Egg Curry. No need for rice just salad on the side.

Ingredients

12 boiled eggs cut in half
1/2 teaspoon chilli paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon dried coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of macadamia nut oil
1 medium onion diced finely
4 medium tomatoes diced finely
1cm grated root ginger
150 mls sour cream
ground pepper

1. Heat oil in a pan and over medium heat sauté diced onion and tomato until they are soft.
2. Add chilli paste, cumin, garam masala, coriander, salt and ginger to the tomato and onion mix and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and allow the sauce to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Put half of the mixture into a blender and puree. Add the puree back to the sauce remaining in the pan and mix through.
5. Stir in the sour cream and gently increase the heat and bring back to a very gentle simmer.
6. Arrange eggs in the sauce and allow the eggs a minute to warm through.

Serving suggestion
You could serve with traditional curry but it is not a very liquid sauce so I generally serve with salad.

Egg Curry - An absolute family favourite.       2019 (c) Daisy Hedge

In 2018 I started intermittent fasting. Why?

As part of my awakening I have been doing intermittent fasting. I actually started about 3 years ago when Michael Mosley was promoting his 5 and 2 diet. I started to look into the research and gave it a try. It was hard but I felt better and my arthritis seemed to improve. But with a busy work schedule and family it was hard to maintain.

At the beginning of 2018 I starting doing 16:8 during the week and eating 3 meals with the family on the weekend and then that evolved into 20:4 during the week and finally OMAD (one meal a day).
I found online links to Dr Jason Fung's books, bought them and was particularly taken with the Obesity Code. As a science student and teacher it made so much sense and I angry that I had been lead astray all these years. I knew the science but never made the connections with weight gain and loss. I slowly started to lose weight with out much effort.

My husband read the book The Complete Guide to Fasting by Dr Jason Fung and did a 12 day water fast and then did Keto and hight protein  shakes for the remainder of the month. He lost 25 kgs. I realised that if he could survive fasting I certainly could and then I began experimenting with 24hr, 48 hr and eventually 5 day fasts. As you can see from the graph from about August you can see I lost about 15kgs. At Christmas I put it back on and I have just completed a 3 day fast to try and pull in the weight I gained over Christmas. This now a way of life and will continue to be probably till the day I die.

What lead me to this? I was always the chunky girl at school despite being active. I road my bike everywhere, swam nearly everyday, walked everywhere. I put on a lot of weight (got up to about 120kg) when I moved to a regional area when I first began teaching, probably due to stress and not really eating right. I then moved from a regional city to a small country town. There was no junk food - it was and hour away. Fast food was steak and veg at the pub. I walked everywhere, swam whenever the pool was open, did ballroom dancing, took up squash, road my bike on country roads for kilometres. I lost some weight at my smallest I was 85kgs. I then came back to city and my now husband and I had a very nice DINK (double income, no kids) lifestyle. We went out, ate at restaurants, got home delivery and our waist measurements grew and grew. We were happy, healthy and fat. But both of us had always been happy, healthy and fat since childhood. I think I went to about 115kgs.

When we decided to finally get married I was about 105kgs. We had been doing Atkins and had seen some improvement but carbs called us all the time. I was pregnant with our son when my husband was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. He stopped the Aktins diet and decided to have feed of Weetbix and was in the toilet for a week - this was the starting point of all our issues really. Trying to find substitutes for wheat products lead us to carbs that were even worse in quality and more highly refined. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes (borderline- had I have been in the US or UK the reading would not have considered high enough but in Australia the diagnosis parameters are lower and I was 0.01 over the cut off).  Whenever we ate gluten free bread, biscuits or pizza my glucose would go way out of control.

My Gyn/Obs sent me to a dietitian who supposedly was trained in prenatal diet and diabetes. She recommended grainy breads and low fat and told me to eat every 3 hours during the day. I tried what she said even though I didn't like her advice, she was the expert after all. My blood glucose was consistently high and I was eating when I wasn't even hungry. I began to put on more weight than the Gyn/Obs wanted. If you are obese and pregnant they usually want you to not put on weight - minimal weight gain. I abandoned her advice and ate only when I was hungry and stopped eating any gluten free products. As a result my blood sugars remained stable until about 1 month before I was due and I was having large fasting readings in the morning and the Gyn/Obs put me on a low dose of Metformin. After I had my son, the nasty placenta was gone and I no longer was diabetic and he didn't have any sugar issues. But did my weigh sky rocket in the next few months.

                                                           A little over 1 month old.

My son would not latch and I was eating all these different foods to improve my milk supply (which was minimal). The only part of me growing was my waist rather than my ability to make milk. I got up to 125kg. It was then recommended I join the WENDY program at the hospital. They were researching insulin resistance in post gestational diabetic women and guess what, I was insulin resistant. They got me doing a walking program (10 000 steps) and assigned me a dietitian. The walking was great and it largely improved my insulin resistance before any dietary modifications were made. The dietitian was great, she was 'normal' size rather than the anaemic specimen who told me to eat continually. She told me to reduce plate sizes, portion control and to enjoy food just don't eat crap food.

She said, 'if there is a morning tea at work - have something. Enjoy a piece of cake that someone has taken the care and time to make. You don't need to eat the Tim Tam or store bought donuts, be selective. Don't eat because someone wants you to finish the plate so they can take it home. They can throw to item in the bin or put it on another plate.' 

I have tried to live by the those words. I soon became pregnant with our daughter and had no gestation diabetes and actually lost weight during the pregnancy by not putting any on. I still ate normally but just not for two! But two weeks after my daughter was born I was having milk issues as I did with my son but I was also in unbearable pain - it turned out the pregnancy had induced Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I was no longer breast feeding because I was immediately put on steroids and pain relief and my weight fluctuated between 95-100 over the year after.

                                                                     2 weeks old

Twelve months later I went back to work with RA and two small children and the weigh slowly crept on again. Exhausted, stressed, sick with RA and eating for survival not health - lots of takeaway and convenience foods my weight eventually got up to 122kgs in January 2018 - time to make changes.

My mother died of Diabetes (type 2) related issues when she was 60. My father died of cancer when he was 72 but when he was 70 he was diagnosed with Diabetes. My maternal grandmother had Diabetes. My sisters both had Gestational Diabetes and one now is Pre Diabetic  and the other is Diabetic. My husbands father has had Diabetes since his early fifties- late forties and was nearly on insulin. I am not becoming them without a fight - fasting is my way to avoid Diabetes.

My mid life awakening.

Six months ago I took leave from my job - 18 months. I took leave largely to have a go at starting a new business venture but to also have a break and do something different. Some friends and colleagues have jokingly called it my mid life crisis but I am calling it my mid life awakening.

I have been a teacher for 22 years. It wasn't what I always wanted to be. In fact it was the furthest from my initial career choice. I wanted to be a medical scientist but I stuffed around at university a little too much and did a teaching degree after my science degree so I could get work. I am a good teacher and despite it not being my first choice of job when I was younger I have strived to be the best teacher that I could. I have won awards, done a Masters in Education, become a head of department. So why do I not want to do it anymore?

Teaching doesn't excite me. Science excites me and passing the knowledge on excites me but that is not teaching anymore. The bureaucracy, constant changing curriculum, increasing pressure from parents and administrators to work miracles, the increasing long hours (because governments have failed to acknowledge the extra responsibilities dumped on teachers) and how those long hours prevent me participating in a normal life with my family are all the reason it doesn't excite me anymore. Before you say, 'teachers get so many holidays etc. etc.', at the request of my accountant I documented the hours I did at home marking, researching and planning. I was regularly working a 60-70 hour week during the term.

Lets do the calculation. A normal job with a 38 hrs week and 4 weeks holiday equals 1824 hrs a year.
A teacher works minimum 40 school weeks and each school week 60 hours, this equates to 2400 hrs a year. This also comes with enormous stress as administrators put pressure on for pass rate percentages to improve and marking to get turned around and moderated asap, parents and students contact you 24/7 via email or school message boards and the public passes judgement as to how they could do so much better if they were you. Finally you go - enough is enough, I want to be like other jobs where I don't bring my work home and I can have a holiday, go to the dentist or doctor when I feel like it. It is great to attend my own children's school functions rather than have to miss out because I am attending the function of the school I work for.

What has my mid life awakening shown me. In six months my health has improved - I am off rheumatoid arthritis (RA) meds because my stress levels have decreased. My children's health and well being has improved because they are not being dropped at before and after school care and their mother is focussed on them and not other peoples children. We have saved money because the kids are not at before and after school care, I don't need a cleaner and because my hours are not consuming the household we eat home cooked meals rather than takeaway or home delivery. I am not a single parent family, I do have a husband but he works full time too and when both are working full-time plus additional work related pressures 'shit doesn't get done!'

I feel like my creative brain has regenerated. The artistic endeavours I pursued 20 years ago have a chance to thrive again. I now have veggie garden. School doesn't consume my thinking all the time. My business is starting to increase and as hard as a business is to start and run it is still not has consuming as teaching.

When I told people I was taking time off to start a business etc. I got mixed reactions. There were colleagues who felt like me and were congratulatory at my braveness to try and break away and then there were those who were scared for me (or for themselves).

'What if it doesn't work?'  I don't care. I would rather have tried than have forever lamented of what could have been.
'What about your super?' I have 20+ more working years. I am not staying in an job that is not good for my health and mental well being because of an imaginary super payout that may/may not happen in 20 more years.

So, I have chosen to start documenting the adventures of mid life awakening. Mainly for my own benefit but it my thoughts helps someone else then my ramblings have been worth it.

OMAD Shitaki Mushroom Omelette and Homemade Kimchi

Shitaki Mushroom Omelette and Homemade Kimchi

Shitaki Mushroom Omelette and Homemade Kimchi                                                                       2018(c)Thedaisyhedge

Now....if my calculations are correct this meal should be around the 800cal range. With makes it ideal for OMAD and weight loss for reducing sugar, even Keto.

My approximate calculations have it at

Cal 800
Fat 60g
Protein 35g
Carbs 25g
Fibre 5g

Serving : 1

Ingredients

100g shitaki mushrooms
1 spring onion
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame seeds
4 eggs
1 Tbsp mayonnaise (for on the side)
salt and pepper to taste


1 cup of kimchi - I used my own homemade kimchi but you could easily use pre packed. I own a small fermenter so I make my own yogurt and kimchi.

Method

1. Chop up mushrooms, garlic and onion and using half of the butter sauté in a pan until onion is translucent and mushrooms are soft and then add soy sauce.
2. Remove mushroom mixture from heat and put the the side while you prepare eggs.
3. Melt remaining butter, allow to cool.
4. Chop up second garlic clove.
5. Crack 4 eggs into a bowl and whisk.
6. Add melted butter and whisk.
7. Add garlic and whisk.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. In a lightly oiled or non stick pan pour in egg mixture. Heat the egg mixture on low until you see the egg starting to firm.
10. Place the mushroom mixture on top of the omelette and begin to fold the edges over.
11. Place filled omelette onto the plate. Garnish with sesame seeds.

serve with 1 cup of kimchi and 1Tbsp mayonnaise

My Adventures to Springbrook National Park

http://www.weekendnotes.com/springbrook-national-park/113789/

Crackling unlike anything I have made before - fantastic!

I remember as a child waiting for the crackling on a pork roast. My father would fight with the stove to get just the right crackle and as great a cook as he was it was always a little charred. We ate it enthusiastically anyway. It has been my quest to get the ideal crackle. When I say quest I don't mean I have sacrificed the rest of my life to gain the ultimate crackle but every time I do a pork roast it becomes the only thing I focus on.

I have tried salting, drying and cooking high and cooking low. I have consulted google and read comments by Jamie, Heston and whoever else will offer an opinion. 

This is how I did it.

1. I bought the roast a day a go and resisted the urge to freeze it. I left it in the fridge in the vacuum pack.

2. Morning of roast dinner. Removed meat from plastic, cut extra lines in skin (butchers never seem to do enough) rubbed salt into skin and then I put a salt crust on the skin about 1/2 cm thick.

3. I placed the roast on a tray in the fridge uncovered so it would dry out for about 2-3 hours.

4. About 3 hours before serving time I turned on the oven to 250C to heat up and brushed the salt off the roast into the sink. Using a wet paper towel I removed the remaining salt and then patted the skin till it was dry to touch.

5. My roast was a 2.1kg rolled pork roast so cooking times may vary for other cuts. By this stage the oven had reached 250C. I turned it down to 140 C, put the roast in the centre of the oven and forgot about it for 2 hours.

6. At the 2 hour mark I put the potatoes and pumpkin in (cut in size to about 1/2 an apple). A little over an hour later (approximately 3 hrs since it went into the oven) I removed the roast and the veg from the oven. I turned the oven up to 200C and put only the roast back in and cooked it a further 10-15 minutes.

7. I removed the roast and put the veg back in for 10-15 minutes at 200C while the meat rested and I made gravy and cooked some peas.

This is what it looks like at the end. Evenly cooked and every bit was crunchy. It was like finely made honeycomb - a very smooth finish with tiny bubbles of crunch. 

The beautiful crackle (c) The Daisy Hedge 2016

My son told me it was the most fantastic crackling he had ever eaten (he is 6) and my daughter who is 3, after saying she hated crackling became a convert and couldn't get enough on her plate.

Close up of the beautiful crackle (c) The Daisy Hedge 2016

As a mentioned we had potatoes, pumpkin, peas and gravy to accompany our pork and crackling but I also indulged in a some red wine. Because of my arthritis medication I can only indulge occasionally. This was moment of celebration, I had to toast to the crackling! I collect wines in our travels and this one I bought in Port Macquarie Easter 2015. It was lovely. I now wish I had bought more!

Sangiovese Shiraz 2013 from Cassegrain Winery, Port Macquarie (c) The Daisy Hedge 2016

http://www.cassegrainwines.com.au

Chocolate Macadamia Brownies ( Originally Posted From Camille's Pantry 14/9/10)

Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

(c) 2010

Ingredients and Equipment

1/4 cup macadamia nut oil

250g dark chocolate buttons

1 cup caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup besan flour

1/4 cup potato flour

1/4 cup yellow maize corn flour

1/4 cup white maize corn flour

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 muffin tray with paper liners (12 muffin tray)

Procedure
1. Preheat Oven 180 C and put paper liners into muffin tray.
2. In a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water heat macadamia oil and chocolate buttons. Stir slowly to ensure chocolate and oil blend well. Becareful not to let water get into the mix as chocolate will “seize,” or turn into a grainy, clumpy mess in the bowl.
3. When chocolate and oil are blended slowly add sugar. Mix well after each addition. Sugar may not melt, it just needs to be mixed into the chocolate and oil.
4. Remove bowl from heat. Add vanilla, eggs and nuts, mixing after each addition.
5. Flour will need to be sifted together and slowly added, again, mixing well after each addition.
6. Spoon mixture into the paper muffin cases. You will only need to fill the cases half way as the batter will rise. Cover remaining batter and place to the side to use for next batch. Do not put the remaining batter into the fridge as the sugar and chocolate will solidify and you will not be able to spoon the batter into the muffin cases easily.
7. Put tray into oven for 20-25 minutes or until the brownies are firm.
8. Allow the brownies to cool for 5 minutes in the tray and then remove the brownies carefully. If they are still warm they will bend in the paper cases and be misshaped. Cool at room temp.
9. Reline the tray and spoon batter for next batch.

Chocolate and Vanilla Layer Cake ( Originally Posted From Camille's Pantry 15/11/10)

Chocolate and Vanilla Layer Cake

This cake will take some effort and time. It is not a cake to make if you are in a hurry or have lots of other 

things to do but it is worth the time. It is similar in preparation to an Indonesian Layer Cake.

Ingredients
8 Eggs
1 2/3 cups icing mixture
1 Tsp Vanilla
100mls Macadamia oil
1/3 cup Almond Meal
250 grams Chocolate

1. Line and grease a 17cm square cake tin.
2. Separate the eggs, whisking the whites until they form stiff peaks.
3. Slowly beat the sugar into the egg whites until the mixture is meringue like.
4. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and vanilla together.
5. Add the Macadamia Oil and Almond meal to the yolk mixture and beat well.
6. Pour egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture and fold gently.
7. Halve the mixture.
8. Melt the chocolate (can use either the microwave method or stove top method)
9. Gently fold chocolate into one of the mixtures.
10. Turn on grill (180 C or 350F).
11. Add approximately 1/3 - 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture into the cake tin and rotate so mixture evenly 

coats the bottom. Put under the grill for approximately 1 minute or until the mixture lightly browns.
12. Repeat step 11 but use the vanilla mixture.
13. Continue to do steps 11 and 12 until you have used up both mixtures.
14. Turn cake out on a wire rack and allow to cool completely before cutting.

15. Sprinkle the top with icing sugar, trim edges and cut cake into desired number of pieces.

Chocolate and Vanilla Layer Cake - (c) 2010

Zucchini Slice (Originally posted From Camille's Pantry 15/11/10)

Zucchini Slice

Ingredients
2 large zucchinis
1 medium carrot
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 rashes of bacon (can be omitted for vegetarians)
1 cup of grated tasty cheese
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
1 cup of gluten free self raising flour 

(I use the flour mix on page 10 of wheat free world and sift baking powder into it.)

5 eggs
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 180 C and grease a lamington pan (or baking tray) that is approximately 16 x 25 cm.
2. Coarsely grate zucchini (with skin), carrot and onion together.
3. Add minced garlic to the mixture and mix well.
4. Chop Bacon and add to the mixture and mix well.
5. Add tasty cheese and parmesan and mix well.
6. In another bowl whisk eggs together and then egg mixture to the vegetables and cheese, mix well.
7. Slowly add flour to the mixture. mixing well after each addition.
8. Season with salt and pepper, mix well.
9. Cut tomato into thin slices.
10 . Spoon mixture into tin or tray and arrange tomato slices on the top. 
11. Bake in moderate oven for approximately 30-40 minutes.

 

Zucchini Slice served with Aunty Pics slow roasted tomatoes - (c) 2010

The slice can be eaten hot but is best cooled and then sliced. It seems to cut better when it is cold. 

I believe it could be due to the gluten free flour. It then reheats fine.

Passionfruit and Polenta Loaf (originally posted 9/4/12 From Camille's Pantry)

Passionfruit and Polenta Loaf

Equipment
Large loaf tin, approximately 15cmx25cm

Ingredients
125mls  Macadamia Nut Oil
1 cup  Sugar
Tb sp lemon juice
3 eggs (separated)
1 1/4 cups corn flour
1 cup polenta
1/4 cup Tapioca (arrowroot) flour
3 tsp baking powder
175g can of Passionfruit pulp or 1/2 cup fresh pulp
      (save a Tbsp of pulp for icing)
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
1 cup icing mixture (gluten free)
1 Tbsp butter

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees, line and grease loaf tin.
2. Set up 3 mixing bowls - one for the dry, wet and egg mixes.
3. Using a sifter mix corn flour, tapioca flour and baking powder in dry mix bowl. Add Polenta and make 

sure the dry mix is thoroughly combined.
4. In the wet mix bowl (could be a large jug) mix the oil, egg yolks, yoghurt and passionfruit.
Do not use a blender or hand blender to mix as the passionfruit seeds will get crushed. Mix by hand using 

a whisk or mixer on low speed. When combined the mix will look like a custard.
5. Place the lemon juice in the third bowl and using a paper towel wipe the bowl out with the juice. Place 

the 3 egg whites into the bowl and beat till stiff peaks form, then slowly add the sugar. Beat in the sugar 

until it is dissolved and stiff peaks form.

You now have 3 separate mixes.

6. Gently fold the wet mix through the egg whites. 
7. Gently fold the dry mix  through the egg whites/wet mix.
8. Pour the batter into the loaf tin.
9. Bake in a moderate oven for 40-50 minutes. Loaf is cooked when a skewer comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before turning out. The cake is very crumbly when warm, cooling 

allows it to set.


Allow to cool fully before icing.
Icing - beat butter till soft, add icing mixture and passionfruit pulp.

Passionfruit Polenta Loaf (c) Daisy Hedge

Ginger Beer Holidays (published in Weekend Notes 24/6/2012 and From Camille's Pantry 30/6/2012)

Ginger Beer Holidays

This was the article I had published in Weekend Notes on the 24th June 2012- 

http://www.weekendnotes.com/ginger-beer-recipe/.  

I have started my first batch and will keep you posted.

Day 1 of the Ginger Beer Plant

Ginger beer.....it brings back memories of summer holidays when I was about 12 or 13. My father 

religiously maintained the ginger beer plant and then nearly every weekend any friends of ours who 

happened to be at our house, my two sisters and I would be enlisted as the child labour to process 

and bottle the ginger beer. In retrospect, the recipe my father used was meant to be non alcoholic 

but my science background makes me wonder as alcohol levels depend greatly on sugar content 

and length of fermentation. I believe after many months of plant production and errors in 

measurement........

Anyway, there is a great stall at the Jan Powers Markets selling ginger beer. My two year old son 

and husband were very impressed with the brew and I must admit it reminded me of those 

summers 20+ years ago. The taste of real ginger, a little bit of sediment in the bottom of the 

bottle, certainly a thirst quenching and satisfying drink while walking around the markets. 

Next time I go to the markets I will be locating the ginger beer stall first, but this weekend my task 

is to make a batch of my own. My dear old dad doesn’t have the recipe he used but online there 

are hundreds if not thousands of variations.

It is great a activity for kids too (not just for slave labour). Not all learning is done at school and

 the process of making ginger beer has some gems - measurement, process skills, problem solving and not to mention- 
fermentation. 

Try out some different recipes and do some taste comparisons - you will get either a great sweet reward or at the other extreme an 

explosive mess but the kids will be excited by it anyway! These school holidays are a great time to try as the latter result is less likely

 in the cooler weather.

I am going to give this recipe a go this weekend as it looks similar to my fathers and ones I have tried in the past.

For the Ginger Beer Plant:

A clean jar, cloth lid and rubber band

1/2 teaspoon dried yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons ground ginger

For the Sugar Syrup and resulting Beer:

4 cups sugar

1.5 litres cold water

4.5 litres warm water

1/2 cup strained lemon juice

Strainer, muslin cloth, funnel, large metal or plastic spoon, large boiler, measuring equipment, large glass /jar for plant filtrate.

sturdy bottles for about 8 litres of beer (glass beer bottles can be dangerous if the mixture gets a little too carbonated, well cleaned 

recycled soft drink bottles are good as they will generally only distort with pressure. If you want new bottles you can try brewing stores 

or packaging companies like Plasdene (Northgate) who will sell direct to the public).

Step 1: Making the Ginger Beer Plant (7 day process)

In the jar mix all of the ingredients, cover the jar with the cloth lid and rubber band and store in a safe place in the kitchen at 

room temperature. Don’t use a screw on lid as the plant needs to breathe but you don’t want dust and insects to get in.

Feed the plant everyday by adding 1/2 teaspoon of both sugar and ginger. Kids will love to watch the plant bubble like a 

volcano after a couple of days.

Step 2: One week later

Strain the plant through some muslin cloth, retaining the filtrate in the glass. The filtrate and half of the plant will be used for the beer 

and the remaining half of the plant will be discarded.

In the large boiler bring the cold water to the boil and add the sugar. Dissolve the sugar, turn off the heat and add the 4.5 litres of warm

water (can be from the hot water tap) and lemon juice. Allow the mixture to cool. If it is too hot the Ginger Plant filtrate will die when 

added.

When the mixture is hand warm, add the filtrate and stir with the large spoon. It is best not to use a wooden spoon as the wood fibres 

might have other flavours or contaminants that will alter the brewing process.

While waiting for the mix to cool, put the remainder of the plant into the clean a jar with 1 cup of water and feed each day for a week 

again to make another batch.

Bottle the brew, leaving about 5 cm from the top of the lid to allow for gas. Store in a safe location. I have put mine in the past in an esky

 in the laundry so if the the bottles expand and rupture  the mess will be contained. My father put his in an old tucker box freezer (not 

turned on of course) for the same reason but he used to used glass bottles - the mess was truly spectacular!

Leave the bottles to ferment for 3 -7 days. This will depend on the temperature and when the bottles feel very firm refrigerate to stop or 

slow the fermentation. Sometimes when you open a bottle it can be like opening sparkling wine/bubbly so it may be better done over a 

sink.

Remember - the alcohol content is minimal but not 0% and it by no means is sugar free so be mindful when giving to children. 

Looking back at my childhood though - I think we drank it constantly for one Christmas and two of the child labour force (they stayed with

 their grandma across the road every holiday) are now doctors. It didn’t appear to do us any harm and we had a ball making it and 

drinking it!

Coconut, Mango, Millet Slice ( originally posted 15/3/2015 on From Camille's Pantry)

Coconut, Mango, Millet Slice

Coconut, Mango and Millet Slice (Photo by Daisy Hedge, 2013)

I have been working on this recipe for a few weeks. I like to experiment with different flours and recently 

as I was poking around a new Indian/African supermarket I noticed Millet flour. Apparently it is used for 

flat bread in those cultures but I have chosen to use it in baked goods. I have tried about 6 versions, 

luckily I had lots of mangos! Not only did my husband the Coeliac like it but my 3 yr old son, sister who 

is a chef and nieces and nephews all gave it the thumbs up. After so many versions I started to freeze 

it and it comes back really well from frozen. I just put a piece in the microwave for 20 secs and it is all good, 

I even put one batch in the oven at about 130 for 30 minutes and they came out sweet and warm.

One tray (approx 20x 25 cm) made 16 slices and we calculated them to be 5 weight watchers pro points 

each (my husband is doing Weight Watchers)

Ingredients 
1 1/2 cups millet flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 x 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup of desiccated coconut
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup mango flesh
1 egg
1 cup low fat milk
1 tablespoon macadamia oil


1. Preheat oven to 150 C and line a tray with baking paper ( you need to lift this slice out of the tray so 

purely greasing a tray will not work).
2. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl.
3. Add 1/4 brown sugar and desiccated coconut to flour mix. Mix till well combined.
4. In a blender or using a hand blender combine mango and the other 1/4 cup of brown sugar. 

Place to the side to use later.
5. In another bowl mix egg, milk and oil.
6. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the wet mix to make a batter. Do not over mix. 

Best done with a wooden spoon rather than a electric mixer.
7. Put batter into the slice tray.
8. Pour mango mixture on the top of the batter to create another layer.
9. Using a knife, run the knife through the mixture ( as if cutting into to slices) so the mango blends 

with the millet batter layer.
10. Sprinkle the shredded coconut over the top of the mango layer.
11. Place in oven 40-50 minutes. Watch that the coconut doesn't burn. 

The mango layer will turn to a jam and thicken as it cooks. I used the old cake testing method of seeing 

whether the cake layer was cooked by putting a toothpick in the centre and seeing if any batter stuck to 

the toothpick.

Allow the slice to cool fully before cutting into slices.

Gluten Free Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding (originally published 5/6/13 From Camille's Pantry)

Gluten Free Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding

There is nothing nicer than warm chocolate pudding on a cool winter night. A few weeks ago when the weather started to change I went looking for a pudding recipe to make with my son. When I was kid the old self saucing pudding was a huge favourite every weekend after the Sunday night roast. Mum liked it because it was cooked in the same bowl it was mixed up in. The kids liked it because we got to make it as well as eat it and Dad always liked a bit of dessert after dinner!

Gluten Free Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding

(c) Daisy Hedge 2013

There are heaps of recipes out there and I couldn't find the old one that my sisters and I used to make so this is an amalgamation of about 4 that I found and amazingly my experiment worked first time - 2nd, 3rd and 4th attempts to get the gluten free version just right!

Equipment: I use a oven proof pudding/mixing bowl that is about 8 cups or 2 litres in size. You could mix this in a bowl and transfer to some over type of oven proof dish but this way really reduces the washing up.

Ingredients

Pudding

1 cup GF self raising flour (I used Woolworth's Macro Range)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup GF cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1 teasp vanilla essence

30g melted butter

Sauce

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 3/4 cups boiling water

1/2 cup GF cocoa

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (160 C fan forced).

2. Take the pudding bowl and combine all the dry pudding ingredients.

3. In a measuring jug combine the milk, butter, and vanilla.

4. Make a well in the centre of the dry mix and pour wet mix in combining well.

5. In a measuring jug combine the brown sugar, cocoa and boiling water.

6. Gently pour the sauce mixture into the bowl. This can be done by pouring the liquid onto the back of a spoon resting on the inside edge of the bowl. The batter will be covered by the liquid but it will rise up through it as it cooks.

7. Put the bowl carefully into the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

8. When baking has finished allow the pudding to cool for 15-20 minutes. This allows the sauce to thicken. 

9. Serve with cream or ice cream. You could do what we kids did - just eat out of the bowl!