Sweet Potatoes.
Did you know that compared to regular potatoes, sweet potatoes have loads more vitamin A, vitamin C and even more fiber? This means they're excellent for your digestion - something close to my heart with my hashimotos.
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3 simple words that when said apart, make me smile, but when said together, make me swoon .... Fruit. Mince. Tart.
In my old life, these 3 simple little single syllable words would conjure up so many good memories, making me feel comforted, happy and oh so "Christmassy".
Now, having run away from gluten and sugar, these words when said together do (if I'm being honest) bring up a little feeling of deprivation, but more so bring up feelings of sugar highs and slumps, sleepiness and foggy brain. Not to mention a swollen thyroid! I’m not one to say “never”, but with the knowledge I now have of how sugar affects my body, I just can’t imaging EVER consuming these little tarts that I once held in such high esteem, again.
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Plump, boozy dried fruit, glace cherries and nuts. All the things I loved in the Christmas cakes of my past. The denser and the darker the better. Cake that would (and could) last for months (if I didn't eat it sooner). And cake that stayed moist without the need for refrigeration.
My body and taste buds may no longer be able to tolerate these sweet fruit cakes of my youth, but I still have a need (and a desperate want) for a boozy, spicy and dense sliver of cake to sit proudly and lovingly alongside my cup of tea on Christmas day.
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Say hello to Nicole.
Nicole is a freelance writer hailing all the way from St Louis Missouri, where she raises 5 teenagers (yes you heard me…5 teenagers), all whilst sharing her love of home cooked, feel good family food on her blog Daily Dish Recipes.
Daily Dish Recipes was born in 2005 with the goal to provide her readers with easy, made from scratch, recipes they could cook at home. God, I love this goal Nicole, as I’m a huge fan of people getting back into the kitchen, ditching the junk food and cooking from scratch.
So in honour of Nicole’s style of cooking and in honour of my grumbling tummy and in honour of my need for tote-able picnic food (now that Summer has hit Melbourne), my Secret Recipe Club recipe for this month is……
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So what type of snacker are you?
Not too long ago, I was "the bored snacker". You know the one, the person mindlessly snacking in front of the TV, not tasting the food being put into my mouth, and it had nothing whatsoever to do with being hungry.
Over the last few years, I've managed to rid myself from snacking. It took time, but my body eventually adjusted, and then poof, gone - foggy 3pm brain, and gone - constant need to think about food. Wow...food freedom is utterly addictive!
So why ask this question now?
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The cat is well and truly out of the bag.
In just over a months time, I'll be packing my bags, pocketing my passport and flying off to a little town called New York City.
A snowy Winter wonderland awaits me in the Big Apple where I plan to ice-skate, walk aimlessly for hours discovering the best food places this town has to offer and perhaps indulge in a little New York Cheesecake....or two.
In ode to this up coming adventure and inspired by my utter love of all things French, I present to you a combination of some of my favourite ingredients and flavours in life - my petite "no-cheese" cheesecake.
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Breakfast.
Who the hell would ever knowingly miss eating it? It's my favourite meal of the day and a meal I would NEVER miss.
My usual breakfast of choice is savoury, based around eggs, avocado (which I can't get enough of lately) and veggies. It's usually packed full of protein, fat and greens that keep me going right through until those first stirrings of hunger around midday.
Some days, not often, but occasionally, I crave something different. A little crunchier. A little sweeter. Like this chocolate granola that I keep stashed in my freezer for such times.
Don't be fooled. This breakfast cereal still packs a protein and fat punch and will keep you going through to your next meal....no need for mindless snacking between meals with a bowl of this baby in your tummy....
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Cookies.
A word my bro despises (preferring ‘biscuits’).
A word that conjures up sugar and gluten laden treats.
A word that brings back memories of New York (interested in why, see here).
However, these cookies are different. They’re part of my religion as they’re mixed, rolled and baked so often in my house. Containing only the smallest amount of sweetener, they’re refined sugar, fructose, gluten AND dairy free. They’re crunchy and delicate, and they’re addictive. Trust me.
Yesterday, I tweaked them with macadamias.
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Say hello to Sid.
Sid is the ever so happy Danish/American cook, photographer and author behind the blog Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking: I cook, therefore I am.
Sid loves having fun in the kitchen and warmly shares her food and recipes with friends (from her monthly tapas nights) and the blogging community as a whole.
I haven’t been to Denmark (yet!), but fall in love with the country every time I watch a Danish movie or read a book based in Denmark, so of course, I was going to pick one of her many delicious looking Danish recipes from her blog to be my Secret Recipe Club Dish of the Month.
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The Challenge.
~
A three course lunch menu taking into account a non-seafood eater, a non-meat or chicken eater and for moi, a non-gluten and refined sugar eater (and at the moment, a non-cow milk dairy eater). Holy smoke. Talk about a challenge.
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Yes I’m a girl. Yes I like to shop... for shoes. Yes I think Matt Damon is hot. But no, I’m not a chocolate lover. That is until raw cacao come walking into my life.
It’s slightly bitter, it’s rich and it’s not sweet. Mix with berries, nuts and rose petals and I’ll be swooning like Scarlett O’Hara:
“How fickle is woman” - Rhett Butler
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When I east sugar - I scratch.
My thyroid swells, my brain gets foggy and I'm suddenly ravenous. It's taken years of experimenting on myself to discover this fact.
My problem...I love to bake (why couldn't I love gardening instead?).
So like a dog with a bone (albeit one of those cute fluffy ones) I've been searching for ingredients that don't send me screaming down the street.
My latest discovery...Vanilla Bean Powder!
Now I do realise this product has been around for ages, but I'm finally on board.
Now, I'm in love.
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I have a tip for you - you can't fry soggy mash!
Hmmm...maybe not such an exciting tip, but a good one nevertheless if you plan on making fish patties. I'm not only talking about potato mash, but mashed food in general. It's a tip I've kinda known for a long time, but not often put into practice.....unfortunately.
If you use this tip with these patties (by making sure you allow to firm up in the fridge before frying), you'll love me forever.
Is that weird?
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2 simple things I'm trialing, embracing and LOVING these days due to my hypothyroidism:
1. Increasing my protein intake; and
2. EATING MORE fat!
Why, I hear you ask?
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You take one orange - it doesn't even have to be a juicy one - boil it for an hour and then let it cool.
That's the longest (and hardest) step of this recipe.
The rest is a cinch. Even the eating part, because these cakes (not sure they can even be called a cake) are so fluffy, light and mousse like in texture, that you'll devour each and every one of them quicker than it takes to do the first step above.
Trust me.
I'm experienced!
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I may be a blogger, but working full-time in the corporate world leaves little time for my own cooking, photography and blogging, let alone the chance to peruse all the beautiful inspirational blogs out there.
Petite Kitchen is an exception.
I've been following Eleanor's adventures for quite some time and was a BIG fan of her first hugely successful cookbook My Petite Kitchen. So when Murdoch Books had Eleanor's second cookbook up for review, I jumped at the chance.
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Mmmmm....butter. I'm licking my lips as I write the word.
It's probably my favourite food word.....oh who am I kidding, it's one of my favourite words. Full stop!
It is a completely natural food which is essential to your health (especially when you eat organic), providing your body with essential fatty acids for hormone balance, heart health, glowing skin and energy. It's also the most easily absorbable source of vitamin A, which supports the thyroid and adrenal glands - something very close to my heart.
Margarine, on the other hand, is a processed product, created chemically from refined polyunsaturated oils. It's not a real food.
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Because it's raining in Melbourne, because I'm not feeling well, and because I'm being a little "sooki la la", I thought I'd whip us up a bunch of my favourite cookies.
Yep, you've seen them before here , but having made these ones with almond meal instead of almond flour, the texture and flavour changed immensely - I thought I'd share with you.
Not only darker to look at, these cookies came out a lot crumblier in texture with a stronger almond flavour.
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I’m in my favourite Brunswick coffee shop this morning having coffee. Propped up at the counter, I can smell the beans and I'm in the perfect position to ogle the array of petite cakes and patisseries on display.
Not so long ago I would not have been able to walk out of this place without picking one delicate little delight to indulge in.
That was the old me. The me before this recipe came into my life.
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Custard takes me to my happy place. A place that is filled with fluffy white flowers and is quiet as a mouse, except for the hypnotic buzzing of the bumble bees. It’s sunny, but not too hot in my happy place and sometimes, just sometimes, there is a pristine white claw foot bath filled with silky smooth custard.
Have I shared too much? Surely I’m not alone?
This recipe is not the one I grew up with. It’s gluten and refined sugar free and it doesn’t set as thick as my mums, but it is definitely just as luxurious. I adore it.
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