Birdseed

I found out about this new bakery called Birdseed thats all gluten free also soy and corn free. The lady used to run it from home now runs it in a shop off Westbury road, Prospect (where the city mission and takeaway shop is). Anyways I follow the shop on Facebook and entered a competition to win a hamper just in time for Christmas and guess what? I WON! How exciting to win something and especially something that is all gluten free and new to me. In it is a christmas cake, cake mix, shortbread, crackers, gingerbread and some muesli. I went up their to collect it today and had a hot chocolate while there. They have rice milk and almond milk available for drinks which is great and all the sweet/savoury products for sale. I love it at Birdseed and the ladies there are lovely.
They are only open Monday - Friday but its a must visit place for anyone coeliac or if you want to get your coeliac friend something nice. I will certainly be returning to Birdseed for some wicked gluten free goodies!
https://www.facebook.com/BirdseedTweet

Work lunch at Stillwater

Work were nice enough to take us admin ladies for lunch as a thank you and merry Christmas. The head of school decided on Stillwater which is always a great idea! We sat in the cellar and drank wine and cider (pagen, the best!). Looking at the menu nothing was gluten free so I asked the waitress and got a few options to choose from, I went with warm smoked trout salad with whole egg also a side of fries and aioli. It was really nice and a perfect sized lunch. For dessert I wanted/needed something gluten free and dairy free. Nothing on the lunch menu was but there was an item on the dinner menu. The waitress mentioed something different and unusual so I went with it. It came out looking quiet interesting, it was some frozen herb served with almond icecream. Let's just say I wasn't much of a fan but the icecream was nice. I ended up eating the remainder of a creme brûlée. Great meal but I did feel a bit yuck the next day, hopefully it wasn't from Stillwater!? 

http://www.stillwater.com.au/ 

Thai chicken noodle salad

Tonight for dinner I wanted something light and fresh instead of stiryfry or curry. My Grandma lent me a cook book by Sue Sheppard who is a brilliant dietician. I found this Thai chicken salad and luckily enough I had most of the ingredients in the pantry/fridge. The only thing I changed was the mint (I used basil), the chillis (I used dried ones) and I added cucumber to the dish. It didn't take very long to make and tasted great on this warm summers evening! I have added the reciepe and the book I got it from.

If you come across any books by Sue I reccommend checking them out. 

Cafe Culture

Cafe Culture is located in Trevallyn in the small shopping complex that's there. It's a modern cafe with indoor and outdoor seating with plenty of parking. We had lunch there one warm summers day and the menu had plenty of gluten free options to choose from. I went with the salt and pepper calamari, wow it was good. It came with a real nice Asian salad and the calamari was devine. I also had some chips with a tasty aioli. I trust eating there for sure as I know the owner and know that they would be good in their food preparation. 

Caramel slice

We went out for lunch at Relish to celebrate Aaron getting a new job. My cousin works there and it's a wicked cafe. She talked me into getting the caramel slice but luckily I didn't regret it (well except for the calories). It was yuummmmy! 

They have a few sweets there and gluten free meal options too, but don't have the bread as they toast it with the normal bread! 

Chocolate liquor rum date balls

When I was younger and doing athletics (running) mum got me onto date balls as a healthy energy booster. They tasted great and were all natural plus very easy and fun to make. All they consist of is pitted dates, almond meal and shredded coconut. So for Xmas I like to make them but with some added naughtiness! Rum or chocolate liquor rum (grandads homemade one). It's a healthier alternative to rum balls or chocolate balls. 

All you need to do is: heat the dates on the stove with a small amount of water. Let that dates soften and go mushy, they will soak up the water. Then add 1/4 cup of rum so it soaks in too. Stir in 3-4 table spoons of almond meal or lsa. You should be left with a gooey thick mixture that's easy to roll into balls. (Too much liquid and they won't set properly, so only add as needed, but make sure you taste to see if it's got enough of everything) Roll the balls into whatever size you want and roll in the coconut. Put them in the fridge over night and enjoy cold/room tempature. Also if your pregnant or don't want the alcohol use rum essence instead. Enjoy a healthy but yummy Christmas! 

Bread rolls

I was really cravings something healthy one weekend but didn't just want a salad or a rice dish, I braved looking in the bread section (thinking I wouldn't find anything decent g/f) and found some white bread rolls from Pure Bread. They were over $5 for 3 but ended up being so worth it. They tasted fresh for over 3 days with salad in them and even after being frozen and eaten with BBQ meat. For a 3 day lunch go get some, wrap them up individually in cling wrap then add salad and dressings just before eating. Yum, us Coeliacs really don't miss out anymore! 

Wraps that don't snap in half

I went to a staff retreat at Strathlyn Vineyard in Rosevears, I was treated to a morning tea of pumpkin pie, choc brownies and rice paper rolls. Lunch of quiesh and wraps. Afternoon tea of choc brownies again then a dinner of yummy salads. The main wow factor was the wrap I got. It looked and tasted like a normal wholemeal wrap. I nearly didn't believe it was gluten free. It was full of salad and ham and rolled beautifully. I was then given the left over wraps and made some for myself at work and they didn't snap in half! Very very tasty! Haven't tracked down where to buy them yet but when I do I will pop it on here! 

Fragrant Fish Curry

My Dad brought home from a fishing trip in Cairns some lovely fish and was generous enough to share some with me. We had it for dinner at his place fried, which was covered in whisked egg and gluten free breadcrumbs then chucked in the deep fryer. Gosh it tasted good and you wouldn't have even known it was gluten free. (shows gluten free substitutes are getting better, YAY)

With the pieces he gave me I decided to cook a curry. I searched through some cook books and found this recipe in an old book (something similar to women's weekly) and thought it looked simple and tasty. All the ingredients listed were all gluten free, the only things I had to check were the curry paste and fish sauce (I used Ayam: http://www.ayam.com/asian-range.html). Also instead of using all different seafood I just used fish and a few prawns for the top.
Give this one a go, it wont disappoint!

Mini quiches & creative salad

We got given some home grown eggs from my partners Dad so I decided to use them straight away as we don't eat eggs a lot. We had just gotten back from our 11 day holiday in QLD so I wanted to make something quick and easy, but also wanted to experiment. Therefore I made mini quiches and a warm salad, all very easy to make and it was a real hit. I even had it all cold for lunch the next day as it all kept well.

Quiche ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• Diced ham
• 4 finely chopped spring onions
• 3 finely chopped mushrooms
• 1/2 tin of corn 
• 1 finely chopped tomato 
• 2 table spoons of rice or almond milk
• Salt & pepper

Method:

• Beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper all together with a fork.
• Chop/dice all the ingredients.
• Stir into egg mixture
• Pour evenly into greased muffin tray
• Bake until egg is cooked through and is brown on top  

Salad ingredients: 

• 1/2 tin of corn
• 1 teaspoon of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of ginger
• 1 tin of mixed beans
• 6 thinly sliced mushrooms
• Half a bag of spinach leave
• 4 finely chopped spring onions
• Sweet chilli sauce
• Honey mustard dressing (featured in previous post) 

Method:

• Dice/chop all ingredients 
• Cook mushrooms with onions, ginger and garlic until browned 
• Add remaining ingredients
• Add sauce to taste, but not a lot is needed
• Stir continuously until cooked/mixed through
• Serve warm or cold  

River Bar & Kitchen in Brisbane, QLD

We were recommended to go have breakfast on our last day down at North Quay in Brisbane. Suggested was the River Bar & Kitchen which is one of Manu's restaurants. It was already 25 degrees at 9am down on the water and the day was beautiful. The setting was perfect and the Bar was really groovy. They had some rather different things listed on the menu and offered gluten free. I went with the big breakfast as I wasn't too sure what some other things were. I also has a juice that was raspberry, coconut, peach and mint, sounds a bit odd but it tasted great. I really enjoyed dining here but it would be a little hard if your a fussy eater as they don't change the menu at all for customers on weekends.

riverbarandkitchen.com.au

Indian in Broadbeach, QLD

We were staying in the beautiful Broadbeach for our trip to QLD. They have a cool strip full of restaurants and take away places but it was all a little pricey being the fancy area it was. We decided to go with Indian and we are so glad we did. Most of the curries were gluten free (stated on the menu) and they did pupadums. I had a chicken and spinach curry and it tasted amazing. 

Dinner at Jupiter's casino QLD

During our holiday on the Gold Coast we decided to go to Jupiters Casino for dinner, as we were staying over the road from it. I looked on their website before heading there and found a place called Spinners that had a good menu and did gluten free. I was excited to see what they had to offer and lucky for me there was plenty. I went with a garlic pizza bread for starters, traditional Thai beef salad and some chips with garlic aioli. It was all very good and filling. Plus I felt fine the next morning. Yay!

http://www.jupitersgoldcoast.com.au/dining/spinners/Pages/default.aspx

A burger that looked like a burger, QLD

I am currently on holiday on the Gold Coast staying in Broadbeach. We haven't really bothered with dining out for dinner, so have just been finding takeaway and eating in our room. It's been a real struggle finding anything gluten free (takeaway) in Broadbeach, we nearly gave up and had a packet rice from the supermarket. But we tried one last area and found a little burger bar that did gluten free so I enquired and was disappointed to hear they cooked the gluten free burgers with the normal burgers. That's no good for me, but the lady was really really sweet and checked with the chef about all the ingredients and to see if the bun could be cooked separately. In the end they cooked it in the oven and were cautious about the preparation. It tasted very fresh and was nice to have a burger that actually looked like a proper burger. So after all it shows it doesn't hurt to ask and pester the staff!
http://www.freshlystacked.com.au/

Mums pasta salad

Mum made me some seperate pasta for a BBQ on the weekend (gosh she is good!). You can have it hot or cold I reckon and it would be very easy to make.

Ingredients: 

• Pasta
• Sundried tomatoes
• Olives 
• Chorizo or salami 
• Thousand island dressing 

Method:

• Cook pasta 
• Dice tomatoes olives and meat
• Add to pasta 
• Cover with dressing 

Done!

Spag Bol with Kangroo mince

Spag Bol (Spaghetti Bolognese) is one of my all time favourite dishes. Its quick, its easy and its cheap and its something you can eat all year round. Now that I have to have it gluten free I tend not to use long spaghetti has it always goes gluggy and just isn't the same, so I used spirals or shaped pasta. Also this time i decided to use kangaroo mince as its rather lean meat and has a stronger flavour, but still tasting similar to beef.
Here is my easy method for cooking one very satisfying spag bol:

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of gluten free pasta of choice
• 500g-1kg mince (kangaroo or beef) 
• Raguletto pasta sauce
• Coles tomato paste
• Sweet chilli sauce
• garlic
• salt and pepper to taste 

Method:

• Boil a pot of water before putting in the pasta, stir occasionally until cooked. 
• Fry in a pot or fry pan the garlic and the mince until cooked.
• Add the sauces and bring to the boil.
• Drain and rinse the pasta.
• Add the pasta to the mince/sauce and stir until sauce is thickened. 
• Serve with salt and pepper

I find the spag bol always tastes better the next day, so if you cook too much, save some for the next day or cook it the night before you want to eat it. Enjoy!

Curried sausages and corn cous cous

I had a packet of sausages left over from a BBQ we held so I decided it was about time I learnt how to make curried sausages. I used to hate sausages with a passion, I am not sure why but now I love them and they are pretty much always gluten free wherever you buy them from.
I found an interesting recipe that used apple sauce and fruit chutney online at: http://www.food.com/recipe/curried-sausages-198901 it looked visually good and seemed really easy to make. As I thought it was easy and also cheap to make, phew! (I also added some sultanas and a mixed veggie medley instead of the potatoes)
Now with curried sausages you need to have a staple starch with them I believe and as our rice cooker died and potato makes me sick I decided to go with the gluten free alternative to cous cous and thats corn cous cous. It was really really easy to cook with a bit of water, salt and dairy free butter (normal butter can be used of course).
All up the meal was very satisfying and flavoursome and even better when I had it for lunch the next day!

Lunch at Garden of Vegan

Finally I got to go to Garden of Vegan today for lunch, I must say I was rather excited, unlike Mums partner who wasn't too keen at all! Each day of the week they have a different menu so your never stuck having the same thing, so you certainly need to go each day of the week at some stage.
I decided to go with a carrot/veggie satay salad which was made of mainly all raw carrot, bean sprouts, coriander, raisons and a few other things, topped with a satay sauce all vegan of course. As everything is Vegan all their food is gluten free, dairy free, preservative free, so pretty much just made up of all fresh veggies, fruit, seeds, herbs/spices and natural grains. The meal was very tasty and healthy thats for sure and everyones meals looked fantastic. I devoured my lunch and washed it down with an almond milk chai. Yum, then to top it all off we all shared some vegan cheesecake while we contemplated what it was actually made of!?
Its one very cool restaurant but is very tiny, best to reserve a seat or get takeaway and sit in the park.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Garden-of-Vegan/192886460819904

Anzac biscuit for morning tea

I am not a big biscuit fan but I don't mind one every now and then. Today I managed to snap up an Anzac biscuit (had them for an event at work today). They are from the Coles simply gluten free range and it was rather tasty, not far off a proper Anzac. A bit dry and crunchy, but you have to expect that with gluten free. I enjoyed it with a nice cup of tea with rice milk (as I cant have dairy) rice milk is the best in tea I think!

A lunch full of flavour

Todays lunch was a homemade salad, yum yum. I want to share my creation with you.

Ingredients:
half a capsicum
2 x tomatos
1 x carrot
half a red onion
1 x zucchini (I was meant to use cucumber, but accidentally bought zucchini)
1 x large tin of tuna
1 x lettuce
pumpkin and sunflower seeds
Honey & Dijon mustard vinaigrette

*option to add corn and avocado or other veggies of choice

Slice all the ingredients into small pieces and mix in a large bowl then add the tuna. Divide the mixture into 3-4 containers, then slice the lettuce up finely and sit on top as you don't want it to go soggy from the tuna.
When serving add the seeds so that they stay crunchy and cover with the vinaigrette.
The dressing is what made it really tasty I reckon but you could still taste all the flavours of the vegetables, seeds and tuna. Its one healthy lunch thats made me feel good after my lunchtime walk.

My favorite very easy and healthy lunch

I am not someone who likes to spend lots of time cooking and preparing lunches, therefore I have come up with own easy to prepare, tasty and healthy lunch. Plus it's cheap to make and can you get you through 3-4 lunches. 

All you need is: 

- tin of mixed beans

- tin of corn 

- tin of tuna in spring water 

- pundit of cherry tomatoes

- half a lettuce/wom bok/spinach 

- pumpkin seeds

- sunflower seeds

- sweet chili sauce 

All you do is chop up the tomatoes and lettuce and divide all the ingredients into 3 or 4 containers. Store in the fridge and dress with sauce on the day of eating.Of course this can be adapted to suit your taste buds or add extra veggies or nuts. Enjoy!

FoodSwitch app

I recommend downloading this app for all those health conscious people out there and coeliacs. What it does is it scans the barcode of a food you choose and brings up the nutritional information about it. Then it lists all the other options that are similar to that product, so healthier options. It also has a part where it scans an items and informs you if it is gluten free or not and other options similar that are gluten free. So no more searching the shelves for healthy options or gluten free, use this app and hopefully it will make things a lot easier and you a lot healthier.
http://www.bupa.com.au/health-and-wellness/tools-and-apps/mobile-apps/foodswitch-app

Surprise lunch at the 50's Diner

My best friend decided to surprise us girls with a day trip and lunch. We all piled in the car with our partners as well and headed off towards Riverside, we all had no idea where we were going. After about 40 mins we ended up in Deloraine at the 50's Diner. Most of us had never heard of it before so it was very exciting. Now this place was cool! It was full of 50's petrol pumps, signs, oil bottles, James Dean, Betty Boop, a hotted up Hot Rod and heaps more. The interior was booths and tables made from car items. On the menu was mainly burgers and milkshakes, typical 50's diner food. Luckily they had gluten free bread (that was really tasty and fresh), so I had a chicken burger with all the trimmings and a salad as the chips were no good. It was a really nice fresh meal that was very filling.
The drive out there is certainly worth it and its nice in winter as there is a big wood heater in the middle of the diner.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cruzin-in-the-50s-Diner/128416657227211

Inside Cafe

I was meeting a good friend for lunch one workday and we decided to go visit Inside Cafe, which I have heard is quiet popular with many. One of the reasons being, is they do nutella hot chocolates. aahhhh yum! So we went in and as usual I scowled the food cabinets and menu for gluten free items and asked the waitress before we took a seat. The menu had a note about gluten free and the cooking of food in the kitchen which was good, but they toast the bread in the same toaster as normal bread. Damn it. So the options became less, but I went with a salad of broccoli, roast pumpkin, garlic and chilli and of course a nutella hot chocolate with my own rice milk. Now the hot chocolate was divine and very very sweet I certainly recommend that but the salad was one big disappointment. It was sat down in front of me and as I ran my fork through it I couldn't find any roast pumpkin. I went to the counter and asked where it was and they said the chef must have changed the menu item (without notifying me when I ordered the salad). They offered me some of the other salad but it had barley in and the gluten free cake they offered was on the same plate as the normal cakes. So nothing helpful there. I managed to down a bit of salad but it was pretty bad and I was not impressed (went and got some sushi afterwards). Luckily they were nice enough to discount the meal which made the whole dining experience there a bit better. I suggest going there for their hot chocolates but maybe not when your hungry as you may leave a bit disappointed.
http://www.insidecafe.com.au/

Wanderlust food van

I organised an Inveresk precinct Open Day in conjunction with UTAS Open Day on Sunday 25 August. It was such a fun day, but my highlight with the food van Wanderlust. They do all vegetarian food and also always have a gluten free option. So I got to have the brekkie pie, which was a pie filled with egg, bans. mushrooms topped with potato, herbs and homemade relish. It was delish! I also had a homemade cordial which was so refreshing after a very long day running around the School.
You can find them at the Harvest Market every Saturday morning in the Cameron St car park and also other events in Launceston. You will know its them because they have a wicked old van all dulled up and a very cool vintage silver car.
Make the effort to go and see them sometime as you wont be disappointed!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wanderlust-food-van/288699627918971 

Dinner at Toong Thong Thai

For my friends birthday we went to Toong Thong Thai for dinner in Yorktown Square. I have never eaten there before but I certainly will be again soon. It was a little restaurant tucked away in the city, but in prime location for heading out for a drink after at the close by bars, plus as a bonus it was BYO wine so cant complain about that. The service wasn't the best as we had to ask the waiter to come to us to assist us with drinks, meals etc. but the meal made up for it. I ordered No. 18, stir fry Pad Met Ma Muang with pork and coconut rice. It was so tasty and the waiter said that they can pretty much do anything on the menu gluten free, they just change the sauces. I didn't want my meal to end and everyone else really enjoyed their meals too. Great place to go if you want a hearty tasty meal at a good price (roughly $25 per person for main meal and rice plus wine corkage) 

http://www.toongthongthai.com.au/ 

High Tea at the Grand Chancellor

Myself and a large bunch of friends went to the Hotel Grand Chancellor for High Tea. The occasion being a friends birthday and finding out the gender of her baby. We had a whole room to ourselves and 3 tiers of 3 plates on each of food on each table. Of course being gluten free I had to request in advance that I needed gluten free food. They brought me out a whole 3 tiered plate to myself. On it I got 3 different sandwich fingers with some really good bread, a plate of fruit and a plate of desserts such as pavlova, cake, brownie and some other creme brulee like sweet. It was wonderful and just enough food for lunch/afternoon tea. I also got champagne and tea/coffee all for $20. I certainly recommend going there one afternoon for High Tea but make sure you book in advance and let them know you require gluten free.
http://www.grandchancellorhotels.com/au/launceston/restaurants-en.html

I love cooking Sri Lankan

I wanted to have my friends over for dinner to thank them for looking after our puppy dog (Delta) and Dan he loved my Sri Lankan cooking last time he came over so I thought I would do it again but with something new. This time I made yellow rice, Beef Curry and Dahl all from scratch. I was very proud of myself for making it all from fresh ingredients and nothing pre made/processed. Sri Lankan food really is quiet healthy for us as I use light coconut milk and fry things in only a little ghee. The rest is all spices, herbs, veggies and meat and of course rice.
All up it took me about 1.5 hours to prepare it and cook it all as its good to focus on 1 dish at a time to make sure everything thats needed, goes into the dish and you need to taste it along the way.
Since this I have purchased myself a proper cook book as I was previously using recipes online.
These are the ones I used for this very yummy and filling dinner, but I do need to sit down and get the traditional recipes from my partners parents!

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/30371/sri+lankan+beef+curry
http://srilankafood.net/recipes/dhal-curry/ (added cinnamon sticks
http://srilankafood.net/recipes/yellowrice/ (but I didn't use the garnishing)

Prawn and Chorizo pasta

One night for dinner I had a real craving for pasta and wanted to try something I never have before. I decided on prawns and chorizo with pasta as I have never really eaten them together before. It was a really easy dish to prepare and cook that didn't take much time at all. I recommend this dish for people who love tomato based dishes (diary free) and you wouldn't even know it was gluten free.

Here is the recipe:

• Prawns - 250 grams
• Chorizo - 2 (check ingrediants on packaging) 
• Pasta - 1 large bag of whatever you prefer 
• Red Capsicum - 1
• Mushrooms - 10 
• Onion - 1 
• Tomato paste - 1 small tin
• Herb and garlic pasta sauce - 1 jar 
• *could add spinach leaves and olives and sprinkle with parmesan 

Method:

• Boil water, then add pasta stirring occasionally.
• Cook the onion, red capsicum, mushrooms all in a fry pan together until browned and soft. 
• Add chorizo to the fry pan with all the other ingredients.
• Once thats cooked add the prawns and stir until cooked.
• Drain pasta and rinse when soft. 
• Add the contents of the fry pan to the pasta along with the tomato paste and sauce, stir through until all mixed together.
• Serve hot with salt and pepper to taste.
• Make about 5-6 decent servings.