Sugar and Spice and all things nice.

Today Miss B is three! In previous years we've kind of gone with a green theme being that it's St Patrick's Day. But now she's at an age where she knows what she wants, everything has to be pink!

So what could possibly be girlier than Rosewater cupcakes with fairies on top?

Gluten and Dairy Free Rosewater Cupcakes:
125 mls rice bran oil
3 eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups gluten free plain flour (I used white wings)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ cup rice milk
1 tbsp rosewater

Preheat oven to 180C.
With a handmixer, beat together oil and sugar. Keep beating adding one egg at a time.
Add flour, baking powder, rice milk and rosewater and beat until batter is smooth.
Equally distribute between 12 cupcake cases and bake for 25 minutes (check with a skewer, clean skewer = ready).

Decorate as you please, but if you want to ensure they are allergy friendly read decoration packet's carefully.

I simply coloured sugar with pink colouring for the fairy dust beneath the cupcakes. The icing was pure icing sugar, pink colouring, a teaspoon of rosewater and a splash of rice milk. The fairies are from the supermarket and one of the few GFCF things I could find!

Muffin Madness!

In my search to find more things to fill T's lunchbox, I've decided to make a massive batch of muffins. Thankfully, both were a huge hit with all three kids so this should also be a good breakfast for B who is refusing her gluten free cereal. And surely they can't be any less healthy than commercial cereal anyway.



Carrot and Cinnamon Muffins. (makes 12)

• 3 Cups Orgran Plain Flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 Cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup of rice milk
• 90 mls rice bran oil
• 1 generous cup grated carrot

Blueberry Muffins. (makes 12)

• 3 Cups Orgran Plain Flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 Cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  
• 1 cup of rice milk
• 90 mls rice bran oil
• 1 generous cup fresh blueberries
  

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 210 degrees celsius.
Allow to cool on tray for 10 minutes, then they're ready to eat or allow to cook completely and store in an airtight container.

The Gluten and Dairy Free 1st Birthday Party!

Yesterday Baby E turned one!

As he had his Maxillary Frenulum Release operation on Thursday, we just had a quiet party for him. Just us, his Dad and a couple of my friends and their kids. As we didn't throw a party for Torin in December, I wasn't too sure on what to have on the menu. But it turned out to be quite easy.

For the grown-ups:
Antipasto - artichoke hearts, roasted capsicum and eggplant, olives, marinated asparagus spears, prosciutto (Hans make GF).
Maggie Beer Pate, dips and King Island double brie with rice crackers, carrot sticks and celery.
Home made california rolls, filled with avocado, cucumber and smoked salmon with wasabi, soy and pickled ginger on the side.

For the kids:
A fruit and veg platter - watermelon, grapes, carrot sticks, celery, rice crackers and corn chips.
Icy poles.
Chocolate crackles (made by the wonderful Donna).

The cake:
Home made by Donna. GFCF Chockie cake.

I promise you...

1. I'm not being lazy.

2. I will start putting the camera out of reach of children so they're not able to delete photos before I can blog them.

3. That I have not killed anyone since quitting smoking.

4. That even though I am about to become a World of Warcraft addict, I will still blog.

5. I will not blog about World of Warcraft!

;)

Peer pressure!

Isn't it funny how over the years peer pressure changes?

Smoking, for example. I always joked that I didn't start smoking due to peer pressure, it was because my Mum smoked AND worked for a tobacco company. But seriously, if it was deemed extremely uncool like it is now, I don't think I ever would have started at all. So my New Years Resolution is to quit. I have just smoked my last cigarette. As a back up plan, I have the name and number of a hypnotherapist in case I fall off the wagon.

Another thing that's changed is New Year's Eve. Unless I have been pregnant (and gone to bed early sulking and muttering angrily at the neighbours all partying on) I have managed to get myself a little bit too happy. Even the year I volunteered to work at Flemington Races on New Years Day. But before kids, you can manage little sleep and downing 30 litres of water to make it through the day and manage to skip a hangover.

This New Years Eve was different. I spent it at a friend's house, having a barbeque, with all the kids in tow. There were my hosts, and their three kids, and another couple, who also had three kids. And my need to sit down and chat to adults and relax and actually have someone else do the cooking for once, completely outweighed my need to get drunk!

Not only that, these amazing friends made it a gluten free event so I could relax without stressing about myself or Bridie geting ill!

And my last point on peer pressure is this. Jeanette has started blogging!
Jeanette was always willing to share recipes and would frequently PM me or write me notes on facebook but now she has a blog!!!! It is here - http://umeboshipink.blogspot.com/ and I have already baked and eaten a slice of her pumpkin bread (mine had garlic, chopped spinach and cummin and is pictured above) and it's awesome.
So she's worth stalking if you need vegan, gluten and dairy free recipes!

Funky Town.

I'm feeling a bit blerk with the blogging thing.

Cooking is getting waaaaay too boring to blog. The good news is that now I've removed fructose, dairy AND gluten Bridie seems to be better. Her excema is clearing and she is now having no tummy troubles (without going into graphic detail).
So now that she's not having tummy issues, she wants to start toilet training. That started today. So I had one little picannini running about all rudey nudey all day long.
Toilet training tally today:
Wee: 3 on the carpet, 1 on the bathroom floor, 2 outside!
Poo: 1 on the carpet.

Now poo on the carpet would normally freak me out due to her previous consistency issues. But this was a normal poo and the mess was easily remedied.

So bear with me while I master our newly restricted shopping list, and I'll see if I can come up with something exciting!

Mother Hubbard's Fried Rice.

School holidays do my head in. I'm normally pretty organised and have my routine down pat. Monday is shopping day. But last Monday I drove to Melbourne so Torin could stay with his Nana for the week. Which meant no time for shopping. Then when I did shop, I bought less because Torin wasn't here. It's amazing how much a break in the mundane routine can work against you though.

This afternoon, I was wondering what to cook for dinner. I knew I had some gluten free sausages but they were frozen! So a meat free dish was on the menu. A quick browse through the fridge and pantry (and having a read of Dixiebelle's blog) made me decide on Fried Rice.
Mind you, Dixiebelle's is a little more gourmet. But Edan is finally starting to enjoy solids so this is very basic.

Fried Rice
1 Ear of corn, kernels shaved off
1 bunch pak choy, finely sliced
1 large carrot, julienned
1/2 cup frozen peas (preferably local but mine were from New Zealand)
1 cup of rice, cooked
2 eggs (whisked lightly)
soy sauce
oil for cooking

I heat the wok up and then make a mini omelette from the eggs. I then remove that and put aside for garnish.
Than add the vegetables and stir fry. Add the rice and stir everything through. Cover and lower the heat and cook for about 10 minutes. Uncover, drizzle soy sauce over and stir through. Serve, topped with strips of cooked egg.

Gluten & Dairy Free Gingerbread-style Biscotti

Last week I went to visit my friend D. She's one of those hospitality goddess type friends who make sure they cater for everyone ;) Anyway, the visit was last minute so I told her I'd bring my own allergy-friendly stuff. The time before her husband had grabbed some stuff which was delicious so I went to grab the same things. And my jaw absolutely dropped at the price. I was embarrassed that friends had gone *that* much out of their way to make my life easier. So I swore I would find a way to make my own biscotti for next time we had coffee together. So here it is!

Gingerbread-style Gluten & Dairy Free Biscotti.
Ingredients:
2 cups gluten free flour.
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon bicarb soda
110 mLs water
1 tablespoon treacle
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 C.
Put flour, sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl. Stir together.
In a small saucepan, gently heat water and treacle, until dissolved. Add bicarb soda and stir briskly. Tip into dry ingredients and stir well. Lightly beat egg and add vanilla essence. Stir into mixture with a rubber spatula until the dough is smooth and shiny and the consistency is not unlike Play-Doh! On a baking tray lined with baking paper, form a flat rectangular shape. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cut into slices about 2 cms thick. Lay slices on their side (so the cut surfaces are either up or face down) and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, turn over and cook the other side for 10 minutes.
Remove again and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. The biscotti may still be soft while warm, but will harden by the time they've cooled down.
Enjoy with a good strong cup of coffee!
:)

The big 2 being "friends".

Sesame Cornbread - Gluten and Dairy free.

Sesame Cornbread.

Ingredients:
250 mLs Soy Milk
1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
2/3 cup polenta
1/2 cup GF flour
1/3 cup sesame seeds
2/3 cup cheese *optional*(I used Delre Mini Chol soy cheese)
1 egg
25 mLs oil

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 C.
Add vinegar to milk. This will make the milk curdle, and is essentially mock buttermilk. Leave aside while you measure out remaining ingredients (30 minutes is best so maybe have a cuppa as well).
Place polenta, sesame seeds and flour into a large clean mixing bowl.
When time is up briskly stir bicarb soda into milk/vinegar mix, then pour into dry ingredients and combine.
Lightly beat egg, add oil and pour into mixing bowl and stir through.
The batter should be quite runny. If you're adding cheese, gently stir it through now.
Pour batter into greased loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes.
For best results, allow to cool in tin. Serve with a smear of dairy free spread (and we're having it on the side of our Broccoli Soup!).

Had to share these pictures of my cute two littlies as well.

Bridie and Edan enjoying some lovely watermelon!

Father's Day Quesadilla Breakfast...and a mistake...

Breakfast Quesadillas.

1 packet Diego's GF Corn Tortillas
Grated mini chol soy cheese
scrambled eggs (free range, organic)
middle bacon
button mushrooms, sliced

To make this all happen at once, I preheated the oven to 230 C and popped the bacon in on an oven tray. Bake for 30 minutes.

I popped the mushrooms in the microwave with a knob of dairy free spread in a covered dish. Four minutes for 1200W microwave.

I scrambled the eggs in a saucepan with dairy free spread and a splash of rice milk.

For the tortillas, I sprayed one side with olive oil spray and heated until soft. Flipped over and sprinkled grated cheese on top. When cheese was melted, I removed from the pan, popped bacon, mushrooms and scrambled eggs in and folded over. Serve with freshly ground pepper and sea salt.

The mistake didn't happen in the kitchen. My mistake is kind of really a vent...
All of this was planned for my ex-husband. He sees the kids EVERY SUNDAY. And sometimes he's late. Like today.

And this means me trying to get the kids to wait for something until Daddy is here ends in tears. So while his lovely breakfast is congealing on the kitchen bench, Torin is howling in his room and Bridie is sulking. And I typed this one handed because the howling woke Edan who is now climbing all over me.

I give up trying to be nice. I really do...

***NEWS FLASH*** Baby Milestone!

Baby Edan can now sit! (Aged 7 months, 1 week).

Eggs Benedict. (Feels like it should have roman numerals after it....)

Does anyone else get all gloaty and smug when they pull something off a supermarket shelf, and read the ingredients panel to rule it out and find it is actually ok to eat??? I must confess I do. I have absolute pity parties in the supermarket and to find products I desire and can actually have without being ill is enough to put a bit of bounce in my step.
Now I am a pretty lazy cook. Well I'm not *that* lazy. I do cook. From scratch usually. We very rarely eat out. But if I can find one thing that makes my life a teensy bit easier, I'm all for it. Which is why I have never actually made Hollandaise Sauce before. And that, in turn, explains why I didn't know it could be ok to eat! But the sachet pictured below has no dairy and no gluten and I am a happy little camper! w00t!!!So anyway, Eggs Benedict is so easy even I can make it with an eye patch on. But being the lazy chick that I am, I will let you follow instructions from the sen-bloody-sational Gordon Ramsay. And if you are less lazy than I and can tolerate dairy he even has the recipe for the sauce.

Funny little story here...I named my youngest son Edan Benedict. Being a non-Christian type person I didn't actually *know* that was the Pope's name. Well I probably did but I was too busy crossing bad baby names off the list, ya know?
And you know those scary pregnancy hormones that make you have unusual (yes. I do mean erotic) dreams? Gordon Ramsay every time.
So don't go overboard with Eggs Benedict ;) LOL!

Easy Rice Rolls....TGIF!

These are one of the things I always wanted to try and I am so glad I did!

I bought a packet of Vietnamese rice paper rounds. Followed the directions on the packet. Filled them with cooked rice noodles, shaved ham or chicken from deli (I was pressed for time), julienned carrots and splodges of avocado with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

They were awesome.
Next time I will remember to have GF Soy or some other dipping sauce on hand though.

I am looking forward to trying a few different fillings and possibly adding them to Torin's lunchbox.

Torin had a wonderful day out with my Aunt today. And we're both quite shocked with something amazing he did. She took him to a play centre. There was one of those machines you put a dollar in and the try and pick up a toy with the claw. I've never let him play them before truly believing they were rigged. But my aunty let him have just one turn.

Not only did he win a toy, he actually won the toy he wanted! He is now the very proud owner of a Yoshi toy.
I told you he was obsessed with Super Mario Brothers & friends.

Torin @ 6-and-2-thirds

Torin is 6 years and 8 months today. So here's a personality "snapshot" of him at this stage.

School: Torin has started at a state primary school in grade prep after quite a few too many bloody hiccups.
He commenced kindergarten in 2006. Got through that year without a hitch. He *was* enrolled at the school nearest his kindergarten but then there was apparently a boo-boo made on his application for funding for an aide (as he has autism). So his teacher-to-be essentially told me I could either keep him home or drag my baby daughter along and spend the day at school with him.
Now I have no problem doing what I can to help my child. But she didn't just cross the line there. She leapt over it. End result was I panicked and home-schooled for term one in 2007.
Now you hear stories about how home-schooling is great for autistic children because they can learn at their own pace and the environment doesn't upset them and all that jazz. Except you don't seem to hear about how HARD it is for the parent. I felt out of my depth and in Term 2, enrolled him in prep at the local Steiner School. THAT was the best thing I ever did. His teacher "J" was new to teaching and was amazing. She went above and beyond my expectations.
But this year, he went into a bigger combined class, had a different teacher and I don't think things were helped by the surprise premature arrival of Edan and he didn't cope very well. So midway through the year I decided to find him a state primary school so he was eligible for funding for an aide (which he sorely needs) and we found his current school. I also made the decision to put him back into prep as, academically, I felt that was best.
All he needed to know was there is computers there and he was rapt!

Health: As usual, he's as fit as a Mallee bull. Still needs very little sleep.

Developmental: He's still pretty delayed with his speech. I often feel he understand more than he lets me know. Is very good at finding loopholes in rules as he finds it hard to actually break rules. Emotionally he still reacts in a way I can only describe as toddler-esque. We still get tantrums sometimes and his auto-response to any direction is "NO".
His new emotion is "angry". Rather than saying "no", I now seem to get "I angry you Mum" or "I so angry Mum" or "Don't you angry me".

Likes: LOVES his Nintendo DS. Favourite games are Sonic, Super Mario Brothers and Yoshi's Island. Is quite obsessed with Super Mario and all his school work comes home completed and then he has filled the back of the page with drawings of Mario, including full "scenes" from the game.
Wants to eat Rice Cakes with Peanut (Free Nut) butter all day long.

Dislikes: Getting in the bath and later, getting out of the bath.

And while I sit here and look at what I have written it seems quite negative, but I do remember he was NOT talking AT ALL this time 4 years ago. And 3 years ago it was pointing and a single word. So he really has come far.

Autism 101

It really worries me sometimes when I see parents of autistic children say "I hate autism".

I don't hate autism.

• I hate the way I have trouble understanding autism.
• I hate the way society doesn't accept autism.
• I hate the way people refuse to educate themselves on autism - and I am talking family members, the parents of children who befriend autistic kids, teachers and health professionals.
• I hate the way the Australian Government has created packages for children with autism that STOP once they reach school (because Autism doesn't stop).
• I hate the way people pretend to listen to me about aspects of autism and completely ignore what I say.

So far I have been told Torin has autism because I fed him preservatives (I didn't) and that he'll "grow out of it".

But the things I love about Autism are as follows:

• The way Torin's language delay makes him mis-pronounce some words. When he began speech therapy he pronounced "elephant" as "abacus". He still asks for "pitter-patter" (Peanut butter) sandwiches. When I tell him off he says "Piggapardon" (LOL!) and his response to "Don't argue with me" is "Don't arg-me with you". It provides many a chuckle!
  
• I am fascinated to watch the way he interprets what he sees and re-produces it and how creative he can be with his mediums. He knows his alphabet but writes in a very strange way.He reproduces scenes from "Super Mario Brothers" out of Duplo blocks. And his drawings (which are also Super Mario Brothers *sigh*) are so intricate and detailed.
• It's shown me how to compromise.
  
• It's taught me to be more careful about what I say. Don't say "Let's go home" if we're going home via the shops.
• The main thing I have learned is to respect the fact that not everyone is affected by something in the same way. While I find listening to children learning to play the recorder or violin irritating, to Torin it's literally PAINFUL!