Chocolate + Hormones = Happy Happy Happy

Well it has been nearly an entire month without sugar and I must admit I was feeling pretty good. My skin felt softer and I wasn't craving it as usual but then the dreaded hormones started kicking in and so to make a long story very short - I ATE CHOCOLATE (yes I did). Did I enjoy it? Yes I did, do I feel guilty? Not on your life, no way, no no no. It was dark and luscious and just sweet enough (probably too much) but it was oh so nice.

You know today was an extremely hard day for me as now I am getting older (cough cough cough ahem ahem ahem) well hormones are not cooperating as much as they used to and so it goes, it is a lot darker at certain times. So much so that I was not even able to write this morning and thought: wow I am only submitting one blog post this week, which kind of bummed me out as I love to write - but then this afternoon came along. I went to my slice container that contained my sugar free banana slice and it had gone mouldy due to the heat and the fact is there was no sugar in it to preserve it and I was hankering for something sweet and yes I caved.

I decided to make my chocolate slice but omitted the additional sugar and the batter tasted divine, yum yum yum. It is cooling as we speak (or as I write) and smells delicious. While melting the chocolate and butter I put some chocolate in my mouth (habit) and I am not joking almost instantly I began to feel better. Chocolate is bloody amazing I can tell you, it really is euphoric, a little sweet high and it has antioxidants to boot. It is incredible that it helps release hormones that help make you happy, so it is probably a very good thing for a woman to eat who has PMS (remember this guys..) hahahaha.

So I guess the moral of this story is moderation with everything even chocolate, except if your wife is hormonal and then you can ply her with delicious dark 70% chocolate and you are sure to have happy days and nights for at least seven days hahahahahahaha.

Recipe for my chocolate slice is in a prior post titled Sadness,Joy and delicious chocolate slice 

When there is nothing left, you have to dig a little deeper and smoky bacon, mushroom and baby spinach frittata

When there is nothing left you have to dig a little deeper, that's what I decided to title this post as it has been a hard week and I have definitely had to dig deep at times to get things done. I have had good day/bad day good day/bad day and so on and today is not too bad (thank God). I know one of my afflictions is I worry too much and seem to worry about everything. The week before, my husband was very ill and this week my cat was ill so I guess all the worry had taken its toll on me. So I have had to dig a little deeper than usual to get through this week but I guess loads of people go through these types of weeks on a regular basis.

The human spirit always seems to amaze me at how resilient we are and how we get back up after one knock down after another. I am always inspired at people who never give up and who will fight for what they believe in but above all ones who never give up.

But ultimately I am glad I have faith in God to get me through the dark times as I could have hard times and not believe or have hard times and believe. I guess what I am trying to say is no matter what, we are always going to have crappy days and times but having faith makes the darkness a little lighter and it means there is always hope.

Today I thought I would share with you one of my favourite recipes as you can have it for brunch, lunch or dinner. If you are vegetarian you can swap the smoky bacon for roasted sweet potato or fresh pan fried asparagus and lightly roasted pine nuts (the choices are endless). All my recipes are gluten free. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do and all of my friends and family who have tried it.

With the weather so rainy it is a good time to bake and cook so happy baking everyone.

Smoky bacon, mushroom and baby spinach

                          Frittata

Ingredients:

20 gms low salt butter

250 gms smoky bacon diced (you can use more depending on your packet)

1 punnet of either button mushrooms or medium cup mushrooms sliced.

2 handfuls of baby spinach

8 Eggs

300 ml cream

1 cup grated tasty cheese

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180oC and grease a large oven safe dish. I used a 30cm x 23cm rectangle oven safe dish but you can use any shape dish as long as it is big enough to hold all ingredients.

In a large pan melt butter and sauté smoky bacon for 1-2 mins until cooked, then add mushrooms and cook until softened and a little colour on outer edges. Add baby spinach and sauté for 20-30 seconds or until wilted (it won’t take long).

In a large bowl whisk eggs, add cream and then add cheese and mix well. Stir in bacon, mushroom, spinach and mix well and pour in to greased dish and bake in pre heated oven on 180oC for 40 mins or until golden on top.

Serve with salad and enjoy.

Quote-When there is nothing left, you have to dig a little deeper by Lisa Maree van der Draay

© Lisa Maree van der Draay 2015. Except as provided by the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, communicated to the public without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Digital Detox and sugar free apple slice

Last Saturday I decided I needed a digital detox meaning no devices( well almost all) what so ever, no computer and no mobile phone were on the list ( the television was not on the list and I won't hear it mentioned again and blah blah blah) yep I do enjoy watching an hour or two of television in the evening relaxing on the sofa with my husband so that is why that was not put on the detox list.

Well Saturday started off well for a digital detox day, it was a beautiful sunny day and it was valentines day to boot.We decided to go for a swim(hubby,daughter and myself) locally as it was lovely and sunny so that was a positive for the digital detox( me=1 detox=0).The three of us had a lovely swim and felt very relaxed and calm after our swim.We all had a lovely lunch together and my husband drove our daughter home and that was the end of my digital detox.

It was hilarious really as I thought it was valentines day so I wanted to make a delicious dinner for my husband and myself and wanted to try making my own gluten free gnocchi and just needed to know amounts of dry ingredients and if I could make potato and ricotta gnocchi as that was an idea I had been thinking of for a while.So on went the computer and the rest is history really as no sooner had I turned the computer on i got a text on my phone and i checked that as well.I lasted seven hours with no computer or mobile and it wasn't difficult until I needed to search information( thank God for Google).I have no idea what I would have done without it(my computer)and I guess I would have had to manually read all the cook books I own to get the information I required and that would have taken me hours where as a Google search takes moments(bliss).

It is so funny to think I haven't been on Facebook for fourteen months as I was spending way to much time on it and I knew I had to do something so closed my account and now that I am writing a cook book  I have my Blog, Twitter, two email accounts and a Pinterest account(it's amazing).I am not too bad really and generally only check my emails a few times a day but sometimes there is more traffic to contend with digitally and those are the days that I know I have to watch myself.I do think having a digital free day every now and then is a great idea and will definitely be doing it again soon as I did find I really relaxed.

Now just to let you all know my gluten free ricotta and potato gnocchi was really delicious and I served it with a spicy tomato,chilli, silverbeet and mushroom sauce and topped it with some grated parmesan cheese but did I take a photo no I didn't and why you ask? it's simple I forgot hahahaha and it was so yummy we gobbled it down.But I made a sugar free apple slice today and it is really yummy and I have taken a photo of that and will add it to the page for you all to have a squiz.When I say sugar free I mean no refined sugar as I only use100% maple syrup and some stevia and it tastes great and you don't have the sugar highs and lows.Will publish the recipe soon.

Well the conclusion is everything in moderation including digital devices and it really is a good idea to take time out even if it's only for an hour or two you will feel a lot more relaxed giving your mind a rest even for a little while

P.S As of the 19/03/15 I am now officially back on Facebook but at least I had a 15 month break (hiatus) :-)

Volunteering (it puts a smile on your dial) and you have a laugh as well

Last year I decided to start volunteering as it has been something I have wanted to do for so many years now but never had the time. So when the opportunity came along for me to volunteer I jumped at it. I do volunteer visiting with an older lady and love it, we get to have a good chat and I teach her some basic computer skills although on my first visit we seemed to not be able to get in to her email as it locked us out and today for some unknown reason the computer actually started talking to us, it sounded like Stephen Hawking which was bizarre. We both laughed very hard when that happened, partly because I couldn't contain it anymore and because it was really funny. I have never had a computer start talking to me so that is one for the books hahahahaha.

Seriously though volunteering is a wonderful thing to do and I know the lady I visit really gets a lot out of it and appreciates the company. But I really get so much out of the visit as well as I like knowing I am brightening someone's day ( even if I am nearly blowing up her computer) I know she enjoys the visit and that is important.

There are many ways you can volunteer in your area so if you have a spare hour or two either once a week or once a fortnight please get in touch with your local community aid centre or hospital or aged care facility as they can always do with an extra hand whether it be volunteer visiting, meals on wheels, gardening, helping them do some grocery shopping etc... whatever it is they would be grateful for any help you can give.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to volunteer and never take it for granted. It's also a lovely way to connect with the elderly in our community and spending time with an older person is a privilege as you learn so much as they always have so many wonderful stories to tell about times past and long ago. I also like to think that people would be kind and caring to my mum if she needed someone to visit her in the future.

I must admit through events in the past that have happened over the years I started to loose faith in the kindness of my fellow man but volunteering is showing me it still exists not only in myself but in thousands of people out there each week or fortnight putting some love and kindness back in to the world and that is putting a huge smile back on my dial.

Life is sweet ( yes it is) and sugar free banana slice

Today I decided to make a sugar free slice as I have begun to see a connection when I eat sugar and my sinus and allergies. Now I am not sure if it is connected but I have decided to go without sugar for a week to see if it makes any difference. It was the same when I decided to omit gluten from my diet and it really was incredible the change in how I felt. I am not talking about having more energy or feeling all virtuous I am talking about not feeling bloated or having pains in my stomach etc... There are many people sensitive to gluten and other foods and it really does make a difference when you find out what is making you so uncomfortable. It will be good to see how I go after a week of no sugar, chocolate etc... and if nothing else my skin will feel better and I may loose a kilo or two.

It is day two of going sugar free and it is actually really hard as I am really feeling the withdrawal right now. It is the refined sugar that is lurking everywhere like in jams and sauces and dark chocolate. Yes that has been so difficult for me as I allowed myself some dark chocolate everyday, I thought to myself it is dark chocolate so it's not that bad in-fact it is good for me. Well a good dark gluten free chocolate is not too bad but it had become a habit for me and I had to get real with myself. They say it's three weeks to make a habit and three weeks to break one so I will see how I go but one thing is for sure I don't like being hooked on anything especially sugar. I gave up smoking 4 years ago this May and am so glad as it was one of the best decisions of my life. I think moderation is the key but some people have trouble with moderation and don't know when to stop and I guess I can be a bit like that so it will be good to break that habit.Isn't it funny how many things in life we end up relying on or get "addicted" to that really aren't fulfilling.

It was lovely to catch up with a dear friend this morning and have a good chat and it was also good to see if the sugar free banana slice was a winner and it went down well. I think I will drink another glass of water and chew on my sugar free gum ( aghhhhhhhhh) only five days to go hahahaha but it will be worth it and who knows I may even enjoy it enough to keep off it.

Neglect, nurturing and Growth

A couple of days ago I went out on my balcony and discovered my lovely garden that I had put so much love in to was looking pretty unhealthy in-fact most of it was dead and that really saddened me. I have always loved to garden and grow things even if I didn't have a large yard I always had pot's on my balcony and would grow loads of different plants, flowers and herbs so it came as quite a shock to discover my garden was nearly gone. I wondered how I could have missed this, how did I not see the plants decaying before my eyes, how did I miss this? It is simple really and maybe one or two of you may identify with me but I find when I am unwell I tend to take care of the basics ( husband, cat, myself) and bits and pieces around the house but I am afraid the garden suffers. It is so funny that when I get sick and suffer so does the garden but when I am well and flourishing so does the garden.

Well just went out on my balcony ready with gloves, tools and seeds and started to dig the old  and dead plants out of the pots so I could plant my new seeds but guess what the pots are full of "curl grub" and they are everywhere so it looks like a lot more preparation is required.The amazing thing is with these curl grubs you just don't even know they are there as they burrow down in the soil and eat the plant root system completely and the plant has no chance. It is disappointing that I can not do my gardening today as there are way to many pot's and I will need a hand from my husband but it has taught me a valuable lesson that if I neglect myself I get sick and the same with my garden it will wither if I neglect it. I am grateful there are a few plants that look like they have survived so they will get some special treatment over the weekend and hopefully the new seeds that I plant will grow healthy and strong.

Anger, resentment, rage, grudges, irritation, outrage and any ill feelings are kind of like the curl grubs, we can't see them at first but boy do they do some damage and if we are not careful can even hospitalise us or worse even kill us.

I guess I will have to check on my garden everyday to see if all is O.K and the same with myself, I will need to check in with myself and make sure all is well. It looks like gardening will be on the "things to do list" this weekend and I will try to be more diligent with it from now on. The photo above and below are when my herb and flower garden was very healthy and well and it will be again soon.

Sadness, Joy and delicious chocolate slice

Today I wanted to tell you about a book I am reading called Choose Joy because Happiness isn't Enough by Kay Warren and it is a brilliant read. It has really made me think what I have relied on to give me joy in the past and present and it really has made me look at myself and admit to placing an awful lot of expectations on things that just aren't eternal, they may be a quick fix and they may even give pleasure for a few days or even weeks but ultimately it's false joy. This has been a great eye opener for me to learn not to think of joy as the feeling happiness but to know it is long lasting deep contentment and can be found in any situation but mainly having faith in God as his love is eternal. Here is the link to the book if you would like to have a look at it here.

Which brings me to the sadness side of this post. Yesterday my Mum came over for lunch and to spend the day with me. It is usually a lovely day and we both look forward to the following week when she comes over again. It started out nice enough but then a few words were said and what made it worse was the fact I was correct in what I said but she wouldn't believe me no matter how many times I tried to explain it to her ( even writing it down on paper so she could see for her self). nothing would make her change her mind and it infuriated me and it bought up a lot of old feelings from childhood that I hadn't felt or experienced for a very long time and I did not like it at all. It wasn't the fact I had to be right as I don't care about that, it was the fact that I was telling the truth and she didn't believe me and that hurt (even as an adult). I will work things out with my Mum as I always do but I realise there is more work to be done with myself and healing where past feelings are concerned.

Now one of the things I have thought I would find joy in is food and predominantly chocolate and have for as long as I can remember. I still think it should have it's very own food group ( Dairy, Meat and Fish, Fruit and Vegetable, Breads and Grains, Fats and oils, and the delicious yummo group). But no matter how delicious and divine the chocolate the joy is short lived followed by " did I really eat half a block of Lindt 70% dark chocolate??? now I will not place expectations on food and chocolate and I will thoroughly enjoy every single bite and know it is just a delicious thing to eat. But chocolate will always be part of my life as it is delicious and in small amount's can be really good for you ( dark chocolate that is). So today I will share my delicious chocolate slice recipe which is easy peasy and a great stand by recipe to have on hand when unexpected guests arrive ( or will arrive very soon). I hope you enjoy this and it is all made in one bowl and mixed with a wooden spoon so there is hardly any washing up ( score).

Ingredients:

225 grams dark chocolate chopped up ( A block or bag of dark melts works fine)
125 grams low salt butter chopped up
2 cups Almond meal ( you can also use Hazelnut meal for this recipe)
2 free range eggs

Method:

Pre heat oven to 180oC

Grease and line slice tin

In a large heat proof bowl ( I used stainless steel) put the chopped up chocolate and the chopped butter.
Place on top of a saucepan that has some water in the bottom and place on stove on a low to medium heat so chocolate and butter melt, mix well together.

Take off stove and place on a heat proof cork board.

Add almond meal and mix well with wooden spoon ( it's a good arm workout)

When it has cooled slightly add eggs and mix really well until all ingredients are combined and mixture is glossy.

Pour in to slice tin and bake in the oven for 25 minutes

Let cool in the tin

You can also cover this slice with chocolate ganache
Ganache Recipe:
Ingredients:
225 grams dark chocolate
100 mls cream
Method
In a large heat proof bowl ( I used stainless steel) put the chopped up chocolate and sit on top of a pot with simmering water.
Melt chocolate and take off stove and let sit for a minute
Then add cream and mix well with a wooden spoon until well combined and glossy.
Pour on top of slice and then sprinkle shredded coconut on top.

Cut in tin, I usually get 12 - 16 pieces depending on how big i want them to be.

You can also add things to the slice before putting it in the oven to bake. I sometimes put chopped up chocolate or dark chocolate melts ( a good handful) and scatter them over the top and press down lightly and then bake. It is a little surprise biting in to the moist cake and then coming across the chunk of chocolate.

You can also sprinkle nuts over the top-chopped almonds, hazelnuts or macadamia work well.

(© Lisa Maree van der Draay 2015. Except as provided by the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, communicated to the public without the prior written permission of the publisher.)

Enjoy :-)

Health, cooking and more cooking (and no guilt)

Today is day three of me battling bad sinus, I don't know if any of you have ever had bad sinus but it is so painful at times that all you can do is take paracetamol, wash your face, take antihistamines, take more paracetamol. I also turn to natural therapy e.g vitamins and loads of fresh ginger and lemon in water
(hot or cold) but sometimes time is the best healer regarding colds, sinus or headaches.

So I did what I always love to do when I get sick: I cook. Yep I love to cook whether I am well, unwell, happy or sad, cooking just is a wonderful creative release for me. I did a lot of cooking today and not too much of anything else (no housework at all). I made my delicious spicy vegetable soup as I always have soup in the freezer no matter what time of the year it is. I also made my banana, date, buckwheat and quinoa bread and I made my super foods muesli bar with craisins and almonds, yummo!

Which brings me to the no guilt part of this post, I finally do not feel guilty if I am unwell and do nothing, no cleaning, no beds, no washing, no ironing, no nothing just cooking. It has taken me a very long time to not feel guilty or should I say I usually feel guilty and I might add have done so since I was little, as it was unheard of anyone relaxing in the family home as you had to be doing something in order for everything to be o.k. But, today I can honestly say I am learning the true art of relaxation and am thoroughly loving it. I can thank my gorgeous husband for teaching me how to relax and to not feel guilty (thank you, thank you, thank you).