like me cover all options and decide on what to use depending on the recipe!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

In my pantry....SUGAR!

COTC Additive Free pack!

This pack contains:

1 x Cut out the Crap Recipe Book

1 x Cut out the Crap for Kids Recipe book

1 x Additive Free Shopping Guide

1 x Yummy Earth Lollipops

1 x Yummy Earth Lolly drops

1 x COTC Calico bag

Everything you need to start your COTC additive free journey!

COTC Additive Free pack!

Additive Free Shopping Guide - by Tanya Winfield

This handy little guide is a ‘must have’ for anyone on an additive free journey. With over 800 products listed this guide shows you which product names to purchase when shopping – and it is even broken down into the major supermarkets for an even quicker reference! Why stand in the supermarket for hours reading labels when Tanya has done all that hard work for you!

 

Additive Free Shopping Guide - by Tanya Winfield

Springhill Farm give-away...

Good afternoon! I hope this finds you all well. Quite often I am asked about Gluten Free bread….and generally my answer is “I don’t know” …due to all of my allergies if ingredients normally found in bread (which are not only Gluten, wheat, dairy, and soy) but also corn and yeast, I haven’t found a bread that I can eat so I stopped looking quite a while ago. I often ask the world of FB what they use for bread when they have a Gluten Free diet and the name that kept popping up was “Spring Hill Farm” …. Adding yeast to it meant I couldn’t eat it but out of nothing but curiosity I decided to grab myself some and give it a go! The result was exciting and OH MY GOSH my house smelt amazing! I have not made bread in 15 years and forgot what joy making bread gave me….although I make cakes and biscuits all the time and often feel tied to the kitchen, there is something special about pulling fresh bread out of the oven!  Miss 10 and Miss 8 were even more excited to think that I had made it ( quote “WOW Mum you made bread” and then this morning Miss 8 side “WOW mum your bread made toast” ha ha ha ha!) and devoured 3/4 of it for afternoon tea! NOW…this says a lot since they are not Gluten Free, infact they have no allergies at all and can eat what ever they want…yet they kept asking for more!

Spring Hill Farm

To bake, oh, to dream. What started as a hobby whipping up some muesli slices for school kids visiting our working farm is now a fully baked Victorian-based business, serving delicious treats to the world from our original home-made recipes.

Delicious sweet snacks and Gluten Free treats

The ingredients in The Real Bread Mix – Original is as followed: (this is the one I made)

- Maize starch

- Potato starch

- Flaxseed flour

- Psyllium pea protein

The Real Bread Mixes are all made in Australia.

 

After getting my order in the mail I contacted the company and spoke to the ever so lovely Natalie and GUESS WHAT???? They have offered a hamper of goodies to one COTC friend for FREE!!!!!! 

The hamper will include: 

3X The Real Bread Mix – Original

3X The Real Bread Mix – Fruit

3X The Real Bread Mix – Seeds

2X Kids baking aprons (These aprons are specially included in this hamper for this giveaway, usually they are only available as a part of another pack!!!)

VALUE $80!!!!!!

Would you like to win this????? If you answered a massive YES then go ahead and comment on this blog….“I would like to win this because………”

ONE lucky winner will be chosen on Friday 22nd Feb and announced here on my blog!

In the meantime why not head over and check out their website, all their other scrumptious goodies and don’t forget to LIKE their Facebook page to keep up to date with all the latest products and news! 

Good Luck!!!!! I look forward to reading your comments!!!!

Take Care of You, 

Collette x

Springhill Farm give-away...

Saturday, 16 February 2013

and the LOVING EARTH winner is......

Good Morning! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who entered into this LOVING EARTH give-away. 

The lucky winner is ALEXANDRA W

If Alexandra can please email me at info@cutoutthecrap.com.au with a postal address

A MASSIVE Thank you also to LOVING EARTH for giving me a chance to make one COTC friend extra happy with a box of these goodies!

DON’T FORGET these Luvju boxes are on special for the month of FEB…35% off!!!!! Why not grab some and pop them aside for gifts (or even better treat yourself!)

Have a great day!

Take Care of You,

 

and the LOVING EARTH winner is......

and the LOVING EARTH winner is......

Good Morning! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who entered into this LOVING EARTH give-away. 

The lucky winner is ALEXANDRA W

If Alexandra can please email me at info@cutoutthecrap.com.au with a postal address

A MASSIVE Thank you also to LOVING EARTH for giving me a chance to make one COTC friend extra happy with a box of these goodies!

DON’T FORGET these Luvju boxes are on special for the month of FEB…35% off!!!!! Why not grab some and pop them aside for gifts (or even better treat yourself!)

Have a great day!

Take Care of You,

 

and the LOVING EARTH winner is......

and the LOVING EARTH WINNER is....

Good Morning! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who entered into this LOVING EARTH give-away. 

The lucky winner is ALEXANDRA W

If Alexandra can please email me at info@cutoutthecrap.com.au with a postal address

A MASSIVE Thank you also to LOVING EARTH for giving me a chance to make one COTC friend extra happy with a box of these goodies!

DON’T FORGET these Luvju boxes are on special for the month of FEB…35% off!!!!! Why not grab some and pop them aside for gifts (or even better treat yourself!)

Have a great day!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

and the LOVING EARTH WINNER is....

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

What is in my Pantry? Flours and Meals....

Good Evening! As promised last week, over the next few weeks we are going to take a deep look in what is in my Gluten, Dairy and Preservative free Pantry….I was planning on posting this blog this morning but got a little side tracked today with a lovely catch up with the gorgeous Tanya from Additive Free Pantry….we always have such a lovely time together, we don’t shut up, laugh  A LOT and inspire each other, which in turn hopefully inspires YOU!

 

Today I will share with you Flours and Meals…..

Flours 

There are masses of different Flours you can buy …. “Gluten Free Flour” (pre packed mixed flours) white rice, brown rice, buckwheat, besan (chickpea), amaranth, arrowroot, maize (corn), quinoa, soy, potato …just to name a few….but for me I don’t want a cupboard full of 20 different flours that I don’t use all the time so I stick to just a couple. 

You need to always read labels carefully when buying packaged flours (as I am allergic to corn and soy ) I don’t buy the pre packaged Gluten Free Flours as these are included in them. 

I have rice flour (both brown and white), Buckwheat flour (which confusing as the name is, it isn’t actually wheat), Quinoa Flour and have once before bought Potato Flour. 

For 99% of my baking I use Rice and Buckwheat. I bought the Quinoa and Potato flours when making home made GF and DF Pizzas – and only ever used the Potato flour then (Here is the link  for the Pizza if you are interested). Potato flour would be good for a ‘thickener’ in cooking, but purely out of habit I always reach for the rice flour when needing this. Quinoa I use from time to time (when making Poori bread from book Cut out the Crap) it is great and it also makes yummy pancakes. For school cakes and everyday baking I use Rice and Buckwheat. 

Carrot Cake (using buckwheat flour) from Cut out the Crap

I buy white rice flour from the Supermarket. It comes in little red boxes. I buy my brown rice flour and buckwheat flours online and in bulk (you can buy them from Health food stores and often in Supermarkets)- I then transfer them over to an air tight container.

My flours (white rice, brown rice, quinoa and buckwheat) I think I need new labels!

Like when eating a bowl of white rice v brown rice there is a difference in the flours. Brown rice is ‘nuttier’ in taste as it is ground with the ‘husk’ still on it. There is also a nutritional difference with brown rice being the healthier option for more fibre, magnesium and other vitamins.  I don’t think the cake / slice / biscuit will turn out different when swapping between white and brown rice flours in your recipe….or at least in my opinion it doesn’t!

What you need to remember: Gluten Free flours (like listed above) are plain flours. Having no Gluten in them means they can be a tad ‘fussier’ to work with as the Gluten is normally the ‘ingredient’ that helps it bind and rise. I find them quite dry and so you may need to ‘tweak’ recipes if you are wanting to convert and old favourite from wheat plain or wheat self raising flour. You may need to add raising agents (eg baking powder) and you also might need more liquid (milk, butter, oil etc).

Meals

(definition : the edible part of any grain or pulse ground to powder)

Almond Meal

Once again there is a great variety. I personally have Almond Meal and Hazelnut Meal in my pantry. I use these for cakes and biscuits. I also use Almond Meal to thicken up a Curry if its needed as it adds another beautiful ‘nutty’ taste and thick texture to the dish.

You will see in my first book “Cut out the Crap” that I use Almond Meal in different cakes and make the most scrumptious Macaroons using Hazelnut Meal (one is never enough!)

Hazenut Meringues from COTC

I hope this has helped….if you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to comment here or email me at info@cutoutthecrap.com.au and I will do my best to help you!

Have a great day!

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

 PS Don’t forget to head to yesterdays blog and enter into the LOVING EARTH give-away!  http://www.cutoutthecrap.com.au/loving-earth-give-away/

 

What is in my Pantry? Flours and Meals....

What is in my Pantry? Flours and Meals....

Good Evening! As promised last week, over the next few weeks we are going to take a deep look in what is in my Gluten, Dairy and Preservative free Pantry….I was planning on posting this blog this morning but got a little side tracked today with a lovely catch up with the gorgeous Tanya from Additive Free Pantry….we always have such a lovely time together, we don’t shut up, laugh  A LOT and inspire each other, which in turn hopefully inspires YOU!

 

Today I will share with you Flours and Meals…..

Flours 

There are masses of different Flours you can buy …. “Gluten Free Flour” (pre packed mixed flours) white rice, brown rice, buckwheat, besan (chickpea), amaranth, arrowroot, maize (corn), quinoa, soy, potato …just to name a few….but for me I don’t want a cupboard full of 20 different flours that I don’t use all the time so I stick to just a couple. 

You need to always read labels carefully when buying packaged flours (as I am allergic to corn and soy ) I don’t buy the pre packaged Gluten Free Flours as these are included in them. 

I have rice flour (both brown and white), Buckwheat flour (which confusing as the name is, it isn’t actually wheat), Quinoa Flour and have once before bought Potato Flour. 

For 99% of my baking I use Rice and Buckwheat. I bought the Quinoa and Potato flours when making home made GF and DF Pizzas – and only ever used the Potato flour then (Here is the link  for the Pizza if you are interested). Potato flour would be good for a ‘thickener’ in cooking, but purely out of habit I always reach for the rice flour when needing this. Quinoa I use from time to time (when making Poori bread from book Cut out the Crap) it is great and it also makes yummy pancakes. For school cakes and everyday baking I use Rice and Buckwheat. 

Carrot Cake (using buckwheat flour) from Cut out the Crap

I buy white rice flour from the Supermarket. It comes in little red boxes. I buy my brown rice flour and buckwheat flours online and in bulk (you can buy them from Health food stores and often in Supermarkets)- I then transfer them over to an air tight container.

My flours (white rice, brown rice, quinoa and buckwheat) I think I need new labels!

Like when eating a bowl of white rice v brown rice there is a difference in the flours. Brown rice is ‘nuttier’ in taste as it is ground with the ‘husk’ still on it. There is also a nutritional difference with brown rice being the healthier option for more fibre, magnesium and other vitamins.  I don’t think the cake / slice / biscuit will turn out different when swapping between white and brown rice flours in your recipe….or at least in my opinion it doesn’t!

What you need to remember: Gluten Free flours (like listed above) are plain flours. Having no Gluten in them means they can be a tad ‘fussier’ to work with as the Gluten is normally the ‘ingredient’ that helps it bind and rise. I find them quite dry and so you may need to ‘tweak’ recipes if you are wanting to convert and old favourite from wheat plain or wheat self raising flour. You may need to add raising agents (eg baking powder) and you also might need more liquid (milk, butter, oil etc).

Meals

(definition : the edible part of any grain or pulse ground to powder)

Almond Meal

Once again there is a great variety. I personally have Almond Meal and Hazelnut Meal in my pantry. I use these for cakes and biscuits. I also use Almond Meal to thicken up a Curry if its needed as it adds another beautiful ‘nutty’ taste and thick texture to the dish.

You will see in my first book “Cut out the Crap” that I use Almond Meal in different cakes and make the most scrumptious Macaroons using Hazelnut Meal (one is never enough!)

Hazenut Meringues from COTC

I hope this has helped….if you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to comment here or email me at info@cutoutthecrap.com.au and I will do my best to help you!

Have a great day!

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

 PS Don’t forget to head to yesterdays blog and enter into the LOVING EARTH give-away!  http://www.cutoutthecrap.com.au/loving-earth-give-away/

 

What is in my Pantry? Flours and Meals....

Monday, 11 February 2013

Loving Earth give-away

Good afternoon and HAPPY Tuesday! If you are reading this blog it means 1 of 2 things (or possibly both!) You LOVE Cut out the Crap and you LOVE Chocolate! Welcome to my world!!!!!! Whilst I am Gluten Dairy and Preservative Free (plus many other things) I am a typical female who craves Chocolate at times and I LOVE the fact that even with all of my allergies there is Chocolate still around that I can eat……

LOVING EARTH

Loving Earth is a Melbourne based company dedicated to sourcing and manufacturing the highest quality organic, fairly traded and wild crafted functional foods available. We work with small producer communities around the world to provide healthy, sustainable & fair ingredients, which we use to handcraft our unique range of raw chocolate bars and superfood snacks.

2 weeks ago I got a delivery of ‘Loving Earth’ products (which I do every couple of Months) This time I got Agave Nectar, Drinking Chocolate and Maca. I also got for the first time a Mixed box of Luvju ……. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! HAVE YOU TRIED THEM!!!!!!!????????

What is it?

Each box contains two of each Luvju flavour, that’s 14 in every box!

There are four Coconut Sugar Chocolate flavours made with organic, raw cacao; Orange & Gubinge, Maqui Chocolate, Mint & AFA, plus our ever popular Coconut Mylk Chocolate.

We also include three flavours of revitalising superfood bar; Orange Luvju combines gubinge and camu camu with apricots, coconut and almonds, Purple Luvju amalgamates maqui berry powder and acai with cashews, white mulberries, sour cherries and cacao, while Green Luvju blends AFA with figs, almonds, goji berries, chia and brazil nut powder.

Cane Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Low GI, Vegan

Gorgeous heart shapes (ignore my finger prints!) …. ready to be eaten….

OH MY! They are so AMAZING and I have to say I have had to hide them so I don’t eat them all in a week!!!!!!! My sister was here when they arrived and excitingly we opened them up trying to see what our favourites would be and tasted a bit of most of them!!!!!!…. and even made little ‘Luvju’ sandwiches….I would have to say my favourite was the Guubgine, Camu and Maca Superfood Bar, Hubbys favourite is the Maqui, Acai and Cacao Superfood bar and my sisters favourite was the Coconut Mylk raw organic chocolate…..I wonder what your favourite will be???? 

Hubby was thoroughly impressed!

This week you have the chance to win 1 mixed pack sent directly to your door!!!!! To enter simply comment HERE ON THIS BLOG what your favourite Superfood Bar and Chocolate Combination would be if you could make your own!!!!!!!!

ONE lucky winner will be chosen on Friday 15th Feb 9pm – and announced here also! Winner can be within Australia only (due to postage)

My delivery!!!!!! YUMMO!

In the mean time why not head over and become a friend of Loving Earths Facebook page….keep up to date with their specials and gorgeous products! These boxes would be the PERFECT gift for any occasion….Valentines Day, Birthdays, Mothers Day, Thank yous …. or simply just to let someone know that you care….. and even better still for the month of FEBRUARY these Luvju boxes are 30% off!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.lovingearth.net/special-offers

Website: www.lovingearth.net

Facebook: lovingearth

Instagram: loving_earth

Good Luck and look forward to hearing what you come up with……

Have a great day!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

Loving Earth give-away

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