Category Archives: General Info

CHIPS

By | |
1 Comment

 

I’m a real fan of hot chips but since going gluten and dairy free I’ve discovered that most chips aren’t what you would expect them to be. If you were like me you would think that a hot potato chip was made from just a potato. WRONG! Most hot chips also contain wheat. What they do is get the potato and mash it then they add flour to bulk it up then form these perfect looking chips. Tada!, we now have chips that contain gluten.  I was at a pub the other week and asked the lady taking my order what the chips were made of because I have  gluten intolerance’s and she answered in a ‘are you stupid lady’ kind of voice “they are made from potatoes” so I naturally asked if that was it and if she could talk to the chef to confirm what she had just told me. The lady was quite obliging and went and spoke to the chef and on her return apologized and confirmed that they also contained flour. This goes to show that you should always question what you are wanting to eat.

 

After this episode I decided to do a little research on the fast food chains in Australia and find out what on their menu is gluten free. I have put links at the bottom of the page for you so that you can look at their menu and ingredients in all their food for yourself and make your own decisions. I hope that this quick reference point helps you decide which chips you are going to eat next time you are out and about looking for a quick snack.

 

 

 

http://www.subwayhfv.com/allergenchart.pdf

 

http://kfc.com.au/nutrition/allergen.asp

 

http://www.hungryjacks.com.au/menu

 

http://mcdonalds.com.au/our-food/nutrition

 

http://www.redrooster.com.au/

 

At the time of writing this article there wasn’t any information available on the internet for Chicken Treat you will have to contact them yourself.

THERMOMIX

By | |
1 Comment

Oh my have I been busy of late!!  A few weeks ago I purchased the BEST kitchen appliance ever. I’m so in love with my new purchase that I think I spend more time with it than my family (they do like sampling what I make with it though). I purchased a Thermomix, a little on the expensive side but for us it is well worth it. I did a few quick calculations and by just making my own coconut milk/cream and nothing else I would pay it off in 2 years. That’s not bad for a machine that is in the vicinity of $2000. We as a family go through around 6 to 7 400ml cans of coconut milk/cream a week so for us it is a wonderful purchase. We now also know what goes into our coconut milk/cream, before when we were buying cans you don’t really know what’s in it like BPA’s, thickeners and such, but now we do.  All that goes in is organic shredded coconut and water, no BPA’s, thickeners or chemicals. Another bonus to making my own coconut  milk/cream is the flavour and the extremely thick cream that sits on top is quite yummy.

 

Some of the delicious things that I have been making are soups, biscuits, cakes, steamed veg, steamed bread (my favorite at the moment) and tapenade.  Once I have some great recipes for these I will post them. But for now you are going to have to put up with some links to some of my favorite websites.

 

Thermomix http://www.thermomix.com.au/

 

Coconut milk  http://www.superkitchenmachine.com/2011/13419/thermomix-coconut-milk-recipe.html

 

The Spunky Coconut http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/

The spunky coconut is my favorite website and she gives me the inspiration to do what I’m doing. You will find that a lot of the recipes that I post are similar to hers, this is because she has the best of everything and I just alter it a little to suite my pantry and tastes.

AYERS ROCK AND THE OLGAS

By | |
Leave a comment

As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s been a big couple of days in the red center for us. Not only was it the first time for all four of us girls to see Ayers Rock it also took the children about 20km (after we spotted it) before they piped up with great excitement “is that the rock?”. Leading a healthy life isn’t just about what we eat it is also about exercise, and this is the post where I will start documenting some of our physical activity. We try to exercise most days by walking or riding.

So back to our couple of big days in the red center. On our arrival to Ayers Rock which was at around 2pm we ate that delicious Banana and Ginger Cake that I had made the day before. This was our energy for what was to come. We rode our bikes around Ayers Rock (10.6km). The whole experience has been mind blowing, oh did I mention that it is one very BIG rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a good nights sleep we rose early to watch the sunrise on the rock and to go for an early morning hike around the Olgas(7.4km). Once again the views were breathtaking and the weather was just right for hiking in.

CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR

By | |
1 Comment

Wow what a busy yet wonderful Christmas and New Year we have just had. I love Christmas, it’s the time of the year where you can eat and drink as much as you can and no one cares. For me the festive season is all about family and great friends. My GFDF plum pudding went down a treat with the whole family, even those that are not GFDF. They wouldn’t have known if I haven’t told them. Plum pudding was about the only thing that I prepared for Christmas but my father in law did up the most wonderful hot ham with a cranberry glaze (sorry no photos, we were too keen on eating it).  Christmas and New Years was spent in Cairns, but the week in between we went on a little road trip (little compared to the big road trip that we have embarked on).    Leaving Cairns we trekked up to Port Douglas and then onto Cape Tribulation . What a lovely part of Australia! Such beautiful rain forest and being still in the tropics it is currently the wet season so it rained all night. While up the Cape we did find a guy that sold organic vanilla beans. If only this was smell o vision I would indulge your senses but the smell of the vanilla was just amazing. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see the vanilla vines as someone else came along. Take a look at this address www.daintreefnqedt.com.au

 

 

Before leaving Cairns we headed of to the markets to grab ourselves some fresh fruit and veg at Rusty’s , we bought so much that it filled our engel so it looks like its fresh fruit and veg for the Lucas family for the next few days.

HITTING THE ROAD

By | |
1 Comment

Lucas Lifestyle is about to hit the road for a while. We have sold our business and ready for a change in our lives, and what better way for a change than taking our children on a trip around this great country of ours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 2 months ago we found the perfect caravan for the trip, something easy to tow, yet big enough for the five of us.

My kitchen will be considerably smaller than I am use to but I have all the necessary cooking equipment so it should be all right (I will bluff my way through).

Fridge space!!! We will be going from having a fridge and a separate drinks fridge to this…….

And an Engel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m going to have to go shopping often and get creative with space I think.