School Holiday Week 2

Tuesday 4th: With Brendon on leave this week it was a good opportunity to finally get into town to buy the rest of the pavers we needed.
Ruth came with me and so we had a great time together. We stopped passed the camp on the way home to say hi to Rachel.
Ruth and I enjoyed listening to a story together as well as getting loads of time to chat.
The story that we started was one of The Cooper Kids Adventures called "Trapped at the Bottom of the Sea". We bought the whole set from Christian audio when they were on sale one month. If you haven't done so yet, check them out. They have a free audio book every month and regular specials.

I forgot my camera today, so all today's photos were taken on my phone. Not the best quality, but it's better than nothing.
When we got home Brendon quickly moved the original 8 and got them all put down nicely. It looks great.

Wednesday 5th: Another advantage of having Dad home this week was the opportunity to get Hezekiah to use his new BIG bike to ride to preschool. I had offered to carry his bag, but he wanted to keep it himself. So he did really well with that big bag on his back. Asher was pleased to get a short walk and a little play at the preschool. It was Hezekiah and Naomi's lat day today, so I took a photo of them (which I posted previously) and had a nice chat to her too. She will be missed.

Brooke came for a visit today and Ruth did her nails. I can see Ruth loving a job in a Salon. Doing massages and manicures. :-)
With it being his last day the preschool made him a birthday crown and sang for him again. The big 5 year old heading off to school next week. He was also thrilled that they made gluten free pizza today, and he brought some home to give to his sisters too.
The last of the preschool art for him. :-)

Ruth and Hannah headed up to the library. They played a bit of Wii and Ruth did an hour of community service. She needs to do 2 hours for her latest St John badge. What a lovely note he wrote for her.

Brendon and I have found a new favourite dinner. Those new burger patties I created are delicious with avocado and home made mayo. The mayo is so simple too - 1 egg, 2 egg yolks and 1 cup of coconut oil. Absolutely no need for a roll - which makes this a wonderfully healthy option too. (A nice fatty S meal in the Trim Healthy Mama way of heating.)

Thursday 6th: This was our 2nd Thursday visit actually from Dana, Annica and Catrina. Dana's husband, Frans, just recently started work on the farm that Brendon works on. So it's been lovely to get to know her and the girls. I didn't get any photos last week, so made an effort to get one today. It's lovely to remember when these friendships started.
Frans is a South African but had been living in Scotland for 14 years. Dana is Scottish, so their family feels familiar to me (with being South African with a Scottish mother myself.)

Ruth has been working on her Guide badges through the holidays. That's the one nice advantage of doing it "correspondence". She has lovely ideas of activities to do on the weekends and during holidays. I loved the "word cloud" that she created.
Friday 7th: This morning we headed to Megan to have follow ups for all of us (except Rachel who was still at camp). I was pleased to see improvement for all of us and improvement for Hannah and I on the food side of things. I knew we would all still need to stay off wheat as we all had reactions to the wheat cake on Monday. I had hoped that a "once off" would be ok, but it wasn't. At least Hezekiah could feel and therefore understand why we say he can't have gluten. We still have half his cake in the freezer to take to school on Monday, but he has already planned to just eat some of the icing.
We picked Rachel up on our way home from the CEF camp. She then had just less than 4 hours at home before heading off for the St John National Selections Camp this weekend.

We dropped Ruth and Hannah at the library on our way home and Ruth did another hour community serivce. We had planned for them to meet up with Annica and Catrina, so Hannah had a great time playing with them while Ruth got her work done. Again such a nice detailed note on what Ruth did during that time. Another future possible career for her. :-)

Once they were back from the library I could finally get this month's children's photo. I was away when the month started and forgot to ask Brendon to get a photo. Such a busy month this is.
Saturday 8th: This morning Brendon, Ruth and Hannah headed off early for a fitness session for Karate.
I decided to not bother keeping this scooter for Asher for Christmas, and got it out for her now. She keeps trying to use Hezekiah's old scooter which is now broken. She is learning how to use this one as it's a bit different to his. His had 2 wheels in the front where hers has the 2 at the back. I had to smile when she was almost finished putting her own boots on and then spotted Ruth's big purple ones. She obviously just loves Ruth's boots.


Sunday 9th: I decided to try make "healthy" marshmallow yesterday using honey instead of sugar. (The only ingredients being water, gelatin and honey.) Hezekiah was really excited about roasting them today. Unfortunately he didn't like them all that much.

The rest of us enjoyed them though and Ruth has ended up taking some to school every day too.

Ruth and I then headed down to fetch Rachel once she was back from her camp. She had a great time but is exhausted.

And just like that the holidays are over. Back to school and a very busy week starting tomorrow.

Gluten free shortbread

Shortbread (THM - S snack)
2 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xantham gum
6 Tbs (or 1/3 cup + 1 tsp) butter
6 Tbs (or 1/3 cup + 1 tsp) xylitol
4 donks THM pure Stevia
1/4 tsp almond essence

Combine all the ingredients. Roll between two pieces of wax paper. Cut into squares and mark with fork. Bake at 180 C for around 10 minutes.

Children's variation (THM Crossover): Replace the 2 cups Almond flour with 1 cup Almond Flour and 1 cup Oat flour.

Gluten free Chocolate Chip cookies

These have been made MANY times over the last few weeks (at least once a week).

3 1/2 cups Almond Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xantham gum
1/2 cup xylitol
2 or 3 "donks" THM pure Stevia
100g Sugar free dark choc chips
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup liquid coconut oil.

Combine the dry ingredients. Add the egg, vanilla and chocolate chips and mix. Then add the coconut oil. We use almond flour from the freezer - so when the coconut oil is added it "stiffens" from the oil getting cold. If you use room temperature flour, then place the mixture in the fridge for a bit so that's its easier to handle.

Roll into balls, mark with a fork and bake on a lined tray at 180 C for 15 - 20 minutes.

When Rachel makes a batch for the children she uses 1 1/2 cups oat flour and 1 3/4 cups almond flour. She also uses a cheaper chocolate that does have a bit of sugar in and uses 1 cup.

"Wacky Cake" that's gluten, egg and dairy free

So here is my tweak on the Wacky Cake I mentioned in March. It's gluten, egg and dairy free. And I think it's delicious.

1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour (this is not a grain but actually a seed)
1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup oat fibre
1 1/2 cups xylitol
10 "donks" THM pure Stevia
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp salt
6 Tbs cocoa powder
1 cup apple-sauce (I just blend apples till they are liquid - no added sugar)
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups cold water

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients and mix well.
Pour into a lined tin. I use a bit oven tray - 25cm x 35cm.
Top with chopped up dark, sugar free, dairy free chocolate.
Bake at 180 C for around 20 minutes.

Paleo, grain free, dairy free lasagne

Cashew and Leek white sauce:
(Thanks Christine for the recipe).

Cut up the Leek (mostly white and a bit of the green).

Put it in a pot with 1 cup cashew nuts (I used 2 cups when making 2 or 3 big lasagne).

Top with water to just above the ingredients.

Bring to the boil. Add sea salt (liberally) and white pepper.

Boil for 10 minutes.

Blend (I used my vitamix). I also added a bit (1/2 - 1 tsp) of Xanthan Gum to help thicken the sauce as I put a bit of extra water in - wanting enough for 3 dishes.

Cashew cheese:

1 1/2 cups cashews (soaked and then rinsed when ready to use)

1/2 cup water

3 Tbs nutritional yeast

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp garlic

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

(This was enough to spread over the top of 3 lasagne.)

Lasagne:

Slice zucchini and either fry in a pan or grill in the oven. We found it quicker to just put all the slices on two trays in the oven and rotate the trays. This helps remove some of the moisture.

I use foil pans lined with baking paper. The pans don't stay totally clean (some juice did leak past the paper) but they are easy to clean and last much longer. It also makes it easier to make up 3 and freeze 2 of them.

I din't have very deep dishes and not a lot of zucchini, so our layers were: Mince, white sauce, zucchini, mince, white sauce and then topped with cheese.

The cheese may taste very strong (I wondered if it was too much yeast) and you may wonder as I did if it was worth adding with already having the cashew sauce. It works so well though and is worth the extra bit of work. The "cheese" grills nicely and once it's cooked adds a lovely flavour to the dish.

Bake till nicely browned and enjoy.

Paleo Chocolate Zucchini Cake

If you have some almond pulp you want to use up - this is a great option. I have used 1 cup pulp with 1/2 cup flour and it worked well. I have also used only flour.
1 1/2 cups Almond flour
1 cup finely grated zucchini
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
4 large eggs
1/2 cup xylitol
4 donks Stevia
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix it all together and place in lined bread tin.
Bake at 180C for 35-40 minutes.
To make a cake, double the recipe and cook for at least an hour. This makes a nice big round cake.

Chocolate spread

I got this recipe from here.
2 cups hazelnuts

Roast at 200 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

This loosens the skins.

Rub with a towel (or with your hands if you let them cool off a bit) so that most of the skins are off.

Place in blender (I have a Vitamix) and blend until you have butter. It first goes a bit like flour (photo on the right) and then the butter forms. A Vitamix works well for this as you can use the tamper to push the nuts down (and it's supa fast).

Then add:
1 1/2 Tbs vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup + 2 Tbs xylitol
a pinch of Stevia
Almost 2ml of salt
2 Tbs coconut oil
1/2 cup almond milk

Blend again until nice and smooth.

I was really impressed with the outcome. I ended up making myself a almond milk smoothy in the Vitamix with the butter that was left around the blade and it was lovely.
It's great knowing my children will now be eating a healthy chocolate spread, with no sugar and all the wonderful benefits of the hazelnuts.

Home made low fat cottage and cream cheese

We use fresh milk. We normally pick it up in the evening and then store it chilled in clear containers overnight so that we can take as much of the cream off in the morning as we can. We have tried different techniques but find using a big syringe works really well.
Add 2 to 3 tsp sea salt per litre of milk.
We use 7 litres of milk and add 3 Tbs salt.

Slowly heat the milk to between 25 and 35 C. We normally aim for around 30. Make sure you stir regularly so that the milk on the bottom does not get too hot and you are getting an accurate reading.

Add a pinch of starter and stir.
I use R704 which is a general purpose starter for soft and hard cheeses. This is the same one I use for Feta.

Add 1 drop of liquid rennet per litre.
Using a small syringe helps to get this right. It is important to stir while you add this.
I just bought a new supply of rennet and starter (as my old lot had expired months ago). It only cost me $28.50 for the Starter, Rennet and postage. The rennet will last me for two years (at which point it will again have expired and I will buy a new bottle). The starter lasts for many months. Now that we make 2kg of cheese every week I'm not sure exactly how long but we still know it will be many months before we buy again.

Cover and allow to stand at room temperature. We get this done by 9 or 10am and it's nicely set by the evening. This will depend on the temperature of your home.

You will see that it is set because the curds and whey separate. The photo is not all that clear - but the clear whey is visible above and around the curds.

Place cheese cloth (I use a double layer of muslin) into a strainer over a bigger bowl / pot and spoon the curds in.
I make such a huge batch that I end up filling my strainer and then just leaving it for an hour. Then there is enough space to put the rest in.
Make sure you have enough space under the strainer for the whey to collect. At least a third of the whey will come off within that first hour.

So I then fold the cloth over the top, cover and put back on the original pot (which is now empty).
I normally end up doing this between 9 and 10pm (9 doing the first half and then at 10 putting the rest in).

In the morning it has dropped down to about half the amount and the whey has drained off.

If you want chunky cottage cheese then just mix with a fork or spoon.

I like a smoother cream cheese and so just beat it for a few minutes till it's smooth.

Store in the fridge in air tight containers. When you pack the cheese in make sure you push it down and get the air out. This way it keeps longer (a few weeks - but I don't know for sure as it always gets used up). I also put a date sticker on so I know which batch it was. Once you have started using a tub it will not last as long (the air will eventually cause mold). I would say it should be used within a week.
My 7 litres of milk makes about 2kg of cheese.
I use one of these tubs (around 500g) for a double batch of THM Pan breads. I use two of them to make a double batch of THM basic cheesecake which Brendon and I enjoy for breakfast a couple of times a week (the cheesecake freezes really well.)

Almond milk

Put 1/4 cup of almonds into some water to soak overnight.

Soaking nuts and seeds adds to the nutritional value of the food. If you think about a seed that germinates once it is wet - that's the idea. It will lie dormant until it has the moisture to activate growth. All of a sudden all the goodness is woken up and the seed starts to grow. Soak and you will benefit from all those beneficial enzymes. For more info have a look here.

Add soaked nuts to 4 cups of water and blend.
Strain through muslin cloth (I have double that I made into a circle with a draw string.

The draw string helps to get all the edges up so that I can squeeze all the milk through.
Gently work all the milk out.

You can use the couple of tablespoons of pulp that is left over to make a muffin in a mug or use in the base of a cheesecake.