Not Quite Teriyaki...

This is another new one for me. First of all, excuse my 'photography'. It is dreadful, but I'm just looking to give you an idea of what you are cooking.

There are a few ways you can do this one, as slow cooking obviously increases amines, but that might not be an issue for you, so I'm including a few different options that will hopefully suit your needs.

This isn't one you can just throw together, unless you have all the staples in your fridge already. But it's well worth getting them together, it is a whole different flavor category for our Failsafe cooking :)

I've been trying to figure out what 'regular' meal it is similar to, and the best I can come up with is Teriyaki.

I'm using the left overs for rice paper rolls tomorrow, nomnomnom!
Edit to add - Just used it on a rice cake, topped it with some 'THAT cheese sauce', omgoodness!! That is amazing!!
You could use it as a stir fry sauce too.

Not Quite Teriyaki - Low - Moderate Chemical, Wheat, Dairy, Soy, Egg Free

1kg of chicken (I used a mix of breast and thigh)
1/4 cup Cornflour
1T Ricebran/Canola/Sunflower Oil
1/4 cup 'Magic Sauce' - http://failsafefoodie.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/sauce-of-wonder.html
2T 'Lemon Juice'/Malt Vinegar (mod amines) - http://failsafefoodie.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/substitute.html
3T 'Nomato Sauce' - http://www.cookingforoscar.com/recipe/no-tomato-sauce/
1T Vegie Stock - http://realfailsafemeals.blogspot.com.au/#!/2011/07/vegetable-stock-concentrate.html
1/2 cup Homemade Chicken stock, or water
2T brown sugar
1 Clove crushed Garlic
2 Spring onions, sliced
1/2 Cup cashews
Steamed Garlic rice to serve - http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=655.0
Steamed Veg - Bok Choy, Carrots (mod)


Leave chicken in full pieces, coat in cornflour and brown slightly in oil. (Optional - Will increase amines, skip this part if you are on strict ellim).

Add all sauce ingredients, except cashews, in to your choice of vessels, stiring to combine:

 

A slow cooker - will increase amines. - 3 hours on low
A ceramic pot, sealed with a lid or foil, in the oven. - Will cause an increase too, but not as much. - 1.5 hours @ 150-160
Pressure Cooker.
Or place sauce ingredients in a pot and simmer for a good 1/2 - 3/4 hour until you have a nice thickish sauce; you can then pour over meat that has been prepared to Strict Ellim guidelines.

Place chicken on top, flip over to cover in sauce. Cook as above, turning once. Add cashews prior to serving.

I shredded my chicken in the pot, and served it on top of the rice.


I did mine in the oven today, and the meat came out wonderful and tender.

Brownies - Wheat, Dairy, Soy, Nut Free

Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Soy, Nut free brownies. The coconut flour contains sals, and the cocoa amines.
This is as good as it gets for a 'free' brownie. This is my own creation, so if putting it on a blog, please reference back.

There is no chickpea or coconut flavor in the brownies, this is honestly the best brownie recipe I've tried. It has an amazing all round great taste, and not a soul will no it's free of anything.

220gms Nuttelex
250gms white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
25gms cocoa (woolworths homebrand, it's dutch, so darker, and far nicer)
25grams coconut flour
50gms besan/chickpea flour

Melt nuttelex, add in sugar, blend to combine.
Add vanilla. Add in eggs, in at a time, mixing after each addition.
blend in cocoa.
add in flours, and blend until just combined (talking 5 seconds in thermomix).

Take care not to overblend, I find it easy with coconut flour.

Bake in lamington tray for 20-25 minutes. It is ready when there is no movement in the middle.

Our Favoite Pizza Base

Before we gave up wheat, ,this was our favorite base. It's failsafe, dairy, egg and soy free.

Even though we don't make it any more, I'll share the secrets of our perfect pizza....
(And drool at what is likely my favorite meal.... that I don't eat anymore.... wahhhhh)

Pizza Base:
300 grams warm water
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons sugar

Add to thermomix, set 5 minutes, 37 degrees, spoon soft speed.
When it's finished, leave to sit for 5-10 minutes to get the yeast all nice and working hard for the money.

Add in 500 grams plain flour, 4 good pinches of salt. Give it a quick whiz to combine, set to knead for 5 minutes, then you'll have this:

Pop in to a bowl, or silpmat, cover with clingwrap and leave in a warm spot for half an hour, it should double in size.

Punch it down, roll it out, you can get 2 bases from this, but when we're greedy, we do 1, mwahahahaha!

Roll it out (add flour to make it non sticky), and place on your tray, I let it rise again for 15 or so minutes while I prep ingredients.

Top, and bake at 220, top shelf, 15 minutes, or until ready.

Enjoy the best pizza of.your.life.


We are simple creatures, cheese and bacon pizza is hubbies favorite:

My tips to the perfect pizza:
Buy the yeast in the red canister.
Using plain ol' homebrand flour works perfectly fine.
Subbing out 20 grams of water for oil improves the base also.
If you don't have a nice mozzarella already, I recommend the Pantalica Cheese Co Mozzarella. Available in Coles and Safeway, it gives the best result!
I make my own pizza sauce, a jar of passata simmered with salt, pepper, worchteshire, brown sugar/rapadura, chilli flakes, oregano, rosemary, parsley. That's honestly all you need!
I use a tray with holes in it, toped with baking paper, perfect base, every time.

I hope you use these tips to make the best pizzas out there :)

Power House Fudge

Here's my take on a Power House Breakfast Fudge.
I was inspired by Tenina's Chocolate energy bars, but wanted to shake them up a bit. So here is my version, it is more of a fudge though :) It is PACKED with nutrients. We're talkin' crazy amounts. If you've not heard of Crio Bru before, check it out. It's roasted cocoa beans, packed with all the good stuff, perks you up, but doesn't give you the low, surpresses appetite. If you want to know more, Tenina has heaps of recipes on her blog!

This tastes good, but not so good, you'll eat the whole batch. I think that's a pretty good compromise for a breaky fudge. I feel a bit indulgent, but satisfied at a small piece.

I've used walnuts and macadamias as the chunk of my nuts, as they have the proper balance of Omega 3 and 6. Helping the body to fuel itself the right way. I've added Puffed Aramanth as it is high in protein and is packed with nutrients, it is very much optional.

I've used maple syrup/coconut sugar over dates, as they do pack a pretty huge sugar hit. When dates or maple syrup are teamed with protein and fibre, it slows the release of energy dramatically, so there is none of those nasty sugar spikes, and lows. And of course, coconut oil, great for everything and everyone this stuff!


Wake-me-up-before-we-GoGo-Breakfeast-Fudge

Place 50 grams of Crio Bru in the thermomix, mill, speed 10, for 15 seconds.

Add 30 grams of coconut oil, 50 degrees, 2 minutes, speed 2, blitz to combine very well

Add in:
100grams walnuts
100grams macadamias
75 grams cashews
50 grams coconut suger or maple syrup (if using coconut sugar, add in 10 drops stevia)
2 teaspoons vanilla
a small pinch of salt
3 teaspoons puffed aramanth
30 grams coconut - shredded

Turbo several times until you have a fairly smooth dough type consistency.

I pop in to one of those small tin foil take away containers, and pop it in the freezer for a few hours. It is easy to take out of these containers! I then slice it in to very small pieces, and pop it back in the freezer. I prefer these frozen, the coconut flavor prevails when frozen.

Spaghetti Bolognaise - Failsafe, Wheat, Dairy, Soy, Egg, Nut free.

Spaghetti Bolognaise.

A dish we thought we'd leave behind on our Failsafe journey. People played with the idea, and came up with a different kinds of sauce, we all call it No-Mato Sauce. The kids love it, I tolerate it (I usually have a tomato one for dh and I). It's a bit different to the traditional, not quite so red, if you want to recreate that, just add half a beetroot, but my kids prefer the texture of it without.

When we moved to wheat free, our usual spaghetti night went to the wayside again. At the Gluten Free Expo in Melbourne this year, I picked up a few different selections, much cheaper then normal, so I had a chance to experiment. This has been my favorite one so far, it's just corn flour and water. I was pretty dubious at first, but it tastes, and feels much like wheat pasta. Has no real taste, so reflects the sauces well. I've seen it pop up in Safeway/Woolworths now, it's also available at a discount at www.sprinkles.com.au.





The corn pasta cooked up, looks a lot like wheat pasta, yeah?



No-Mato Sauce
http://www.cookingforoscar.com/2012/02/01/no-tomato-sauce-nectarine-and-sour-cream-cake/

1 cup Red Kidney Beans (drained and rinsed) I find the Edgell brand the best for this sauce

2 large Pear halves in syrup (approximately 150g)

1 cup - 1.5 cups Water

1 teaspoon citric acid

1-2 tablespoons white sugar, brown sugar, rapadura, or 15 drops od stevia

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick celery (trimmed and chopped)

4 Spring onions (chopped)

2 cloves garlic

10 Safron threads - Optional

Add all ingredients to the Thermomix, blitz on speed 7, 10 seconds.

Cook, 30 minutes, speed 3, 90 degrees.
Blitz, speed 9, 1 minute.


Serve on Pasta, or cook up with some canneloni beans for baked beans (these are a firm favorite here), just heat in a saucepan for a few minutes.

Chocolate Chip Biscuits

I'm going to throw it out there. My BEST allergy safe cookie. It's been a long time in the making, it's taken me many trials and errors to get the right flours, the right textures, the right TASTES! But we're here.

My Failsafe, Dairy, Soy, Wheat, Gluten, Egg, Nut Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Creating a Failsafe, dairy, soy and egg free choc-chip bickies seemed hard, but was actually easy, compared to nutting out one also free of wheat, sugar and nuts. *Now* we have a dilemma.

Well, I've got it solved, well, everything but refined sugar. I find the 'perfect' crisp, yet a little chewy choc chip biscuit relies on a mix of brown and white sugar. I am still continuing to work on a sugar free recipe, and once I have it, I will be sure to share!

These taste just like regular biscuits, I am very happy with the taste and texture, and also no aftertaste. They don't leave your palette dry like a lot of gluten free biscuits do.

This is easily made by hand, or a stand mixer, but I'm supplying Thermomix instructions.

A run down of the ingredients. Ghee gives them an amazing flavor, do try it if you can. It creates a wonderful butter taste and texture. It doesn't contain the casein protein that sets most reactions off, but can contain trace amounts. Test with caution. But a fantastic addition to your cooking, if you can tolerate it. They still taste wonderful with Nuttelex (I use the full fat).
Sugars are just plain old brown and white from the supermarket.
I prefer Heilala Vanilla Bean Paste, available over at the Crio Bru website. You can use anything though, but please keep it to at least an extract, essence is just nasty!
No Egg, my binder. You can use an egg yolk, but I actually prefer the no egg. It has instructions for ratios on the back of the packet.
Besan or Chickpea flour, they are the same thing. I buy mine from The Biomed Cafe, it has no nasty, grassy aftertaste that I've found some other brands to have. It is a high protein flour, lots of nutrients!
Potato Starch, you can buy this from many online places, and you might even be able to buy it locally. Just be sure it's STARCH and not flour, they are two very different things.
I enjoy MooFree Chocolate, but have just tried some of the EnjoyLife mini chocolate chips (also at the biomed cafe), and they are my preferred choc chip for these cookies. We only use a few tablespoons to give them the look, but not overload on amines. You can use whichever 'chips' you are allowed, or leave them out, they are a great base cookie.

This is my own creation, so please, when sharing, link back to my blog. It is very new, and I'm sharing one of my biggies here :)



150 grams of Nuttelex or Ghee
90 grams brown sugar
70 grams white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 portion of 'No Egg'
180grams Besan/Chickpea flour
40grams Potato Starch
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
Desired Chocolate Chip Pieces



Add Nuttelex, sugars and vanilla to bowl, mix 60 seconds, speed 4.
Add the no egg, mix 20 seconds, speed 4.
Add Chickpea Flour, Potato Starch and Baking Powder, mix 15 seconds, speed 4. Set to Interval, 45 seconds, adding in choc chips half way through. (We use just a few tablespoons to keep amine levels low).

Roll into teaspoon sized balls, flattening slightly. Leave room on the tray to spread. Bake for around 10 minutes, 160 degrees, fanforced oven.
I start my first batch on the bottom shelf, prepare next tray, then the first tray goes to the top, new tray to the bottom. This drastically changes the results of my cookies, and I hope it's a tip that will help you perfect yours!

Cook until very lightly golden. They will be done before you think they are, as the bottoms brown quicker then the tops. They will actually look under done, this is when you want to pull them out! They will be puffy. As they cool, they will come down, and form a crisp outside, and a slightly chewy inside.

Let cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. And start rolling again! I get around 40 cookies from a batch.


Please let me know if you try it, and how you go.
Thanks for reading along, see you back again soon! :)

Let's start with our Menu Plan

Menu Planning, the key to making your week far easier!

Remembering that everything is at least Dairy, Soy, Wheat, Gluten and refined sugar free. Moderate Chemical. (So no tomato, citrus, peppery, vinegar type items!)
Everything is free of artificial chemicals, preservitives and colorings.

Breakies this week are:
Quirky Jo's Buckwheat and Cashew Pancakes with Caramel Sauce
Okonomyake - A japanese style pizza made of egg, veggies and ham
Rice and Millet Bubbles
Chocolote Mousse
Toast and Jam
Egg muffins with sausage

Lunches are:
Veggie Muffins
Baked Beans
Chicken Wraps
Sandwhich with jam
Sandwhich with nutbutter
Risotto

Dinners are:
Chicken noodles and veg
Spaghetti Bol, and Cheesy Spaghetti
Sausages with mashed spud and leek &white bean gratin
Roast Chicken
Fried Rice
Frittata
Chicken, leek and corn risotto

Snacks and treats:
Chewy Muesli Bars
Hommus and Veg to dip
Cashew biscuits
Caramal muffins
Chocolate cake
Fruit Skewers
Fruit Sorbet
Icecream
Popcorn/Chips
Chocolate Cream Pie

Crunchworthy

Welcome to Crunchworthy.

Well, the day is finally here, a blog. I'm finding more and more, that people are intrigued by what comes out of my kitchen, sometimes scared, sometimes willing to try; I suppose it depends on the day!

I'm Tash, 27, hang on, yep, 27 (the childbearing years have not been kind on my memory), I'm married to a diesel mechanic, Shaun. We have two very crunchy kids, Josh, 3 and a half; and Leah, 13 months.

Our food life began changing when Josh was diagnosed with a Dairy allergy, and a Soy intolerance. Further more, he is sensitive to Salicylates and Amines (and colorings, flavorings and preservitives). So we also follow a 'F.A.I.L.S.A.F.E' diet. He can handle moderate amounts of chemicals, so if you are strictly Failsafe, please alter the recipes to lower the chemical level.

Our daughter, Leah, is allergic to wheat. This has been much harder to come to terms with them the dairy, soy, or failsafe. Wheat is etched in to our life in so many ways, it has (and somedays still is) been a battle of coming to terms that Wheat is our enemy.

We also do our very best to avoid refined sugar. I am attempting to lower our sweetner intake in general also. My parents are both diabetic, so it's good to include them in the game too!

My best mates little lady, Joshs' best mate, Tilly, is egg anaphalactic, so you will often find us using egg substitutes, but this is not always the case, as they are a valuable source of nutrients; but only when little Till isn't around :)

So that's how we got to be Dairy, Soy, Wheat, Refined Sugar, Egg (sometimes) Free, and Failsafe. It's quite a whirlwind to understand the complexities of nutrition, that comes along with elliminating, what are perceived to be such vital food groups. But for us, with a lot of research, I am ok with us missing out on most of it (I'd love to share a Pepperonata Sauce with the kids, the Failsafe part is probably the only part I'd change!), as I honestly believe that what forms our current Dairy, Soy and Wheat supply makes us much sicker, then actually being of nutritional value.


I've been on my own wieght loss journey, so far 25kg's, and a half marathon in the past 9 months. Since taking wheat out, I feel better, but best of all, I don't feel HUNGRY. It is an insane change, that I can't quite believe. I'll try to delve in to my own feelings about this kind of stuff as time goes on.

Oh! The name. Crunchworthy. Well, since having children, I've become a little 'hippy-ish'. We use cloth nappies, we babywear, you know, same 'ol hippy stuff. Without being a full fledged hippy, which is where the term 'Crunchy' comes in, many people with similar philosophies coined the term to descibe our ways. It also plays on being 'Crunchworthy' enough to eat ;)


So now I'm here. Hoping to share my successes, and failures, so hopefully you won't make the same mistakes! I still very much remember the taste of 'real' food, so I try my best to mimic things that you could serve up to anyone, without them batting an eyelid.
Not everything will always cover every box (my husband and I still eat many non Failsafe items), but I will always post what is free of.

I hope this is of use to some of you out there wondering how to keep some variety and spice (ha, we don't do spice on failsafe!) in your cooking life!