TGF Christmas Dinner!! (Truly Gluten Free)

Yes, I managed it! A simple yet delicious Christmas dinner with just enough Christmassy flavours for me!

It doesn't look much - but taking photos of real food is never glamorous!! So here it is - homely, badly presented, cosy and yummy Christmas dinner!

All the right flavours in all the right places :)

It consists of Roasted veg: sweet potatoes and parsnips in olive oil ...and delicata squash in Rosemary, honey and mustard. We also had brussel sprouts fried in garlic, my very own TGF stuffing (extremely simple! Recipe here), leeks with nutmeg and a special rump steak -marinated for a day in wine, thyme, garlic and a dash of balsamic- and cooked to perfection for the first time in my life lol!! It was perfect - and I am well known for my disastrous steaks (hence the marinating!!)... All in all, it was tasty, filling and enjoyed by all 3 of us!
I consider myself lucky to be able to eat all that and not get ill! People who are more traditional would also have to make their own cranberry sauce etc for this to be a full on Christmas meal - but I am not bothered about these things! And we were too stuffed to even dream of Christmas cake or pudding!
Our meal was completed by homemade Christmas crackers!
Best joke: How does father Christmas like his pizza? Deep pan, crisp and even. Hahaha, it HAD to be about food, didn't it?!
Happy New Year Everybody!! xxxxxxxxxxxx

Roasted Delicata Squash seeds...

Just to say.... it works with these too!
See my post on these Roasted Butternut Squash Seeds

I have also tried this with "Potimarron" seeds (have just googled this and it is apparently known as "Red Kuri" squash) but they were a bit flat and chewy compared to Butternut and Delicata.

Mix them up with dired fruits (Rains, gojis, blueberries, mulberries, cut up apricots and figs...the combinations are endless!) I should say at this point that this batch has got oil, salt, cinnamon, vanilla powder AND a squirt of honey on!! OK, it starts out simple... then greediness gets the better of me and I... elaborate! ;D

Anyway, delicious!

Breeeeeaaaad! (well, near as dammit!) Focaccia actually!

God bless people who share online!
I am a regular follower of Micki Rose's Truly Gluten Free (TGF) blog - recently, she pointed me in the direction of some recipes she shared when she had a guest spot on Foods Matter. I had mentioned wanting to use linseed (flax seed) flour and as I have been tentatively experimenting with eating egg, I thought I'd give it a whirl! Here's a link to the recipe... my modifications are below...

http://www.freefromrecipesmatter.com/recipes/guests/articles/micki-rose-11-12.html

I did less mixture so adjusted ratios accordingly. I also had no baking powder, so used bicarbonate instead, adding a dash of vinegar to the mixture to activate it. It worked a treat - light and fluffy bread and no taste of vinegar! I sprinkled chopped rosemary and sea salt on mine.
I also made less mixture so couldn't do it in a tray - I made little buns instead!
This is the first time I have eaten anything ressembling bread in over 18 months!! WOOOHOOOOO! Thank you to Micki - and to 'Chrissie' who apparently originally shared the recipe on Micki's blog!
I have eaten mine with oven cooked veggies and with tapenade so far! Y.U.M!
Enjoy!!

Roasted Butternut seeds!

Something I CAN eat, woo!

mmm... crunchy nutty sweet yum

I am not managing to post often - partly lack of time - partly don't know where to start as my diet keeps getting more and more restrictive! This blog will have to serve as occasional inspiration for vegetable combos!!
Anyway, today I was roasting some butternut squash slices - and decided to keep the seeds and roast them at the same time -WOW! Why have I never done this before?! 

lightly seasoned

Scoop out butternut innards, if comes away easily from flesh, just give them a rinse then spread out onto kitchen roll... any stringy bits of flesh will stay behind on the tissue when you transfer them onto another piece of kitchen roll. If they are more sticky and gloopy, put in a bowl of water and swish about/ rub with fingers to work flesh loose then drain and do as above to get off last bits and dry.

Then, I believe you can just roast them dry - but keep a close eye on them as they scorch easily.
I coated mine very lightly in olive oil. Half of them I sprinkled cinnamon onto. The other half, I seasoned very slightly in sea salt and pepper....

 The reults are delicious! Roasted them for about 12 mins, maybe 15... tossed them halfway through.
For some reason, the lightly seasoned ones taste of popcorn! And the cinnamon ones don't really taste of cinnamon but it gives them a sweet side that makes them taste nuttier - and seeing as I no longer eat nuts, this now tastes positively tropical to me lol!! ;D (My nearly two year old loves them too btw - RESULT!)
Enjoy!!

Link to Ghislaine Lanctot's Book "Medical Mafia"

This is a link to a copy of Ghislaine Lanctot's book The Medical Mafia ('How to get out of it alive and take back our health and wealth')
It looks to be a good read... it has been re-published in 2002. This poor lady has been made to pay just for relaying information to the masses!

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/archivos_pdf/medical_mafia.pdf

Buckwheat Flapjacks

160g Buckwheat flakes (rolled)
80g raisins
As much dried fruit as you like (I use a palmful of goji berries, sultanas, 2 or 3 apricots, maybe a couple of prunes, you could use mulberries, cranberries...etc)
Fresh berries if you have any (a few strawberries)
2 tspns sweetner (sweet freeedom or agave syrop)
A big lug of apple juice (use less if you use fresh fruit)
A palmful of pumkin seeds
Chia seeds
Lin (flax) seeds
(Any other seeds or nuts according to your tastes/ allergies!)
Olive oil (about a quarter cup)
pinch of salt

Mix it all together! I don't mix this one, so you may want to pre-chop the fruit!

Spread onto greaseproof paper on a baking tray and cook on a low heat for about 10 mins or so (preheat the oven for a few mins) then turn over by putting another sheet of greaseproof paper over the top and flipping it. Then peel off the original paper from the top side and cook in th eoven again for 3 or 4 minutes for a nice even colour and texture. Voila!

This recipe is not recommended as totally TGF Barrier Plan safe - as buckwheat is almost always cross-contaminated apparently (most 'gluten free' companies still process foods containing rice, oats, millet and corn - and are therefore NOT GLUTEN FREE!)

Curried buckwheat burgers

These also contain lectins (the red lentils so are not suitable for the Barrier Diet- for those of you trying to heal from leaky gut). You can do this with only buckwheat and maybe bind with egg if you can eat it or soaked chia seed gloop.

1 cup (dry) coral lentils (red lentils)
1 cup (150g) Buckwheat flakes (or oats if you eat them)
Palmful chia seeds, optional (any seeds!)
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely or crushed
1 inch fresh ginger
courgette/ carrot, grated, optional
An onion or large shallot, chopped very finely
lots of mint (fresh or dry)
Curry spices*
Olive oil / grapeseed oil
sea salt and pepper

*check there are no additives like dextrose (usually corn derived and therefore containing gluten)

Cook the lentils and drain well. Add buckwheat flakes when they have cooled a bit. These should soak up any water in the lentils and all bind together well. Add spices, s+p and mint etc and mix well by hand.
I pre-cook (fry to colour) the onions and grated veg, quickly, in olive oil, adding the garlic and ginger 30 seconds before you finish frying. Add these into the above mixture.
Bring it all together with your hands and form 'burgers', not too big so they cook nicely and have a nice crsipy outside to squidgy inside ratio going on, if you know what I mean!
I then coat them with flour - I use chick pea or buckwheat flour.
Enjoy!

Good with salad - good with anything, depends what you can eat!  Bon appetit :)